Milford will not purchase the Beaverbrook property, a tract of land along I-95, although it will retain a recreation easement for most of the property.
The Board of Aldermen voted unanimously Monday to follow Mayor Ben Blake’s recommendation and pass on the purchase. The city had the right of first refusal before the completes a sale of the property to a developer.
Although the property has 57 acres, only 15 acres are usable for development. The rest are undevelopable marshes, Blake said. The Iroquois natural gas transmission pipeline crosses the property, which also reduces its development potential.
The property is located along the south side of I-95 east of the Schoolhouse Road exit.
Blake said in 2001 before selling it to the church, the water company granted a passive recreation easement for a large portion of the property to the city for one dollar. Since then, the city has spent about $10,000 a year maintaining hiking trails there.
The easement specifies that the city has a 45-day right of first refusal, which was why it came before the aldermen.
Blake said there was no reason for the city to buy the land, since the easement allows it to use it for recreation in perpetuity.
"Why buy the cow when you get the milk for free?" Blake said.
In January, the Kingdom Life Church notified the city it had reached an agreement to sell the property to Grillo Organic, a Milford-based mulching operation, for $3.7 million.
Blake said the sale is contingent on Grillo receiving a special exception permit from the zoning commission for its yard waste recycling operation.
Milford Patch was contacted by at least one resident who expressed concern about what that potential use could mean for area residents in the way of increased traffic and noise, among other quality of life and safety issues.
Also, Grillo can turnaround and resell the land or his business to someone else, like Darlene Chapdelaine of 990 Naug. Most everyone was happy to see Richie Conine purchase and fix up Daniel Street. The club actually put Milford on the local music map. People aren't as happy to see the former owner of Kangaroos purchase Daniel Street from Richie.
Or the church can too, so your point?
Passive recreation is wonderful for all!
We do have a fund for open space but it was used to buy the Downs House. Hopes are running high that the borrowed funds will return to that account.
And in fact, there are actually 3 accounts for open space. They are all hit-or-miss. One is only funded if a new development is built. The developer must either set aside land for open space or pay into the fund. There haven't been many 'developments' lately, hence no money added to the fund. Another is a straight 10% of the greens fee from the city golf course account. This money can be allocated to recreation OR open-space. Recreation usually wins. The third is an account set-aside based on sale of city property. I'm told it only contains $10,000. A dedicated fund, funded by a tax. Citizens said they are willing to do this, according to a recent poll conducted by the Open Space Advisory Committee.
Our current site is frequented by deer, coyotes, hawks, owls, and many varieties of other birds. I have seen coyotes resting on warm compost piles on cold mornings utilizing their heat. The majority of our sites are used to store wind rows of leaves for our composting process. When we leave at 4:30 animals are free to roam the site, and they do. My point is that our operation can and does coexist with nature. Also to those of you questioning our tax history, look into it. Our record has no blemishes. I walk the Beaverbrook Trails daily, and between the train coming through on one side, and I-95 on the other noise cannot be argued. Especially since our site would operate alongside I-95. I understand the bad name that this industry has but we have operated a site on Oronoque since 1993. We have always complied with every state and federal regulation. You cannot rightly compare us to other companies that have shown no regard for the rules. That simply is not fair.
Your present site is not visible from I-95.Why don't you solve all our problems ["DEEP Set to Approve Milford Recycling Facility"] by buying out Recycling Inc?
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