Middlefield selectmen hear Powder Ridge update
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Thursday, May 6, 2010 - 11:11am
The Middlefield selectmen met in the Community Center auditorium on Monday, May 3, with an audience of one. Since the audience was this reporter, “public comment” was non-existent.
Nevertheless, some interesting updates were offered, particularly on Powder Ridge. According to First Selectman Jon Brayshaw, the three entities still in the running for buying the ski area from the town have put in countless hours in Middlefield recently. “They all need to do due diligence,” Brayshaw said.
The selectmen have also done their due diligence by going to Hartford to make certain (or as certain as one can be in a state that as of press time still lacks a budget) that the Department of Economic and Community Development (DECD) grant was still available even though the specific deal being negotiated at that time has fizzled. The $540,000 grant was announced with much fanfare in the snow at Powder Ridge by Governor M. Jodi Rell on Jan. 29. According to Brayshaw, “the money is still on the table,” and DECD officials seemed willing perhaps to award the grant to the town to upgrade Powder Ridge infrastructure even if the town was involved in selling the property, which seems the most likely scenario at this time.
Meanwhile, related to the Powder Ridge situation, the land swap approved at a town meeting last year has been finalized. The town is swapping a triangular piece of town-owned land to Angelo Micciulla of Powder Hill Road for a strip of his land that would allow the new owners of Powder Ridge to run a water line from Lake Beseck for snow-making. This access to lake water is essential as the process moves forward.
Also, Brayshaw announced that the Nerden Camp has withdrawn their deal to swap land with the town. The camp was interested in some of the flat land at the back of the field on Powder Hill Road adjoining the camp to allow for more sports and other activities. In return, they offered to give the town a big chunk of the land behind their buildings that is too steep to be of use to the camp, but might have provided another access route to water for the owners of Powder Ridge. The camp is only asking at this time for a 50-foot driveway easement across the front of the camp connecting their current driveway with the Powder Ridge driveway and allowing for loop access to the facility and a place to park busses while dropping off and picking up campers.
Brayshaw reported that the new town website is slated to go “live” before the end of June, and the selectmen approved a proclamation naming the week of May 2 Municipal Clerks’ Week.
