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Cosgrove Defends New IWA Appointees

Saying he's responding to what residents want and creating commission "balance," First Selectman James B. Cosgrove didn't ask to re-appoint expired memberships of two long-standing Inland Wetlands Agency (IWA) commissioners and a sitting alternate.

At the Aug. 19 Board of Selectmen (BOS) meeting, Cosgrove instead recommended attorney Merle Berke-Schlessel and former educator James L. Goggins as newly appointed voting commissioners, and engineer Richard K. Greenalch as an alternate; filling expired terms of commissioners Richard Orson and Wesley Vietzke and alternate Leo Stanlake (all terms expired May 31, 2015). The IWA has seven voting members and three alternates.

The vote to secure the new appointments followed party lines, with Republican Second Selectman Joe Higgins and Cosgrove voting in favor and Democratic Third Selectman Bruce Storm against.

Just ahead of the vote, Cosgrove's recommendations drew questions and criticism from Storm as well Representative Town Meeting (RTM) Minority Leader Chris Sullivan (D) and IWA chairman Daniel Shapiro (U).

Storm wanted to know if Cosgrove's decision-making interviews included any discussion on Costco's pending development at Exit 56. Cosgrove said there was no discussion of specific properties.

"We stayed away from any pending applications," said Cosgrove.

Costco Wholesale Corp. is anticipated to go before the IWA in September, seeking site plan approval for a two-phase project. The company will build a 160,000 square-foot wholesale club and gas station, followed by seven commercial buildings, on a portion of 44 acres off East Industrial Road.  Concerns about storm water drainage and impacting area watersheds were raised this spring at Planning and Zoning Commission (PZC) public hearings on Costco's master plan. The PZC approved Costco's master plan in July.

At the Aug. 19 BOS meeting, Storm, Sullivan and Shapiro all voiced concerns about losing two seasoned IWA commissioners in Vietzke and Orson, saying they contributed 34-plus years of combined IWA service. Orson is a Ph.D. and ecological consultant who also lent valuable professional expertise during his 18 years on IWA, they said.

"I think that the current list of (appointee) names is mistake; and the replacements are certainly not as qualified as the incumbent sitting commissioners that had expressed a desire to continue serving," said Sullivan.

Saying he was "deeply saddened and disturbed," by the change, Shapiro likened it to "pulling the scientific legs out" from beneath the IWA.  He said Orson's service also saved applicants and the town money. Describing a recent citizen's infraction where Land Trust wetlands were filled, Shapiro said having a scientist on the IWA avoided requiring the citizen to pay for a survey and mapping of wetland soils.

"So you get a guy like Orson on the commission and he can go out there with an augur and say that's wetlands soil, that's not a wetlands soil; this is fill recently replaced, this is not fill recently replaced," said Shapiro. "So in the end, it saves the guy who did the infraction money -- he doesn't end up hiring a soil scientist. We've got a guy on the board who can do that job."

Additionally, controversial applications require expert help to pore over evidence and render a defensible decision, said Shapiro, who has served the IWA for 20 years.

"You get a guy with scientific legs underneath him, he can separate the wheat from the chaff," said Shapiro. "Without that, the commission is going to be required to ask the applicant for more money to hire environmental expertise. So when you remove a guy like Orson from the commission, it costs the town money and it costs the applicants money, and I just can't see how that's a good thing."

Cosgrove said his decision wasn't about "individuals;" it was about ensuring all commission members are equally involved.

"What I feel is most important is to have a balanced commission. This is something that I've heard not only from the residents, but I've heard from applicants and from other commissioners in town," said Cosgrove.

Storm asked Cosgrove to clarify his definition of a "balanced commission."

"Is it Party balance? Expertise balance? Teeter- totter balance?" asked Storm.

"I think there needs to be a balance as far as the needs, when an applicant is coming in, and how things are considered," said Cosgrove.  "I think when you have certain members there for a long time, you have a dynamic (where) all commissioners aren't equal and aren't participating in an equal way. I think there needs to be contribution by all commissioners, and not be led by certain ones... you need to have spirited debate, questions and then a decision made (while) acting within their written regulations that are there to protect the environment."

