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Community Corner

New Site Needed for Next Month's Portland Fair

Flooding of fairgrounds caused by Irene leaves officials scrambling.

The Portland Fair needs a new location for this year.

Fair officials say the site of the Portland Agricultural Fair had to be moved from the Exchange Club grounds on 17A because that site and adjacent meadows were flooded by Hurricane Irene and possibly contaminated by sewage carried downstream.

With time running short, focus has centered on a site located near routes 66 and 17. Because the site is not zoned recreational, planning and zoning approval wil be needed.

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The fair is scheduled for Oct. 7, 8 and 9.

The Fair Association wants the Board of Selectmen to approve sponsorship of the fair, which would provide tacit approval of a new location, before a public hearing and vote by the Planning and Zoning Commission later this month.

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However, selectmen at Wednesday night's meeting raised questions about public safety at a new site, questions they said must be answered largely by Police Lieutenant Ron Milardo, Fire Chief Robert Shea and Fire Marshall Ray Sajdak. They have to inspect the new site and file reports to the selectmen.  

The President of the Fair, Don Bascom, said when they determined the traditional site on route 17A wasn't safe, they scrambled to find a new location. He said the Jarvis family and Butler Construction came forward to offer space on their adjoining properties. The Jarvis property is at the corner of Route 66 (Cobalt Road) and Route 17, (Gospel Lane) near the Dairy Queen. The parking area and shuttle buses will be at a location used last year, across Route 66 near Sand Hill Road. 

Selectman Brian Flood had concerns about safety because the fair and parking area were on opposite sides of a busy four-lane highway.

He asked Bascomb what plans were in place to make sure children don't run across the highway.

"What would prevent a 15-year-old kid from doing that?" Flood asked.

Bascom responded that his parking crew would. He said they would direct people toward the shuttle buses, if kids started running off, they'd order them back. 

Bascom added there would be plenty of signs, a police car with flashing lights, and 10-foot portable lighting units.

Flood, still worried about the speed of traffic on Route 66, at one point said the last thing Portland residents would want is a tragedy like the fatality at the Durham Fair. He was referring to the death of a boy who was struck by a car in 2003 walking along the side of Route 17. Flood said the town could be taking too big a risk.  

Bascom countered by saying the location of the parking lot was the same as it was the last two years. He said last year the cruiser at Sand Hill "brought traffic to a crawl" and that nobody was going fast. Now he says there will also be the light towers. 

He added if you had a police car with flashing lights and give the officer on the scene a way to manually control the traffic light you could "shut down the highway." 

Flood also expressed concern about people parking on Route 17 above Ames Hollow Road and trying to walk to the fair in the dark. Bascom noted there were no tall light units allocated for Route 17. 

Susan Young, a spokeswoman for the Fair Association, said she just came from a Fair meeting where all in attendance were overwhelmingly in favor of going ahead at the new site. None wanted to cancel the fair. At one point she asked if the Selectmen would be satisfied if two patrol cars were on duty on both sides of Route 66.  

Concern was also raised by Republican Selectman Carl Chudzik who wondered why the Fair Association didn't consider other locations such as the Goodrich property between Strickland Street and Cox Road.  Bascom explained the parcel of land was partly filled with a crop of pumpkins.

"If you pick them," he said, "you'll have mud." Bascom added that a hay field was generally better and the Goodrich site was too small.  

Chudzik also wondered if there was an entrance to the properties away from the highway. Bascom said none was suitable.

Selectmen asked why the Haddam Neck fairground wasn't considered. Bascom said by the time they realized they had to move, it was already too late for Haddam Neck.  

He said he'd have to make a contact to work with, and they'd have to change insurance and permits. Bascom also said there would be the question of what fire department to use. 

Bascom did concede that his first choice would have been Camp Ingersoll, but because of a construction project, they had to look elsewhere. He said the Jarvis family stepped forward with their land. 

Fair officials were also concerned with the delay in a decision because of money already committed. They said they have $20,000 to set up the fair and if they cancel they could lose half of that. Bascom says if insurance doesn't cover all of it, the loss could roll over making it difficult to go forward next year. 

First Selectwoman Susan Bransfield moved that the matter be tabled until public safety officials could inspect the new location for the fair and bring back reports and recommendations. She said the discussion and a decision by the Selectmen could come at their meeting next Wednesday. She said she hoped it would be a fair compromise to let the Planning and Zoning panel continue with their schedule.

The Planning and Zoning Comission would also have to make a ruling because the use of the Butler property would require an exemption.  The Butler land is zoned as industrial and the fair is recreational. 

Deanna Rhodes, the town Planning and Land Use Administrator, said a legal notice needs to be posted this Friday in order for a hearing and vote to take place Sept. 27. 

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