Cedar Lake Road Transfer Station site unpopular at hearing
Posted on | January 29, 2009 |
Over 200 people attended a Thursday evening hearing at the Haddam Killingworth High School auditorium to observe or participate in a discussion about the future of Haddam’s waste management practices.
While the atmosphere inside the room was warm with passion, a proposal to develop a new transfer station on town-owned land located on Cedar Lake Road near CT Route 9 received a reception as chilly as the 20° weather outside.
After a lengthy presentation by Anchor Engineering’s principal owner James Otis about the recent history of Haddam’s search for a new site for a transfer station to replace the existing facility, resident after resident spoke against the idea of locating the new operation in a remote residential neighborhood, reachable only on circuitous back roads already heavily traveled by dump trucks violating town permits by traveling too fast and too frequently.
Questions about the project previously directed to the Board of Selectmen by Haddam’s Energy & Sustainability Committee were not directly addressed by Mr. Otis or any of the Selectmen.
A mix of opinions were presented on whether a town-owned transfer station is a good or reasonable goal, but a clear awareness of the impact a faltering economy might have on financing such a project hung in the air, as speakers lined up to voice their concerns.
All three Selectmen present voiced varying degrees of distaste for the idea of using eminent domain as a tool to secure a site.
Contracted curbside pickup of household waste appeared to be viewed as an inevitable, if perhaps only temporary solution to Haddam’s current challenge.
A variety of printed materials were available, including additional copies of the town newsletter mailed earlier this week, as well as a response by a group of concerned Haddam citizens.
Viewed by many as a trial-balloon session to guide the Selectmen in creating a more specific ordinance to be discussed at a future Hearing and voted on at a subsequent Town Meeting, comments indicated that the three-way choice offered in the current newsletter would not sit well with many voters; and that an entirely different proposal should be considered: that an interim curbside pickup contract be prepared while a new Community Waste Management Task Force be created to reexamine waste management alternatives passed over by previous committees which were more focused on choosing a new transfer station site.
Hearing Moderator John Sibley and Selectman Sean Donlan emphasized to the audience that the Board of Selectmen are open to continued input from the public on the matter.
Messages can be directed to the Selectmen by email or by calling 860 345-8531.
The following are dates and time of broadcast by HKTV (Channel 18 for Comcast Clinton customers) of the public hearing on the transfer station from January 29.
9:40:15 PM Town Meeting II
11:51:01 AM Town Meeting II
9:40:15 PM Town Meeting II
Constructive comments on the meeting or the topic are welcome here.
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One Response to “Cedar Lake Road Transfer Station site unpopular at hearing”
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January 30th, 2009 @ 11:37 am
Last night at the Public Hearing on the Transfer Station, it was obvious that the only site under consideration (Cedar Lake) is a really bad idea. What struck me was the lack of vision in those who are “leading” this program. (One problem they determined with the Crystal Lake location was the “sight line” at its entrance. They estimated a huge ~$650,000 cost to engineer it. Seems like a STOP sign or even a traffic light could solve that at a lot less money.) Anyway, they lost all of the private properties under consideration for who knows what reason. So the Cedar Lake location, which they rejected initially, was presented as our only alternative. Many folks spoke up, but the arguments that made the most sense to me were that the site should be on a major travel route, not miles off in the boonies and that we should be looking at it as a recycling center where we could MAKE money. It’s been done.
Our “community” is eroding at an ever faster pace. People no longer bump into one another at the grocery store or the drug store and soon won’t at the town “dump”.
So - what can we do? Thank God we have a wonderful, active bunch bringing a farmer’s market to our town. But we need more! We need more smart, motivated, dedicated people to jump in and drive more grass-roots programs into action.
Please - let’s get together and take active roles in bringing our community back to life! There’s lots of great possibilities out there. We need to create a critical mass that will get action, get grants, get studies, get functional action, get our community back! What do you say? What can you do? Who do you know who can help? Let’s get on this.