Old Lyme officials planning to bring sewers to Sound View
Old Lyme — Town officials are planning a project to connect the 270 properties in Sound View and a small area north of that neighborhood to sewers.
The project would include installing a pump station and pipes in Old Lyme that would then connect to East Lyme and Waterford's systems to convey sewage to New London's sewage treatment plant.
The estimated $7.23 million bonding project would require approval at a town meeting or referendum to move forward, officials said. Property owners in the project area would repay the town's bond.
Water Pollution Control Authority Chairman Richard Prendergast said during a presentation last week that the WPCA will need to work out details of the plan before bringing it to a town vote.
The state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, which had issued an order for the town to complete its wastewater management plan, is reviewing the plan and later will publish it for public comment.
Hawk's Nest, another beach area, was removed from the first phase of the plan and is undergoing additional review, Prendergast said.
The sewer project would cost an estimated $26,800 for each equivalent dwelling unit, or an average-sized home, according to the presentation Tuesday at the Shoreline Community Center in Sound View.
Prendergast said that sewers have been a long time coming and are needed mainly due to the density of the area.
The Sound View neighborhood has cesspools and septic systems, with a typical problem being insufficient area for the septic system's leach field, according to the presentation. A state requirement calls for a 20-foot setback from the leach field area, which can be tough to establish on a narrow, 40-foot lot, he said. Some lots also have shallow groundwater.
He said sewers would provide a "more reliable method for handling the individual septic" needs with reduced back-ups, reduction in groundwater pollution, and "an investment in the environment."
Prendergast said the original schedule included in the plan submitted to the DEEP called for a town meeting or referendum in the fall, followed by design in 2019, and then construction between 2020 and 2023. But he said due to variables outside of the town's control, the project could be delayed by a year.
First Selectwoman Bonnie Reemsnyder said town officials are sensitive to the fact that many residents of the area are not year-round, so town officials will try to schedule the town vote at a time when they could attend.
Prendergast said the plan is for the Connecticut Water main lines to be upgraded at the same time as the sewer project.
Some wondered if their properties would be required to connect to sewers.
"If you have a large enough lot and don't have anybody next to you, are you going to be mandated to put in sewers?" asked Sally Woitowitz, a resident of miscellaneous Town Area B, the neighborhood north of Sound View. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
With municipal aid on chopping block, a cordial chat
Evidently resigned to a shrinking pool of state aid, leaders of two municipal associations pressed Gov. Dannel P. Malloy on Friday about granting Connecticut’s cities and towns flexibility in dealing with public employees to achieve offsetting efficiencies, long a politically fraught topic at the State Capitol.
Malloy’s approach to closing a remaining $1.6 billion state budget shortfall for this year would hit municipalities on at least two fronts: requiring them to contribute to a teacher pension system now wholly financed by the state and teacher contributions, and writing a new formula to distribute what the governor says must be a reduced budget for education aid.
Given that municipal aid and teacher pensions have been major points of contention in budget talks, the governor’s joint news conference with the executive directors of the Connecticut Conference of Municipalities, or CCM, and Council of Small Towns, or COST, was surprisingly cordial, even if some of their comments had the cautious tone of a diplomatic communique.
“I believe that we had a productive meeting,” Malloy said after his closed-door meeting with Joe DeLong of CCM and Betsy Gara of COST. “That doesn’t mean there were any final products to be produced today, but I share a great many of their concerns and, quite frankly, their goals. I expressed that.”
Unclear was how supportive Malloy was willing to be in pushing the General Assembly to grant cities and towns relief from mandates and labor laws, a topic certain to mobilize opposition from public-employee unions. At the same time, DeLong and Gara were careful not to say how much ground they are willing to cede on municipal aid.
Malloy said he did not expect them to engage in public negotiations, but he was heartened that the cities and towns seemed to have moved past what has been nonnegotiable: maintaining the principle of “hold harmless” aid levels, the idea that whatever changes are made to aid formulas, no community would end up with less money.
“In a perfect world, everyone would be held harmless and would actually get more,” Malloy said. “I think there is an admission this may not be a perfect world.”
DeLong interjected to say, “This session we have never once uttered the words ‘hold harmless,’ not one time.”
The remark raised eyebrows among aides to legislative leaders who have felt pressured by local officials to resist Malloy’s proposed cuts.
One top legislative leader, Senate President Pro Tem Martin M. Looney, D-New Haven, quickly issued a statement suggesting that DeLong’s comment did not comport with what he and others are hearing from mayors and first selectmen.
