Commission reviews water and sewer master plans and draft general plan; public hearing set for May 7

Consultants presented the town’s draft water and sewer master plans and a draft general plan; after discussion the Planning and Zoning Commission set a public hearing for May 7 at 6 p.m. to solicit public comment on the documents and related ordinance changes.

Water master plan: findings and recommendations Eric Neal, representing Bowen & Collins (the consultant team that produced the master plans), told the commission the town secured state funding for the studies — just over $38,000 from the Division of Drinking Water for the water plan and approximately $33,000 from the Division of Environmental Quality for the sewer plan. Neal said the water system model showed local deficiencies driven primarily by insufficient fire flow and storage.

Neal said the town currently has just over 400,000 gallons of storage and that, as growth continues, additional storage and source capacity will be needed. His principal recommendations to address the north‑end fire flow deficiencies were to loop waterlines to convert dead‑end mains to loops, install an emergency booster pump station for the northern area, and locate an additional storage tank toward the north end so that pipeline upsizing elsewhere could be minimized.

Sewer master plan: connection recommended to Eagle Mountain Neal said Fairfield currently relies entirely on on‑site septic systems and that the scale of new development (including Firefly/other projects) will require sewer collection. Consultants discussed three options, but said state regulators make building a new treatment plant at two nearby sites unlikely; the recommended strategy is to contract with Eagle Mountain to convey and treat Fairfield flows at Eagle Mountain’s wastewater plant, with future discussion about a broader sewer district as flows grow.

General plan and GSBS presentation Sean Hill of GSBS presented the draft general plan, which the consultants described as framed around six values including food/agriculture, infrastructure and transportation, land‑use/open‑space conservation, a land‑use/development strategy, industrial/economic development, and protection of community character. The draft plan includes a proposed “economic necklace” of industrial and tech nodes connected by an expressway concept, local blueways/greenways ideas, and character elements the consultants recommended be used to guide future development.

Commissioners asked questions about routing an expressway, whether bypassing the town with freight traffic might divert customers from Main Street, and what the plan would mean for future land use. The consultants repeatedly described the drafts as preliminary and encouraged public comment.

Public hearing scheduled and next steps A commissioner moved to set a public hearing for May 7 and to include the general plan, the sewer plan, the master waterline plan, the sign ordinance, and Chapter 16 (special use regulations) in the hearing materials. A second was recorded and the motion passed with the commissioners present voting yes. Staff said the notice must follow state requirements; commissioners asked staff to confirm current state notice timing before the public hearing.

What to watch for next The commission requested staff to assemble packet materials for the May 7 public hearing and to distribute the updated master plan files to commissioners for review. Consultants said they would update maps and respond to commissioner comments in the next draft.