Selectman Questions Excavation Work at Farmer's Property

A town official is raising concern over nearly completed excavation work at a Middlefield farm.

On Wednesday night, selectman Mary Johnson went before the town's Inland Wetlands Commission to say she was surprised by the amount of soil and debris being removed from three drainage channels on George Pogmore's property at 890 Main Street.

"I am very disappointed in the extent of the work that's taking place and what is happening down there," Johnson said. "It looks like we're creating Venice down there or something."

The excavation work, which will cost the town roughly $19,000, began last month.

In response to Johnson's concern, IW chair Darin Overton said the commission had carefully reviewed the project and had determined that the work did not require a local permit because it fell under a farming exemption.

"The town decided to go ahead and do this work because it would cost less money to do the work than it would cost to fight it in court," Overton said.

Pogmore has previously threatened to sue the town, claiming the silt and debris that had accumulated in the channels was the result of the town's failure to build a retention pond at a nearby industrial park.

When the issue was raised during a recent Board of Selectman meeting, First Selectman Jon Brayshaw said the town was for the problem.

Johnson, who is among several who've questioned whether the town should be paying for the work, told the board she felt the nearly completed work did not reflect a plan presented to the board by Brayshaw, which she had previously approved.

"The fact that [the contractor] is excavating these soils and then dumping the soil right back into the wetlands would seem to be an activity that would require a permit, if not on a local level maybe on a state level," said Johnson, who had contacted two state officials earlier in the day to look into whether state permits were necessary.

Lee Vito, the town's Inland Wetlands enforcement officer, said he had been contacted by Darcy Winther of the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection who said she'd received two anonymous complaints from residents.

"She thought, based on what she was hearing, a permit should be issued," Vito said indicating that the project could potentially be stopped, but that it was nearly completed anyway.

Johnson, who repeatedly said she thought the area is a wetland and therefore should require a permit, also said she was under the impression the excavation work would be completed during the dry season and was concerned that the work was being done during a recent rainstorm.

"I would tend to agree that the timing is not the best," Overton said.

"There is some question as to whether [the property] is a wetland or not. [A document] from the USDA clearly says this is moderately well drained soil in the crop land out front here. So, I don't think you can say that this is clearly wetlands because we have a document here from a government agency that says it's not," Overton added.

Commission member Jim Brown said an independent consultant hired to do soil testing testified that the land was in fact a wetland.

He also said he had previously raised his own concern that Pogmore had been in negotiations with Brayshaw over the right to first refusal to the property.

"There's a lot of irregularities here that didn't look good," Brown said.

"It's my tax dollars being spent too and I just want to make sure that everything is being done properly, is really what it comes down to. Part of it is are we doing a favor for somebody especially since we're not addressing the real issue which is upstream," Johnson added.

Overton reiterated to Johnson that the board had handled the project "appropriately" and that any issue she had was with another commission or board.

Johnson agreed and said she planned to raise her concerns again during Tuesday's Board of Selectman meeting.

"I don't think this whole thing has been handled very well. Just this person's opinion," she said.