Flatto skips over Metro Center controversy

FAIRFIELD -- Controversy may still be swirling around the construction of the town's third train station, but First Selectman Kenneth Flatto declined to address those issues in his monthly status update to the Representative Town Meeting Monday on the Metro Center.

Instead, Flatto talked about the fact that the low bid came in about $3 million less than the estimated construction budget of $23 million.

"That's very good news," the first selectman said. "It gives us an ample contingency."

The third train station, on lower Black Rock Turnpike, is a joint venture between the town, the state Department of Transportation and private developer Blackrock Realty,with the state providing the bulk of the funding for the train station and 1,500-car parking lot.

Flatto said the state signed off on the bid about a week ago, and construction is starting. The station is expected to open late next year.

But some residents of Bridgeport's Black Rock section have complained about the clearing of trees on the Fairfield side of Ash Creek, called for in the plans in order to clean up the former foundry site and create several new wetlands areas.

And the local residents who call themselves "Concerned Citizens" want to know if, and when, the Conservation Department staff will be returned to oversight of the project. They were removed by Flatto several years ago after Blackrock Realty complained they were delaying the project and threatened to sue.

An outside consultant, Fairfield University professor Gary Weddle, was hired to act as the wetlands compliance officer for the permit, a move that prompted the citizens to file a legal action. A Bridgeport Superior Court judge ruled recently that Weddle's appointment was illegal, a ruling Weddle is appealing and the Conservation Commission also voted to support.

The commisssion also asked the town attorney to recommend to Flatto that the town staff be reinstated to oversight of the project.

RTM member Kathy Braun asked Flatto if he had made any decision about that recommendation, but Flatto said that was not the purpose of the monthly reports and he would not comment.