Board reconsidering conservation commission

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NAUGATUCK — Borough officials will once again consider forming a conservation commission, nearly three years after burgesses rejected the proposal.

On Tuesday, environmental advocates suggested the Board of Mayor and Burgesses reconsider the proposal, and the board agreed.

Several environmental advocates approached the board Tuesday to discuss concerns over pollutants that could be emitted from a proposed power plant in Oxford, near the Naugatuck line.

Len Yannielli, a retired biology professor and self-proclaimed conservationist and environmental advocate, suggested that a conservation commission could study the effects of the power plant and make recommendations about whether the borough should support it. Thus far, as a whole, the Board of Mayor and Burgesses has not taken a stance on the controversial plant proposal.

While studying environmental pollutants was not what Mayor Robert Mezzo had in mind when he proposed a conservation commission three years ago, he agreed it could be something for the commission to tackle if it is formed.

Mezzo said this is not a new concept in Connecticut and that several local communities have one.

“It’s just a general committee that can look at preserving your resources, managing open space, potentially acquiring open space, making recommendations about policy, preserving land and natural resources,” he said.

He said it seemed like a benign and natural thing for the borough to pursue, and he was surprised when it was rejected overwhelmingly by burgesses in September 2012.

That board, whose makeup has changed, voted 7-3 against it with only Mezzo, a Democrat, Republican Burgess Bob Neth and former Burgesses Mike Ciacciarella, a Democrat, voting for it. Those who voted against it raised concerns about an overlap of powers between the commission and land use boards and worried that it would be an impediment to development.

“I think it was viewed as anti-business and antidevelopment and in a vacuum, maybe those ideas are worthy of more thought,” he said. “But you look at a community like Shelton, which certainly hasn’t had any problem with development, they’ve had one that has coexisted and prospered for years,” he said.

A conservation commission would make non-binding recommendations to other boards and would have no powers unless the borough board chooses to delegate some.

On Tuesday, Burgess Rocky Vitale, a Democrat who was not on the board in 2010, said the idea was worth reconsidering.