BETHEL – Monday night’s public hearings on the ambulance barn and road relocation issues attracted a standing-room only crowd of 28 in the town office.

While most favored approving the ambulance barn expansion in the Nov. 4 special town meeting, they weren’t overly enthused about approving the Taylor Smith Road project.

The ambulance barn addition project, which first came before voters in June with costs to be covered by a loan, was shot down by a 314-314 tie. The tally remained the same following a recount.

But in August, Selectman Reggie Brown asked the board to reconsider the issue by placing it before voters on Election Day.

When pressed at Monday’s public hearing, Brown said he brought it back “because a tie is just that, a tie, and I thought it was quite appropriate to bring it back up again.”

Another person quickly agreed, citing federal mandates that the Bethel Ambulance Service must meet regarding the Privacy Act, which became law on April 15.

Ambulance Service Director Dustin Howe said part of the act forbids any medical facility to allow access to patient records without their consent.

But the service, doesn’t have an office that can be locked up and does not have locking file cabinets in its severely cramped 20-by-26-foot training room, which also serves as an office, kitchen, sleeping quarters, day room and supplies storage area.

In addition to helping the ambulance service meet the mandate, the proposed expansion would give the Board of Directors a location to hold sensitive meetings so that individuals on duty would not have to leave the station and wander about town, Howe said.

Among the many issues the expansion project would also resolve, are problems with two furnaces, and a sinking cement floor base that causes rainwater to stand in the building rather than actually go down the drain.

Selectman Don Bennett stifled complaints about the project costs, which are just rough estimates, because despite being put out to bid twice, no bids came in. He believes the project could be done for much less than $150,000.

Town Manager Scott Cole also noted that Bethel appropriates about $110,000 for its ambulance service budget and the service brings back about $110,000 in revenues, leaving a net cost to taxpayers of about $20,000.

Regarding the proposed road relocation hearing, Geoff Gaudreau opposed selectmen’s unanimous recommendation.

At issue is a proposed 600-foot northerly relocation of the Taylor Smith Road’s intersection with Route 26.

Relocation, however, requires the abandonment of 1,225 feet of town road and construction of 900 feet of new road. The project would require $1,000 for inspection services, $1,000 for legal and survey work, and $6,000 for trucking of materials.

Everything else, including a land swap between Chadbourne Tree Farms and the town, is being provided by interested parties, which include developers.

Selectmen Bennett and Al Barth said it was a great deal because the project totals a third of the cost of what it would be to build 900 feet of new road.

Gaudreau and others, however, said the town would set a precedent of building roads for developers, which would quickly become cost prohibitive.

“If we change this piece, in a very short time, developers will be right back in here and we’re going to end up rebuilding that whole road,” Gaudreau said.

He also argued that there are currently only one full-time resident and one part-time resident living on the road, chiding selectmen for “getting involved in speculation with development.”

Although Cole created more unrest when he said the relocation would not be paved, he added the caveat that even if Nov. 4 voters OK the relocation and appropriation, the project won’t happen unless selectmen ultimately approve it.

tkarkos@sunjournal.com

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