Camillo Addresses Capital Projects In Appearance Before Greenwich RMA

GREENWICH, CT — First Selectman Fred Camillo stopped by the Retired Men's Association of Greenwich last week to touch on a variety of topics concerning the town.

Rather than delivering remarks and holding a brief Q&A with the audience, RMA member Peter Berg asked Camillo questions over the course of 45 minutes.

The majority of the questions focused on capital projects in Greenwich. Camillo said the town's 15-year capital plan "doesn't really work." He explained that it's beneficial to have a long term vision, but focusing on the near term is important, too.

"The Office of the First Selectman has started meeting with department heads in the last month to come up with revised plans to focus on years one through five [for projects]," Camillo said. "We really want to focus on the near term rather than putting so much into 15 years out."

One big project that Camillo has championed for is the redevelopment of Roger Sherman Baldwin Park and the relocation of Parks and Recreation facilities.

"Parks and Recreation has garages there next to the teen center that block views of the water. Those garages have been there since the 50's. Granted, in the 50's, the waterfront property wasn't looked at like it is today. But it's arguably the most expensive land probably on the East Coast, and we're parking trucks and changing oil there," Camillo said.

There's currently $50,000 in the budget this year for a study on the relocation of employees from a maintenance building at the park so the building could be demolished.

The full cost to knock down the facilities, relocate operations and redo the park is estimated to be $11.2 million, Camillo said, but he hopes to defray the cost with public private partnerships.

When asked if he's in favor of Greenwich adding a new dog park, Camillo, who has dogs of his own, said he was, and noted he helped secure the first dog park in Grass Island over 15 years ago.

Camillo said a potential location for a new dog park is at Rosa Hartman Park, which is primarily in Stamford but touches Greenwich. Camillo said he has spoken to Stamford Mayor Caroline Simmons about it.

"She loved the idea," Camillo said, noting that when he was chairman of the Parks and Rec. board 20 years ago, he brought up the idea to then-Stamford Mayor Dannel Malloy.

"I won't say the word, but he said he doesn't want Greenwich's dogs doing something in Stamford," Camillo said with a laugh. "We have another spot on the western side of town, so we don't want to be overloaded on one spot, but we're working on it."

The demand for more pickleball courts in Greenwich has grown over the past few years, and Camillo said portable nets might be the answer at Byram Park.

"We don't want to take away something to implement something else," Camillo said of converting tennis courts to pickleball. "These portable nets will allow both to be done [at Byram Park]."

Camillo was asked about traffic in town, a longstanding issue with residents that has seemingly gotten worse even as the town's population has increased slightly.

In 1969, Greenwich had 14,000 registered cars and a population of about 59,000 people, Camilo said. Today, there are 63,000 people, and the number of cars is probably five times what it was.

"That's why we're really focusing on public safety, sidewalks, crosswalks, bumpouts, and a bicycle task force," Camillo said.

Greenwich is working with Stamford, Norwalk and Darien to get a bicycle path through the four towns, Camillo said.

Additionally, Camillo said a bike share program could help alleviate traffic.

View Camillo's entire appearance at the Greenwich RMA here.