Transfer station begs our involvement

Just how well-defined are state lines here in the Tri-State region? Certainly they seem amorphous when it comes to certain issues: employment, transportation, health care, education and the environment, to name a few.

When voters in the border town of Salisbury approved the purchase of the Luke and Fitting properties near the state line to build a new transfer station, it’s no wonder some people here in the neighboring town of North East and the village of Millerton expressed concern.

Right up front leading the brigade has been North East Planning Board Chairman Henry Klimowicz, who has clarified that his concerns are being voiced as a private citizen, not on behalf of the municipality.

Klimowicz has openly questioned whether the installation of a transfer station at that site, which is located on Dimond Road and Route 44, would negatively impact Millerton and North East. He addressed the Salisbury Board of Selectmen before the vote to express his concerns, which fell by the wayside when the ballots were cast in favor of the Luke and Fitting properties purchase.

Klimowicz then brought his worries to the North East Town Board. He said the viewshed from Millerton into Connecticut could be destroyed and that the aquifer could also be irreversibly damaged. In light of those issues, and others, he asked the board to take proactive steps to get involved in the process. That process is one happening exclusively in Connecticut, for obvious reasons, which even Klimowicz acknowledged earlier this month.

"It’s very awkward to be there, because it’s their own business, and that it should involve us is really unfortunate," he said in an interview with The Millerton News. "We don’t want to be there and we feel ill-equipped to be there and inappropriate to be there as it’s their town and they have the right to govern their own town. I just hope they can do right by North East."

Last Thursday, however, he asked the North East Town Board to consider getting involved.

"Is there any way we can have anything to do with it?" he asked.

Considering the proximity of the transfer station property to the village and town, and the serious impacts it could have on the area (New York included), it’s no wonder Klimowicz is seeking some form of representation while plans are being discussed and decisions made about the construction and future operation of the transfer station.

The Town Board, however, disagrees. Both town Supervisor Dave Sherman and Councilman Dave McGhee expressed their reluctance to get involved in another town’s project, especially one across state lines.

Granted this is a Connecticut issue, but Connecticut is not an island. Its actions will impact us — and ideally it would be nice if our local leaders were invited to the discussions about such an important regional matter. Let’s hope the leaders of Salisbury think so, too.

Moreover, let’s hope the Town Board rethinks its refusal to Klimowicz and reaches out to our neighbors in Connecticut, requesting to be involved in some capacity in the process. The board should do so to protect not only its own interests, but those of its constituency. Shame on them for not taking some sort of action to do so in the first place.

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