Diana Stricker Photo
Third Selectman James Cosgrove (pictured right) presented a 7‑point plan to speed up the site selection process for a new public works building, and First Selectman Anthony “Unk” DaRos said he is close to finalizing a deal on a new property.
The proposals for Branford’s public works building were discussed at Wednesday’s Board of Selectmen meeting, but no decisions were made.
Discussions have been ongoing for two years about where to locate the new public works building. The Board of Selectmen (BOS) voted 2 – 1 in November to approve the town-owned Tabor property. However, Tabor neighbors were adamantly opposed to the plan, and the proposal has been stalled.
At Wednesday’s BOS meeting, Cosgrove, who voted against the Tabor site, presented his plan, which includes repealing the Tabor vote. “I think we need to reverse the decision we made about Tabor,” he told the board.
His suggestions include having the Public Works Building Committee thoroughly evaluate four properties: 20 Elm St. (Cherry Hill Glass); 434 E. Main St. (west of the Tilcon bridge); 777 – 779 East Main St. (part of the former Bittersweet property); and the new property suggested by DaRos.
Cosgrove also wants the committee to reexamine the size of the proposed facility and to set a budget at $7 million. In addition, he wants the committee to make a presentation on all four sites before the BOS votes again. “I think it needs to be open … and we make a decision based on all four sites,” he said. He has not yet made a report on Cherry Hill Glass, which he undertook to do months ago.
DaRos said he agreed with some of the ideas but not all. “I’m not willing to vote on this tonight. … I don’t think there’s any need to repeal it (the Tabor site) tonight.”
Second Selectman Andy Campbell said reversing the Tabor vote could affect the marketability of the other properties. “It bumps the potential purchase price up,” he said.
Cosgrove said the committee already knows the asking price for some of the properties.
Diana Stricker Photo
Both Cosgrove and Campbell (pictured left) have recently announced their intentions to seek the office of first selectman. DaRos is not seeking another term.
DaRos said there is no need to take action on any of the other properties while negotiations are ongoing on the new property that he learned about. DaRos told the BOS at the May 1 meeting that a property in the center of town recently became available but he didn’t want to discuss specifics while talks are ongoing with the owner.
The Eagle is withholding the address while negotiations are pending. Click here to read about that.
DaRos said progress is being made on that site. “Hopefully, next meeting we’ll have some answers for you,” he told the board Wednesday.
Cosgrove, the sole Republican on the three-member BOS, also asked that he be allowed to appoint two people to fill vacancies on the Public Works Building Committee. “People claim that you cherry-picked the committee,” Cosgrove told DaRos.
DaRos disagreed with that claim, but said he would allow Cosgrove to make suggestions for the vacancies.
Jacey Wyatt, who is running for first selectman on an independent party ticket, asked that she be allowed to submit her name as a member of the Public Works Building Committee.
“I welcome anybody to send me their names,” Cosgrove said.
Russo’s Demands
During the public comment period, Fred Russo, who heads the Stop Tabor movement, said he wanted to know why DaRos has not publicly acknowledged the private meeting on April 30 they had. Russo had asked for a private meeting so that he could explain the reasons why residents oppose the Tabor site.
“There’s been absolutely no response to it at all,” Russo said, adding he was surprised the meeting and the issues have never been publicly acknowledged by DaRos. The meeting was closed to the media at Russo’s request, but afterwards he sent copies of the report to the media.
DaRos said the response he made was that he is looking at a new site that could be used instead of Tabor. “When you left (the office) you knew I was looking at another site,” DaRos said. “We’re working on it.”
DaRos said he and the committee have been looking for alternative sites to Tabor ever since the public hearings in February and March of 2012 when neighbors vocally opposed the plan. “We’re actually trying to work with you,” he told Russo.
That is not how Russo sees it.
“The public has less and less trust in our leadership being transparent,” Russo said as he asked for a response to the statements he made during the meeting. Russo says he represents more than 600 people in the Stop Tabor movement, many of whom wish to remain anonymous.
The extensive report includes details of Russo’s 41 “compelling reasons” why the public works building should not be built at Tabor. Some reasons fall under the categories of flooding, traffic, safety, property values, environment, faulty selection process, and costs to taxpayers. The report states there are “more suitable and less expensive sites” available.
In the report, Russo also suggests that the BOS and/or the Representative Town Meeting establish a Tabor Committee to develop long-range master plan for the property.
DaRos said he read the report that Russo compiled. “I read it all the way down until you get to the name-calling,” he told Russo.
Rising Seas
In other business Wednesday, DaRos announced a public workshop about hazard mitigation and rising seas will be held Monday at 6 p.m. at the Fire Headquarters community room.
Branford is one of 10 towns taking part in a regional effort spearheaded by the South Central Regional Council of Governments to identify and mitigate potential natural hazards. The group is developing a Hazard Mitigation Plan, which will enable them to apply for FEMA grants for mitigation projects. Town engineer Janice Plaziak has been instrumental in helping develop the plan. Click here to read a story about that.
DaRos previously announced he is considering forming a Coastal Resilience Committee to deal with issues of rising tides, storm surges and flooded roads. He asked for input and at the meeting he received it.
“I think we should be looking this not only as a regional problem, but a local problem,” DaRos said.
“It’s something we need to address,” said Cosgrove. “The town has to recognize that flooding on the shoreline affects everybody in town.”
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As I have mentioned on Branford's other news site, the perfect site for the Public Works Department is the Atlantic Wire building. It has plenty of on-site storage for materials, is centrally located, and trucks could move in and out without notice. It has abundant office space which could also serve the needs of other town agencies. It was a brownfield site in process of clean-up, and while it would need some work, it could be moved into just about as-is. It was last sold for $800K, with funds in escrow for clean-up. So offer the owner a reasonable profit and go for it. As someone who has never signed the petition against Tabor, but think it is a wasteful mistake, I think we need find a much better solution, that doesn't hurt current residents. I would also like to say that the Tabor property deserves a well thought out community based master plan, with public input.