Trumbull Land Trust Offers Parcels

The Trumbull Land Trust wants to give its land to the town to be preserved as open space.

The TLT, founded in 1988 to protect Pequonnock Valley land from development, owns 46 acres on seven sites.

Frank Grazynski, a past land trust president, made the proposal to the Park Commission recently in . Former First Selectman and TLT founder Ken Halaby, and his wife, Linda, also attended. One of the parcels, 27 acres in eastern Trumbull, is called the Kenneth S. Halaby Nature Preserve.

"I think it's a win-win, not only for the Trumbull Land Trust," Grazynski said.

The property would require "minimal" care, because volunteers mostly maintain it, Grazynksi added.

According to the trust website, in addition to the Halaby Nature Preserve, the town would inherit:

• 1.6 acres at Woodcrest Avenue and Huntington Road
• the eight-acre Randall Nature Preserve off Meadowview Road 
• the Randall Nature Preserve II, 0.6 acres near the first preserve
• 3.5 acres off Friar Lane near Shelton
• 2.5 acres of Rails to Trails land off Route 111 (Monroe Turnpike)
• and one acre near Pinewood Lake, on Southgate Road.

Grazynski said most of the land came from property set aside in Planning and Zoning Commission approvals. "I think adding 40 acres is a major plus for this town," he said. "The viability of the Trumbull Land Trust, you never know."

Halaby said the trust is slowly giving way to the , which will be allowed to use the parcels for its programs. Grazynski is a member of the Trumbull Nature Commission, which governs the nature center.

"The Pequonnock Valley was in question at the time," Halaby said, regarding the formation of the trust.

"It was very, very active in those days," holding programs that the Nature Center runs now, Halaby said. "This would be the time to do it. We'd like to make sure this property is in good hands."

"You're doing the town a big favor," said Park Commission member Tony Chmielewski.

Chief of Staff Dan Nelson spoke for the town. "The town is in favor of the this project. We just have to dot our i's and cross our t's," he said.

Town Attorney Ed Walsh said the deeds to the parcels would have to be researched before proceeding with the transfer.