Residents Petition for Town Meeting on Land Swap
The petition is being supported by State Senator Eileen Daily, 33rd district, and State Representative Brian O’Connor 35th district.
The meeting’s purpose would be for the town to apply for $1.5 million allocated by the Connecticut Bond Commission through Public Act 05-279 Section 24.
The petition recommends the town secure a design consultant to create detailed specifications and estimates for the Connecticut Department of Transportation (DOT) garage on Route 145, as well as a contractor for rehabilitation construction.
O’Connor said the submitted petitions would require a town meeting within the next three weeks but said he is unsure of the consequences if the town refuses to hold the meeting.
The petition cover letter states it will be forwarded to Town Attorney John Webber for “a ruling as to the validity of this document.”
“To date, Westbrook’s administration has done virtually nothing to affect the property transfer or even apply for final approval of the bonding, holding hostage what we view as an essential ingredient necessary for Westbrook’s future economy vitality,” Daily said.
The petition does not call for a release of the land swap report which was submitted by the Train Station/DOT Ad Hoc Committee on June 5 to Raffa who refused to release it to the public despite oral and written requests from the Pictorial Gazette and several residents.
“Many of the questions or concerns people may have about this land swap could be answered if there were a public meeting or if the report submitted by the ad hoc train station committee were available to the public,” O’Connor said.
Westbrook resident Chris Elhert claims Raffa said he won’t release the report, even if it is requested through the Freedom of Information Act, because of the act’s exemption regarding property appraisals.
Daily said “he (Raffa) has no basis to keep that secret, that’s absolute nonsense because it is not a purchase and there is no need for any real estate appraisal because it is not a for-profit move. He has no business denying anyone a copy of the report.”
The Pictorial Gazette has filed a FOI complaint on August 29 against Raffa and all committee members.
It cites several violations of the act pertaining to denial of access to public records, failure to submit minutes for meetings, submitting meeting agendas weeks after the meetings took place, and failure to adapt a schedule for meetings so that residents could attend them.
O’Connor agreed with Daily stating, “The public has a right to know what the commission and the report says and there has been more than enough time for them to review and disseminate the information.”
Public Act 05-279 was initiated by Daily and O’Connor which would swap the two-acre Westbrook town garage property and nearby railroad parking area on Route 153 for the five-acre DOT garage on Route 145.
The town garage would be relocated to the Route 145 site while the DOT would demolish the Route 153 garage to build a new railroad station platform and increased parking.
O’Connor said the DOT will finance remediation of the Route 153 property including demolishing the garage and building a new railroad station with increased parking.
The environmental clean-up estimate for the Route 145 property is $150,000 while the Route 153 site is estimated at $462,000, Daily said, adding if remediation for either property exceeds estimates, which she considers unlikely, the cost would be picked up by the state.
“There will be absolutely no cost to the town,” Daily confirmed.
Two acres of the Route 145 site will be given back to the DOT for a salt and sand facility, O’Connor said, adding that the transfer ensures other property in town is not taken off the tax rolls for a facility the DOT claims is necessary.
O’Connor said the remaining three acres is large enough for the public works department.
“The future growth needs (of the Westbrook public works department) would be better served there than their current garage which is bordered by a river, train tracks, and Route 154,” O’Connor said.
“Continued inaction by Westbrook officials puts our town at risk of being the only one on the shoreline without a stop,” Daily said, adding DOT representatives at meetings have threatened to remove the stop if the land swap is not approved.
If the DOT does not remove the stop, it would be the only railroad station platform on the Shoreline East route from New Haven to New London not recently renovated.
If the swap is not approved, O’Connor said, the Route 153 public works garage would still need to be renovated, repaired, and remediated but would come at the expense of Westbrook and not the state.
“Not only do anticipated construction costs continue to rise with these unnecessary delays, but continued inaction signals to the state a lack of local commitment to the project, jeopardizing the state funding we have in place,” O’Connor said.
