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09/17/2019 03:15 PMThe long-running downtown center project has eased one step closer to completion as the town prepares to move forward with an easement for one property owner, leaving one more still in negotiations—or a possible seizure by eminent domain.
An easement grants the legal right to use the property, though the legal title to the land itself remains with the owner of the land. Commonly, easements are granted to utility companies to run power lines and cable lines.
Construction on the downtown center project began in 2015. The project is intended to renovate sidewalks, add improvements like bike racks, and create a more modern and consistent downtown streetscape in Madison. While most of that work has been completed, several old telephone poles were targeted for removal, to be replaced by underground wires.
Those wires, along with some other electrical equipment, need to be placed on or under the two private lots at 703 and 725 Boston Post Road in order to maintain the electrical infrastructure, Russo said. Only then can the poles be removed, a task that First Selectman Tom Banisch (R) said at a Sept. 9 Board of Selectmen (BOS) meeting that Eversource had agreed to do for “no cost.”
Assistant Town Engineer Robert Russo said he is “hammering out some final design details” with the owners of the 725 Boston Post Road property before moving forward with construction. Negotiations with another property owner at 703 Boston Post Road are ongoing, but Russo and other town officials were less sure of a timeframe for those talks.
After approximately 18 months of negotiations, Russo said he expects the owner of the 725 Boston Post Road to sign off on the project as soon as the town works out a final design, something that will happen in “the near future.” At the Sept. 9 BOS meeting, Town Engineer John Ienacco said work on that property could optimistically begin in “a few weeks.”
At 703 Boston Post Road, Russo said there have been some negotiations but less progress over the summer. A proposal from Eversource was rejected in August by the property owner, Tony Astmann, and Eversource subsequently rejected a counter-proposal by Astmann, according to Russo.
Last April, the town approved eminent domain proceedings to begin the process of completing the project without the owner’s consent. Eminent domain allows a government to seize private land for public use in certain circumstances. Banisch cited lack of communication from the property owner and the length of time negotiations had dragged on when the BOS approved the eminent domain proceedings.
Ienacco said at the Sept. 9 BOS meeting that those proceedings were still ongoing as the town continued to seek a solution with the property owner.
“We feel like we’re close sometimes, and then get blown out of the water,” said Banisch at the meeting.
In March, Astmann pushed back against assertion that there had been a lack of communication, saying, “We are continuing to work with the town and Eversource to reach an acceptable resolution.”
When reached by The Source for comment last week, a spokesperson for Astmann confirmed that he was speaking to Russo and Eversource about an upcoming meeting, and said he was continuing to seek a positive resolution for the easement, and that he was “hopeful” that the upcoming meeting could provide that resolution.
Selectman Al Goldberg (D) said this case was the first time he had ever voted to approve an eminent domain land seizure in his long tenure on the BOS, but that the town had struggled to find common ground with the owner.
This story includes reporting by
Zoe Roos.