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PORTLAND — Members of the Airline Trail Committee are exulting in their 2018 successes.

The committee is working to provide a link through Portland to the 25.6-mile walking and bicycling trail that begins in Thompson and ends in Willimantic, and eventually could carry on across the Connecticut River and beyond.

In 2018, the ALT completed construction on the first portion of the trail in Portland, a 2.3-mile section dedicated in October. In a post-Christmas report, committee Chairman Rosario “Riz” Rizzo described 2018 as “a very successful year” for his group.

In addition to opening the portion that runs from Middle Haddam Road to the fringe of YMCA’s Camp Ingersoll in Portland, the committee “spent most of the early spring working on getting the permanent signage designed, reviewed and sent out to be made.

“That was followed up with the design of a pamphlet to provide trail users with both historical and current information about the trail,” Rizzo said.

In general, response has been very positive. “Feedback we were receiving from users of the trail said that they loved the trail,” Rizzo said. However, trail users did not feel the love for the portion of the trail up Keegan Hill “between the parking lot and the east/west trail,” he said.

The committee ultimately had to redesign the hill “to reduce the incline from approximately 15 percent to around 5 percent using a serpentine-style trail,” Rizzo said. The early summer brought “multiple torrential rainy days,” which led the committee to “put asphalt on the aprons at the road crossing to reduce the amount of runoff materials that went onto the local roadways,” he added.

Working in conjunction with the town, the committee created a public service announcement about the trail. Personnel used “a donated drone to digitally record the whole length of the trail with narration by Lou Pear” and himself, Rizzo added.

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Pear, the deputy first selectman, is the former co-chairman of the committee as well as the Board of Selectmen’s liaison to the committee. Hoping to build upon its success, the committee “has voted to continue to work on Phase II, which will work on continuing the trail to connect to the Arrigoni Bridge and downtown Portland,” he said.

To that end, the committee met with the state Department of Transportation last spring “to take a look at the railroad depot located on Route 66 (across from Cumberland Farms) to see if it would be possible to use it for a welcome/visitors center in the future.”

“It’s a good report,” First Selectwoman Susan S. Bransfield said Monday. Acknowledging how pleased she was with the committee’s success, Bransfield said, “I am very proud and thankful to the committee and Chairman Riz Rizzo.”

“I am very grateful for his leadership and for all the hard work on the part of the committee, and all the volunteers who have worked so hard on this project,” said Bransfield, who also thanked the state — which provided a $600,000 grant to help fund the expansion — and the town for its support.

“This is a regional destination for so many people who are hiking or biking the trail and enjoy being out of doors. I’m looking forward to continue working with the committee on Phase II of this project,” Bransfield said.

Meanwhile, East Hampton has essentially completed the final 1.5-mile section of the trail through Portland’s nearest neighbor. East Hampton Town Manager Michael Maniscalco said there remains just an approximately 1,500-foot-long section — wetlands — that must be dealt with.

“We’re working with [the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection] to find the best solution,” which might entail the installation of a boardwalk, Maniscalco said Monday.

The trail has been built along the right of way of a former New Haven-to-Boston rail line abandoned in 1955.

EAST HAMPTON — The owner of the Citgo gas station and Food Bag convenience store at 1 Colchester Ave. has applied for change of zoning for two adjacent residential properties, creating a larger footprint for the business to expand.

If approved, 157 Main Street and 5 Colchester Ave would be re-zoned from residential to commercial property. The owner, Atlantis Marketing Group of Mount Vernon, N.Y., has requested that after the change in zoning, the three parcels be merged into one.

A petition supporting “remodel and improvements” of the store — circulated by the Atlantis Marketing Group, known as AMG — collected 110 signatures, and the town had posted one letter of support for the project, prior to the April 7 meeting of the town’s Planning and Zoning Commission.

Neighbors gathered 82 signatures in opposition to the project. Other property owners in the town submitted a petition with 35 signatures opposing the project. Three merchants from the village center submitted a letter in opposition. The town also received 186 letters in opposition and an online petition in opposition collected 133 signatures.

At the meeting, Scott Jezek, an attorney representing Atlantis Marketing Group, said the current convenience store had served as a filling station from “sometime in the late 1940s.”

“When the town of East Hampton adopted its zoning regulations in 1961, the area here that’s shown in question was a commercial zone and then later on in 1990 that was changed to your present, R-2 zone,” he said.

Jezek told commission members that residential zoning on a thoroughfare identified in the town’s plan of conservation and development as a heavily-used “arterial road,” was at odds with planned economic growth.

