Canton Selectman Explains Reasons for Voting on Purchase and Sale Agreement for Public Works Facility

I write this letter to provide Canton residents with insight into my affirmative vote as a selectman to seek the purchase of property on Commerce Drive for the purpose of building a new Public Works facility. 

As the name suggests, Commerce Drive is an area intended to attract commercial growth and is zoned for light industry. We have seen little intended development there during the past fifteen years-- a fact I attribute to our geographic location as one of the north-central Connecticut towns furthest in distance from any major highway (Rt. 8 to the West, Rt. I-84 to the South, and Rt. I-91 to the East). 

In the event that additional interest does develop in the area, several parcels will remain available on Commerce Drive, even if the DPW facility is built there.

All utilities are present at this site with a property purchase price roughly $400,000.00 less than that of the last parcel of interest. Furthermore, the estimate for site work is roughly $1.5 million dollars less than the last property under consideration. These factors combined save taxpayers a significant amount of money.

I studied the surrounding residential areas including Boulder Ridge and the Griswold Farms neighborhood, and found that the parcel in question appears the furthest away from area residences, which will minimize the potential impact of operational activities. 

Additionally, I took into consideration the impact of DPW facility-related traffic on Commerce Drive, and concluded that none of the related traffic will need to travel into the residential areas to access the facility.

It goes without saying that vehicle operators and pedestrians must take care to obey speed limits and traffic regulations, and youngsters need to be supervised. The Rails to Trails crossing on Commerce Drive is well marked and likely sees the lowest average daily volume of vehicular traffic of any of the trail crossing points in town.

Based on my conclusions, I feel this is a financially and logistically responsible proposal that the town’s voters should be given the opportunity to consider.