Diana Stricker Photo
Jamie Cosgrove and Jack Ahern
Third Selectman Jack Ahern told First Selectman Jamie Cosgrove he wants to know the outcome of the town’s review of Inland Wetlands personnel before any votes are taken to replace commissioners.
Ahern addressed the issues at Wednesday’s meeting of the Board of Selectmen (BOS) held at Fire headquarters. The Inland Wetlands commissioners, whose terms expire May 31, were not on the agenda, but several appointments and reappointments to other boards and commissions were made. Ahern said he didn’t receive the agenda with the listing of names until the day before the meeting.
Ahern, the sole Democrat on the three-member BOS, said it will be an important meeting when the board votes whether to reappoint IWC commissioners or make new appointments. “If there is an investigation, the outcome of that should be known before potentially people are knocked off the board,” he said.
Ahern read a statement Cosgrove issued in March announcing that the town was engaged in a “careful review of the issues and information raised in the recent press report regarding the conduct of certain individuals involved in the Costco wetlands application process. I want to assure the citizens of Branford that we intend to take every appropriate and necessary step in response to the facts to assure an open and fair process for all applicants, intervenors, and the taxpayers of our Town.”
“I’m getting a lot of people calling me with a lot of questions,” Ahern told Cosgrove. “If there is in fact an investigation, I want to know what the results are.”
Cosgrove’s March 24 statement was a reaction to a March 21 article in the Branford Seven blog that raised allegations against Inland Wetlands personnel in regard to a peer review report that was being compiled in connection with Costco’s proposal to build a 158,000 square-foot warehouse store near Exit 56, off I‑95. The article, which was based on e‑mails, appeared while the IWC was holding a public hearing on the Costco application and before the peer review was completed.
“I think we’re all aware about the article that you’re referring to,” Cosgrove said. “Certainly we’ve reviewing everything seriously. I have a responsibility to protect the town from any exposure. I think we all have the responsibility to make sure people have confidence in the town, and that we handle everything in a fair process. So allegations were made, and we are certainly reviewing what was done.”
Those allegations were also mentioned at the fourth session of the Costco public hearings in April. At that time, attorney Keith Ainsworth, who represents the Branford Citizens for Responsible Development (BCRD), disputed the allegations and told the commission: “There’s been no statute cited, there’s been no case law, no regulation, no code, no legal standard that’s been cited that anything inappropriate happened.”
Ahern asked questions last night about how the review is being conducted.
“Were the people who are being accused of these things, have they been interviewed? Have they been able to voice their opinion or make statements on what happened or what didn’t happen? Ahern asked.
“I’m not going to right now discuss personnel matters at a public meeting,” Cosgrove said.
Last week Cosgrove issued a public statement accusing the IWC of “abuse of power” after they voted 4 – 3 to enact revised regulations.
Changing Commission?
At Wednesday’s BOS meeting, Cosgrove said Second Selectman Joe Higgins made a statement in the past which is still true. “Change is good and sometimes it’s needed. So I’ll leave it at that.”
Cosgrove was referring to a statement Higgins made at an August BOS meeting last year when three members of the Inland Wetlands Commission were replaced, despite their experience, expertise and their desire to remain. One of those whose terms were not renewed was Dr. Richard Orson, one of the state’s leading experts in wetlands issues. The changes were made one month before Costco submitted its application to the IWC.
The commissioners whose terms are due to expire May 31 are chairman Danny Shapiro, James Killelea, Peter Bassermann, and Stephen Gangi, who is an alternate. The IWC is comprised of seven full commissioners and three alternates.
The timing of any additional changes could be critical because Costco and the other developers withdrew their applications just before the IWC was set to vote on their proposals on April 28. Which means Costco could likely re-submit the applications after a new commission would be established.
On April 26, Costco attorney Thomas Cody pulled the Costco application stating in a letter: “We have previously expressed to the Commission specific concerns about the manner in which this application has been reviewed and processed by staff.”
A Question Mark
Following the meeting, the Eagle asked Cosgrove when the results of the review will be made public. “I haven’t put a date on it,” he replied.
He told the Eagle that the review is still ongoing. “There’s obviously different things being looked at. But I’m not really going to speak to it because I don’t want to fan this issue more than it is,” he said.
The Eagle asked if results will be released when the review is done. “If appropriate. If there’s something substantial,” Cosgrove replied.
The Eagle responded, “It just seems that when you say you’re doing a review of people, then there’s always a question mark out there as to what the results are.”
Cosgrove said at the moment it’s a question mark. “Put that in your title — question mark,” he said.
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Third Selectman Jack Ahern.......Will you please run for First Selectman next time around. I will help. After all First Selectman Jaime Cosgrove is the one who recently said CHANGE IS GOOD.