“The purpose of identifying the streets as such is to encourage economic revitalization. That is the use of the word revitalization — to add life to add to the usage of the properties in those areas,” Jezek said. “The present use of single family residential, in our opinion, is somewhat inconsistent with the plan of conservation and development.”

The Charles A. Strong House, built in 1858, stands at 157 Main Street, and is listed by the National Park Service as a contributing resource to the Belltown National Register Historic District. The 2,400-square-foot brick house, containing four apartments, is currently unoccupied.

A 2,200-square-foot multi-family house built in 1920 also stands on the 1.4-acre site.

According to Jezek, the Strong house is unoccupied “and really not suitable for habitation right now.” He said that his client had been in discussion with Jeremy DeCarli,a planning and zoning official for the town, about “the best way to handle that.” The project proposal calls for the building to be removed.

“We are quite flexible. And that I think the ultimate decision was made to get input from your commission for any decision was made. So we have not made a decision with respect to that building, and to either leave it or remove it, and we’ll wait and see what the comments are and try to make a plan that best accommodates, whatever the comments are about that building,” said Jezek.

Jezek said the application was solely for a change of zoning. Building permits and a site plan would need to be approved at a later date.

“No determination has been made yet by the applicant as to precisely what that site plan will look like, which buildings will remain, which buildings will be included, what their uses would be. And so those are decisions that we would make later on once, and if, the zoning changes are made by the commission,” he said.

Jack Belowich, business development manager for Atlantis, told the commission that the project has been depicted in the media as “out of town developer looking to build a major mega gas station. He said, “That cannot be further from the truth. What you’re seeing tonight is strictly a concept plan.”

During the public hearing, DeCarli summarized 46 letters in opposition. The letter writers expressed a variety of concerns, ranging from the project’s consistency with the town’s plan of conservation and development, to the impact on the historic district and property values.

Irene Cook wrote that she was concerned about noise, trash, light, traffic, damage to property values, the “oversized footprint” of the project and overall destruction of the neighborhood.

Jacqueline Benedetto wrote that the project could increase pollution in the groundwater, and lead to nuisance trash and noise.

Members of the public also spoke to the commission at the meeting.

Jennifer Mikulkski said that the developer had used “comfort terms” to describe the project.

“‘A green space, planting areas.’ ‘This is just a concept plan.’ ‘Don’t worry, we’ll take your input.’ ‘No decisions on buildings.’ These are just things, in my opinion, that are trying to sway you into approving a zoning change,” she told the commission. “I just wanted to make a closing statement that I feel strongly that the push to rezone any form of residential whether it be R-1 to R-4 to commercial or industrial use, is ultimately the ruin of the ideal balance of commercial convenience, village charm, and rural residential life that is truly East Hampton … I think you’re putting the overall character of this town at risk,” she said.

Margaret McCutcheon Faber said the project will require the demolition of the Strong house and to date there were 656 signatures on a petition asking for the assistance of the Attorney General should a demolition permit be applied for or pulled.

Jodi Brazal, who lives within 500 feet of the project and is also the executive director of the East Hampton Housing Authority, said the loss of housing was a concern.

“I acknowledge the fact that the two houses on Main Street are in a condition that have not provided the tenants who formerly and presently reside there to safe and decent housing. However, to remove them completely will take away any opportunity to provide housing to a number of people. I hope that you would agree that East Hampton needs more housing, as opposed to a new hypermart,” she said.

At about 9:30 p.m., with at least 15 people waiting to speak and a number of agenda items left to address, Zatorski asked the commission to continue the public hearing to the next regular meeting on May 5.

Zatorski said he planned to visit the site before the May 5 meeting and encouraged commission members to do the same.

Cate Hewitt is a reporter and Associate Editor for CT Examiner. Hewitt covers planning and zoning issues.

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The state’s two historic ferries were closed Wednesday due to the Connecticut River’s high water levels that also flooded some local land, and Norfolk officials continued work to clean up road washouts caused by torrential downpours, even as the National Weather Service forecast the possibility of more rain Thursday.

The Chester-Hadlyme ferry, which provides a link between the towns of Chester and Hadlyme at Route 148, was closed Wednesday due to the river’s high water levels, and the Rocky Hill-Glastonbury ferry, which also crosses the Connecticut River, has been closed since Sunday due to water levels and will remain closed “for the foreseeable future,” according to Josh Morgan, spokesperson for the state Department of Transportation.

The Chester-Hadlyme ferry is expected to reopen sooner than the Rock Hill-Glastonbury route, Morgan said.

