A River Passage and Open Space at F&G meeting

Two items on the Finance and Government Operations committee agenda were dealt with quickly on Wednesday night, after the longer discussions over Departmental moving at City Hall and the Omo Mfg Superfund Site. F&G discussed the purchase of land east of Mt. Higby, adjacent to Tynan Park, as open space, and they heard about plans to seek Federal funds for clearing the Cogingchaug River below the Charton Terrace Apartments slide.

Open Space Acquisition

City Planner Bill Warner informed the Council members that the Conservation Commission had voted to recommend purchase of 29 acres of open space from Cynthia Jablonski (this is the same property discussed later Wednesday night by the Planning and Zoning Commission). The resulting discussion took place around 7PM, and the Arts Commission was beginning to get restless at being kept out of their meeting room, so my notes are vague on the response of the Committee. I remember unanimous support for the acquisition.

The Common Council will vote at their Monday meeting on a resolution "Authorizing Mayor Sebastian N. Giuliano to sign documents to apply for a DEP matching grant to purchase the 29-acre Jablonski Property on Higby Road for $500,000 with 50% of the funding from the grant and 50% from the Open Space Bond Funds."

Despite the support of both the F&G and the Planning and Zoning Commission for the Conservation Commission recommendation, however, passage of a resolution to this effect on Monday is not guaranteed. The Eye has learned that the Conservation Commission is concerned that members of the Council may not be in support of this resolution.

The Charton Terrace Apartments Landslide

President Obama declared Middlesex County a disaster one week ago, due to the flooding from the storm which began March 12. This makes Middletown eligible to apply for disaster relief funding. Part of the disaster relief can come through the Emergency Watershed Protection (EWP) program, administered by the Natural Resources Conservation Service in the US Department of Agriculture (USDA).

The city can apply for funding to address the debris and dirt which blocked the Coginchaug River when the slope below the Charton Terrace Apartments collapsed. The EWP funding would cover 75% of the cost of clearing the River and removing debris. Planning Director Bill Warner told The Eye that the USDA is doing a Geotechnical report and damage survey which will include cost estimates. He wrote in an email, "once we have the report, which quantifies our 25%, we will start trying to cobble together the funding. DEP indicates that they have funding to help with the 25% for this type of emergency project."

Separately, the owner of Charton is applying for a second time for assistance from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, for money to address the collapse of the upper slope.