Council Votes to Accept Arawana Golf Course Lease

After a lengthy debate which included testimony from Middletown residents opposed to the lease created by Middletown's Planning and Development Department with golf course developer Tony Pioppi, the Middletown Common Council voted to give Mayor Sebastian Giuliano the authority to sign the agreement.  The resolution passed with a vote of 9-3.

Pioppi provided an abbreviated presentation similar to one he has presented to the Economic Development Committee in the past, and City Planner Bill Warner urged the Common Council to accept the lease, dismissing criticism coming from the Conservation Commission as complaints from "a bunch of preservationists."

One of those preservationists Katchen Coley, a member of the Conservation Commission, stood and addressed the Council, admitting she was one of the "bunch of preservationists" and insisted that the proposed lease did not protect the physical and financial interests of residents.   Another member of the Commission (and a correspondent for the Eye), Karen Swartz, read into record, a letter from the Conservation Commission chair, Jane Brawerman, which stated that the proposal for the golf course was "not in keeping with what we see as the primary goals of open space management."

Another Conservation Commission member Michael Ennis, speaking as a resident, and not as a representative of the Commission said, "My objection to this proposal is that it does not rise to the value, quality and benefit of the city compared to the amount of land, the time we're surrendering and the amount of money we're getting for it."

Stephen Devoto, also a correspondent for the Eye, testified that he was not against the golf course in principal, and that he did not view it as the environmental disaster that others did, but he criticized the lease as shortchanging the city in dollar value, environmental quality and exclusivity, and encouraged the Council to make changes which would bring more value to the city.  He compared the proposed lease to others in the country near and far and demonstrated that the city lease, which provides land to the developer at $1 a year for the first five years, might actually bring many more tax and lease dollars to the city.

Finally, Beth Emery, also an Eye correspondent, complained that the Council allowed a presentation from the developer, and asked pointed questions, but had no questions from the qualified experts of the Conservation Commission. Emery also stated that the lease should be more specific in its demands for safe environmental practices.

Former mayor candidate Dan Drew spoke in favor of the lease proposal, saying that it would become an economic driver for the city.  Middlesex Chamber of Commerce Director Larry McHugh also agreed that the economic impact of the course would have a positive affect on Middletown.  His support was echoed by Will Longo, owner of Main Street's Nikita's Restaurant that a golf course could help bring customers to town on slow summer weekends.

The most unique support for the project was offered by Attorney Ralph Wilson, who own property adjacent to the proposed golf course, and stressed that by building a golf course, it would discourage the state from re-claiming the land and building something far less suitable there.  Wilson explained that his family had been part of protests to rebuff penal institutions that the state had proposed formerly for the property over the past 40 years.

"We don't trust politicians," Wilson said.  "We don't trust the state.  You sitting here, we trust.  We don't trust the next batch coming in."

Both Council members Ron Klattenburg and David Bauer, who voted against accepting the lease, protested that the lease draft attached to the resolution was incomplete, needed further consideration and should not be voted on until certain issues were addressed.

"I'm uncomfortable," Klattenburg said.  "There are so many issues that were brought up in the public hearing that I wish I could see in this lease. Maromas holds such a special place for many people in Middletown that we have to be sensitive to that place."

"This project is a steamroller," Bauer said, challenging the contention by two Democratic council members that the project had been vetted over several years.  "If I'm not mistaken, the RFP went out less than a year ago," Bauer added.

In defending a lease which city planner Warner admitted was constructed from the boilerplate language of a previous golf club lease, and which contained a number of typos, and was not available for public inspection until hours before the meeting, Council member Gerry Daley said that "a marked-up version of the lease" had been "available" for months.