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Courthouse Update
 | | Jay Abbot spoke during the meeting at the Community Center on November 1. Photo/Robin Gourd |
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By Jay Abbott, M.D., Litchfield
On November 1 the Connecticut Fund for the Environment (CFE) conducted an informational briefing at the Community Center in Litchfield. The topic was protection of Connecticut's environment in general, and the inappropriate proposed siting of the Litchfield County courthouse specifically.
Approximately eighty people in attendance heard Attorney Dana Young describe the many ways in which the public can effectively influence environmental decisions by the State. She noted that CFE will certainly consider legal proceedings against the State if the Department of Public Works continues to insist on the Anderson property for the courthouse.
In attendance were Representative Craig Miner and Senator Andrew Roraback, who both spoke briefly. Senator Roraback reassured the audience that they should leave the meeting confident that the State will not be building a courthouse on the Anderson property.
The CFE presentation also included the showing of a video of Paul Winter's October 13 press conference on the Samal property adjacent to the proposed courthouse, where he eloquently described and people could directly observe the environmental damage that would occur on rural wooded wetlands if the State were to succeed in building a courthouse on the Anderson property.
The video includes State Representative Jesse Stratton, Chairwoman of the state legislature’s Environmental Committee, addressing the crowd. She pointed out the unsuitability of the Anderson property and pledged to continue to do everything she can to dissuade the DPW from continuing on the Anderson property. She also noted that a state watchdog committee is currently reviewing the DPW's procedures in property acquisition.
To learn more about CFE, contact Dan Lorimier at: CT Fund for the Environment, 1032 Chapel St., 3rd floor, New Haven, CT 06570; phone 203-787-0646.
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