Tilcon deal gains support

By: SCOTT WHIPPLE, Herald Staff

PLAINVILLE - Though Hickory Hill residents, rattled by Tilcon Connecticut's recent blasting, vow to continue their opposition to a proposed land swap deal, during the past week the plan has picked up support.

The deal stipulates that Plainville and New Britain get 95 acres of open space in exchange for a 130-acre parcel in Plainville.

Tilcon would use the land - some of it in a Class 1 watershed area - for additional quarry work. This would involve explosives; however, the company insists they would be set off at a safe distance from residents' homes.

A surprise supporter of the Tilcon plan is state Rep. Betty Boukus, D-22nd Dist. Boukus, who lives near the target area, says environmentalists have encouraged her "to go for it."
"Finally, we're doing something good for the future," she said. "It may be a bit noisy, but it's the price you pay for progress."

Jason Rupaka, chairman of Plainville's conservation commission, the town's Democratic town committee, and clean energy task force, said he's on board with Tilcon. He's convinced Plainville will not only gain open space, but that water quality won't be affected adversely.

A candidate this fall for town council, Rupaka views the deal as "a positive for Plainville. There's enough safeguards in place that if anything caused alarm it would be taken care of. So, I don't think we need to slam on the brakes now."

However, residents on the New Britain side collecting signatures on a petition to be presented at the next public hearing believe they can "slam the brakes" on the deal.

Tilcon President Rick Mergens argues that the watershed won't be affected.

"This [deal] would actually increase the watershed," he said.

Mergens explains that Tilcon's business is capital intensive. Operating on a year-to-basis would be difficult and costly - up to $500,000 - as would conducting various studies required by the Department of Health and the Department of Environmental Protection.

"Before we spend that kind of money we wanted to know if we could enter a lease agreement longer than a year," he said.

The agreement would stipulate 1,000-foot buffers from blasting.

"Now that concerns of blasting have come to our attention, we're going to explore possible blasting mitigation techniques," Mergens said.

Enter Timothy Stewart. New Britain's mayor has been criticized for urging special legislation to give the city the authority to negotiate a lease of protected city-owned watershed land.

Stewart told The Herald: "The Department of Public Health, which has jurisdiction over watershed properties, told us they weren't comfortable giving us authorization to do this. However, they said if we got legislative approval, they'd go through with it."

Sen. Don DeFronzo, D-6th Dist., is questioning Stewart's motives and the mayor's "cloak of secrecy" surrounding the deal.

"I never said we had to do this tomorrow," Stewart said. "All I said was 'the positives far outweigh the negatives.' Fifteen million is $15 million, especially when we're struggling for revenue."

As chief elected official of the community, Stewart said he doesn't need to consult daily with the community and inform everybody what he is doing.

"I can't wait for 72,000 opinions," he said. "I'd get nothing done. I've been meeting with Tilcon for nearly a year on land-use issues. None of the meetings were clandestine; public officials were involved. Our discussions weren't open to the public until what we discussed became a public issue."

The proposal is subject to three public hearings. The lease and contract will be scrutinized by the city of New Britain, the town of Plainville, the Inland Wetland Commissions of New Britain and Plainville, the City Planning Commission of New Britain, and the Planning and Zoning Commission of Plainville.

If the proposal is approved, open space will be increased by a 2-to-1 ratio. More than 250 acres will be deeded from Tilcon to New Britain, Plainville and Southington.

Both Stewart and Mergens insist that Tilcon will provide safeguards for homeowners and that blasting will not cause the damage some homeowners fear it will.

"It's a huge advantage not only for New Britain but for Plainville," Stewart said. "New Britain's benefit is mostly financial; for Plainville it's quality of life."