Danbury-New Fairfield Joint Workshop on Margerie Reservoir Trail - September 22, 2026

On September 22, 2026, at 6:30 PM, the Danbury City Council and the New Fairfield Board of Selectmen held a joint workshop to review Barton & Loguidice's conceptual feasibility and engineering materials for the proposed Margerie Reservoir Trail. The workshop covered the trail design, phase-one costs, permitting, grant funding, and next steps. No minutes were available; this summary is based on the agenda and transcript. The agenda names the reservoir 'Margerie'; the transcript also refers to it as 'Marjorie.'

Presentation Highlights

• Barton & Loguidice (B&L) engineers Lee Jones and Kevin presented the existing-conditions analysis, design intent, trail alignment, engineered plans, cost estimate, permitting path, and schedule.
• The proposed trail would connect the existing Danbury dog park parking lot to New Fairfield's shopping district along Route 37, with a total length of just under two miles (about 1.9 miles).
• Design goals include regional connectivity, accessible multi-use recreation, environmental stewardship, context-sensitive trail design, wetland and water-resource protection, reservoir views, interpretive education, and community wellness.
• The trail would be a 10-foot-wide ADA-compliant multi-use path, generally asphalt or stone dust, with elevated boardwalks to span wetlands, retaining walls in steep areas, overlooks, and interpretive signage.
• Phase one, as initially presented, includes about half a mile of trail in Danbury from the dog park to an overlook near the eagle's nest, and a shorter New Fairfield segment of about 0.05 miles plus sidewalk and overlook improvements.
• Design is roughly 90% complete. Total disturbance is just under seven acres (6.89 acres); wetland disturbance is estimated at 0.39 acres (about 17,000 square feet), with about 5,300 square feet within phase one.
• The phase one cost estimate is about $1.5 million; the full project estimate is $6.6 million. Unit cost estimates: paved trail about $150 per linear foot; stone-dust trail about $115 per linear foot; boardwalks budgeted at about $2,000 per linear foot; sidewalk about $200 per linear foot. Estimates include about 5% per year cost escalation toward a 2028 construction target.
• Permitting will involve local inland wetlands commissions in both municipalities, Danbury Public Utilities and the water division, CT DEEP, the Army Corps of Engineers, the State Historic Preservation Office, the Department of Public Health, and DOT. The team budgeted about one year for state and federal permits, with construction targeted for 2028 after the ground thaws.

Public Comments & Testimony

• Peter Hearn, a member of the Margerie Trail Advisory Committee, praised B&L for incorporating citizen input from about 18 public meetings and suggested shifting money from the New Fairfield sidewalk and dog park paving toward extending the trail to an already planned overlook and retaining wall.
• Jeff Main, a New Fairfield resident and retired Westchester County Parks Conservation Division employee, supported the trail, suggested a youth conservation corps and high school science participation for maintenance and education, and offered to help start educational signage; he said the trail could bring the two communities together.

Discussion Items

• New Fairfield First Selectwoman Pat Delmonico said she is very supportive of the trail and that residents are excited, but she could not support phase one as presented because New Fairfield would receive about 0.05 miles versus about half a mile in Danbury; she asked for a more equitable first phase.
• A participant (Ken) suggested removing the sidewalk component on the New Fairfield side from phase one and using those funds to build more trail from Route 37 into the reservoir property, with sidewalk or crosswalk funding pursued later through DOT grants. He noted property owner and business concerns about the sidewalk.
• Danbury City Council member Mike Coello said he supports the project with fiscal responsibility, asked about the full $6.6 million cost, future phasing, construction access to the middle sections, and requested an estimate of the extra cost of phasing the project over multiple years versus building it all at once.
• Danbury City Council member Ryan Hawley asked about the distance from the phase-one endpoint to the Pannonia Village condo complex; B&L said they would provide that number later. He also mentioned that Danbury's Sustainable CT community designation could open funding for interpretive signage.
• A Second Ward Danbury City Council member asked about boardwalks, bridges, and fencing near the reservoir.
• Commissioner Day, responding to water-supply concerns, said fencing may be needed to keep people from using the trail as access to the reservoir, and that a properly designed, built, and maintained trail should not adversely affect the Margerie Reservoir water supply. He stressed the need for an established maintenance fund.
• B&L responded that phase-one boundaries were a starting point, not final, and could be revised based on cost, equity, and municipal preferences; removing the sidewalk and extending the New Fairfield trail section was already one of their concepts.

Grant Funding and Next Steps

• The meeting host noted that some state funding is already in place for the project and that the administration would continue pursuing grants.
• B&L said the next phase would be finalizing the design, obtaining permits, and preparing bid documents; they suggested coordinating through the municipalities' shared engineer, Antonio, and noted a permitting period of about one year.
• Potential funding sources mentioned included DOT connectivity grants, the Sustainable CT community match program, and other state or federal programs.
• B&L proposed going out to bid in fall 2027 or winter 2028, with construction starting in 2028 after the ground thaws. The advisory committee's role would transition to the two municipalities.

Key Outcomes

• No formal motions or votes were taken; the workshop was informational and adjourned without formal action.
• Phase one scope was left open for revision. B&L will revisit the alignment and cost allocation to address equity concerns, including the possible removal of the New Fairfield sidewalk and dog park paving from phase one to extend the New Fairfield trail segment.
• B&L will provide the distance from the phase-one endpoint to Pannonia Village and an estimate of the cost premium for phased construction versus building the full project at once.
• Next steps include continued grant pursuit, formal permitting over roughly the next year, and a target of bidding in late 2027 or early 2028 and construction in 2028.