Bull in a china shop...

Bull in a china shop. That's the best way to describe the proposed re-development of the Timex Property. No offense to the bull - he's entitled to be himself - but not in a china shop. This project should be confined to an area that can handle its destructive power (no wetlands destroyed & no sensitive environmental receptors on all sides), and that's not in Middlebury.

Help us close the door on the bull...

We raised $4868 of our $10,000 goal for March. We're thankful for that support and have put it to good use. The fight's not over, so the fundraising isn't over yet either. Any amount is a valuable contribution to the cause - we appreciate all of it!

Checks can be sent to Middlebury Small Town Alliance, PO Box 1073, Middlebury, CT, 06762

Our GoFundMe site: https://www.gofundme.com/f/middlebury-small-town-alliance

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The Non-Public Hearing

If you missed Tuesday night’s Conservation Commission public hearing, you missed a grand show. Granted, the seats were more comfortable and the sound was definitely better, but several people got shut out of the Zoom broadcast (again, limited to 100 participants) and the public got shut out of its own public hearing. Vice Chair Mary Barton asked the applicant, peer reviewer & town engineer, and intervenor to all be finished speaking by 8:30pm to allow the public an hour of time to talk before everyone was supposed to be out of the auditorium at 9:30pm. At 8:30pm, the applicant was still shuffling speakers through a complete re-presentation of the entire application (with cute butterfly pictures for emphasis), and the peer reviewer & town engineer hadn’t even started their suddenly lengthy comments. The intervenor’s attorney and only one of its experts spoke briefly for 15 minutes to rebut the still-not-in-compliance-with-DEP-regs stormwater management plan, and then stepped aside to let the public speak. In total, the public got only about 35 minutes of time to speak, so the hearing was recessed until April 4th at 7pm at PHS.

Key takeaways from the evening:

• The applicant’s soil scientist spent an extraordinary amount of time degrading the quality of the wetlands on the property as not being worthy of their title, trying to imply that Middlebury’s wetlands regulations only apply to higher class wetlands.

• The applicant refused site access to the MSTA’s herpetologist, but then turned around and hired him to assess ribbon snake habitat on the property he was formally denied access to. Shockingly (not really), there is suitable habitat for ribbon snakes on the Timex property, but since the applicant only asked for snake assessment, the herpetologist ignored all the other creatures that might live in all the “Federal” wetlands on the property. He didn’t ignore the vernal pools over on the Benson Woods (BW) side, however, and spent all of his time shaming any future development at BW for harming wood frogs and salamanders. Don’t get confused: this was not a full biological assessment, it was simply a habitat assessment, and the attempted “look over at them and not at what we’re doing” didn’t fool anyone in the audience. We also noticed that no 700 ft impact boundary was drawn around the Timex vernal pool the peer reviewer mentioned.

• The peer reviewer originally identified the potential vernal pools at BW, noting that the water for these pools came from the Timex property. This was confirmed by the MSTA’s soil scientist, with the comment that the watershed on the Timex property was likely larger than what it was being credited as. The applicant’s engineer jumped all over this in February, offering to provide water from the site to these potential pools so development didn’t de-water them. Now that we know those are high quality vernal pools (thank you, herpetologist), the herpetologist then recommended removing the level spreader that would have provided water to the pools. Good thing, too, because the real water quality calculations show contaminates are not being removed at the levels required by the state. But we’re still left with the Timex re-development dewatering the very excellent vernal pools at BW.

• The applicant’s engineer, the peer reviewer (a soil scientist, not an engineer), and the town’s consulting engineer all suffer from the same disease: that storm water management design is like Legos...everyone can be a master builder using any random blocks they like. How any of them could say with a straight face that the plan NOW complies with CT DEP regulations is laughable: it was supposed to comply from the very beginning, they’re on like revision #4 or #5, and it still doesn’t comply because they’re mixing and matching pieces that don’t go together. The town’s consulting engineer was fine with the first plan...no wait, now the second one is also fine…OK, the third is fine…and the 4th is also good. Which is it? And why should we believe any of it if the application didn’t comply from the very start? If you think too hard about this, you’ll realize that if the MSTA hadn’t hired the area’s leading storm water management and water quality expert, the applicant would have gotten away with building a system that utterly failed to comply with state regulations and just passed pollution untreated downstream to Avalon Farms, Benson Woods, and Kissawaug Swamp.

