New Haven Independent

Declaring that First Selectwoman Cheryl Morris had “usurped the power and authority of all elected members of the RTM,” the RTM members sent a letter to Morris Friday morning saying the 2-1 Board of Selectman vote earlier in the week was “not effective.” There are 12 Republicans on the 30-member board. Two were on vacation and one had a conflict of interest.

The RTM group also sent notice to the new quarry operator, Doug Anderson, the head of the Anderson-Wilcox Corporation, a housing development company whose address at 7 Business Park Drive is the same as the Stony Creek Granite Corp, the company with whom the town signed the lease.

The legislators cited three reasons for their actions: First, the notice Mrs. Morris sent out announcing the purpose of a special Board of Selectman (BOS) meeting on Tuesday, August 29th was “defectively vague and violated the state’s Freedom of Information Act.” Her notice said the BOS would meet “to consider and if appropriate approve an addendum to a lease.” The lease was unnamed. About a dozen residents showed up and several said they only learned about the topic of the meeting a half hour before.

The second reason is that even though the financial terms are better than in the prior lease, the new lease fundamentally changes the nature and possible uses of the Stony Creek Quarry. The quarry is an historical place whose beautiful pink granite has been used for the Statue of Liberty and at Grand Central Station in New York.

The letter cites a possible new “contractor’s yard.” In addition, John Opie, the Republican Third Selectman, who voted against the lease, took issue with a section of the lease that permits Non Stony Creek Granite (NSCG) products to be produced there. These new uses, the letter says, require Planning and Zoning approval, which was not obtained.

At the meeting, residents learned that great quantities of granite might also be used for crushing. Actually this concern was voiced in June by Darrell Petit, a Branford sculptor who has worked at the quarry for the last 16 years, and who in the past submitted a bid for the lease. (It is not clear whether the Morris Administration advertised for bids this time around.)

Petit quoted world renowned architect and Branford resident Cesar Pelli who spoke to the issue in a letter in 2002. “This is written in support of efforts to modernize and operate the Stony Creek granite quarry so that it might remain a quarry for dimensional cut stone, rather than be converted into primarily a provider of stone for crushing. This can be called a tragedy, because Stony Creek granite, one of the handsomest cladding stones, would not be available any more,” Pelli wrote.

Writing to Second Sullivan Dick Sullivan this past June, Petit said: “I am concerned of this tragedy becoming a reality and sincerely hope that the town recognizes the historic and natural significance of the high quality dimensional granite that this quarry is producing”

The third and perhaps most important issue is constitutional in nature, the legislators told Mrs. Morris. Section 73-3 of the Branford Town Code requires transactions “involving the Town’s lands, and in particular leases, be approved by the RTM.” But no RTM approval was obtained. Shelley Marcus, who with her father Ed Marcus is a town attorney, said RTM approval was not required because this was an addendum to a lease.

The Eagle interviewed two attorneys who specialize in municipal law. Both said the lease should be viewed as a new lease. One noted that “there is a new tenant and new terms. That’s a lease in my book.”

To understand the town’s legal position, we set out to learn about the legislative history behind section 73-3. The Eagle located Brian Festa at the Birdhouse Inn in East Poultney, Vermont where he and his wife, Karen, now operate an inn. Festa was chairman of the Rules and Ordinances Committee of the RTM in 1996 when Section 73-3 was adopted. He said the ordinance came into being because at the time, the RTM was concerned about significant land issues, property swapping and the future of the Queach. The RTM, Festa said, wanted oversight because land issues were important to the future of the town. Without the ordinance, major changes in land use could be achieved with merely two votes of a three-member Board of Selectmen.

The Eagle asked whether the intent of the ordinance was to have the RTM review a lease like the one the BOS just approved for the Stony Creek Quarry.

“The intent was to review and give approval to any changes in the lease where there were transfers of real property between the town and other people in the community. If this were an addendum then it is a change in the nature of the lease. So therefore, it should require, at least to me and I am not a lawyer, some review and approval by the RTM,” Festa said.

The RTM group said: “We take no position for or against the merits of the proposal at this time. However, it is
our duty as elected Representatives of the people of Branford to provide a lawful review of this proposal before it can take effect as required under the Town Code.”
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