Water authority to sell land parcels (complete article from source)
Source: Connecticut Post, by Frank Juliano
March 27, 2007
MILFORD — In a kind of reverse treasure hunt, city officials scrambled Monday to find a parcel of watershed land being offered for sale.
The Regional Water Authority announced that it would buy 3,000 acres over the next 10 years, and at the same time sell 900 acres that are not necessary to protect the area's water system. The city would have the right of first refusal on the Milford site, which is in the northern section and is less than 10 acres, authority spokeswoman Joan Huwiler said.
But the New Haven-based utility will not disclose the exact locations of any of its land for sale until at least Friday, Huwiler said, and that a long process, including holding a public hearing, would be followed before any transaction is completed.
As stewards to more than 26,000 acres in greater New Haven, the authority wants to acquire the additional 3,000 acres either through purchase or conservation easements, officials said, including some land in Orange.
All the parcels will be in the watersheds or aquifers of the authority's existing or future water supplies. The authority provides water to about 400,000 consumers in 12 south central communities within its 16-town district.
"To sustain the high level of water quality, which is expected from us every day, we simply need to protect more watershed land," authority President David Silverstone said. "It's an investment in the sources of our supply. We intend to buy land in many of the same communities where we are
selling parcels. Our decision boils down to managing our assets so we ensure water quality for future generations, while minimizing the burden to ratepayers."
One of the concerns in Milford, though, is that the surplus watershed could be targeted by developers.
"It is probably wetlands, but it's land that we wouldn't want to lose," said Ann Berman, president of the Environmental Concerns Coalition. "We certainly don't want to see any more development along the Wepawaug River. It is already getting contaminated, partly from bacteria from septic fields in Orange."
Huwiler said much of Milford's drinking water comes from North Branford, and that the large Maltby Lakes reservoir on the Orange-West Haven border that had supplied much of the city's water in the past has been "off-line."
Mayor James L. Richetelli Jr. said he met less than two weeks ago with the water authority's policy board, and the possible sale of land in Milford wasn't discussed.
"It's too early to say whether the city would be interested in acquiring it. I don't have an idea what piece of land it is," the mayor said.
Berman said the land in question may be off Red Root Trail, near Wolf Harbor Road and bordering a Girl Scout camp. "That would be something I'd like to see be added to the city's open space. And if the land we're talking about is along the Greenway, that would be important, too."
Huwiler said if the city should pass on buying the land, the state Department of Environmental Protection would be offered it next, and that groups like the Milford Land Trust might have an opportunity as well.
"We are at the very beginning of a long statutory process. The next step is a presentation the water authority will make on Wednesday morning to the regional Council of Governments," she said.
Richetelli, who chairs the council of chief elected officials, said he will be interested in hearing that presentation. When he announced last month the city's agreement to purchase the Cadley Farm bordering Gulf Pond, the mayor said that the land deal completed his "shopping list for open space" that he drew up when he was elected six years ago.
On Monday, he said the possibility of adding the watershed land in north Milford depends on a number of factors, of which price is only one. "We have criteria, and one of those is whether the land would link up to existing open space to create a contiguous greenway," he said.
Frank Juliano, Milford bureau chief, can be reached at 878-2130.
Click here for complete article from Connecticut Post
|
