Norwich – A solar array developer and the head of Connecticut Municipal Electric Energy Cooperative met for lunch several months ago at Stott's At Bat and Restaurant to discuss possible good “low-use” sites for large solar projects.
While there, the two noticed that the ice cream and sandwich shop was surrounded by huge cornfields which has been part of the Stott family farm for generations.
“We said 'if you ever consider doing something with your land, let us know,'” Drew Rankin, CEO of CMEEC, whose headquarters is down the road at 30 Stott Ave., recalled of that lunch meeting.
Last week, SolarCity and development partner Brightfields Development LLC submitted a petition to the Connecticut Siting Council seeking approval for a 4.93-megawatt solar electric generating facility encompassing about 15 acres of the 27-acre land owned by Kelvin and Frances Stott at 9 Stott Ave. and 292 Plain Hill Road.
The 15,912 solar panels would replace the sprawling cornfields and would displace Stott's At Bat, but the former Mountain View Dairy Farm house and buildings would remain intact and occupied by the Stott family, said Jean Stott, daughter of Kelvin and Frances Stott and the family spokeswoman. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
Shoring up banks at Riverfront Park almost complete
GLASTONBURY — A $1.5 million project to fortify a slope at the Riverfront Park is proceeding smoothly and should be complete in a few weeks.
Crews from Blakeslee Arpaia Chapman, a Branford-based marine construction company, began the project last month. Each day, workers have been installing rocks — known as riprap — along the bottom of the Connecticut River to shore up the slope where the park's boathouse is built. A large crane has been on site and takes rocks off a barge loaded in Cromwell with quarried rocks and deposits them on the bottom of the river.
Town Manager Richard J. Johnson said crews will continue to place tons of rocks on top of a geotextile mat that was installed during the first few weeks of August. Johnson said he is pleased with the work the company has done.
"They've really had to balance the tides and currents each day," he said. "They've had to be very creative and identify windows each day to do the work especially the placement of the mats. It has been a little trial and error, but the contractor has figured out the nuisances of the river."
With the mat down and secured, the company is lining 200 to 300 feet of the bank with the rock material. Johnson said the work should be completed by mid-September. Then the focus will be on restoring the area around the $2 million boathouse.
Johnson said weight will be kept off the boathouse terrace at the top of the riverbank by putting in a deck or boardwalk system or lightweight geofoam blocks instead of the bricks and concrete that were there originally. The plan is currently under review by the project's structural and geotechnical experts.
"The goal is to fully restore this area by the end of the year," Johnson said. "We want to restore the patio and sidewalks within certain weight tolerances." CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE