During a regular meeting May 17, the Board of Selectmen learned Newtown is expected to receive in excess of $9.3 million in relief from American Rescue Plan disbursements passed through the state. Selectmen also initiated accepting the conveyance of a 4.6 acre non-buildable lot in Sandy Hook, provided the Board of Finance and the Legislative Council agree to pay for a current appraisal.

During his report near the beginning of the meeting, town Finance Director Robert Tait displayed a document from the Connecticut Office of Fiscal Analysis that broke out proposed allocations from the latest federal stimulus package that would provide approximately $8,163,000 to the municipality and an additional $1,172,000 to the local school district to offset existing COVID-19 related expenses, and to help underwrite current or future costs that would otherwise be borne by taxpayers.

“The numbers we talked about relating to Newtown I’ve confirmed with three sources — and those numbers seem to be sticking. And they are big numbers,” Tait said.

Tait also announced work will begin ramping up for the next municipal audit, which will play out into the new fiscal year, after July 1. He also told selectmen that the Edmond Town Hall Board of Managers will begin utilizing the financial management system currently being used by the town and school district.

Deputy Land Use Director Rob Sibley also came to the meeting to review a small lot line revision at 76A Walnut Tree Hill Road. Sibley explained that the revision shifted a lot line adjacent to Al’s Trail.

He said the lot line has been moved several times to better accommodate Al’s Trail access, and this time, the owner’s requested revision will be offset by a donation of private land to the town abutting the trail. The land swap is equivalent and there are not financial implications to the transaction.

Selectmen approved that proposal unanimously.

Larger Parcel Offered

Sibley then presented a 4.6-acre parcel that is being offered to the town for passive open space adjacent to the Silver Bridge in Sandy Hook. The lot, with frontage on Beechwood Drive and Fairview Drive, is currently valued at an amount that would require a current appraisal, Sibley said.

As a result, he was seeking the selectmen’s endorsement and support to bring a request to fund the appraisal to the Board of Finance and Legislative Council. The selectmen unanimously endorsed that measure as well.

Sibley said the acquisition was accepted by the town Conservation Commission and is appropriate under current Planning & Zoning qualifications. A portion of the land is old rail bed from tracks that once passed through the area before rolling across a trestle that formerly existed just south of the Silver Bridge. Passersby can still see the bridge supports, which loom above the waterline in that area.

Since much of the property does not conform to zoning standards for building, Sibley said the lot is unbuildable. The old rail bed is overgrown, and the land use officer said adding that parcel to the town’s growing patchwork of public open space is advisable. “There is no other public open space in that area,” Sibley said, adding that an owner would need to acquire added abutting lots to qualify to build on it.

There is currently $1,200 in taxes due on the parcel, First Selectman Dan Rosenthal said. “If someone was to develop it later through the variance process, we may not be all that happy about it,” the first selectman added.

Sibley said accepting the property would help set the stage for future set asides.

“I would hate for a marginal property like this that nobody invests in or decides to build on create a difficulty later, and simply doesn’t pay their taxes,” Sibley said. “Then we’re in the same position five or six years later where we’re foreclosing on the property, costing town in the process.”

The proposal for the appraisal now moves to the finance board.

Associate Editor John Voket can be reached at john@thebee.com.