By: Matt Sanderson, Villager Staff Writer
Published: Friday, March 27, 2009
Killingly Villager
Brooklyn, CT

BROOKLYN — In a 5-0 vote, the Inland Wetlands Commission approved the application from Wal-Mart last Thursday night, March 19, citing that it did not pose significant obstruction to wetlands located in the northern area of the proposed site on Providence Road. Fourteen conditions were imposed that Wal-Mart must adhere to for the special permit. The remaining commission members, Drew Dionne, Real Gallant, Erik Costa, Charles Pappas and George Sipila, heard repeated testimony from Syl Paulie, civil engineer from the Northeastern Connecticut Council of Governments, before arriving at their decision. Sherry Soucy, Tom Rukstela and Jeff Arends had to remove themselves from the commission after discovering various conflicts of interest with the application or a relation to their employment in Brooklyn. More than 12 hours of public hearing had been conducted since December on this application,

between Wal-Mart, its engineers, environmental interveners and the general public. As the decision was rendered to a small crowd in Brooklyn Middle School’s auditorium last Thursday, those in favor applauded and those opposed walked out quietly. The 14 regulations state that Wal-Mart must establish conservation easements on the northern boundary and western snow storage areas, hold a pre-construction meeting with the town, install a soil erosion and sedimentation control plan at the owner’s responsibility, hire a qualified professional consultant to supervise on the construction of the stormwater retention basins, and have no tree stumps or other waste materials buried on site. Also, no invasive plant species may be introduced to the site that is within the wetlands area. In addition, a cash bond or irrevocable letter of credit in an amount must be posted one year prior to the certificate of occupancy is issued and come back to the town prior to the issuing of the certificate of occupancy to present its completed plans of the stormwater detention system, according to plans. Finally, prior to the release of the bond,

drawings of the stormwater drainage system must be provided to the town, including the retention basin system. Underground fuel storage tanks, expect propane gas, are prohibited from the site in order to reduce wetlands contamination. The owner shall provide the consulting engineer with a thorough maintenance schedule of all sumps, pipes and other areas on site and file is twice annually on or before April 30 and Oct. 30. Storing fertilizers, pesticides, lawn chemicals and other products are only permitted within an enclosed structure. There is to be no salt usage on the parking lot, as well as any chemical or calciumbased products, except for biodegradable deicing materials. Also within the conditions, the parking lot should be maintained on an ongoing basis, including regular sweeping of parking areas no less than monthly. The Planning and Zoning Commission has the final decision on the application, which holds its next public hearing at 7 p.m. Wednesday, April 8, at Brooklyn Middle School.