• The most astonishing part of the applicant’s presentation was the approximately 7 minute discussion of feasible and prudent alternatives. By this time, the audience was in a foul mood, and the presenter rushed through his part of the filibuster. Mind you, the whole purpose of the public hearing was because the Conservation Commission determined this project would have “significant impact” on wetlands, and the applicant was therefore obligated to provide feasible and prudent alternatives that wouldn’t harm wetlands. We got almost 2 hours of re-presentation of the original proposal that triggered this finding, and about a sneeze’s worth of possible alternatives. What we did hear and see was a very narrow interpretation of wetlands impact, meaning just the actual wetland boundaries were considered when moving buildings around to avoid impact, and not the more than 300,000 sq ft of upland review area that is also regulated. And now we know, thank you herpetologist, that the 100’ upland review area should really be more like 700’-3000’ feet because frogs can hop, so building right up to the very edge of the actual wetlands defies the concept of no impact (sort of like your kids not actually touching each other in the back seat).

• Finally, the applicant now threatens an affordable housing development on the residential portion of the Timex property if he can’t destroy wetlands to build his 720,000 sq ft building. This threat actually insults anyone who might need affordable housing: if the existing neighboring residential properties don’t want to live next to a distribution facility, why would we ask anyone needing affordable housing to live even closer? Is the implication that, like the “isolated state" wetlands, someone with a lesser income is less valuable?

The public hearing was recessed until Tuesday, April 4th at 7pm. This means the public should finally get time to speak, and you won’t have to sit through presentations first. There is plenty to complain about this application, and we’re looking forward to the opportunity to complain loudly. Please join us.

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Conservation Commission Public Hearing - Tuesday, March 28th at 7pm

Location: Pomperaug High School Auditorium, 234 Judd Rd, Southbury

- Wear RED to show your opposition

- Arrive early to get a good seat

- Print out your comments to hand in after you speak

- It is enough to state your name and address for the record, and then say you do not support the destruction of wetlands in Middlebury to permit this scale of project

- Be flexible - no information has been provided on how the public hearing will be conducted

- The meeting will be available on Zoom, but in view-only mode (no ability to ask questions or make comments)

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84176765936?pwd=YkZvMlNDT0pvSFJsdDF3ZFhPUll5Zz09

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We Don’t Want This.

Members of the MSTA attended a community meeting on Sunday afternoon, and one of our neighbors made an interesting comment: “While there are 50 good reasons why Middlebury residents don’t want this project in our town, it should be enough to say we don’t want this.”

A different resident asked if we’ve heard of anyone in favor of the project, and what potential benefit to Middlebury is being offered? Out of the hundreds of people we’ve met at meetings, public hearings, the transfer station, knocking on doors, or via email and phone calls, the only potential benefit we’ve heard mentioned is “tax dollars,” and only a handful of people have mentioned being in favor of the project for that reason. There is no rival group advocating FOR a distribution center in Middlebury, unless you count the fact that our town officials let the project in the front door to begin with.

Of course, the actual amount of tax dollars that Middlebury might receive out of this project is a murky projection, clouded by potential tax abatements (from the town or the state) and the simultaneous negative effect on residential property values within a mile of the distribution facility. Two Avalon Farms homes are already for sale, with one of those homes on Christian Rd, directly across from the project. We also heard anecdotally that a potential sale fell through at Brookside for the same reason.

Google the phrase “Amazon disputes property tax” and you’ll see that in Fargo, ND and Polk County, IA, Amazon is challenging the property tax assessment value of its distribution facilities, claiming less expensive HVAC was installed, or the building quality is “average” vs. “above average,” or that the 240,000 sq ft mezzanine level used for storage is personal property, and should be removed from the real estate tax role. Amazon’s challenge in both cases is asking for millions to come off the assessed value: $119.4M to $96.8M in Fargo, ND and $70M less on the Bondurant, IA property.

Incidentally, Bondurant, IA has a population of 7,365 according to the 2020 census, and the distribution facility built there on 167 acres has a gross area of more than 2.69 million square feet.

What’s the point? It’s legal for businesses to try to reduce their tax burdens as much as possible, and if Amazon is aggressively targeting assessment values on its facilities, you know other businesses are as well. We still don’t know who the tenant might be for the Timex distribution facility, but we do know that the reason companies rent these kinds of spaces is to reduce their property taxes. It’s all part of a very real, legal game that is played on a national scale. In Bondurant, Amazon received a standard six year tax abatement program from the town (80% off new construction property taxes in the first year and a 10% decrease each year after to 30% at year 6). It’s not two years into a generous tax break and it’s already arguing that the building is worth $70M less than currently assessed.

