Letter To The Editor: Vote In Favor Of Grant Acceptance Comes As Welcome News To Shoreline Ice

From Dave Cutler on behalf of Shoreline Ice: 

At a packed Special Town Meeting held 6:30 PM this Wednesday, more than 200 voters and concerned citizens crowded into the Green Room at Andrews Memorial Town Hall to consider acceptance of a $200,000 state grant to assess the feasibility of developing the Old Landfill site, located off Old Nod Road in Clinton, CT.

The site, which comprises a total of nine acres, is presently considered a “brownfield” site by the State of Connecticut, and will “require environmental measures with or without state funding,” according toNeil Payne, President of Payne Environmental in New Haven, CT, who did initial work on the site and who attended the meeting as a guest.“Eventually, the State of Connecticut is going to require the Town of Clinton to properly address any potentially polluted 'brownfield' sites within the town's borders,” added Mr. Payne. “This would be to both keep the public safe and to encourage any potential growth on what is now considered environmentally compromised land.

”The grant being considered at the meeting was awarded earlier this year to the Town of Clinton for the specific purpose of assessing the cost to address environmental issues regarding the town's Old Landfill site.While there was some initial confusion among voters at the meeting regarding allocation of the grant funds,once it was determined that the grant could not be allocated to any other proposed development in the town,an overwhelming majority of voters quickly resolved to accept the state grant.

Strong voter acceptance of the grant in Clinton comes as welcome news to Shoreline Ice, LLC, a local company formed to assess the feasibility of building a new ice/sports/events complex on the site. Rusty Shriner, a development consultant and Managing Partner of Stamford Twin Rinks in Stamford, CT,noted that he had encountered a similar situation in Stamford, CT. “When we started talking about developingStamford Twin Rinks,” said Mr. Shriner, “we actually started by addressing significant environmental issues on our present site.
Fortunately, those issues were resolved, and for seventeen years now we have been providing a variety of services for the community, as well as a number of of full- and part-time jobs and significant tax revenues to the Town of Stamford.”Many voters at the Special Meeting were enthusiastic about moving forward to assess the viability of theOld Landfill site and of having an ice/sport/event complex in the Town of Clinton. Said one voter: “I think this isa wonderful idea for our kids,” adding “this seems like a real no-brainer to me.

”If the proposed ice/sports/event complex is ultimately developed, it could not only serve the needs of the region's hockey players, ice skaters and their families, but could also be converted – using all-purpose flooring – to house craft fairs, seasonal festivals, trade shows, indoor sporting activities and other community events. Other features might include high-end food eateries, party rooms, ballet and dance classrooms and a skating pro shop.