ESSEX— The board of selectmen has approved a $50,000 appropriation for a third round of emergency management improvements, along with a separate four year waiver of the payments in lieu of taxes for the Essex Court elderly housing complex.

First Selectman Norman Needleman said the proposed expenditure for emergency management improvements was reduced by the removal of two items that were under discussion, an electric generator for the solid waste compactor site and video cameras for the entrance to town hall. Needleman said he concluded that $35,000 was too much to spend for a generator that would power the compactor during any extended power outage. Dropping the video cameras brought an additional reduction of about $8,000.

The proposed $50,000 expenditure would pay for additional signs, radio communications equipment and improvements, and new appliances for the kitchen on the lower level of town hall. This would the third expenditure for emergency management improvements since Tropical Storm Irene last August. Last fall, voters at town meetings approved $38,000 to relocate the emergency operations center to the former judge of probate office at town hall, and $32,528 for various emergency management items.

The board also approved a four-year waiver of payments in lieu of taxes for the Essex Court elderly housing complex in the Centerbrook section. The four year waiver had been requested by the appointed Essex Housing Authority Board of Commissioners, which governs the complex.

The town has waived the PILOT payments each year since 2005 after controversies and conflicts between project managers and residents from 2001 to 2004 led to legal expenses and settlements that depleted the Essex Housing Authority’s reserve funds. A four year waiver would be the longest waiver of the payments to be approved thus far. Needleman said the waiver would result in a loss of about $9,000 in potential tax revenue per year, or about $36,000 over the four years.

Both the appropriation for emergency management improvements, and the waiver of the PILOT payments, require approval from the board of finance and voters at a town meeting. Needleman said a town meeting vote on the two issues is expected in April.

ESSEX— The park and recreation commission, after dropping long-standing plans for a separate basketball facility near the firehouse, Wednesday approved plans to upgrade an existing basketball court at Hubbard Park on North Main Street.

The change in plans developed over the past month, and some of the 40 residents at Wednesday’s meeting objected to a lack of advance notice of the plans to expand basketball at Hubbard Park. The panel approved the Hubbard Park basketball upgrade on a unanimous vote after more than an hour of discussion with residents. The plan received a mixed reaction, with some residents expressing support and others objecting to the new location for expanding youth and adult basketball activities.

The commission, working with a subcommittee of volunteers, had spent more than four years pushing a plan to construct a new basketball center on a portion of a former state commuter parking lot at the intersection of West Avenue and Route 154, near the main firehouse.

The proposed lighted court, with two backstands and two practice backstands, had received zoning approval, including a variance from the zoning board of appeals, in 2009. Supporters of the “Essex Basketball Center and Gateway Project” maintained the project would be entirely funded by private donations. The Essex Volunteer Fire Department did not oppose the project during the zoning reviews in 2009.

The difficult economy slowed donations, but supporters began an active fundraising drive last November with a goal of beginning construction this spring. Jim Rawn, a commission member who co-chaired the project subcommittee, said in November that about $50,000 had been raised for a project that was estimated to cost about $177,000.

The commission’s plan for a separate basketball center remained on track in January, but by February things had changed. At a Feb. 1 meeting, commission members began discussing alternatives to the $177,000 basketball center at the former commuter lot. At a Feb. 13 special meeting, the commission gave tentative approval to a plan for using the donated funds to construct a new basketball court over an existing volleyball court on the southwest corner of Hubbard Park, which also has a baseball field that is heavily used by little league and softball clubs.

It was the idea of building a new basketball court over the volleyball area that drew the most opposition Wednesday night, with several residents objecting to the loss of “green space” at the park to a paved basketball area. Others objected to the Hubbard Park location as too distant from youth in the Centerbrook and Ivoryton sections. Some residents suggested locating the basketball improvements at the Grove Street Park near town hall, or on available space on the Essex Elementary School property in the Centerbrook section.

Commission chairman Michael Holmes said the elementary school property was not an option because of board of education rules that limit access to the general public during hours while school is in session. Holmes said the commission has the same rule on public access during summer programs held at the school property.

After listening to input from residents, the commission unanimously approved a plan to improve an existing basketball area on the north side of Hubbard Park, leaving the volleyball court area unchanged. While there is one basketball hoop in place, the paved area is now used mostly for parking at baseball and softball games.

The new basketball court would be fenced, with a gate to allow parking during other activities at Hubbard Park. The court would be monitored by security cameras, with no lighting and closing at sunset.

Rawn said of the 135 families and businesses that donated funds for the basketball center at the commuter lot, only four had requested a refund after learning of the change in location. The commission is hoping to begin work on the basketball upgrade this spring.

