TÜV Rheinland Testing Facility

Endorsed; Land Sale Pending

By Andrew Gorosko

Voters at a town meeting this week endorsed the sale of approximately six-tenths of an acre of town-owned land, which is being sought by an industrial firm that wants to expand its facilities to improve its electric/electronic testing capabilities.

Voters at a lightly attended town meeting on August 6 endorsed the land sale, which would allow TÜV  Rheinland of North America, Inc, of 12 Commerce Road to create a new testing facility. TÜV is an independent testing firm that checks the safety and quality of new and existing products.

Sealed bids for the sale will be received by the town until 11 am August 27.

As the bid specifications are written, the bidding would be limited to the highest responsible bidder who owns an abutting property that has access to Commerce Road, in effect, restricting the submission of bids to TÜV. Also, the minimum allowable bid for the town land would be $69,478.

Voters’ endorsement of the land sale follows endorsements of the TÜV expansion project by the Planning and Zoning Commission (P&Z) and by the Inland Wetlands Commission (IWC).

On July 25, the IWC recommended to the P&Z that TÜV’s  aquifer protection study for the project be endorsed. The site lies in the town’s Aquifer Protection District (APD), an overlay zone situated above the Pootatuck Aquifer within which strict land use regulations are in force to protect subterranean water quality. The aquifer is the source of two public water supplies, plus many individual domestic well water supplies.

At an August 2 P&Z session, P&Z Chairman Lilla Dean said the P&Z had received the IWC’s endorsement of the TÜV project. The local land use agencies review an aquifer protection report which is prepared for the applicant by a hydrogeological technical consultant.

Approval

In its approval, the P&Z endorsed TÜV’s application for a special permit to construct a 2,176-square-foot building for the testing of electrical and electronic products, as permitted by the zoning regulations.

The structure would be built behind TÜV’s existing facilities and would not be visible from Commerce Road.

The P&Z is requiring that the expansion project be consistent with the “Dark Sky” lighting standards, which seek to limit light spillage from the site.

Also, in view of the site’s location in the APD, the P&Z specified rules on the handling and storage of waste there, including steps that would be taken in the event of a spill of hazardous substances.

Also, the P&Z prohibited the permanent outside storage and/or maintenance of commercial vehicles and/or construction equipment on the premises.

Additionally, the property owner must follow a posted policy for aquifer protection.

P&Z members decided that the TÜV project would have no significant adverse effect on the aquifer, adding that the application is consistent with the requirements of the M-5 (Industrial) zone.

The area near the new testing building would be cleared of objects to ensure that test equipment is not affected by interference.

The new structure would be built of a nonmetallic material to avoid any test interference. The proposed new testing facility would replace an existing testing structure on the site. The new test structure would be built to allow TÜV to keep pace with changing testing standards.

TÜV evaluates, tests, and certifies that electrical and electronic components, computers, appliances, power tools, and other items, meet US and European standards. The firm’s world headquarters is in Cologne, Germany.

For example, the firm would test the electromagnetic emissions from a laptop computer to ensure that the computer would not interfere with the aviation electronics equipment that is in use on an aircraft in flight.