Why would anything different happen in Middlebury? The developer will build new construction and then sell the debt and tax incentives to the next owner. The tenant will sign a lease and then try to wiggle out of as much property tax as possible by arguing the building isn’t worth as much as it actually is. All the while, Middlebury residents are still left with all the negative consequences and none of the “benefits” we were promised.

Here’s the real question: how much is Middlebury’s quality of life worth? We heard someone say that even if the project would result in our collective tax bills going to zero, he still wouldn’t want to live near a distribution facility. People come from all over to play at Quassy Amusement Park and to enjoy the lake and the Greenway. Do we want their first view of Middlebury from Exit 16 to be a giant, pollution-generating trucking facility? Why do we want to increase the asthma rate at LMES and for the 55-and-older population living at Benson Woods?

We believe you can’t put a price tag on the quality of life we have in Middlebury, and trading what we currently have for a perceived future savings on a tax bill (not proven and not likely) is not a fair deal. We’re a semi-rural, small town, and we want to stay that way. There is nothing the developer can promise that will change this fact. Middlebury isn’t a heavy industry locale, yet that’s exactly what the developer is asking us to become, and what town officials want you to swallow every time you hear “tax dollars” as justification for approving this project. We shouldn’t have to list all the reasons why this project is not right for Middlebury: it’s enough to say, “WE DON’T WANT THIS.”

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Only Half a Voice...

If you didn't know better, and you only read yesterday's article in Voices, your opinion of the Feb 28th Middlebury Conservation Commission Meeting would be a victim of the same 'multiverse event' that the Voices reporter apparently was. What makes this 'event' even more interesting is how much space Voices dedicated to this article compared to a lack of articles on this story since January. Furthermore, the second half of the meeting is completely missing from the article's coverage, and that was the best part of the whole night!

It's not like the reporter was rushing to make a same day deadline, and just didn't have time to stay for the whole meeting. The article was published yesterday, March 15th, covering an event that happened on February 28th. The entire meeting was on Zoom...oh wait, there were so many people who tried to log onto the meeting, the Zoom meeting limit of 100 was exceeded. The meeting minutes have been posted online for some time, and the Intervenor and its experts' contribution to the meeting is clearly documented there, but not here. It might be important to know that the drainage engineer hired by the Middlebury Small Town Alliance (aka The Intervenor) clearly and definitively stated that the proposed storm water management plan (including the bio-retention basins suggested by the non-drainage engineer peer reviewer) does not comply with CT DEP regulations because it is the wrong system in the wrong location given the type of soil on the property, plus the system doesn't address water quality at all. That makes the third attempt by the applicant to propose a storm water management plan, and the third set of plans that don't comply with state regulations.

There was also no attempt to talk to any of the almost 200 residents who attended the meeting and stayed until it concluded at 10:20pm. Maybe because they were all wearing red in opposition to the project, they were actually invisible. Or maybe all the 'No Distribution Facilities in Middlebury' yard signs don't send a clear enough message. Or just maybe, when Middlebury's Inland Wetlands regulations define "significant impact" to wetlands, the definition excludes the complete destruction of wetlands to allow for the biggest, most polluting building possible on the property (WARNING: there was an extreme amount of sarcasm in this paragraph if you didn't already notice).

The public hearing on March 28th at 7pm has been moved to the Pomperaug High School Auditorium to accommodate the large number of residents who clearly have something to say about the destruction of wetlands to accommodate a high-pollutant load site. Don't be content with half a Voice - let's make sure the Conservation Commission hears ALL our voices loud and clear!

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Important Update - Conservation Commission Now at Pomperaug HS

*Conservation Commission Now at Pomperaug HS*

We have confirmed the Public Hearing regarding the redevelopment of the Timex Property at 555 Christian Rd, Middlebury, CT into a 720,000 total sq ft distribution facility will now be held at ***Pomperaug High School***. The time and date remain the same - 3/28 at 7 pm.

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Important Town Budget Meeting - Thursday, March 16th

This week, the Middlebury Board of Finance (BOF) and Board of Selectmen (BOS) have a special joint budget meeting at 7pm in the Town Hall Conference Room on Thursday, March 16th. It does not appear this meeting will be available on Zoom, so it's important that residents attend to witness what is proposed and decided upon. Public Comment is allowed and highly encouraged. 

The agenda is available here: https://www.middlebury-ct.org/sites/g/files/vyhlif6871/f/agendas/joint_bos_and_bof_special_mtg_agenda_03162023.pdf

There is special concern surrounding the proposed 2023-24 Region 15 school budget. First, the proposed budget increase is largely driven by contractual salary increases and inflation-driven increases in energy, transportation, health insurance, and out of district tuition costs. Middlebury also gained additional students in the last year while Southbury lost more graduating seniors, so the percentage of the budget Middlebury is responsible for also shifted higher.

