Garage Land Swap Approved

WESTBROOK - At a standing room only meeting on September 15, most voted to approve a land swap despite Ad Hoc Committee chairman Robert Mulvihill's suggestions to wait until more information on possible environmental contamination is known.

"When Raffa started the committee (in January), I wanted to know all the facts so the townspeople could make an informed decision," Mulvihill said, adding he believed residents should be aware that the Department of Transportation, DOT, garage could have long-term environmental contamination problems.

Two articles in the Sept. 12 Pictorial Gazette gave a detailed account of the committee's report which looked at the pros and cons of the land swap.

"This is a multi-million dollar real estate transaction and it would be foolish to sign off on this without knowing what it was," Mulvihill said.

The recently approved land swap allows the town to acquire 3.58 acres of the 5-acre DOT garage at 201 Horse Hill Road in exchange for 2.087 acres at 101 & 105 Norris Avenue while the state will keep 1.65 acres for the construction of a sand/salt storage facility.

The DOT will build a new $12 million train station with a Colonial architecture at Norris Avenue.

It will feature a south high-level platform, 200 parking spaces with increased lighting, and the possibility of a pedestrian bridge allowing northern platform access to Acela high-speed trains.

The Westbrook public works department will receive a state grant of $1.5 million to renovate and remediate the DOT garage, obtain almost 1.5 acres more of land, and acquire the state's 1995 salt and sand storage facility.

Factors stalling the Ad Hoc Committee, Mulvihill said, were determining whether the transfer was applicable to the Connecticut Property Transfer Act and the extent of the environmental liability the town would acquire.

DOT engineer Scott Hill told residents the department will adhere to the act by performing an initial cleanup since the site was never properly cleaned after the DOT abandoned the garage.