In Norfolk, where town officials issued an emergency declaration due to flash flooding and washouts on Monday, parts of Route 272 were still closed Wednesday.

“Rainwater came through and washed the road away,” said Morgan. “That’s going to be a longer road to get that reopened, probably two to three weeks.”

Town officials said severe damage on Smith Road and Old Goshen Road could take six months to a year to fully repair, according to the Norfolk Emergency Management Department.

Morgan said that even emergency vehicles could not get through one section of the broken roadway on Route 272 on Monday and Tuesday, so the DOT put in some temporary fill and made temporary repairs so that at the very least, fire trucks could get through the area if necessary.

Parts of the road were still entirely closed to non-emergency traffic because they were unsafe for motor vehicles, the DOT said. According to the town, repairs had been made from Bruey Road to the Goshen town line. Route 272 remained closed at Etsy Road but was able to be driven north or south by local residents only.

Restoration work had begun on Esty Road, Meekertown Road, Beckley Road, and Windrow Road as of Tuesday, Norfolk town officials said in a statement. There were also several street sweepers in Norfolk cleaning all the streets, the town said.

The DOT said they were working closely with the town to get repairs underway.

In East Hartford, the area of Great River Park was filled with water from the overflowing Connecticut River, but the water had not reached the parking lot or roadways nearby, said Brian Jennes, captain of the Emergency Management Department.

Jennes said that, so far, the town had not seen much impact on their park or roads and likely wouldn’t unless the river rose about two more feet.

If the water does reach the roadways, Jennes warned drivers not to try to drive through the water.

“That water is moving a lot faster than people realize,” he said.

Jennes also warned people to be cautious of debris in the river and to avoid swimming in any flood waters due to contamination risks.

Due to the town’s levy system, Jennes said he did not expect any flooding on East Hartford roads.

“Right now because Connecticut has been in a drought and streams were really low, we’re doing just fine,” said Jennes.

“We have capacity for those streams to back up a little bit,” he said, but would be concerned if another heavy rainfall storm were to hit.

The National Weather Service said Wednesday afternoon that the flood warning for the Connecticut River at Thompsonville would remain in effect until Friday morning. “Minor flooding is occurring and moderate flooding is forecast,” the service reported.

The weather service said that, at 12:30 p.m. Wednesday the river stage was at 16.9 feet. and at 17 feet, “flooding will become more widespread along the Connecticut River from the Massachusetts towns of Agawam and Longmeadow, through the northern Connecticut towns of Suffield and Enfield.”

The warning issued Wednesday was for the Connecticut River at Hartford, affecting Hartford and Middlesex Counties.

The service also issued these precautions:

The Hartford skyline can be seen in the background as Great River Park in East Hartford is flooded with water from the Connecticut River on Wednesday, July 12, 2023. (Aaron Flaum/Hartford Courant)

The service Tuesday also had issued a flood warning that included the Connecticut River at Hartford, affecting Hartford and Middlesex counties, and the Connecticut River at Thompsonville, affecting Hartford County and Hampden County in Western Massachusetts.

That warning also included the Connecticut River at Middle Haddam, affecting Middlesex County. The service said the flood warning is cancelled for the Farmington River at Simsbury, which also would have affected Hartford County.

The town of East Harford later released a notice that the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is predicting the Connecticut River levels to continue rising and crest at 23′ on Wednesday, July 12, 2023.

As the Connecticut River continues to rise, some roads in the area may experience moderate flooding, the town warned.

The weather service warning will remain in effect through Friday afternoon, the weather service reported.

At 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, the Connecticut River stage was at 16.4 feet, the service reported, and at 17 feet, “flooding will become more widespread along the Connecticut River from the Massachusetts towns of Agawam and Longmeadow, through the northern Connecticut towns of Suffield and Enfield.” Flood stage is 15 feet, the service said in its statement

“The maximum river stage in the 24 hours ending at 5:30 (p.m.) Tuesday was 16.4 feet and the “river is expected to rise to a crest of 16.7 feet just after midnight tonight. It will then fall below flood stage Thursday morning,” the weather service statement said Tuesday. “This crest compares to a previous crest of 16.8 feet” on April 18, 1996.

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Hundreds of crews working are around-the-clock with no clear timeline for restoration.

EAST HADDAM, Conn. — People like Charlene Marquis-O’Brien were waking up to robocalls from Eversource two days before Christmas warning of area power outages. The family also woke up to a massive, downed evergreen blocking a driveway, so they powered up the generator and adjusted holiday plans.

