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FR EE
Bee Intelligencer Informing the towns of Middlebury, Southbury, Woodbury, Naugatuck, Oxford and Watertown A FREE COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER
Volume IX, No. 13
Town meeting on tax incentive application By MARJORIE NEEDHAM Middlebury’s Board of Selectmen (BoS) at their March 18 meeting set a town meeting for Monday, April 8, 2013, at 7 p.m. in the auditorium at Shepardson Community Center in Middlebury. Electors attending the meeting will consider the question, “Shall the Town of Middlebury accept the Tax Incentive Application of Shaker’s Automotive Group?” The notice of the town meeting states Shaker’s Family Ford-Lincoln has submitted a completed application for certificate of eligibility for tax incentives. It also says the application “was recommended for approval by the Economic and Industrial Development Commission.” Economic and Industrial Development Commission (EIDC) Co-Chair Gerry Matthews said in a telephone interview Wednesday, “We don’t approve or disapprove applications. We vet the application to see if it’s complete or not.” He said completed applications then move to the Board of Selectmen for approval or denial. However, the EIDC considered the Shaker’s application incomplete. When the application, along with a cover letter, was moved to the BoS March 11 by Matthews and Co-Chair Michael Kenausis, their cover letter did not recommend approval of the application. It said the EIDC found the application incomplete. It stated Shaker’s “provided no information of documentation regarding any filed lawsuits (as required by the application).” The letter to the selectmen went on to say, “The Commission believes this to be important information and desires to bring this to your attention as you consider this application and subsequent action.” The letter also
mentioned the tax incentive policy shall not be retroactive. The minutes of a March 11 special EIDC meeting document commissioners’ concerns that action on the application would be retroactive, noting Shakers took out a building permit May 18, 2012, and applied for the Tax Incentive Program in December 2012. The minutes also document continuing discussion of Shaker’s failure to respond to requests for information about pending lawsuits, if any. Despite these concerns, commissioners made a motion to forward the application to the BoS for review and action “subsequent to the item listed above.” The motion was approved by Commissioners Matthews, Kenausis, Armando Paolino, Mark Petrucci and Frank Mirovsky and opposed by Commissioner Ted Manello. Matthews said the commission had to move the application to the BoS because the tax incentive policy requires it to take action within 30 days of receiving an application. Looking at the policy, it also says in Section 5-C that the EIDC shall include “its recommendation for referral to the Special Town Meeting.” This was not included in the March 11 letter. The policy says in Section 5-D that selectmen also have 30 days to act once they receive an application. They have a choice of returning the matter to the EIDC for further action on recommended changes or scheduling a special town meeting. The final decision on the application will be made at the April 8 special town meeting. We were unable to reach Corey Shaker, who filled out the application form, but Shaker did address the incomplete paperwork issue in a March 15, 2013, letter he sent to Matthews and
Friday, March 29, 2013
Spring Flowers!
Hydrangeas and Easter lilies await buyers at Vaszauskas Farm Tuesday. They remind us the cold weather will end, and the warm weather will soon arrive. Not shown are the pansies, daffodils, mini-roses and other flowers available at the farm. (Marjorie Needham photo)
Kenausis after Matthew O’Rourke of the Waterbury Republican-American reported Shaker’s paperwork was incomplete. Shaker told them they asked him if there were any filed lawsuits and he answered there were none he knew of. He said he also stated that in his very first letter to the EIDC months ago. When the application arrived in the First Selectman’s office, Edward B. St. John referred the matter to town counsel, Robert Smith. Smith did not return the
newspaper’s call before press time, but he did present a written opinion on the matter at the March 18 BoS meeting. In an opinion dated March 15, Smith said Shaker had attached a letter to the application stating there is no pending litigation. Smith said the legal entity that is applying is Shaker Enterprises LLC, and he checked the Connecticut judicial website and the federal court Pacer service and found no indication the LLC was a party to any lawsuit. He said he
therefore saw no reason to doubt Shaker’s assertion there is no pending litigation. Based on Smith’s opinion, Selectman Elaine Strobel made a motion to accept the tax incentive application and move it to a town meeting. Selectman Ralph Barra seconded the motion, and it was approved unanimously. Selectman Strobel said Wednesday it is possible Shaker did not initially include information saying whether there were pending lawsuits simply because
there were none. “I’m assuming there was no litigation, so he didn’t submit a letter,” she said. The application form itself seems ambiguous. On the page listing attachments and additional information applicants must provide with their application one bulleted item states: “A description of any current of (sic) pending litigation in which it is or is expected to be a party.” The wording could be interpreted to mean the information is required only if there is pending litigation.
