Farmington Narrows Fisher Farm Search Down to Final Candidate

Farmington has chosen a final candidate to be the new tenant for Fisher Farm but has not announced the name of the new farmer at this time.

Town officials opted to put out a request for proposal for new farmers instead of immediately renewing the current tenant on the property which straddles Farmington and Avon. They extended the April end date to June 30.

Ronald Simmons has decided to ride out the rest of his lease for the Avon portion of its land. which expires Dec. 31.

The  Avon Town Council authorized Avon Town Manager Brandon Robertson to begin negotiating its lease with the top candidate once the details are finalized.

"The goal is to get a farmer in there that will be successful," Assistant Town Manager Steve Bartha said.

"The leases don't line up," Avon Assistant Town Manager Steve Bartha said. 

The intent in the future is to align the end date of the two towns' farm leases, he said.

Simmons has leased the Avon portion of the land since about 2003, but was also the farmer on the Fisher Farm property before then when it was still privately run. 

Simmons has one more planting of corn on the Avon land, which spans about 317 acres in total on the south side of Old Farms Road alone, Bartha said. That includes forested terrain that is not "farmable." There is more land behind Fisher Meadows that's included in the lease.

Farmington manages the request for proposal process for the farm and was in strong communication with Avon officials throughout the search for a new tenant. Robertson has a seat on Farmington's farm subcommittee.

There were 15 applicants for the farm and the committee interviewed nine farmers, including the current tenant. Of three finalists chosen, one did not clear the background check, Bartha said.