“Because of the weather, we kind of are just celebrating at home,” Marquis-O’Brien said. “We’re not having company because maybe they can’t get to our house, or we would be without power. And how do you prepare food without power? So, we’re just going to have a quiet Christmas at home.”

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Eversource warned of power outages in most of the 149 communities it serves. Line crews are working around the clock. At the height of the storm Friday morning, power was knocked out to more than 100,000 customers.

“This was a tree event,” said Steve Sullivan, President of CT Electric Operations for Eversource. “We still have quite a way to go. We have a lot of these crews here. We’re determined to do everything we can to restore everybody as quickly and as safely as possible. But I do think folks have to look at alternate plans.”

It’s not always the mightiest trees. Small branches brought live wires onto Route 82 in East Haddam. Crews worked cautiously to clear the road with outages impacting nearly half of all residents in town.

In neighboring East Hampton, Cobalt Health Care and Rehab Center was running on a generator. They tended to 30 patients and marched on with indoor holiday party plans while line crews fixed wires outside on Middle Haddam Road.

“Emergency management is also aware, so God forbid if something happens with that, we have contingency upon contingency,” said Administrator Marc Zgorski. “I wish it wasn’t Christmas weekend, but it is what it is.”

As a cold front moved Friday evening and winds continue to gust, Eversource warned it could cause even more damage. But it insists crews are sacrificing time away from loved ones to work around the clock on restoration efforts.

“We know the cold is here. We know tomorrow’s Christmas Eve and right after that is Christmas Day. And we’re all pushing as hard as we can to get our customers back,” Sullivan said.

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PORTLAND — Years in the making, the first phase of the Portland Air Line Trail will officially be opened Sunday.

A ribbon-cutting ceremony will be held at 10 a.m. near the trailhead/parking area at 82 Middle Haddam Road. Following the ribbon cutting, a celebratory walk will follow the 2.3-mile segment of the trail, which ends — for now — at the Northern Middlesex YMCA’s Camp Ingersoll.

The trail, made up of a gravel base overlaid with compacted stone dust, is built along the abandoned rail bed of an inland railroad line that traversed a route from New Haven to Boston for 82 years, ending in 1955. With the opening of the first phase of the trail in Portland, supporters of the multi-town trail network will find themselves essentially going off in two directions at the same time.

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That will mean heading west to try and link in to the Arrigoni Bridge and beyond into Middletown (with an extensions to tie into Portland’s Riverfront Park), and going east to join the existing trail at Depot Hill Road in East Hampton. Once the link with East Hampton is complete, it will open the full expanse of the trail, some 53 miles in all, to pedestrians, bicyclists and even equestrians, and cross-country skiers in the winter, according to Rosario “Riz” Rizzo, chairman of the Portland Air Line Trail Steering Committee.

The northern terminus of the trail is in Thompson — in the far northeast corner of the state —where it meets the borders of Massachusetts and Rhode Island.

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“The concerted effort to extend the trail into Portland began some two and a half years ago,” First Selectwoman Susan S. Bransfield said Thursday. However, “for at least a couple of decades, people have been thinking and talking about it.”

The impetus for moving ahead came in 2016, when the town completed an agreement with Eversource, the electric utility, which agreed to lease the land to the town. With that compact in hand, the town was able to secure a $600,000 grant from the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, Bransfield said.

The town formed a steering committee, chaired jointly by Rizzo, and Louis J. Pear, who had to give up his involvement with the committee when he was elected to the Board of Selectmen. He now serves as deputy first selectman.

Also on the committee are Steve Byrne, Steve Crusberg, Chantal Foster, Kathy Herron, Tom Ladny, John Shafer and Carol Winiski. The group worked with the town and 32nd District state Rep. Christie Carpino, and cooperatively with Eversource and the DEEP to advance the project, Bransfield said.

Rizzo said there were others — many others — who helped bring the dream to fruition. Among those are engineering consultant Kevin Grindle, John Hall of the Jonah Center for Earth and Art, and Deanna Rhodes, former town planner.

East Hampton Town Manager Michael Maniscalco said his town still has a 1.5-mile section of the trail that must be finished.

“The plans for that phase are about 95 percent complete,” he said in an email Friday morning. “(Town) staff are meeting next week to evaluate the town’s match” for its 20 percent share of the $583,000 state grant.

“We expect it to take about 2.5 months to complete the work once we start,” he added.

Reporter Jeff Mill covers East Hampton, Cromwell and Portland for the Middletown Press. Contact him at [email protected].