[Updated, June 11] Town Manager Signs Settlement Agreement for Tree-Cutting Case

Even though Connie and David Gordon deny next to their 45 Deercliff Road property, they're going to have to pay at least $49,000 to make up for the .

After going into executive session Thursday night, the Avon authorized Town Manager Brandon Robertson to sign a settlement agreement resolving the claim. Robertson signed the agreement on Monday, June 11. The settlement requires the Gordons to reimburse the town  for $19,000 spent in legal fees and to contribute $30,000 to the Open Space Fees Fund.

"Those funds are going to allow us, in the future, to improve some assets we wouldn’t be able to otherwise," Robertson said. “This is an appropriate conclusion to the issue.”

This must take place "on or before" June 15, according to the settlement documents, which the town provided to Patch upon request. A PDF of the agreement is included in the gallery that accompanies this article.

"We're happy that it’s behind us and certainly the Gordons are probably happy it’s behind them as well," Town Council Chairman Mark Zacchio said. "The settlement speaks for itself.”

The town's open space fund – which developers pay into if they are not going to work open space into their project – is reserved for future open space purchases or land aquisitions, according to Zacchio.

The settlement also honors previous rulings from the Planning and Zoning Commission, requiring the Gordons to post a $5,000 bond by June 15. The bond would be held in a town savings account to ensure the remaining required remediation work – paying a forester to monitor the tree growth progress over five years – is completed. The bond also is there for reserve money in the event any of the new trees are damaged and need to be replanted. If the work is done successfully, the bond would be deemed null and void and any money in the savings account would be returned to the Gordons, according to the agreement.

Avon Assistant Zoning Enforcement Officer John McCahill discovered the cleared trees – ranging from 15 to 70 feet tall – on a 10-acre plot of town land while doing a zoning inspection of a pool at the Gordon's ridgeline property in July of 2011. Since the last Planning and Zoning Commission meeting on the issue, 50 saplings – young oak, maple and birch trees – have been planted on that space.

"Nature is such a powerful force that it is already starting to regrow in significant way," Town Planner Steven Kushner said Monday.

David Gordon told Patch Friday that his family did not cut the trees and doesn't know who did or how the trees were cut. Neither the town nor the police department has conducted an investigation to determine if someone else did, Robertson confirmed. Gordon said he did not hear the trees being cut and noted that the vegetation near the property line can be invasive visibility-wise. However, he said he has noticed individuals walking on the open space land in the past.

Some of the remaining stumps were as old as 10 years, Gordon said, so he said it's possible they were cut before he and his wife built a new house and moved onto the property last year. Their house is "green-certified Gold by the National Association of Homebuilders" and was a finalist in the 2011 Connecticut Zero Energy challenge, he wrote in an email to Patch.

“We were trying to do less impact on the environment by building the house and then this came up," Gordon said.

Before then, there were tenants living on the Gordons' property, which has been in the family for 25 years. The family owns four houses on Deercliff Road.

“I’m born and raised in Avon. My family’s lived here for 44 years on Deercliff Road," Gordon said. "We love this town and we have built over 15 homes that significantly contribute to the tax base."

The tree-cutting claim has not harmed his business, said Gordon, who builds custom homes in the Farmington Valley through his company, Poirier Homes. He is also in the process of building a six-unit faculty home at his high school alma mater, , where he graduated from in 1987.

When all is said and done, the Gordons want to put the situation behind them.

“We just want to move on from this and we told the town we hope it doesn’t happen again," Gordon said.

Editor's Note: This article was updated on Monday, June 11, 2012 at 11:28 a.m. to add quotes from Town Manager Brandon Robertson and Town Planner Steven Kushner.