The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
Pipeline questions delay vote
Town targets 5.27-acre parcel to redevelop waterfront
PORTLAND — Wednesday night’s scheduled town meeting on the purchase of a five-acre waterfront property has been postponed.
The Board of Selectmen on Monday voted 6-0 to postpone the meeting until it gets answers about an oil pipeline that crosses a portion of Brownstone Avenue and runs under the land in question. (The board’s seventh member, Edward J. “Rick” Sharr Jr. was absent from the meeting.)
The issue of the pipeline came to the attention of officials during a title search of the property on the site of the former Connecticut Tar & Asphalt Co. at 222, 230 and 248 Brownstone Ave. The town has proposed buying the 5.27-acre parcel of land as part of an effort to redevelop the town’s waterfront.
Town Attorney Kari Olson said Monday the question of the pipeline was discovered during the search conducted by the real estate division of her firm, Murtha Culina, after the town signed a purchase-and-sale agreement Jan. 26.
The town has been in negotiations with the owners of the property, the estate of late John Balletti, since 2016.
Amy Vaillancourt, a licensed environmental engineer working with the town on the project, took part in Monday’s meeting via telephone.
“I’ve been working on this project since 2013,” she said, “and the question of the pipeline never came up. No information was provided about it from 2013 until just recently.”
Olson said it is not unusual for a title search to uncover anomalies, encumbrances or liens. A title search, part of the due diligence conducted in any land purchase, can only take place after a client has signed a purchase-and-sale agreement, she said.
It is the responsibility of the seller to clarify any anomalies that may arise before the deal is concluded, she added.
In this instance, Olson said, the seller has 60 days to rectify the situation “or the town can walk away from it if they are not fully satisfied.”
Vaillancourt was asked to reach out to the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection about the matter. She was then directed to contact the state Department of Transportation and the U.S. Coast Guard.
Selectman Benjamin R. Srb pressed for the town — through Vaillancourt — to conduct a survey of the pipeline. But First Selectwoman Susan S. Bransfield said the town should not
spend any money on what she said is the responsibility of the property owners.
The pipeline was installed in the early 1980s with the blessing of the town.
“It’s a clear benefit to the property,” Bransfield said.
What’s more, when the agreement was made with the town, the understanding was that when the pipeline was no longer useful, “They would return the land to the condition it was in before the pipeline was installed.
“I am going to hold them to that promise,” she said. “This pipe is not owned by us. I am trying to protect the town.”
The seller has to answer a number of questions before the sale can go through, the first selectwoman added.