participants.
Mr. Masalin presented both of the RFP’s received, and he explained that this Design
Work and the Permitting Process was only one milestone within the whole $3
Million Watershed Initiative that was being done along Lantern Hill Road and the
Whitford Brook, which included the replacement of the Lantern Hill Road/Whitford
Bridge (between Ledyard and Stonington) that has languished for years, and for other
components that needed to be replaced or improved related to the watershed area.
Councilor Ryan questioned whether the Agreement Ledyard had with Stonington
extended into the bridge work at Long Pond. Mayor Allyn, III, explained that State
Senator Cathy Osten secured the $3 Million for the replacement of the bridge, which
was supposed to be shared between the two towns (Ledyard & Stonington). However,
he stated this funding would not pay for the replacement of the Dams, which were on
private property. He noted Mr. Masalin had some creative suggestions that may allow
them to leverage some of the funding to get more of the overall Watershed Project
done.
Mr. Masalin stated there were a lot of stakeholders involved in this Watershed
Project, noting that they have met with residents Betsy Graham and Terry Fedors. He
explained the Local Bridge Program has become a funding option that the town could
use again. He stated WMC Consulting Engineers was the engineers for the Lantern
Hill Road Bridge and he noted in speaking with WMC Consulting Engineers they
were going to submit an Application for Local Bridge Funding. However, he
explained although Stonington would be a party in the Memorandum of
Understanding (MOU) that Mayor Allyn, III, was working on, that the Local Bridge
Application would not include Stonington as a party. He went on to note that there
would be other Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for some of the other parties
because these dams were on private property. He stated for State Funding to be
devoted to private dams was an unusual facet of the projects, and he noted that
working thru this project was going to be challenging.
Mayor Allyn stated, as Mr. Masalin mentioned, it was unusual for State Funding to
go toward something that was privately owned. He stated when someone purchases a
property they most likely know that the property had a dam that was holding back
water, which was a liability.
Councilor Ryan questioned whether the town could reach back to the property owner
for the costs to maintain the dams. Mayor Allyn stated the town does not maintain the
dams. However, he explained for this particular case, because the dams have been
there for such a long time and needed to be redone, and because the private property
owners did not funding to repair the dams, that the town would be administering the
funding and the work for the replacement of the dams because they were an
important piece of the waterway.
Mr. Masalin explained because the State would not allow a private party to be the
administrator of the grant funding; and therefore, as the Mayor noted, the town
inherited the administration of the funding. However, he explained to succeed with