Second, the pool at PHS is in dire need of repairs, and the BOE is considering a repair bond to cover the estimated $3.5M in repair costs. It would cover this bond cost using a current bond payment that ends this year, and other needed capital repairs such as fire panels, HVAC systems, tennis courts and away bleachers would also be included in the repair bond.

The Superintendent's budget presentation is available here: https://resources.finalsite.net/images/v1677598826/region15org/baq630gx5tdlv7jbjv2z/R15Budget2023-24FINAL.pdf

There is a joint Middlebury/Southbury Boards of Finance and BOE public hearing on March 29th at 6:30pm in the Media Center at PHS. If you can't make the 3/16 Middlebury meeting, you have a second chance to provide input at the March 29th public hearing.

The PHS Girls Swim and Dive team are State Champions, and the Boys Team just won the South-West Conference Championship on March 2nd. We have champion athletes at PHS, and our facilities don't support the exceptional student athletes we're producing. The priorities presented at the special joint budget meeting on Thursday will indicate how Middlebury officials "feel" about the proposed school budget. Without your input, the BOF and BOS may vote not to support the Region 15 school budget.

If you can't attend any of the meetings, please email your opinion to:

First Selectman Ed St. John:         firstselectman@middlebury-ct.org

Selectwoman Elaine Strobel:        estrobel@middlebury-ct.org

Selectman Ralph Barra:                rbarra@middlebury-ct.org

Region 15 Board of Education:    Region15BOE@Region15.org

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Petition: Require a full Biological Survey before Timex Site Development

Middlebury, CT:  The Conservation Commission should require a full biological and habitat study of the Timex Site before approving any redevelopment plans.

Petition · Require a full Biological Survey before Timex Site Development · Change.org

BACKGROUND:

Drubner Equities, LLC has proposed Southford Park, a 720,000 +/- sf warehouse/distribution buildings with associated access, parking and loading areas on two parcels of land: the Timex World Headquarters at 555 Christian Rd. and 764 Southford Rd. in Middlebury, CT. The site plan calls for the destruction of 15,000+ sf of wetlands, and would disturb an additional 7+ acres in the 100 ft upland review area. 

A group of concerned citizens founded the Middlebury Small Town Alliance (MSTA) to oppose this project. The MSTA filed for Intervenor status, and hired a lawyer and expert witnesses to provide critical testimony to the Conservation Commission about the unreasonable level of pollution this project would generate for surrounding sensitive environmental receptors.

At its February 28th meeting, the Middlebury Conservation Commission heard reports from the Peer Reviewer it hired to review the applicant's plans as well as the experts hired by the MSTA. Based on that evidence, the Commission declared the proposed redevelopment of the Timex Headquarters would have a "significant impact" on the existing wetlands on the property, and it scheduled a public hearing for March 28th at 7pm. According to testimony presented by Dr. Stephen Danzer, a nationally certified Soil Scientist, Professional Wetlands Scientist, and Certified Arborist, the Conservation Commission could deny the application simply for the fact that this project would eliminate wetlands from the site, no further information needed.

The Conservation Commission hired a Peer Reviewer because Commission members are only volunteers, and they lack the specific scientific and engineering knowledge to critically evaluate the applicant's proposal. For the same reason, the Commission should also require a full biological and habitat study of the Timex Property before any redevelopment is allowed. Physically marking the boundaries of wetlands is only half the job of an impact study: if a project proposes to destroy wetlands, the Conservation Commission should also know exactly what plant and animal species will be affected by this loss of habitat.

The MSTA had hired the experts necessary to conduct this study, but was denied access to the property by the applicant. The applicant claims there is no need for a biological study because the Natural Diversity Data Base (NDDB) doesn't identify any species of concern on the Timex property. This is only a partial truth: if no one ever looked for threatened or endangered species on the Timex Property, the NDDB would indeed show nothing has been found there. You can't know for sure until you look, and the MSTA believes the Conservation Commission has no business approving this project unless it has done its due diligence in every way possible.

Since the Conservation Commission is responsible for the protection, preservation, maintenance and use of the inland wetlands and watercourses in the Town of Middlebury by minimizing their disturbance and pollution, it is the Commission's highest obligation to ensure that any proposed project fully complies with Middlebury's Inland Wetlands & Watercourse Regulations. It's not the Commission's job to "work" with a developer to find common ground acceptable to both parties: the application either complies with our regulations or it doesn't. If the applicant can't produce a site plan that complies with our regulations, the Commission is obligated to deny the application.

