The Groton Open Space Association and Connecticut’s Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, despite strenuous opposition from Groton’s Town Council, have pooled  resources to purchase property belonging to Tilcon, Inc. in order to protect a significant ecosystem and to ensure recreational opportunities. Good for them!

The council, however, maintains that Groton cannot afford to tie up more land having potential for economic development. Interestingly, more than 30 years ago, in 1985, taxpayers approved extension of sewer and water infrastructure along Route 117, to encourage development of a business park on hundreds of acres north of I-95 that included the Tilcon land. Despite that taxpayers-approved expenditure; the much-ballyhooed economic promise never materialized.

Town officials unwarranted opposition to the Tilcon open space acquisition, together with other instances where they have failed to respect its citizenry (most recently their failure to address the swap of the Boulder Heights property for the Merritt property in an open and forthright manner) makes one wonder if principle has any role at all in guiding governance in Groton.

R. A. Voyer

Mystic