Conservation Commission meeting notes By TERRENCE S. MCAULIFFE Note: Due to an editorial oversight, the report on the Feb. 26 meeting was not published. Reports on the Feb. 26 and March 26 meetings follow.
Feb. 26 Meeting
Signs around town announce Middlebury Boy Scout Troop 444's annual flower sale, which is this Friday and Saturday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Shepardson Community Center in Middlebury. Funds raised support the troop's activities. (Submitted photo)
The Middlebury Conservation Commission (CC) at its Feb. 26 meeting unanimously approved plans for a house on King Street and for the Pilot Seasoning commercial building on Benson Road. Naugatuck Professional Engineer Wayne J. Zirolli described revisions to plans for a house on 333 King Street previously approved by the commission for different owners in 2006. The proposed house for Richard and Karen Fernandez would be slightly smaller at 2,312 square feet compared to 2,364 and would have a front rather than side driveway with 1,440 square feet less impervious coverage. Commissioners agreed the changes conformed to regulations with no feasible alternatives available. Per the request of Rob Rubbo of the Torrington Health District, Zirolli was told to submit documentation copies pertinent to installation of the septic
system, which will be overseen by the Naugatuck Valley Health District. Woodbury Professional Engineer Mark Riefenhauser of Smith & Company described plans by Waterbury’s Pilot Seasoning Company for a 15,600-square-foot pre-engineered, mostly one-story building at 68 North Benson Road. The facility would be used for wholesale mixing of spices along with a small retail presence. He said the building would not encroach on wetlands and would utilize a hydrodynamic separator system to control rainwater runoff into regulated areas. The system was approved with comments from Town Engineer John Calabrese and a stipulation the 15 parking spaces would not be altered.
March 26 Meeting The Middlebury Conservation Commission (CC) at its March 26 meeting unanimously approved amendments to wetlands regulations, accepted an application for a boat shed on Lake Quassapaug and confirmed timber removal as a permitted use for a property on Old Watertown Road. Wetlands Enforcement Officer Deborah Seavey told commissioners legal notices had been published for changes in the wet-
lands regulations for conformance to Connecticut State Statutes. She said many of the changes involved using the acronym DEEP for Department of Energy and Environmental protection in place of DEP for the former Department of Environmental Protection. Most of the other regulations concerned dates and durations of new permits. Plans for Charles and Estelle Berthiaume of 397 White Deer Rock Road to construct a boat shed and dock on Long Cove on Lake Quassapaug were accepted for commissioner review. Mr. Berthiaume said the freestanding wood shed would be supported by cinder blocks, not a foundation. It would house two canoes, a fishing boat and kayaks. He agreed to stake the proposed shed and dock sites for inspection. In other matters, a proposed timber harvest of about 40 percent of the trees on land owned by John Calabrese on 430 Old Watertown Road was unanimously agreed to be a permitted activity. The activity would not be on wetlands and would not require construction of access paths across wetlands. The next regular CC meeting will be Tuesday, April 30, at 7:30 p.m.
Adoptable Pets................ 8 Classifieds....................... 7 Community Calendar....... 2 Fire Log........................... 2 In Brief............................ 4 Library Happenings.......... 2
Nuggets for Life.............. 6 Obituaries....................... 5 Puzzles........................... 7 Region 15 Calendar........ 3 Senior Center News......... 3 Sports Quiz..................... 6
Editorial Office: Email: mbisubmit@gmail.com Phone: 203-577-6800 Mail: P.O. Box 10, Middlebury, CT 06762 Advertising Sales: Email: mbiadvertising@gmail.com
Upcoming Events
Inside this Issue
FRIDAY & Saturday
March 29 & 30
saturday
March 30
Boy Scout Troop 444 Annual Flower Sale
When: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. What: Assorted potted flowers on sale Where: Shepardson Community Center, 1172 Whittemore Road, Middlebury
Pomperaug High School Class of 2015 “Run with the Panthers” 5K When: What: Where: Cost:
Register 9 – 9:45 a.m.; run 10 a.m. 5K run to benefit the class of 2015 Pomperaug High School in Southbury $25 entry fee
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