#MiddleburyCT #DistributionCenter #Selectmen
By MARJORIE NEEDHAM
In a stunning reversal of the position the Middlebury Board of Selectmen has held for nearly a year, they unanimously voted at their November 20 meeting to respond “No” to the question, “Do you support a distribution warehouse project in our community?” First Selectman Edward B. St. John joined Selectmen J. Paul Vance and Elaine Strobel for a unanimous vote against a distribution center. Led by St. John, the board had previously taken the position that town officials were required to remain neutral on projects and could not voice opposition to a proposed project without risking an expensive lawsuit against the town.
This reporter was unable to attend the November 20 meeting due to a home heating leak, but has listened to a recording, and Vance shared with the newspaper his statement that he introduced the motion by saying he wanted to discuss the proposed project and clear up some misconceptions.
He said he had been careful not to interfere with the legal process because he did not want his opinion to lead to a suit against the town that would cost taxpayers money. However, he said as selectmen elected to represent the people of this town, “We can and should make our opinions clear. There is no gag order. We are here to represent our neighbors.”
He went on to say he had many concerns about the project – building height and truck traffic not being a good thing for Middlebury, public safety and the character of the town. He said, “This is a project that does not work for this town. I hope as it goes through the process that the project fails. It would be ideal if the developer withdraws the project.”
Strobel told the newspaper, “I’m not for the distribution center. I’m concerned about the traffic, the height of the building, noise and pollution. This is only my opinion. It is not an intent to influence the land use boards.”
St. John explained at the meeting and said during a telephone interview afterwards that he has for 30 years urged residents, as projects came up before our land use boards, to let the boards and commissions do their work. Until November 20, he continued to do so.
He said it became apparent to him things needed to change. “After watching our community pit resident against resident and I personally and our board members being accused of being crooks and being on the take, it was time for the board of selectmen to act.”
The November 7 election convinced him they needed to do this. He said when the first flyer circulated, showing an Amazon building, he looked at it and said to himself, “You’d have to be out of your mind to support this project.” Still, he wanted to let the boards and commissions do their work. He said he encouraged them to handle the application in the usual fashion. “That was interpreted as we were in bed with the developer,” he said.
He said of passing the motion, “I wanted to do it while Elaine was there because she paid a heavy price.” He went on to say, “I have two years to try to bring this community back together and I need everyone’s prayers to make this happen.”
