(Richard Brock addresses the Common Council.)In a busy night at the Common Council, both an important open space purchase of development rights, and a new Property Maintenance and Code Enforcement ordinance passed unanimously.
The farm will be purchased with a combination of funds from the city's Open Space Bond Referendum, the state's Department of Environmental Protection grant, and a grant from the
Department of Agriculture's Natural Resources Conservation Service.
When the Council passed the purchase of development rights on the 44 acres Brock Farm, one of Connecticut's oldest and most productive, family members hugged and wiped away tears.
Earlier in the meeting Richard Brock explained how his family had farmed the land for 12 generations from 1652, and that it has been deemed some of the most fertile and productive land in Connecticut.
"For the past 25 years we have turned down more offers from developers than you can imagine, including some as late as this spring," Richard Brock explained to the Council.
The Brock family will continue to farm the land, hoping to expand current crops to include vineyards and blueberries.
Council member David Bauer urged the family to grow asparagus, but Council member James Streeto had other ideas.
"I personally want to urge you not to give up on wine," he laughed. "And if you give up on wine, I hope you consider hops."
Several members of the public, including several North End residents who were involved in a workshop with city officials on the city's blight ordinance urged council members to pass an ordinance which will supersede the blight law. The new ordinance will give a code enforcement task force more leverage to seek immediate fixes on health, building and zoning violations, and will provide the legal power to pursue property owners for fines and related costs associated with violations.
The new ordinance passed without discussion.
Debate about the showmobile nearly stalled the meeting as Council members pondered how to honor their promise to cuts costs, including waiving of showmobile fees, and still assist non-profits with events that benefit the city. The Council voted to co-sponsor and waive fees for City of Middletown Second Annual Music Festival Fundraiser to support individuals and families dealing with autism, and they provided retroactive relief by waiving fees for the Annual Relay for Life which was held in May.
The Council also voted to hire a new temporary employee for the new parking department and to extend Honeywell's analysis of energy costs in the city. The Honeywell study identifed thousands of dollars in savings in buildings managed by the Board of Education, and that study will now be extended to city-owned buildings.
2 comments:
The decision to acquire the development rights to the Brock property was an excellent choice. The Brock family's stewardship of their property has been remarkable. As a good friend and former neighbor of the Brock family I know firsthand that they have a real love of the land. Their decision to take a pass on more money from private developers and accept the proposal to sell their development rights is a benefit which will pay environmental and quality of life benefits for the whole community in perpetuity.
This is truly a big win for all of us! Well said Bill Corvo and much agreed! As a member of the Conservation Commission I would like to thank the Brocks, the Conservation Commission and the Open Space Committee, and everyone at the City Planning office who worked so hard to make this happen.
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