Public Works Headed To Tabor?

The committee tasked with finding a long-awaited site for a new public works building once again ranked the Tabor site as the top choice and asked the Board of Selectmen (BOS) for guidance and funding. It received neither. But after a two-hour discussion, it was assured the items will remain on the agenda until a site is chosen.

Committee member Mario Ricozzi and chairman Kurt Treiber asked for an estimated construction budget for the project. They also asked for $30,000 if the selectmen want the consultant to continue evaluating properties. Ricozzi said they had ​“exhausted and tapped out” funds during the two-year search. In addition, they asked the BOS to begin the lengthy process to authorize $325,000 for the design phase.

“We’re just looking for some guidance from the selectmen as to how to move forward,” Treiber said at the BOS meeting Wednesday night. 

Ricozzi said the town-owned Tabor Drive property is still the number-one ranked site after the consultants evaluated seven properties last year, and three additional ones this year. 

That news rankled neighbors who voiced concerns about traffic and safety. About 50 people attended Wednesday’s BOS meeting, many of them from the Tabor neighborhood.

Public hearings were held earlier this year on the committee’s initial Tabor choice and the not-in-my-backyard theme (NIMBY) was heard loud and clear from neighbors at that time. 

“I’m going to do anything I can to block it, said Dr.Franklin Brown, who resides on Toole Drive near the Tabor property and works at the Yale Medical School.

Brown is pictured above, standing at table where Ricozzi is seated to the left of Treiber.

Brown, who recently moved into the neighborhood, said the adjacent roads will become congested with truck traffic from the public works facility and there will be an adverse effect on quality of life. He said he may hire an attorney to fight the project.

Barbara Butler, who operates the Shoreline Pet Lodge at 157 Pine Orchard Road, said traffic on the roadway is hazardous now and would become more problematic if trucks begin exiting from the Tabor property. ​“Safety is a real huge issue,” she said.

Similar concerns were expressed at two public hearings earlier this year after the building committee voted unanimously to recommend the Tabor site. Click here and click here to read those stories. After the hearings, the committee was asked to look at three additional properties.

Director of Public Works Art Baker said the rental facility currently being used for the department is inadequate. He said there is no area there for washing the winter salt off the trucks. Baker said he favors the Tabor location, one reason being that the site would have entrances onto two different roads.

Highway supervisor Sal Benelli concurred. ​“It is so imperative for us to move forward,” he said. ​“I do understand the concerns of these residents, but for us to move forward is more important than any of you know.”

“Sooner or later, we’ve got to build this,” First Selectman Anthony ​“Unk” DaRos said. He said the items regarding the public works building will be on next month’s agenda and will stay on the agenda until a site is selected. He also said he is seeking proposals to develop a master plan for Tabor that could possibly be done in 60 days. DaRos has sought to put the public works building on the town-owned Tabor site since early 2008. Click here to read the story.

Frank Twohill, the Republican minority leader on the Representative Town Meeting (RTM), has been an opponent of the Tabor Drive site. ​“Just because Tabor scores highest doesn’t mean it’s the best,” he said Wednesday. He also advised against moving too quickly. ​“We’ve got to take our time.”

John Opie, a Republican who recently served as third selectman, said Tabor neighbors don’t want truck noise. ​“They like to hear their birds in the morning chirping rather than backup beepers.”

Opie said he prefers building on the Northeast Industrial Road site, which is in a commercial and industrial area off Route 1. That site was ranked number two in a previous analysis, but a portion of the property is in a flood plain.

Ray Ingraham, an RTM member from the Tabor Drive district and the chair of the Republican Town Committee, said he received many calls from residents concerned about the project. ​“The main reason these people are here is that they don’t want this in their neighborhood.”

Resident Kate Hvizdak (pictured above standing) said the town should allocate the additional money to keep searching for properties. ​“Thirty thousand dollars is a pittance to spend when we’re talking about multi-millions (in construction costs),” she said. ​“We would be penny wise and dollar foolish not to spend money looking at other locations.”

Attorney James Perito, a member of the building committee, said they have conducted an exhaustive search for properties. ​“At some point … you have to make a decision,” he told the selectmen.

Ricozzi said the committee is ready to move forward. ​“Our charge was to find a site…We have no power, no decision-making authority …to keep adding parcels is not a healthy thing in the long term.”

DaRos said he was glad people came to discuss the issue. He assured residents that Toole Drive would be off-limits for truck traffic. He later told the Eagle that keeping trucks off Toole Drive would be one of the conditions for building on Tabor.

DaRos told the crowd that regardless of where the project is built, road improvements are mandatory in the Tabor area because of ongoing flooding problems.

When a resident asked about possible contamination at the Tabor site, Second Selectman Andy Campbell said the proposed location for the building is on a portion of the 77-acre property that is not near the landfill. ​“The placement of that site is not in the more contaminated part of that parcel,” he said, adding that other sites under consideration have more contamination issues.

Third Selectman James Cosgrove said he wants to proceed with a project, but said he disagrees with the consultants regarding the ranking of the sites. ​“We see the sites different than the experts are seeing,” Cosgrove said. ​“We know what we need. We don’t have to be told by someone who’s not going to be using it.”

According to the newest ranking from the consultant, Tabor has a total score of 74; Cherry Hill Glass at 20 Elm St. scored 56; a portion of the former Bittersweet Farm property off East Main Street scored 53; and a plan to upgrade the existing rental site at 137 N. Branford Road scored 43.

The committee said they are currently estimating a construction budget of $7.5 million to $9 million.

Cosgrove said the projected construction costs are too high, and the size of the building is too large. ​“It’s a little bit more than we should be budgeting for,” he said, suggesting a target budget of $7 million. He made a motion to cap the budget at that figure, but he later rescinded the motion.

“We need to move this issue,” Campbell said in regard to the public works building. ​“I don’t see out town prospering on procrastination.”

In the end, the selectmen voted unanimously to re-refer all the public works issues to the next Board of Selectmen meeting in three weeks.

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