First Selectman Norman Needleman said Thursday he supports the commission’s decision to upgrade the existing basketball court at Hubbard Park. “I think that is the best solution possible in the current circumstances,” he said. Needleman said he was pleased the commission listened to concerns expressed by residents, and dropped the plan to build a new basketball court over the volley ball area. “The worked to find a compromise,” he said.

ESSEX— Two New London County residents were killed early Sunday in a two-car collision on Route 9 northbound between exits 2 and 3.  Afzaal Muhammod, of 8 Orchard Street, New London, and Eunni Yoon, of 207 North Stonington Road, Mystic, were pronounced dead at the scene after a state trooper came upon the accident around 4:47 a.m. Sunday. Police believe one of the operators may have been driving in the wrong direction on the highway.

Muhammod was operating a 2009 Nisson Altima. Yoon, a woman, was driving a 2002 Chrysler. The accident remains under investigation by state police at the Troop F barracks in Westbrook.

ESSEX– The town is expecting a lump sum payment from the Connecticut Resources Recovery Authority to cover a promised benefit that was never provided for serving as the host town for the authority’s regional transfer station.

First Selectman Norman Needleman announced at Wednesday’s meeting of the board of selectmen that he is expecting an answer from the CRRA board of directors next month on the exact amount the town would received for serving as the host town for the regional transfer station that serves nine towns in the Lower Connecticut River Valley. The regional transfer station is located on town property off Route 154, just south of the Deep River town line. The facility compacts trash from area towns that is then hauled to the CRRA Mid-Connecticut incinerator in Hartford.

The regional transfer station has been in full operation since about 1989, with Essex promised a benefit for serving as the host town for the facility. Needleman said he and members of the sanitary waste commission have been negotiating with the authority in recent weeks to secure some of the host town benefits that were promised, but never provided, to the town. The negotiations come as the authority asks area towns to renew long-term contracts for disposal of municipal solid waste that expire in November.

Needleman said Essex was promised two incentives for serving as the host town for the regional transfer station, including a host town payment of .50 for each ton of municipal solid waste that is processed at the facility. Another promised benefit that dates to the formation of the regional trash authority in the mid-1980s calls for an annual payment equal to 20 percent of the annual tax bill for the parcel that contains the regional transfer station.

Needleman said he is prepared to waive the provision for a 20 percent payment because the amount would be less than $30,000, and the town never sent the authority a tax bill for the partial payment. But Needleman said he is insisting on a payment of the host town benefit dating back to 2007. The payment, representing fifty cents on each ton of trash processed at the facility over the past five years, is expected to total more than $100,000.

Needleman said he is also seeking strict requirements that CRRA properly maintain the site of the regional facility, and has rejected offers from CRRA to buy the site from the town. While the town’s contract with CRRA for solid waste disposal expires in November, the lease for the site of the regional transfer station extends to 2015.

Needleman said he would not bring a proposed new long-term disposal contract with CRRA to the board of selectmen and town meeting for approval until the outstanding issues regarding the site and the host town payment are resolved.

Deep River and Chester in December approved new 15-year disposal contracts with CRRA. The new contracts provide for a tip fee of $59.50 per ton for trash processed at the regional transfer station and the Mid-Connecticut incinerator, less than the $70 per ton fee the towns are currently paying to CRRA.

ESSEX— Assessor Jessica Sypher has filed an October 2011 grand list of taxable property that totals $1,120,279,636, an increase of $3,490,760, or 0.31 percent, over the 2010 grand list total. The increase is expected to generate about $62,764 in new tax revenue at the current tax rate of 17.98 mills.

The increase was smaller than last year, when the grand list jumped by 0.59 percent, but better than 2009, when the grand list dropped by 0.20 percent. Sypher said all of the increase could be attributed to home renovations and additions, along with purchases of new vehicles. The personal property total was down nearly four percent from 2010.

The town’s 3,393 real estate accounts show an assessment total of $1,078,147,120, an increase of $1,669,000, or .14 percent, from the 2010 real estate total. The town’s 7, 548 motor vehicle accounts show an assessment total of $59,432,335, an increase of $3,193,600, or 5.6 percent, from the 2010 motor vehicles total. The 738 personal property accounts show a total of $28,968,231, a decrease of $1,169,640, or 3.88 percent, from the 2010 personal property total.

The list of the town’s top ten taxpayers remained unchanged from 2010. The top taxpayer is the Essex Meadows Inc. retirement community and health care facility on Bokum Road, with an assessment total of $24,672,600. Other top taxpayers with the 2011 assessments are Lee Company $14,499,630, Connecticut Light and Power Company $5,954,470, Griswold Inn LLC $3,852,200, Stephen R. Cline Trustee (five real estate accounts) $3,587,400, Essex Savings Bank $3,306,970, All Waste Inc. (41 personal property and motor vehicle accounts) $3,041,550, Herbert T. Clark (28 personal property, real estate, and motor vehicle accounts $2,945,910, MacBeth Ventures LLC $2,870,000, and River Properties LLC $2,784,820.

