The Town Of Greenwich Is Simply Flouting The Law When It Comes To Disclosing Information About The Dangerous PCB Contamination At Greenwich High School
The state Freedom of Information Commission will conduct a hearing Tuesday based on complaints by Bill Effros a neighbor of the contaminated Greenwich High School site.
Mr. Effros says that the town has refused to provide documents he has requested related to the construction of a new auditorium on the campus, and held secret meetings before funding for the project was approved.
Mr. Effros, whose property on Old Church Road abuts the high school, has made requests under the Freedom of Information Act for documents, including federal state and local permits, site plans and meeting minutes for the $29 million project, known as MISA.
Mr. Effros says he has not received any documents from the Town of Greenwich, nor has he received notice by mail of initial review of the project by various town agencies, which he said is required because he is an abutting neighbor.
In another complaint to the commission, Effros says a March meeting between First Selectman Peter Tesei and Board of Estimate and Taxation Chairman Stephen Walko about MISA considered a secret meeting, in violation of FOI laws.
The meeting was prior to the finance board's approval of a $17 million appropriation for MISA.
Mr. Tesei, who is considered an ex officio member of the BET, claims his meeting with Walko, a fellow Republican, should be considered a party caucus.
Prior to the March 31 BET meeting, the First Selectman Peter Tesei brokered a deal with the members of his party on the finance board to delay construction on a new $24.1 million central fire station until the 2014 fiscal year and spread the cost of the MISA project over two years.
In particular, Effros has repeatedly stated that because GHS and its athletic fields were constructed on swampland, the school district must secure permits with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and other agencies under the federal Clean Water Act, but it has not produced evidence of those permits.
The high school was constructed and the swamp filled in the late 1960s, Chambers said, and the property is no longer considered wetlands. The main regulations currently in effect under the Clean Water Act, which governs water pollution, are based on amendments made in 1972.
First Selectman Peter Tesei and other town officials argue that Mr. Effos is applying federal, state and local mandates that were added long after the high school was constructed and claim that the permits issued have been done correctly.
Greenwich Town Attorney John Wayne Fox claims that the town has all required permits.
Effros said he is willing to take his case to court, and that his FOI requests and the hearing in Hartford this week is a first step.
Mr. Effros claims that the Town of Greenwich has to provide him with either a denial that they don't have these pieces of paper or a piece of paper they said satisfies the FOI act.
Mr. Effros says that the town has done neither.
Read more: http://www.greenwichtime.com/news/article/State-to-hear-GHS-neighbor-s-FOI-complaint-2187205.php#ixzz1YwRKrQMj
It's Your Right to Know Freedom of Information Commission
18-20 Trinity Street, Suite 100
Hartford, CT 06106 Connecticut
Toll free (CT only): (866)374-3617
Tel: (860)566-5682
Fax: (860)566-6474
www.state.ct.us/foi/
email: foi@po.state.ct.us
NOTE: DOCKET #s FIC 2011-235 AND 2011-294 H4 VE BEEN CONSOLIDATED.
NOTICE OF HEARING AND ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE DOCKET NO. FIC 2011-235
TO COMPLAINANT(S)
BILL EFFROS
41 Old Church Road
Greenwich, CT 06830
TO RESPONDENT(S)
BOARD OF SELECTMEN AND TOWN OF GREENWICH, c/o
John Wayne Fox, Esq.
Law Department
Greenwich Town Hall
101 Field Point Road
Greenwich, CT 06836
1. This will serve as notice that the Freedom of Information Commission will conduct a hearing concerning the appeal brought by the above-named complainant(s). This appeal alleges violation(s) of the Freedom of Information Act, as set forth in Chapter 14 of the Connecticut General Statutes.
2. Attorney Lisa F. Siegel has been designated hearing officer for the purpose of this appeal and will hold a hearing on its merits at the following date, time and place:
DATE OF HEARING: SEPTEMBER 27, 2011
TIME OF HEARING: 11:00 AM
PLACE OF HEARING: 18-20 TRINITY STREET HARTFORD, CT 06106
(Hearing will be held in the Commission's Hearing Room A.)