Shapiro said he hasn't seen any BOS members at recent IWA meetings and said it's important not to rely on "hearsay" from an applicant or someone who may have been subject to enforcement.

"So without having been to the meeting, it's hard for me to understand how you could see fit to strike a different sort of 'economic balance' (among members), as you say, Jamie," said Shapiro.

Shapiro also asked Higgins what his opinion of the change of membership was, to which Higgins answered, "Change is good."

Shapiro asked why Cosgrove wanted to vault two new commissioners into voting seats; rather than elevating two current alternates, Peter Basserman (five years on IWA) and Stephen Gangi (eight years).   Shapiro said he asked about the process because in the past 20 years, as commissioners retired, an alternate always "stepped up," as a new voting commissioner, approved by BOS vote.

Sullivan also asked Cosgrove if new appointees Berke-Schlessel and Goggins would come on the IWA as voting members.

"The two members are moving in as voting members," Cosgrove confirmed. "I told people I was going to try to improve government in the Town of Branford... I saw an area that needs to be improved. And quite honestly, keep in mind, it's a seven-member voting board and we're only adding two members to the voting board. I hardly see that as being an obstruction to the commission; nor do I see it (as) deteriorating the commission at all. I want that balance to the commission."

"Putting these new members with zero experience dealing with statutes and regulations is disrespectful to the sitting alternates who have been at these meetings," Sullivan answered. "It would be better to move alternates to full sitting commissioners so there's no lag time in picking up knowledge and skills."

Shapiro said he didn't understand how the new IWA appointees could be a better choice than those being replaced.  He said Berke-Schlessel  "...sounds like a fine person and a great lawyer; but we've got a lawyer on the commission (and) he knows the score and he's very good on legalities... I guess she's a friend of (Town) attorney Aniskovich's boss; so maybe that's a political appointment, who knows?"

Of the other appointees, Shapiro said, "Greenalch, he's been before us before, for Brandfon Honda particularly; and he's an elderly gentleman... this other man (Goggins), I understand he's been in Town Hall and had disputes (about) what he needed for a permit for reconstruction on his own property; so I'm not sure that's appropriate, to appoint a guy that bucks the system."                                                        Goggins' experience with municipal boards includes past service with the town of Harwinton Inland Wetlands Commission and, in Branford, service with the Linden Shore District board.  Berke-Schlessel serves as President and CEO of United Way of Eastern Fairfield County and includes in her resume past service to municipal government as assistant corporation Counsel for the City of New Haven and the first executive director of New Haven's Livable City Initiative, among other accomplishments. Greenalch has served with local building comittees in past years.  Shapiro said the IWA commission shake-up was "a sad moment for the town of Branford."                          "It's a step backwards, and it's not a good thing," Shapiro said, noting the alternates who were passed over are now "disenfranchised" and may want to quit the IWA.

"I'd rather walk away from this commission than see Dr. Orson removed from this commission," Shapiro told the BOS. "I think that'd be best for the Town of Branford; and I don't wish to work with a scientific- based organization that's going to have the legs ripped out from underneath it."

Shapiro later told Zip06 he will not resign. His current IWA term runs through May 31, 2016.

Shapiro's characterizations of the new appointees drew no response from Cosgrove Aug. 19, but were addressed by citizen and RTM member Marc Riccio (R) as public input.

"I think it's a little bit disrespectful, how some people have talked negatively about these new individuals," said Riccio. " I agree with Selectman Higgins -- change is good."

Riccio also commended Cosgrove for being "very transparent" and for having "always followed the process" in his two years in office.

"Most importantly, you have demonstrated providing a balance of different individuals," Riccio continued. "Just because someone has been on a commission for 20 or 30 years, it's my opinion it doesn't mean they have to be there forever."

Riccio said he was sure those not reappointed to the IWA are "extremely qualified" adding they should be thanked for their service, dedication and commitment; but, "...change is good, and the people in this town do want changes. So I commend the decision."