To move a sledding hill

NEW LONDON – The city of New London will move forward with designing a new wastewater treatment facility on property adjacent to the city’s Public Works building, which will require the removal of the city’s sledding hill.
The approval came at a joint New London Board of Public Works/Sewer Utility Commission and Park and Recreation Committee meeting, Feb. 18. Along with approving the sledding hill property as the site of a new wastewater treatment facility, the motion also stated that the city has the intent to have a new sledding hill at a new location the same year that the city loses the current sledding hill site.
At the meeting, Robert Garske, director of Public Works for the city of New London, told those in attendance that if the adjacent site is approved, it would give Donohue & Associates, Inc. permission to start preliminary planning at that location.
He reminded both committees that the city has a strict deadline to either upgrade its current wastewater treatment facility or to construct a new facility at a new location.

Using existing site

Garske said there are many disadvantages of building a new wastewater treatment facility at the site of the existing facility.
The cost, which Garske said is the most important factor, would be higher.
“The number one thing we’re trying to do in upgrading the facility is to save money for the rate payers,” Garske said.
The existing facility would be operating on a lot of temporary systems if a new facility is built at the existing site.
“The contractor would have to put redundancies in all these temporary systems to make sure the facilities stay running and does not violate permits,” Garske said.
Another disadvantage would be the complexity of building a new facility at the site of the existing facility. This could cause some contractors to not bid on the project because of the risks involved with the project.
The time it would take to construct a new facility would also increase if it were constructed at the site of the current facility.
The only advantage of constructing the new facility on the site of the current facility is that the city’s sledding hill would remain untouched for the community to use.
“I tried to find other pros to putting this right back to where it was and it’s hard to find any,” Garske said.

Using new site

Being able to do new construction on an open site with the normal risks involved with such construction is the major advantage of constructing the facility at a new location. It would also be attractive to potential bidders for the project, Garske said.
“They can construct almost everything without having to worry about bypassing or changing things,” Garske said.
He added that the duration of the construction would be shorter than constructing at the current site.
“The existing facility could be run as normal, bringing in extra income by still having the ability to receive outside septic,” Garske said.
Building at a new location would also allow the city to possibly request a separate bid for the demolition of the old facility, Garske said. This could be financially beneficial to the city.
The main disadvantage of building at a new location is the city’s sledding hill would need to be removed.
A new area would also have to be established for some of the supplies for Public Works.
“That’s not a big issue as far as finding a location for that equipment we have back there,” Garske said.

Parks & Recreation response
Ginger Sowle, director of Parks and Recreation for the city of New London, told the committees that she was “willing to fight” for keeping the sledding hill at its current location when she first heard about the proposal to build a new wastewater treatment facility at that site. But she said she changed her mind after obtaining more information and communicating with city staff.

“I understand that this is the best option for you,” Sowle said. “We want to work together. We have a great working relationship.”
She added, “I just want the public to know that we talked about this in the meetings behind closed doors with each other, with our staff, and we understood the needs of the wastewater treatment plant. This isn’t definitely parks versus public works. This is the city working together for the most economic resources available.”

Discussion
Ald. David Dorsey asked what kind of guarantee there would be that a new sledding hill would be created at a new location.
“That is definitely our major concern,” Sowle said.

Dorsey acknowledged that a new wastewater treatment facility needs to be built on the site where the sledding hill is currently located. But he said the city can’t delay building a new sledding hill at a different location.
Sowle said she preferred that the city not be without a sledding hill for even one winter.
New London Mayor Mark Herter agreed.
Ald. Balynda Croy said she has had discussions with residents inside and outside her district, and they are “gut wrenched” about a wastewater treatment facility being constructed on the site of the sledding hill, but they also understand that it is the best location for it to be constructed.
“The community understands it, that it has to be done, but they definitely want to see the upgrade to the Parks & Rec for a sled hill and whatever else we can manage in a new area,” Croy said. “New London loves its heritage and that sled hill has been a part of this community for decades upon decades. And there are a lot of memories there. People are going to be sad losing the site, but it will be better if we have a new site upgraded option for the Parks & Rec.”