Board of Selectmen Town of Greenwich c/o Wayne Fox, Esq. 101 Field Point Road Greenwich, CT 06830
RE: Docket #FIC 2011-235; Bill Effros v. Board of Selectmen, Town of Greenwich; and Town of Greenwich
Dear Respondent:
Please be advised that the Freedom of Information Commission has received a complaint alleging a violation against your agency. A copy of the complaint is enclosed for your reference. The Commission will send you a Notice of Hearing and Order to Show Cause, which will notify you of the date, time and place of the hearing. In the interim, the Commission has instituted an ombudsman program with respect to complaints brought to it.
Pursuant to this program, a staff member is assigned to act as liaison between the parties to each contested case filed.
It is the responsibility of the ombudsman to effect settlements of complaints where possible, thereby avoiding the delays and expenses caused by unnecessary hearings. Of course, the ombudsman will not communicate nor participate with any person within the Commission who serves in a decision-making role with respect to this particular case.
Attorney Clifton A. Leonhardt has been assigned to the above-captioned matter. Please contact him at 566-5682 to discuss your case.
Please Note: Any written correspondence directed to this commission, except to the ombudsman, by any party to a contested case, must be copied and sent to all other parties.
Sincerely,
W. Paradis Acting Clerk of the Commission
Please note that hearings on appeals to the Freedom of Commission will be held within 90-minute time periods.
ATTACHMENT:
Email Subject: MISA Secret Meetings Date: May 9, 2011
On March 31, 2011 The Town of Greenwich Board of Estimate and Taxation appropriated $17 million to build "Phase 1" of a proposed 3-Phase "Parking! Auditorium! Music Instruction Space (MISA)" in a self-described "swamp"at 10 Hillside Road, Greenwich, CT. without first providing federally mandated public notice.
To quote the Greenwich Time April Fools Day editorial:
"OK, be honest -- who saw that coming? "We sure didn't."
Greenwich Time April 1, 2011
In fact, nobody saw it coming because it was decided in secret meetings without public notice in violation of Federal, State, and Municipal statutes and regulations.
I am filing this complaint to ask the Connecticut Freedom of Information Commission to require The Town of Greenwich to produce the minutes of all secret and unnoticed meetings leading to the appropriation of $17 million for MISA, or if the documents requested do not exist, to declare the actions taken at these secret and unnoticed meetings null and void in accordance with the Connecticut Freedom of Information Act.
PARTIES
Architect and Consultants Perkins + Will Board of Education MISA Building Committee Town of Greenwich Town of Greenwich Architectural Review Committee Town of Greenwich Attorney John Wayne Fox Town of Greenwich Board of Education Town of Greenwich Board of Estimate and Taxation Town of Greenwich Board of Estimate and Taxation Chairman Stephen Walko Town of Greenwich Board of Parks & Recreation Town of Greenwich Board of Selectmen Town of Greenwich Building Code Board of Standards and Appeals Town of Greenwich Capital Improvement Committee Town of Greenwich Clerk Town of Greenwich Coastal Resources Advisory Committee Town of Greenwich Conservation Commission Town of Greenwich First Selectman Peter Tesei Town of Greenwich Flood and Erosion Control Board Town of Greenwich Inland Wetlands and Watercourses Agency Town of Greenwich Planning and Zoning Commission Town of Greenwich Planning and Zoning Board of Appeals
FACTUAL BACKGROUND
According to published accounts, Town of Greenwich First Selectman Mr. Peter Tesei and Town of Greenwich Board of Estimate and Taxation Chairman Mr. Stephen Walko met secretly just prior to the March 31, 2011 Board of Estimate and Taxation meeting to secure approval of an appropriation, never publicly disclosed prior to the imminent meeting, for a $17 million "MISA" auditorium.
Pursuant to Federal, State, and Municipal regulations and statutes; multiple public notices, approvals and permits were required before this appropriation could be presented by The Town of Greenwich Board of Education to any other Town Agency. On April 30, 20111 submitted a Freedom of Information Act request to Greenwich Town Attorney Mr. John Wayne Fox asking to see copies of all MIISA notices, approvals, permits, site plans, and meeting records required by Federal, State, and Municipal statutes and regulations.
On May 4, 2011 Mr. Fox denied my request to see any of the records I requested. (Appendix A)
By this complaint I am asking the Connecticut Freedom of Information Commission to require the Town of Greenwich to produce the records I have asked to see. If these records do not exist I ask the Commission to declare all actions taken at secret and unnoticed meetings based on non-existent documents null and void.
Respectfully,
Bill Effros
41 Old Church Road
Greenwich, CT 06830
Bill@Effros.com
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