ESSEX— The planning commission has approved a three-lot resubdivision of a 12.38-acre parcel off Toby Hill Road in the Ivoryton section, a step that could lead to a connection from Ivoryton to a heavily developed section of the road in Westbrook.

The commission approved the resubdivision on Jan. 12 after a two-part public hearing that began in November. The plan by developer Paul Vumbaco of Meriden calls for three building lots on 5.94 acres, and a donation of the Essex Land Trust of 6.38 acres of open space land. The lots in Essex would receive access from a common driveway off Joseph Circle, a new subdivision road extending off Toby Hill Road in Westbrook. Joseph Circle would end at a cul-de-sac in Essex.

Toby Hill Road is an old town roadway that extends from Pond Meadow Road in Ivoryton north to intersect with McVeagh Road in Westbrook. The larger section of Toby Hill Road in Westbrook has been heavily developed in recent years, with numerous homes and new roads extending off it.

Vumbaco has already received approval for a seven-lot subdivision of about 22 acres located off Toby Hill Road in Westbrook. These lots would also be served by Joseph Circle.

Concerns about a possible connector road from the development off Toby Hill Road in Westbrook leading to the difficult intersection of Toby Hill Road and Pond Meadow Road in  Ivoryton led the planning commission last winter to recommend abandonment of the small section of Toby Hill Road in Ivoryton. John Guszkowski, the town’s consulting planner, had noted in a memo the intersection has “a steep approach from Toby Hill Road, poor sight lines and unfavorable topography.”

The board of selectmen discussed the commission’s recommendation last March, but took no action on a process that would have required approval from voters at a town meeting.

Guszkowski said Friday the developer has agreed to pay for improvements to Toby Hill Road in the vicinity of the planned Joseph Circle, but has not pledged to help pay for improvements to the intersection of Toby Hill Road and Pond Meadow Road in Ivoryton. Guszkowski said it remains an “open question” whether the intersection of the two roads requires improvements, and whether Essex town funds would be needed to pay for improving the intersection.

The section of Joseph Circle in Ivoryton would include a small parking area providing access to the 6.38 acres of open space land, which abuts other undeveloped open space land in Ivoryton and Westbrook. The developer would also be required to pay for a 30,000-gallon underground water storage tank to provide fire protection for the subdivision.

ESSEX— Voters at a town meeting Wednesday approved a $38,000 special appropriation to relocate the town’s emergency operations center from a damp ground floor room to the former judge of probate office at town hall.

About two dozen residents turned out to approve the expenditure on a unanimous voice vote after brief discussion. The appropriation, the second for emergency management improvements since Tropical Storm Irene on Aug. 28, was approved by the board of finance last month.

The approval came as the board of selectmen began discussing a third proposed special appropriation for emergency management improvements. Voters at a town meeting last month approved an initial expenditure of $32,528 for items that included a new radio control station, radio repeaters, and various signs.

The third round of proposed emergency management improvements was prepared by Emergency Management Director William Buckridge, who had developed the list of initial improvements after meetings with town emergency services volunteers that followed the August storm.

The proposed expenditure for the third round of emergency management related items totals about $58,000. The list includes a generator to allow continued operations of the town’s solid waste compactor after a loss of electric power. The cost of the new generator would be about $15,000

Also on the list is various new radio communications equipment for about $28,000, $8,800 for video security cameras for the entrances to town hall, and funding for additional signs and new cots, blankets, and hygiene kits for a local emergency shelter. There is also $5,000 to upgrade the kitchen area off the town hall auditorium with some new appliances.

The board agreed to discuss the proposed third round of expenditures at a future meeting, with First Selectman Norman Needleman expected to first review the proposed expenditures with the board of finance at its Jan. 19 meeting.

Needleman told voters at the town meeting the total cost of relocating the emergency operations center is $72,000, with $34,000 of the expense covered by a payment from the town’s insurance carrier, the Connecticut Interlocal Risk Management (CIRMA) consortium, for moisture and mold damage that occurred during the tropical storm. The relocation project includes installing a sump pump and dehumidifier in the damp basement room where the EOC is currently located.

Needleman said selectmen are hoping these improvements, along with some outside drainage improvements, would eliminate the moisture problems in the ground floor room. “We’re not sure it will work,” he added.

After relocation of the emergency operations center, the ground floor room would be used for storage. Work on the relocation project is expected to begin in the spring.