Chester Town Meeting on Parker’s Point Will Be Discussion Only

By Charles Stannard

CHESTER— Tuesday’s town meeting on the proposed purchase of 4.6-acres of riverfront land on Parkers Point Road will be for discussion and information only, with no votes taken on resolutions related to the proposed acquisition.

First Selectman Tom Marsh said the town meeting, scheduled for 7:30 p.m. at the Chester Meeting House, would be a public information session on the proposed $1 million bonding authorization for the purchase that will be presented to town voters in a Nov. 10 referendum. The town meeting was initially expected to include voting on resolutions related to town acceptance of two grants and a donation from the Chester Land Trust intended defray some of the costs of the purchase.

Marsh said the board of selectmen voted unanimously last week to send all questions related to the bonding and land acquisition directly to a referendum vote after determining that a vote at the town meeting not to accept the grants and donation would block the actual referendum on the purchase. He added that some opponents of the land buy were preparing to vote against all resolutions at the town meeting as a way to prevent a full vote on the purchase because the acquisition would not go forward without the funding assistance from the grants and donation.

“Nobody wanted a town meeting vote to decide whether or not we buy the land,” Marsh said. “It would be unfair because you could not get approval to buy it from the town meeting but you could stop it at the town meeting.”
Marsh said during discussions over the past two months, members of the board of selectmen and board of finance, including some who oppose the purchase, were unanimous in feeling the deciding vote on the purchase should come through a referendum.

The town would be responsible for about $500,000 of the total $938,000 purchase price for the parcel. Funding assistance includes a grant from the state Department of Environmemal Protection, a smaller grant from the regional Connecticut River Gateway Commission, and the land trust donation. The total $1 million bonding authorization includes some funding for bonding expenses.

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