“For the chief lobbyists of CCM and COST to stand up publicly and declare that they have not and are not asking for towns to be held harmless when it comes to municipal aid is misleading and does not accurately represent the positions of the mayors and first selectmen from whom we have heard,” Looney said.
“It has been extraordinarily difficult to put together a final budget largely because of this issue of municipal aid,” he said. “If the top lobbyists for the two largest municipal advocacy organizations and their mayors and first selectmen are willing to stand side-by-side with the governor as he renews his call to pass his budget and the hundreds of millions of dollars in cuts to municipal aid, then it should not be difficult reaching a final budget agreement that slashes aid to cities and towns.” CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
Hartford stadium named 'Ballpark of Year'
Dunkin' Donuts Park in Hartford has been named "Ballpark of the Year" by BaseballParks.com, a frequent contributor to USA TODAY.
This is the second honor for the ballpark that is home to the Colorado Rockies' Eastern League affiliate Hartford Yard Goats. In June, an online poll conducted by Ballpark Digest ranked the stadium the best Double-A ballpark in America.
The latest recognition was featured in Wednesday's edition of USA TODAY Sports Weekly by Joe Mock, the webmaster and founder of BaseballParks.com, and a frequent USA TODAY contributor.
The honor is awarded annually to a new or substantially renovated ballpark. Formidable competition this year came from SunTrust Park, the new home of the Atlanta Braves, and The Ballpark of the Palm Beaches, the spring training home of the Houston Astros and Washington Nationals.
Mock visited 349 ballparks before he and his panel made their determination.
"I actually visited the ballpark while it was still under construction," Mock said. "I could tell immediately that it was going to be something special. When I came back to check out the finished product, I was blown away. Not only is it supremely fun to attend a Yard Goats game, the design of the park itself is spectacular. It has the intimacy of small Minor League park, while providing all the amenities of a big-league stadium."
Past winners of the award are AT&T Park, home of the San Francisco Giants, Petco Park, home of the San Diego Padres, and PNC Park, home of the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Jonathan Cole, founding principal of Kansas City, MO-based Pendulum, was architect of record for Dunkin' Donuts Park. Peter Newman, principal of Newman Architects and The S/L/A/M Collaborative's Rick Bouchard, Chris Sziabowski, and Derek Czenczelewski were also members of the design team.
Oxford Greens developer presses for affordable units
OXFORD – A developer’s plan to build 197 non-age-restricted apartments at the Oxford Greens over-55 golf community, including 60 that meet the state definitions of affordable housing, is headed to a Sept. 12 hearing.
Meanwhile, developer Timberlake Investment Partners V has filed a lawsuit appealing the Planning and Zoning Commission’s denial of its previous assisted-living plan.
Chairman Arnold Jensen said the plans are exactly the same.
“Oxford Greens is a residential golf community with all single-family homes and no apartments of any kind, no multifamily homes or cluster homes,” he said. “A few years ago, they came back and said the market calls for two-family homes. We gave them that.”
Then Timberlake came back last October with the proposal to modify its plans to build assisted-living units, amid strong neighborhood opposition.
“On March 21, 2017, after closing the subject hearing, the commission voted to deny the application without providing any reasons for the commission’s action,” the lawsuit filed by attorney Christopher J. Smith of Shipman & Goodwin says.
“Defendant commission’s decision is unreasonable, improper, illegal, arbitrary and constitutes an abuse of the discretion, responsibilities and duties vested in the commission, as provided by Chapter 124 of the Connecticut General Statutes, and the Zoning Regulation of the Town of Oxford,” the suit alleges.
The suit says the application complied with all regulations for a permanent assisted-living facility use and claims the commission’s decision was not supported by the “substantial uncontroverted, expert testimony and evidence of the administrative record.”
Jensen said, “We denied it without reason. You don’t need a reason because there’s nothing in the zone that permits that. Assisted-living facilities are required to have meals. There’s no kitchen or controlled access. There’s no front desk.”
The suit goes on to allege that “at least one member of the commission had a conflict of interest, contrary to law.” But it does not say who or why.
Smith did not return a call for comment late last week.
“I’m unaware of any conflicts of interest,” Jensen said.
He said Timberlake’s new application with affordable housing is an 830g, so the only reasons it could be denied are for health and safety.
According to a research report for the Connecticut General Assembly, the 830g affordable-housing land use appeals procedure requires zoning and planning commissions to defend their decisions to deny such developments. It also defines “assisted housing,” or housing that receives government assistance. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE