The Long & Winding Search

Selecting a site for Branford’s new public works building may mean a trip on a long and winding road.

Residents discussed the two final two contenders for a construction site during a public hearing Tuesday at the Tabor Lutheran Church. A surprise announcement at the end of two hours revealed there are at least two more locations to consider.

First Selectman Anthony ​“Unk” DaRos said the owners of two parcels came forward at the 11th hour with potential sites. He said one is the Bittersweet Farms property, and the other is the current location where the Department of Public Works (DPW) is housed in a rental facility at 137 N. Branford Road.

The 130-acre Bittersweet Farm parcels at East Main Street and Sycamore Way were in the news last year as possible sites for Costco and a sprawling complex featuring offices, retail and residential units. The owners met with the Inland Wetlands Commission twice last year, but did not file a formal application for the project.

DaRos told the Eagle the location under consideration is a portion of the Bittersweet property adjacent to the Transfer Station and behind the Cosgrove Animal Shelter. Access to the site will come via a road behind the site, not from Route 1. In regard to the other site, he said the owner of the rental facility where the DPW is currently located has proposed renovating and expanding the building, but that it would still be on a rental basis. The three-year cost to rent the building comes to $352,000. 

DaRos praised the seven-member Public Works Building Committee for the work they have been doing for more than a year. The committee started with seven possible locations after meeting with commercial realtors and advertising for property. With the help of a consultant, they winnowed it down to two sites.

DaRos said he realizes it will take time for the committee and consultant to continue looking at properties. ​“I believe this is asking a lot of them, but they agreed to do it.”

Although the site selection is a huge question mark, DaRos is firm in his belief that the project has to move forward. He told the Eagle this week that he hopes to get the Public Works issue before the Board of Selectmen before too long. 

“The public works department is not the public works of several years ago. Today they’re asked to do a lot more,” he told the approximate 75 people at Tuesday’s hearing. ​“This is the time we build for the future. I believe we should build this.”

The consultant estimates it will cost about $10 million to build at either of the top two sites — - Tabor Drive or 20 Northeast Industrial Road.

The project must first be approved by Board of Selectmen (BOS), and then by the Board of Finance, and the Representative Town Meeting (RTM). In addition, approvals may be required from the Inland Wetland and the Planning and Zoning commissions.

Just before DaRos spoke, Republican Third Selectman Jamie Cosgrove voiced his objections. ​“My main concern is the cost of this project,” he said, adding that there are roads that need to be repaired and other projects. ​“We’ve been neglecting our infrastructure going back many years…now it’s catching up to us.”

Earlier in the hearing, Cosgrove said he prefers the Northeast Industrial Road site rather than Tabor, a position other Republicans have voiced.

“We have to really look into the future,” Cosgrove said. He said putting a DPW facility and fueling station in the middle of an area that may be used for ball fields and passive recreation does not make sense. ​“Future generations would look at it and say this is poor planning.” Other town officials said the DPW facility site is not in the middle of the 77-acre Tabor space but on the side by a knoll.

Public tours of both sites were held. Click here to read about the Feb. 25 tour at Northeast Industrial Road. 

TABOR WALK DRAWS CROWD

The Tabor Drive two-hour tour was held Sunday and attracted local residents, members of the Representative Town Meeting and environmentalists. Art Baker (pictured), the head of public works, led the tour attended by about 45 people. 

He said he expected that his workers would make roughly 11 trips back and forth daily. Typically they arrive for work at 7 a.m. and are gone at 3:30 p.m. Fire trucks may also be at the site from time to time.

Some residents raised concerns about flooding on Tabor Drive. That had to be fixed, Baker said, adding that DaRos agreed that it would be. To get to this site requires going through neighborhoods and at least one tricky intersection at Tabor Drive and South Montowese Street. This intersection would be realigned. 

Chet Blomquist, the town’s trail guru, took the walk through Tabor because the Shoreline Greenway Trail joins the Tabor property at certain points. The trail will connect five different parts of Branford. Click this video at the top of the story to hear him describe the site.

Second Selectman Andy Campbell, who arranged the walks and tours of the facilities, was concerned about the Tabor Drive flooding and said the road needed to be raised. 

The building committee unanimously chose the Tabor site as their first preference. The facility would be built on a 10-acre portion of the 77-acre site that was seized by the town through eminent domain in 2003 because of proximity to the contaminated landfill, which is owned by the town. Lawsuits evolving from the taking spanned three administrations, those of DaRos, John Opie, Cheryl Morris and Daros again.

