Funding for Somers Bus Barn Demolition Approved

On Thursday, it was decided that money from the general fund would be appropriated for the demolition of the bus barn on Field Road in Somers.

In a simple majority vote at a town meeting, $22,070 was appropriated from the fund for the demolition, replacement, and construction of additional parking for the First Student bus barn.

The state approved the project as a Local Capital Improvement Program (LoCIP), and all expenditures will be reimbursed to the town by the state Office of Policy and Management.

“I think this is an opportunity to use some LoCIP funds that we have where it doesn’t cost the taxpayers,” First Selectwoman Lisa Pellegrini said.

Some concerns were raised as to the safety of the project. The land that the bus barn is on was a former town dump and town garage so some residents are concerned as to whether or not the land is contaminated.

“We don’t know if there’s anything hazardous there,” one resident said. “They could be digging and wind up opening a hazard – you don’t know what’s there. As a taxpayer, I don’t want to be exposed to an environmental mess.”

Pellegrini said that when the dump was closed, it was closed properly, saying that proper procedures were followed years ago – implying that that should lessen the concern.

The plan is to remove the two buildings – the bus barn and the metal storage building – and the concrete slab and feet associated with them. The area will then be paved over, allowing for more parking for the buses.

According to town engineer Jeff Bord, the concrete feet go down into the ground approximately 3.5 to 4 feet. The feet would be removed from the site and “acceptable material” would fill the holes – the soil that is there would not be removed from the site.

While that isn’t much digging, some people were still concerned.

“I would like to see the site surveyed to make sure there are no hazards,” one man said.

Bord said that the company who is taking the building down can be contacted to see if they are concerned with doing the digging and if they have encountered a situation like this in the past, and if so, how they dealt with it.

Pellegrini noted that several years ago, old fuel tanks were removed from the ground and there was no evidence of contamination.

Because there is no major disruption of the area and the town is keeping the property, it is not a precondition to have a phase one or phase two environmental study done.

“We are keeping the property – we are not selling the property – thus a phase one or phase two environmental study is not needed,” she said. “After the building is removed, we’ll end up asphalting and concreting over that so it is encased. Right now, it’s not required – from my conversations with that state, it’s not required. I did what I had to do for the requirements.”

Pellegrini added, “Why would you want to continue to look for something that’s probably not there? You have to give them specific items of what you’re doing and that never came up as a question. Why would you want to do a survey when it’s not needed? You’re not disrupting the surrounding area.”

According to Pellegrini, if you begin testing, the town will be forever sampling that material and it will incur a cost to the town that is significant – when she feels it’s not necessary.

“We’re not excavating big holes into the parking lot,” she said. “Why go into additional, unnecessary testing? We’re not opening it up, we’re not ripping out expansive amounts of pavement – we’re removing the buildings. We’re keeping everything covered. I think it would be a mistake to get an unnecessary survey involved.”

She feels that biggest liability being faced is that the town has a building that is filled with mold, has a roof that could cave in this upcoming winter, is filled with vermin, and is a public safety hazard.

“If we properly take it down, then it becomes a nonissue and we get rid of the liability,” she said. “We’re lucky we didn’t have the roof cave with all the snow. We are conscious of the fact that yes, we don’t want to go digging to China – we don’t want to open up anything. There may or not be the potential of something being there, but we are not required to go and look for it.”

While the concerns were raised, when it came time to vote, the residents were quiet. The men who had voiced their concerns abstained from voting, allowing the motion to carry.

Pellegrini said that an added bonus of taking down the buildings will be the savings in fuel and labor costs of plowing during the winter. Currently, the plows have to work around the buildings – sometimes plowing at odd angles. Now, they will be able to go back and forth easily, making the job much quicker and easier.

First Student will continue to have the buses on the property – therefore the town will not lose any revenue. The company now has a trailer on the property as its office, replacing the bay of the bus barn that was being used as an office.