West Hartford Council Clears Way For Land Purchase

WEST HARTFORD, CT — It's not a done deal, but town officials Thursday took a major step toward purchasing nearly 2 acres of land proponents say will positively enhance public works and emergency services.

The West Hartford Town Council unanimously voted to to grant West Hartford Town Manager Rick Ledwith the authority to work with the sellers on the property purchase, a process that includes a detailed analysis of the site.

The parcels are located on Oakwood Avenue and Brixton Street, across from town's public works department.

The sites — one at 705 Oakwood Ave. and the other at 12 Brixton St. — are owned by Cunningham Brothers Realty LLC.

Local officials said town ownership of those sites could facilitate multiple town uses, including positive impacts for public works as well as emergency management.

As part of the resolution, the town will appropriate $136,750 (a 5 percent down payment on the land and the hiring of any firms to analyze the site) toward the two sites (each 0.96 acres).

Ledwith said the final purchase price would be about $1.3 million.

He said the property owners, within the past month, notified the town they received separate offers for each of the sites and wanted to give the town one last chance to buy the land.

Ledwith said those parcels have been on West Hartford's radar for years.

"They have been two parcels of land that we've been interested in for several years now," he said.

According to Ledwith, town ownership of those sites would enhance two components of services: public works and emergency services.

Regarding public works, the sites would allow for more space for both DPW and recycling operations, Ledwith said.

Specifically mentioned is possible relocation of town vehicle fueling operations.

West Hartford is already working on a $1.37 million plan to create a so-called "material solutions center" at West Hartford's 25 Brixton St. transfer station facility and the land purchase would complement that project.

As for public safety, the land purchases would allow for the possible relocation of firefighter training and animal control operations.

This would not only result in improved services on those fronts, but would free up space that could be utilized by emergency services, especially during times of emergencies like the October 2011 snowstorm, Ledwith said.

"These properties could provide us with a unique, once-in-a-decades type opportunity to expand our current public works footprint, providing us with the flexibility to better serve our community," Ledwith said at Thursday's council meeting.

West Hartford Mayor Shari Cantor said council members recently toured the public works facilities to get a first-hand look at why the property purchase would help them.

Ledwith said Thursday's action begins the process toward the property purchases and further council action on the whole proposal is expected by the fall.

To watch the July 14 West Hartford Town Council meeting, click on this link.

To see the agenda and information packet for the July 14 West Hartford Town Council meeting, click on this link.