West Hartford Reservoir Meeting
I attended the Meeting last night. The town hall was packed to overflowing, with hundreds more outside who could not get in. MDC officials spoke first about the situation and said they had not yet reached a decision on whether or not to close the res and ALL their other properties to public access. This includes the Barkhamstead reservoir, Lake McDonough, the Nepaug reservoir area, the Greenwoods section in Barkhamstead and New Hartford and others.
Richard Blumenthal spoke and said his office would support legislation to close the liability loophole in the current state law. David Baram, state rep from Bloomfield, said he was introducing a bill that would achieve this. Mayors from the surrounding towns also spoke in support, along with West Hartford town officials.
Many CFPA, Mountain Bike Association, and other organizations' officials spoke in support of keeping the reservoirs open. The public then began commentary, all in support of the reservoir and its value to the community. I left after almost 2 hours. It was really great to see such overwhelming community support, not only from the immediately surrounding towns, but also from folks from all over the state.
For us in the birding community, this affects many areas we typically like to bird. The effects are potentially far reaching if the MDC properties are closed. Many municipalities are also affected by this liability loophole, and towns may consider closing their properties to the public if a precedent is set. A website, savethemdctrails.org has been set up for information or access the CFPA site at ctwoodlands.org
Zellene
Zellene, Did any birders come out and speak to the issue? I missed most of the hearing and only heard alot of mountain bikers. Thanks.
Diane Tucker
On Jul 21, 2010, at 8:09 AM, zellene sandler wrote:
I attended the Meeting last night. The town hall was packed to overflowing, with hundreds more outside who could not get in. MDC officials spoke first about the situation and said they had not yet reached a decision on whether or not to close the res and ALL their other properties to public access. This includes the Barkhamstead reservoir, Lake McDonough, the Nepaug reservoir area, the Greenwoods section in Barkhamstead and New Hartford and others.
Richard Blumenthal spoke and said his office would support legislation to close the liability loophole in the current state law. David Baram, state rep from Bloomfield, said he was introducing a bill that would achieve this. Mayors from the surrounding towns also spoke in support, along with West Hartford town officials.
Many CFPA, Mountain Bike Association, and other organizations' officials spoke in support of keeping the reservoirs open. The public then began commentary, all in support of the reservoir and its value to the community. I left after almost 2 hours. It was really great to see such overwhelming community support, not only from the immediately surrounding towns, but also from folks from all over the state.
For us in the birding community, this affects many areas we typically like to bird. The effects are potentially far reaching if the MDC properties are closed. Many municipalities are also affected by this liability loophole, and towns may consider closing their properties to the public if a precedent is set. A website, savethemdctrails.org has been set up for information or access the CFPA site at ctwoodlands.org
Zellene
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They should look at the system the Regional Water Authority uses in southern
Connecticut. It work's very well. http://www.rwater.com/recreation/
Regards,
Jim Dionne
From: zellene sandler zellene@earthlink.net
To: ctbirds@lists.ctbirding.org
Sent: Wed, July 21, 2010 8:09:25 AM
Subject: [CT Birds] West Hartford Reservoir Meeting
I attended the Meeting last night. The town hall was packed to overflowing, with
hundreds more outside who could not get in. MDC officials spoke first about the
situation and said they had not yet reached a decision on whether or not to
close the res and ALL their other properties to public access. This includes the
Barkhamstead reservoir, Lake McDonough, the Nepaug reservoir area, the
Greenwoods section in Barkhamstead and New Hartford and others.
Richard Blumenthal spoke and said his office would support legislation to close
the liability loophole in the current state law. David Baram, state rep from
Bloomfield, said he was introducing a bill that would achieve this. Mayors from
the surrounding towns also spoke in support, along with West Hartford town
officials.
Many CFPA, Mountain Bike Association, and other organizations' officials spoke
in support of keeping the reservoirs open. The public then began commentary, all
in support of the reservoir and its value to the community. I left after almost
2 hours. It was really great to see such overwhelming community support, not
only from the immediately surrounding towns, but also from folks from all over
the state.
For us in the birding community, this affects many areas we typically like to
bird. The effects are potentially far reaching if the MDC properties are closed.
Many municipalities are also affected by this liability loophole, and towns may
consider closing their properties to the public if a precedent is set. A
website, savethemdctrails.org has been set up for information or access the CFPA
site at ctwoodlands.org
Zellene
This list is provided by the Connecticut Ornithological Association (COA) for
the discussion of birds and birding in Connecticut.
For subscription information visit
http://lists.ctbirding.org/mailman/listinfo/ctbirds_lists.ctbirding.org