Town Council Tables West Street Sewer Pump Plan, Floats SAFER Grant Changes
Following an at-times heated discussion Monday night, the Southington Town Council voted to postpone a decision on a proposed sewer pump on West Street that would facilitate the building of a new apartment complex at its intersection with Curtiss Street.
In 2025, Texas-based developer Anthony Properties received final approval from Planning and Zoning (P&Z) to construct 255 apartments, 17,000 square feet of retail space and a clubhouse on 41 acres along West Street that would be accessed via Curtiss.
Since then the developer has come to discover that a pump would be needed to move sewage uphill from the complex. Anthony Properties has agreed to pay for the construction of the device, but the town would take up any maintenance fees for the pipe that leads from it thereafter. Also, since West Street belongs to the state, the Department of Transportation (DOT) would be responsible for paving the road after the new mechanism is in place. The DOT in turn wants Town Council to approve the plan before giving it the green light.
Discussion of the proposal inspired impassioned testimony from many residents who live near the planned site. For many, the issue was less the pipe itself and more the new development.
During public comment, residents said that traffic on West Street is already bad enough, especially at its intersections with Curtiss Street and Churchill Street, and that adding thousands of new residents would only serve to make the issue worse.
“I have to take the left onto Churchill or the right onto West Street daily, and the scariest part of my day is looking into the rearview mirror, when I have to take that left. A neighbor of mine had his family rear-ended,” said resident Mario Saraceno. “So, although I appreciate the study that's been done to the south of Churchill Street, or to the south of Curtiss Street, I'm more concerned with the 550 feet from Curtiss Street to Churchill.”
Anthony Properties did submit a traffic study to P&Z before receiving approval from the commission. And during the discussion, Councilors Tony Morrison and Jim Morelli said that the council’s focus should be on whether or not to approve the pump plan, rather than reopening the question of the development’s impact on local traffic.
Ultimately, the vote was tabled after chairman Paul Chaplinsky raised concerns that a state law requires a public hearing on the issue, something that has not happened yet.
“I believe, even if people agree to go forward with this, that at the very least we need to have a public hearing, and to go back to Planning and Zoning,” said Chaplinsky, “because we're talking about the town taking over property.”
SAFER Grant for Firefights Still on the Table
Monday’s meeting was the first since the council’s October 13 vote to turn down a $3 million dollar grant from FEMA for twelve new firefighters. Vice-chair Jennifer Clock began by addressing that vote and the potential alternatives.
Council members are working with FEMA, she reporter, to find a way to provide funds to the department in a manner that might be more acceptable to the council. While no further details of what an alternate plan could look like were provided, she said that the council is forming a bipartisan team to review what could be done.
“FEMA has communicated that it is willing to reconsider a new proposal. So this provides the opportunity to revisit the options and determine whether we can develop a proposal that takes steps towards meeting our community needs and is supported by the council,” said Clock. “We are currently meeting with key stakeholders to review the numbers, evaluate different scenarios, and work toward alignment and a potential proposal. Our goal is to ensure that we fully understand the financial implications on staffing considerations and public safety benefits before determining the appropriate next steps.”
