Stop the Asphalt Plant group speaks out

NORTH CANAAN — Representatives from the Stop the Asphalt Plant (STAP) grassroots protest group were making the rounds at public meetings to share their concerns about a proposed expansion of an asphalt plant in East Canaan. 

They came to a meeting of the Board of Education on Thursday, Oct. 10, and were added to the public comments section of the agenda.

STAP representative Dolores Perotti reviewed the history of the application by B. Metcalf Paving company to permit the processing of asphalt at the company’s plant in East Canaan. She told the board that her group and others have concerns about health effects and future property values near the plant.

“If the property values go down, the mill rate [and property taxes] will go up,” she said. “We wanted you to know about it because it affects all of us.”

Now that the application is being heard in the Superior Court, Perotti said, “He is taking the decision-making part away from the town,” referring to Ben Metcalf, owner of the paving company.

Having brought a plastic container holding what she described as a sample of green asphalt, Perotti invited each board member to smell the sample, carrying her open container to each board member in turn.

A second STAP representative told the board that Metcalf does not reside in the town of North Canaan, but rather in a neighboring town.

The same happened during the public comment segment of the selectmen’s meeting on Monday, Oct.  7.

At that meeting, the STAP representatives raised objections to the effects of a social media flurry of messages concerning the application by B. Metcalf to the Planning and Zoning Commission.

At issue was a recent post by Selectman Craig Whiting, who reported that before making his post, he had checked with the town attorney for a ruling on appropriateness.

“I will continue to speak my mind; people should be informed of what is going on in town,” Whiting said.

A volley of comments and responses followed in subsequent social media posts. Opinions were shared about the ongoing litigation that were not factually correct.

It was these online postings that the STAP representatives said brought them to the meeting. A loud and sometimes unruly discussion followed. Voices were raised, both sides spoke simultaneously for a time, but once the social media posts and their apparent incorrect information were aired, civility eventually returned. Both sides were able to agree on some factual points. The episode ended with what appeared to be a spirit of detente.