Portland to Join Lower Connecticut River Valley Council of Governments

Portland officials conducted a special town meeting Wednesday night, where residents voted to join a new regional planning agency.

According to First Selectwoman Susan Bransfield, the agency which would have 17 communities, would have greater leverage to obtain state and federal grants. It would also act in concert to advance the interests of communities from Cromwell to Long Island Sound. Elected officials would serve on the panel led by mayors and first selectmen.

The new panel, to be called the Lower Connecticut River Valley Council of Governments, would also include towns from Cromwell and Middletown to Old Saybrook and Old Lyme. East Hampton will also be part of the Council. The  compact must be ratified by 11 out of 17 communities for it to take effect. The body would represent 176,207 residents with Bransfield saying it would better represent the interests of those citizens and communities in Middlesex County and the lower river valley.  

Before the vote, Bransfield explained the new organization would largely replace the Midstate Regional Planning Agency as well as the Estuary Planning Agency.  Both agencies are being phased out as part of a state effort to improve efficiency and cut costs. She said some staff members from the Estuary panel would stay on, including GIS and transportation experts.

The measure passed 11-0, with Town Clerk Bernadette Dillon and Selectman Kathleen Richards supervising the voting.

During the regular Board of Selectmen meeting, the town approved a five-year contract with Willimantic Waste Paper. Town Public Works Director Rick Kelsey said it was a five-year agreement where the company would pay the town $25 dollars a ton for compacted paper, which was better than the $10 a ton bid from the CRRA plant in Hartford.

Republican Carl Chudzik asked about the details of the plan and safeguards. Kelsey said the language "was tightened up and formalized" and provided for arbitration in case of default. Kelsey said he was also pleased the agreement guaranteed the company would cover the cost of maintaining the compactors at the transfer station.

Selectmen also discussed the progress of a property ordinance that would address blight and neglect. The chairman of a sub-committee researching the issue, Republican Ryan Curley, said they "wanted to avoid petty things, and rather go after big issues everyone can agree on."  

Bransfield said there was research by Curley and Democrat Mark Finkelstein as well as others that helped narrow down the search for models to existing ordinances in Bristol and Windsor Locks.

“We're trying to find a way to maintain property appropriately and trying to define that," Bransfield said.

According to Bransfield, big issues brought up included abandoned cars, complaints about overgrown grass and shrubs and prominent buildings going vacant for long periods of time.

A working meeting will be held at town hall on Wednesday, Feb. 22, at 6 p.m.

The panel is expected to hear opinions from the sanitation expert at the Chatham Health District and Portland Fire Marshall Raymond Sajdak. 

Bransfield said once they arrived at a proposal that makes sense to all members of the board of selectmen, the proposal would go to a town hearing. 

After the regular business of the selectmen, Bransfield said the grand list showed a decline in assessed value of many houses, but an increase in the value of automobiles and other properties. She said the grand list and deliberations on an eventual mill rate might also be influenced by efforts of developers. 

She noted the developers of the Elmcrest property may at last be nearing agreement on an anchor store. There is also active speculation that the owners of Saint Clements may be looking into the feasibility of constructing a hotel. Other efforts include queries to attract new tenants for several vacant buildings in the industrial area near the Arrigoni Bridge.

Bransfield says selectmen are expected to begin formal work on the new budget in March.