FARMINGTON — The observation deck at the edge of the pond behind East Farms School is getting new boards and railings, and the path to it is getting a ramp. Farmington's Inland Wetlands Commission approved the work on Sept. 16, along with a second driveway on Garden Street. Both applications had been found not significant on Sept. 2, which meant no automatic public hearing. The deck site also got a commission site walk first, on Sept. 9.
The deck
The applicant is Bartlett Brainard Products Company. Scott Miller, who identified himself as the company's president, told the commission the plan is to pull up the old decking on the existing deck, inspect the concrete piles underneath, and replace any damaged joists or beams. The new surface is composite decking with a 50-year warranty, with aluminum railings on three sides.
The project also adds a small ramp on the pond side of a bridge, where there is "probably a 8 to 10 inch step," Miller said, for people with mobility issues.
If the old piles don't pass the town building inspector, the company would install helical piles, which screw into the ground. Miller said work would probably start within about two weeks of a building permit. Asked whether it would take a couple of days once started, he agreed, unless the piles have to be replaced.
Commissioners' main concern was children. Chair Ned T. Statchen asked what the company would do to keep students away from the work, since the deck is on school property. Miller said the company hadn't planned on fencing but could put up orange snow fence. Statchen told him to work it out with the town's building department. The deck is a popular spot, Statchen noted. At the site walk, a father and his children were out there, enjoying it in the rain with the turtles and other wildlife.
The driveway
The owner of 10 Garden Street, a two-unit house three houses from the Route 4 intersection, asked to add a 12-by-24-foot driveway on the left side of the house. The existing driveway fits one car, the owner said, and parking on the street would cause even more traffic there.
Statchen said cars parked in the road there, with traffic queued at the light, could be a safety concern, and called the project "a good idea." The commission approved it on the condition that erosion controls go in and stay until the driveway is paved.
The rule changes
At the Conservation Commission meeting that followed the Sept. 2 wetlands meeting, Bruce Cyr, the town's wetlands agent, described amendments to the town's wetlands regulations that still had to go to the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection for review. Two weeks later, at the Conservation Commission meeting that followed, Cyr was asked whether they had gone to the state yet.
"No, no, not yet," he said. He said he had been talking with the state and needed to coordinate with it to get them out. The commission's chair had been asking about the amendments since July.
Earlier, in his planner's report to the wetlands commission, Cyr said work on Farmington's Plan of Conservation and Development, the town's 10-year land use plan, would be starting soon, beginning with a resident survey. Representatives from each town board are to sit down with staff and the plan's consultant, and Cyr said the town would probably be looking for a couple of volunteers. The plan is required by law every 10 years, staff told the commission, and the state withholds grant money from towns whose plans are out of date.
This coverage is supported by Farmington Storage, 155 Scott Swamp Road, the only storage facility in Connecticut with Museum air. The East Farms deck is getting a 50-year warranty. Farmington Storage doesn't put a number on it. 860.777.4001 📦
Jack Beckett has reported on Farmington's Inland Wetlands Commission long enough to know that a 20-minute video is a gift. He spent the leftover time on a second coffee and has no regrets. ☕
The Farmington Mercury covers the town nobody else is covering: the pond deck, the driveway by the Route 4 light, the police log that is technically public record but that you'd never find unless someone typed it up. We publish slowly, deliberately and without apology. Our motto is "Always last to breaking news," and we stand behind it. Find us at farmingtonmercury.com and tell your neighbors. 📰