HADDAM PLANNING & ZONING Meeting – July 18, 2019
Notes provided by Melanie Giamei
At the Planning and Zoning meeting of July 18, focus was on Town Planner Bill Warner’s presentations: Results of a Public Opinion Survey, and Site Selection for a New Town Garage. The video-recorded meeting is available HERE.
A recent Community Feedback Survey served as the basis for guiding the town in what should be the next steps taken once the town owns the Haddam Elementary School properties (school site and open space parcel.) With a good public response to the survey, it provided a reflection about what should happen next with the HES property. Bill Warner commented that it is important to handle the survey properly. He covered nine questions on the survey by showing results and providing relevant information to aid in future decision-making. He covered possibilities of selling or leasing the HES property, if sold, then at what cost, a community sewer system, new uses of the property, and proceeds from the sale or lease. His recommendations for the next step in the process is to issue requests for proposals as soon as possible, and then to evaluate them.
Mr. Warner took questions from the Planning and Zoning Commission members, They ranged from Haddam’s family of four median income, school maintenance costs, roof condition and costs, the September property transfer of the school and open space, support for proposals, town budget line items and that the town planner would be the one to send out the RFPs.
The second presentation was entitled New Town Garage. The existing Haddam Public Works facility has run out of space. Where should it be relocated? The presentation began with a description of the current facility, including size, needs, costs, environmental issues, and rental currently being paid at another property, because as Bill Warner stated, “There is no room to grow.” He added that this has been a problem for years, with several previous potential sites eliminated for various valid reasons such as steep grades, wetlands, costs, and property size. The planner urged that it is best to act now to find a new site, and the current site can be rented out.
To determine the needs of a new facility, the Jacobson Engineering firm did a study to address such requirements as size of garage area, office and employee facilities, salt storage, road access, environmental issues, buffer zones, zoning, construction costs, and room to grow. A comparison was made with the town of Hebron which has similar population and needs for a new facility. Currently, Haddam rents a piece of Rossi property for $36,000 per year, further evidence of the lack of room to grow.
Two parcels were proposed that would meet the needs of the Public Works Department now and into the future.
The first site selected is adjacent to the Eversource facility on Saybrook Road and Rutty Ferry Road. Basically, it meets the needs of the Jacobson study with the possibility of Eversource allowing an access driveway from their property onto Saybrook Road.
The second site was 300 Saybrook Road, the Rossi property in the center of Higganum. Size, site work, environmental issues being of no further need of remediation, existing strong steel frame buildings, elimination of the rental cost, sewer system probability, main roads access, and room to grow were all discussed, as was the impact on Higganum Center. Again, commission members posed questions involving costs, remediation, pollution and liability, acreage, and town road maintenance. Public Works Department Head Christopher Corsa was available to answer questions as well.
Ed Note: This clarification by Melanie Giamei was triggered by a question from Joanne Nesti …
Regarding the deeds of the HES property in the
article above, at this time, there will be one deed from District #17 to
the town for the Haddam Elementary School property, and one deed to the
Haddam Land Trust for the Swan Hill Open Space.
According to the town planner, the next steps include posting his presentations on the town website. A Public Hearing would follow to allow for the public to comment and ask questions. The Board of Selectmen would then make their recommendation as the third step in the process.
For details, please visit the town website at www.haddam.org. The aforementioned presentation can be found HERE.