This petition is your chance to vote for the protection of natural resources in Middlebury. The Conservation Commission scheduled a public hearing to better understand your view on the destruction of wetlands: here's your chance to ask the town to fully investigate the consequences of approving this project.

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Hartford Courant: Warehouses face mounting opposition

https://digitaledition.courant.com/html5/mobile/production/default.aspx?edid=e55d9d39-780a-4dd3-b9fa-00f6e536f8d4

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Conservation Commission Notes & Full Reports from our Expert Witnesses

When the Middlebury Small Town Alliance first filed for Intervenor status before the Conservation Commission, our petition asserted that the proposed project on the Timex site would have the effect of unreasonably polluting, impairing or destroying the public trust in the air, water and other natural resources of the state for the following reasons:

• The proposed activities involve site alterations which are reasonably likely to discharge storm water runoff pollutants from the roof areas to downstream wetlands and watercourses, potentially causing premature eutrophication.
• The filling of 15,000+ sq ft of wetlands is a significant activity and will likely lead to a loss in ecological wetlands functions.
• The proposed activity is a High Pollutant Load Site by the CT DEP 2004 Storm Water Quality Manual (Table 7-5, page 7-8) under several criteria. This generates higher pollutant loads from impervious surfaces.
• The proposed stormwater basins are dry detention basins which do not minimize water quality impacts as directed by the CT DEP 2004 Storm Water Quality Manual.
• The proposed stormwater basins do not have forebays as required by the CT DEP 2004 Storm Water Quality Manual, which would allow downstream nutrient loading to receiving waters and wetlands, including the Kissawaug Swamp.
• The filling of wetlands for the building and/or parking areas result in the destruction of wetlands which is the very definition of an adverse physical impact and Significant Activity requiring a public hearing under the Inland Wetlands &Watercourses Act and the consideration of feasible and prudent alternatives pursuant to Conn. Gen. Stat. § I W A §22a-41.
• The proposed wetlands mitigation will not serve to mitigate the filling and loss of functional wetlands and is not a feasible and prudent alternative

In addition to Attorney Keith Ainsworth, the MSTA hired the following experts to testify before the Conservation Commission:

• Steven Trinkhaus of Trinkhaus Engineering, LLC, a professional engineer and drainage expert
• Dr. Steven Danzer of Steven Danzer, Ph.D. and Associates LLC, a nationally certified Soil Scientist, Professional Wetlands Scientist and Certified Arborist
• Dennis Quinn of Quinn Ecological, LLC, a herpetologist and Adjunct Instructor at Naugatuck Valley Community College (unfortunately, because the MSTA was denied access to the Timex site, Dennis Quinn was unable to do any habitat evaluation of the existing site wetlands to check for the potential existence of threatened or endangered species, and so there was no report to produce)

Here are the full reports from our expert witnesses, which fully confirm the concerns we had when filing our intervenor petition back in January. As a result of the MSTA’s efforts to expose the adverse environmental impacts this project would cause, the Conservation Commission finally voted on a finding of significant impact to wetlands at the Feb 28th meeting and scheduled a public hearing for March 28 at 7pm. The applicant is also required to provide feasible and prudent alternatives to filling in wetlands. THANK YOU to all the donors who sponsored our lawyer and expert witnesses: your support was critical for getting us to this decision.

Middlebury Small Town Alliance: Documents

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CONSERVATION COMMISSION SCHEDULES PUBLIC HEARING FOR MARCH 28TH at 7pm.

A sea of red opposition greeted the applicant during last night's Conservation Commission meeting. After almost 3 hours of testimony, the Commission voted on a declaration that the proposed redevelopment of the Timex property will have a significant impact on wetlands, and it called for a public hearing to receive more information on this impact. The hearing is scheduled for the March 28th Conservation Commission meeting, and all members of the public are welcome to attend and speak.

Commissioner Curt Bosco wondered out loud to the Commission's attorney about what would happen if 1,000 members of the public wanted to speak, and Attorney Strub said there were numerous ways to manage the flow of comments from the public, including limiting the amount of time per speaker and discouraging repetitive comments. The Commission also has the option of extending the public hearing to the April meeting if that many members of the public want to weigh in.

We'll be in touch with suggestions on how you can provide your opinion to the Conservation Commission on this critical issue. The MSTA wants every voice to be heard, and we'll work overtime to ensure the Commission fully understands the depth of your feelings on this horrendous project. Thank you for all your support thus far, we couldn't do it without you!

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