The location of the public works building would not interfere with other projects that might eventually be placed on the large swath of land. Thus far no formal master plan has been adopted for the site.

But recognizing the need for one, architects proposed a site in the middle of a field that backs against a 23-acre woodland that will remain in perpetuity because it belongs to the Branford Land Trust. It is actually located on a knoll, DaRos said afterwards and that was done on purpose to accommodate future projects.

A campus-style layout would be created at the 5‑acre second-choice site on Northeast Industrial Road. The two existing buildings would have to be renovated, but since they are not large enough to meet the DPW’s needs, a new building would have to be constructed. The property, which is on the market for $1.25 million, is located behind the Tremonte Auto Group dealership on East Main Street.

THE PUBLIC HAS ITS SAY

The hearing Tuesday was held at the Tabor Lutheran Church so that neighbors could voice their opinions on the proposal. Overall there was not a large turnout of neighbors and not all were opposed.

Cara Seward, who lives on Tabor Drive, said the residents’ major objections are truck traffic on the residential roads, on-going flooding problems in the area, and any potential effects on real estate values. ​“It will affect us every day. We don’t want it there,” she said.

Peter Hvizdak (pictured at the podium), who lives on Pine Orchard Road, asked if access to the site would be equally divided between Tabor Drive and Pine Orchard Road. When informed that was correct, he asked if improvements would be made to Pine Orchard Road for safety purposes.

Hvizdak said he prefers the Northeast Industrial Road site because of its proximity to Route 1. ​“When I came through here tonight, I don’t get a good feeling about DPW being here…I think it’s going to mess up the quality of life here….Route 1 is the right way to go.”

Dennis Flanigan, a Republican member of the RTM who represents the Tabor area, said he is concerned about flooding that limits access to the neighborhood and the proposed site.

A letter was read from Pastor Bryan Myers, of the Tabor Lutheran Church, who could not attend the hearing. He said it is not appropriate to locate the DPW facility on Tabor Drive, which he described as a ​“wonderful and peaceful neighborhood.”

Frank Twohill, Republican minority leader of the RTM, has opposed this site in the past. He said building the facility on Northeast Industrial Road would be a ​“good opportunity” because it is a commercial and industrial area, it has public utilities and doesn’t need road improvements. He also objected to the cost of the project.

“I believe the public works (building) can be scaled back,” Twohill said. ​“It’s a can of worms to put it at Tabor.”

A few residents were in favor of the Tabor Drive location.

“What’s taking so long,” asked Laymond McGhee of Waverly Park Road. ​“Let’s get it done. Let’s make the whole think a greenfield after we put in the garage there.”

Ed Vianney, who lives at the corner of Tabor and South Montowese, one of the truck traffic streets, said he favors the project. ​“I’ll probably be affected more than anybody in this room… It think it’s a very good location…I see it as a very benign use of this land.”

DaRos said he met with residents of Tabor Drive and the surrounding neighborhoods several years ago when he first suggested putting the DPW in that location. He said traffic and road concerns can be dealt with. ​“We talked about this issue all the way back in 2008,” DaRos said, adding that the neighbors’ concerns will be addressed in the planning stages. The public works building was high on DaRos’s agenda when he was elected in 2007 to serve as first selectman. 

“I certainly take all your remarks very seriously,” DaRos said.

Jeff Alberti, of Weston & Sampson, the consulting engineer for the Public Works Building Committee, said it would take up to eight months to design the project and about 15 months for construction. He said plans call for a new access road that would bypass the residential streets in the Tabor Drive area. Costs are included in the project to improve access roads and build new ones, both for the Tabor Drive side and the Pine Orchard side. 

The Northeast Industrial Road site was previously used to repair truck and to wash out the interior of tanker trucks. During the public tour, DPW Director Art Baker said an environmental report, commissioned by the owner, revealed contaminated soil that apparently occurred when water that flushed out the interior of tanker trucks leaked from pipes leading to a nearby on-site treatment facility.

Realtor Frank Hird, of O, R& L Commercial, said the owners will re-mediate the contaminated area before the property is sold.

The DPW site selection was on the agenda for Wednesday’s Board of Selectmen meeting, but DaRos said it would be premature to discuss the issues until the two new sites are reviewed. At that time, a final, final decision is expected to be made. 

Marcia Chambers contributed reporting to this story.

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