At the December 12 selectmen’s meeting, Developer Mark O’Neill, of Hamlet Homes, presented another alternative for a possible relocation of the Town Highway Garage. As reported in the Observer’s December-January issue, three locations have already been considered for the garage, all involving a new or newer building, but most importantly, freeing Ffyler Place from what is considered an impediment to attracting advantageous commercial development there.
The new alternative is Parcel 4 of the tract on East Street South that Hamlet has been marketing for several years. The ten-acre parcel is the northernmost part of the original 30-acre tract that Hamlet had acquired in 2014. Parcels 1 and 2 of that tract are now owned by the developers of Brook Hill Village, a new apartment complex with 36 apartments now occupied and 48 more soon to be offered. Parcel 4 lies between Stony Brook and the Town’s road to the Suffield sewage treatment plant. It abuts a 4.7-acre parcel owned by the Town where a cell tower is situated. The spot is high and contains a large, fairly level area suitable for the proposed garage.
O’Neill explained the plans he had prepared, showing the garage and surrounding facilities he proposes to build for the Town. He described the construction system he proposes, explaining its advantages. The Selectmen asked him to return with additional information.
The meeting continued with a brief review by First Selectman Melissa Mack of the two other alternatives still being considered: the present Moosehead Logging headquarters on Austin Street, which could be adapted for the highway garage, and the derelict Wicks Lumber location on East Street South, whose owner proposes to build a suitable new facility and rent it to the Town.
It would appear that Highway Foreman Mark Cervione and his crew won’t have to start packing very soon.