The Harwinton Republican Town Committee would like to have the public make the decision, by referendum, on whether the Town of Harwinton should assume the ownership of the Mitral Property, across from the old airport. This property has been contaminated for years, and the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) has recently completed its work removing the building and contaminated soil form the site. The DEP will monitor the site for a year by testing soil samples. Years of back taxes are owed on the property.
First Selectman Frank Chiaramonte wants the Town of Harwinton to either:
1.) purchase the property and use it for recreation fields, for Region #10 parking, or for another town purpose;
2.) assume ownership of the property and sell or lease it to a light industrial company; or
3.) negotiate the sale of the property directly to a light industrial company.
Because this property has been contaminated, the owner may be held responsible for any future claims of contamination by neighbors in the area. The DEP reports the contamination has been cleaned up. However, we do not know the results of the cleanup, which means we do not know how much, if any, of the contamination remains. There may be some contamination still existing, but below regulated levels. Contamination sometimes percolates to the surface or can travel via underground water to other sites only to be identified years in the future. Our Town Attorney as well as Attorney Ann Peters, an environmental attorney, has explained this concept to our Board of Selectmen.
While collecting the back taxes on this property is a worthwhile endeavor, especially in this unstable economy, we feel that all town citizens should have the opportunity to vote on any proposal by the Board of Selectmen to have the town assume ownership of the Mitral site. It is possible that the Region #10 Board of Education may want the property to use for parking or additional recreation fields. In this case, however, the towns of Harwinton and Burlington would be the actual owners. If a contamination complaint is made in the future, the only place the Board of Education can get funds is through town taxes, and the legal fees resulting from such a complaint would then have to be paid for by the towns.
The First Selectman has assigned a person to research the best use of this property. If the result of that research shows the best solution would be to negotiate the purchase of the property directly by a light industrial company that will assume the responsibility of possible future contamination, then we applaud this solution. In such a case, the town would regain at least some of the back taxes.
If, on the other hand, the result of the research shows the best use would be the town’s purchase of the property for possible leasing of it, recreation, or for use by the School Board, we feel the matter should go to referendum where all Harwinton citizens – not just the few who may attend a town meeting -- have the opportunity to learn about and express their opinion on the issue