Nine to decide future transfer station site

SALISBURY - The Board of Selectmen has settled on a committee to look into the purchase of land for a new transfer station. At a special meeting on Tuesday afternoon, the board argued for more than 40 minutes about whom to appoint to the committee and what its charge should be.

At last week’s regular meeting, First Selectman Curtis Rand presented a list of five names of town residents he said had expressed interest in serving on the committee that would investigate issues related to the possible purchase of the Luke and Fitting properties. At Selectman Peter Oliver’s request, Rand agreed to wait a week before appointing the panel.

Rand had suggested former First Selectman Val Bernardoni, Board of Finance member Zenas Block, Republican Town Committee member Jeanne Bronk, Rod Lankler, and Bob Palmer, who is a member of the Transfer Station and Recycling Advisory Committee, which counsels the town on a range of issues related to the existing Salisbury-Sharon Transfer Station.

As he did at last week’s meeting, Oliver questioned the wisdom of including Palmer (who is known to favor the Route 44 Luke-Fitting site) and Block, with whose board Rand had met in January in a closed-door session to discuss the purchase of the options on the site.

This week, Oliver presented a list of 10 additional town residents he said were interested, including Elaine LaRoche, Steve Ohlinger, Lloyd Wallingford, Jim Britt and Mark Gomez.

"We’ve had a striking response from those who are interested," Oliver said. He insisted none of selectmen had "the wisdom of Solomon" required to narrow the list down further.

"I just think a 15-person committee is out of the question," said Selectman James Dresser. "Just because people come forward doesn’t mean you have to have a committee of that size."

Oliver pointed out that the town’s scenic roads committee has 15 members.

"I chair that committee," Rand countered. "It is cumbersome ... we’re under a time constraint here."

Rand met in executive session with the Board of Finance in January and signed two options Feb. 26 to purchase three parcels of land on the western edge of town for possible use as a transfer station. The lease on the current site expires in 2020 and is not renewable. That land is owned by The Hotchkiss School, which has been leasing it to the towns for $1 a year.

The option to purchase the 17 acres of land and two homes costs $18,000 and gives the town the right-of-first-refusal to buy the properties for $2 million until Feb. 28, 2008.

Meanwhile, Rand has said the town can have a healthy debate about whether the site is the proper choice and whether the price is right. Shortly after learning of Rand’s actions, Oliver criticized Rand’s failure to consult the other selectmen and questioned whether the expenditure of funds was legal.

The properties are on Dimond Road, a dirt road off of the south shoulder of Route 44 across from the intersection with State Line Road and less than half a mile from the New York border. About one half of the land is owned by Charles and Suzanne Luke; the other half is owned by Melinda and Michael Fitting. Michael Fitting is the town’s building inspector and deputy fire marshal.

Oliver said the five-person committee Rand proposed also lacked diversity since there is only one female on the list.

Ultimately, a compromise was reached to appoint a nine-member committee comprised of Rand’s preferred five, plus four of Oliver’s: Ohlinger, Wallingford, Roberta Olsen and Janet Lynn.

When the agenda proceeded to the committee’s charge, more disagreement followed. Rand presented a brief statement saying the committee should consider the appropriateness of the Luke-Fitting site; other possible sites; the expense of the acquisition of the land; and the role of the town of Sharon in a future transfer station site.

Oliver moved to amend the charge to include, among other things, "an analysis of actions already taken." While Oliver read his proposed amendment, Dresser could be heard whispering to Rand that Oliver’s amendment would fail for lack of a second. A second is needed to bring a motion to a vote.

Another compromise was reached whereby one sentence and part of another were eliminated from Rand’s proposed charge. The stricken sentence encouraged members of the committee to work with various town boards and commissions and appropriate professionals in order to recommend a course of action.

Later in the day, Block, the finance board member whose appropriateness for the Luke-Fitting Committee Oliver had doubted, approached this reporter and offered a comment: "The purpose of the Board of Finance is to assure that precisely what Peter is concerned about does not happen. We’re here to protect the town."