Mum's the Word on Fairfield Metro Center

When it comes to the Fairfield Metro Center, town officials seem to think the less said, the better.

The town's Inland Wetlands Commission on Thursday night heard both an update on construction of public portions of the massive project, which continues in violation of a Bridgeport Superior Court judge's order, and granted a five-year extension on its permit from 2006 - both in less than two minutes.

Craig Flaherty, a site monitor on the Metro Center, was scheduled to give the commission an update on construction activities at the 35.5-acre property Thursday night but wasn't present so Town Attorney Richard Saxl gave the update in Flaherty's place.

The absence of an update from Flaherty wasn't unusual. He's been scheduled to provide an update to the commission since Oct. 7, but no update has been given. The last update Flaherty gave to the commission, on Sept. 16, dealt with a spill into Ash Creek that created a hullabaloo.

On Thursday night, Saxl said he was appearing on behalf of the town, which is a co-applicant on the Metro Center development. The other applicants are the state Department of Transportation and Blackrock Realty, LLC, a private developer.

But Saxl skipped over the update and headed right to the request for an extension of the commission's permit for the Metro Center, which was due to expire March 1.

"Mr. Flaherty had no issue with extending the permit. Everything's moving along quickly, but it's obviously not going to be done by March 1," Saxl said to the commission.

Stanton Lesser, the commission's chairman, said, "That actually was the update, so now we're taking up the extension."

Lesser was the only commission member to ask a question about the Metro Center and wanted to know when it was going to be finished.

"It's likely to be October, but there's no guarantees on that. That will be most, but not all, of the permit conditions," Saxl said, adding that some plantings would have to wait until they could be put in the ground.

Last week, First Selectman Ken Flatto was on the agenda of the Representative Town Meeting to give an update and declined to answer RTM member Kathryn Braun's question about why Town Conservation Director Thomas Steinke could not be put back in charge of environmental oversight on the Metro Center.

Bridgeport Superior Court Judge Richard Arnold ruled July 6 that Steinke's absence from the project was in violation of the Town Charter and ordered that Gary Weddle, the Metro Center's wetlands compliance officer, be removed because he wasn't under Steinke's supervision. Flatto had removed Steinke and the town's Conservation Department from oversight of the project in December 2007 after Blackrock Realty complained that Steinke was holding up the project and threatened to sue the town.

Braun, R-8, said at the RTM's Jan. 24 session that Blackrock Realty was no longer involved in construction of public portions of the project and indicated that Steinke's presence on the project therefore should no longer be a concern.

"The Conservation Commission has voted and I concur that the process in place now continue. It's being done right," Flatto replied.

Braun said the commission actually had determined that returning Steinke to oversight of the Metro Center was something only Flatto could authorize.

"It's ultimately up to the commission, but my own personal view is the process in place is correct," Flatto said.

Braun said, "If it's up to the commission, that's good because they thought it was up to you."

Flatto replied, "It's a joint process."

After Flatto removed Steinke from the project, Steinke's town-provided legal coverage was stripped if he became involved in the project again and was sued by Blackrock Realty.

The commission last July voted 4-3 to have Saxl recommend to Flatto that the Conservation Department "be reinstated, and to charge them with full oversight, responsibility and authority on the Black Rock project."

But Frank Rice, a commission member, later said he hadn't voted to do that and that the minutes of the meeting should be corrected. An audio tape of the meeting had Rice supporting the motion. The commission approved the "corrected" minutes, and then decided, in a closed-door meeting and without a vote, to intervene in litigation on behalf of Weddle.

The litigation involves whether Weddle is serving illegally as the Metro Center's wetlands compliance officer because he's not under Steinke's supervision. Arnold ruled he was, but Weddle appealed that ruling and it's now in the hands of the state Supreme Court.

An automatic "stay of execution" on Arnold's order that Weddle be removed came when Weddle appealed Arnold's ruling, and the Supreme Court denied Concerned Citizens' motion that the stay be terminated. Concerned Citizens are seven residents, who include RTM members and environmentalists, who are trying to get Steinke restored to an oversight role on the Metro Center.

The Metro Center involves construction of the town's third train station, from 1,300 to 1,500 rail commuter parking spaces and nearly 1 million square feet of commercial development if fully built out. The 35.5-acre property is at 21 Black Rock Turnpike.