Joan Coe
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Platinum Board Member
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ETHEL WALKER LAND DEAL - 2006/11/01 08:15
This letter was published in The Hartford Courant on November 1, 2006
What’s Going On with This Deal?
Trust For Public Land receives a six-figure fee for brokering the Ethel Walker $11,100,000 deal. TPL is not a neutral party, as evi¬denced by its recent town wide mailing which was signed on by Keep The Woods, a special inter¬est group whose agenda is to pur¬chase this land, at any cost. If TPL is looking out for the town's inter¬ests, why does TPL tell taxpayers to call KTW with their questions? Shouldn't TPL tell taxpayers to call town staff? .
Their mailing fails to deliver important facts:
TPL/KTW doesn't tell you there are already over 500 homes over the aquifer, that only 17 per¬cent of the EW property is in the recharge area, and that DEP deems residential development in aquifer areas to be an unregulat¬ed activity, i.e., not a significant risk to our water. By TPL/KTWs own admission, the water quality is currently "pristine." Should we believe that our water is at risk by adding approximately 105 homes to the decades-old 500 homes?
TPL/KTW doesn't tell you that approximately 100 acres are un-buildable (wetlands/slope). An¬other 60-plus acres would be dedi¬cated open space — at no cost to taxpayers. And the Bushy Hill Road vista would remain intact if development occurs.
The absence of unbiased educa¬tion on this issue is astounding.
Looking at all the facts, it's clear that TPL/KTW have joined forces — as evidenced by the town wide mailing — and present¬ed a biased picture about the sec¬ond-largest capital purchase in Simsbury's history.
KATHLEEN B. MARTIN, SIMSBURY
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