Volume 5, Number 2
www.cheshirecitizen.com
Thursday, October 6, 2016
Voters approve $3 million land purchase By Jesse Buchanan Record-Journal staff
Voters approved the purchase of the Chapman property across from Cheshire High School by a 2-1 margin Sept. 27. Richard Chapman offered the town 10 acres adjacent to Bartlem Park on South Main Street for $3 million. Most town officials supported the purchase, saying they could use the land for sports fields and move high
school parking next to the school. Students crossing the street from parking at Bartlem Park slows traffic on Route 10. Of the votes cast, 1,708 were in favor of the purchase and 863 were against. Registrars said the polls at the First Congregational Church were busy all day. Environmental studies are underway on the property and the Town Council recently voted to strengthen the contract’s provisions, allowing the town to pull out of the deal if major problems
are found. Drilling and groundwater testing isn’t yet complete, but the agreement approved by the council also extends the period to complete the testing and holds $200,000 of the purchase price in an escrow account to pay for any environmental remediation that might arise after the vote. In addition to the purchase price, the town will also have to demolish the houses and outbuildings on the site and remove oil tanks. That work See Land, A14
A house, left, and dilapidated barn on the Chapman property next to Bartlem Park on Route 10 in Cheshire, Monday, July 25. | Dave Zajac, Record-Journal
Trolley tour visits Cheshire’s past By Joy VanderLek The Cheshire Citizen
QRWA members on their way to a clean-up event.
Q River group seeks new members, funds By Ken Liebeskind Citizen staff
The Quinnipiac River Watershed Association, which is dedicated to preserving the Quinnipiac River and its watershed, which begins in Farmington and goes through Plainville, Southington, Cheshire, Meriden, Wallingford,
North Haven, Hamden and New Haven, seeks funding, new members and board members. The drive is being spearheaded by membership co-chair Steve Theriault, who is going door to door to drum up support. “We want more than money, we want partners in the protection and conserSee River, A14
It was high noon when the Cheshire Historical Society’s first trolley tour of the day set on down the road, Saturday, Sept. 24. I had bought a ticket for the Brooksvale Area and South End of Cheshire Historic Trolley Tour, presented by the historical society, The Cheshire Historic District Commission and Cheshirepedia, the online “everything Cheshire” site. The shiny, red bus, with driver Tomas Molnar, was booked full. I have lived in Cheshire for more than 20 years and still find myself wondering about the roots of the town; the families who settled here and made Cheshire what it is today.
I wasn’t the only one. There were others who have resided here longer and a few newcomers as well. A couple with their young tow-headed son were among those on the trolley. From Manhattan, they keep a weekend home in town. And there was Jim Botten, an elderly gentlemen who until recently called Trumbull, a town steeped in a wealth of history, his home. Botten was my seat partner. We were both impressed with the tour. Conductor Vibert, with an assist from co-conductor Pat Vita, began with an overview on how Cheshire came to be. Originally, a part of Wallingford, the town began to be settled in the 1600s. “We don’t know exactly when they came, nor what the See Trolley, A10