Middlefield seeks to sell 'useless' land to adjoining landowners

The town of Middlefield is negotiating a deal for the sale of a piece of property that has proven to be a drain both in terms of town funds and manpower.

The approximately 100 foot piece of land - located between Rover's Lodge and the home of Anthony Fazzino on Baileyville Road - is currently owned by the town and once acted as a town water department. In the past, the well on the property served homes on the west side of Lake Beseck, but over time those homeowners installed their own individual wells, said First Selectman Jon Brayshaw.

Currently, the well is only servicing Rover's Lodge, the sole customer of the bygone water department. However, the site still requires maintenance and daily inspections by sanitarian Lee Vito. The town also still pays all the utilities associated with the running of that well, Brayshaw said.

The town is proposing to sell the property - which cannot be developed as it has a highway department drainage system running over it - to both Fazzino and Rover's. Each would get half of the property at $25,000. Brayshaw sees the sale of the land as a cost savings measure for the non-producing asset.

He anticipates the town will save several thousands of dollars by letting go of the property. In addition, because both Fazzino's and Rover's would gain land, their property values will go up, thus providing the town with a bigger return on property taxes.

Before the sale of the land can go through, the town must wait on a decision by the state health department and the Department of Environment Protection to officially "close" the public water department and change it to a private well.

"It's a public water supply in history only," Brayshaw said.

Middlefield currently has over 30 large wells, but they don't constitute a water company, he added.

Both Fazzino and Rover's have agreed to the sale. The proposal will have to go to a public hearing and town meeting because it involves the sale of land.