Second Annual Firehouse Ride & Pig Roast September 25

By Kendra Bobowick

The sound of motorcycles and smoky aroma of barbecue will again herald the start of the 2011 Firehouse Ride & Pig Roast on Sunday, September 25.

Riders and passengers are invited to gather at The One-Eyed Pig at 71 South Main Street for the second annual ride, which will raise funds to support the efforts of Newtown Hook & Ladder Company #1 to build a new firehouse. Participants need not ride a motorcycle to join the day’s pig roast and party later that afternoon, which includes live music with Crystal Pyramid. Guests are welcome to enjoy lunch, refreshments, and raffles throughout the afternoon.

Ride participants can register beginning at 9 am. The 40-mile ride kicks off at 11. On-site registration is $30 per bike. Passengers and general admission tickets are $15. The event is kid-friendly. The pig roast lunch begins after noon and the band begins at 1 pm.

Event Chairmen Tim Hoeffel worked with other firefighters to hang an event banner Tuesday, September 13, on the fire company’s ladder truck. Minutes later he and firefighter Mike Aurelia and Newtown Savings Bank Manager Brian Amey and bank Facilities Manager Tom D’Agostino shook hands as Mr Amey presented a sponsor check for $1,000 on behalf of the bank again this year. The banner now hangs across Queen Street.

Enthusiastic about this year’s ride, Mr Hoeffel said he expects a larger turnout than last year, which had “a good turnout.”

For more than a year the volunteer fire company has struggled for town approvals for a new firehouse at the 12 Sugar Street (Route 302) location. Their current town-owned building at 45 Main Street, behind Edmond Town Hall, is in disrepair.

In past months the Inland Wetlands Commission (IWC) and the Borough Zoning Commission (BZC) have rejected the fire company’s applications for a wetlands/watercourses protection permit and for a zoning permit for the site, respectively. Also, both permit applications drew strong opposition from nearby residents for a variety of reasons.

In response, the fire company had filed court appeals against both agencies in seeking to overturn those permit rejections. Both appeals are pending in court, which First Selectman Pat Llodra discussed briefly at a finance meeting this week.

Mrs Llodra had suggested alternative locations for a new Hook & Ladder firehouse, with the focus at one point on using the municipally owned 45 Main Street site, which would include parking lot renovation and other site work. Another possibility was relocating at Fairfield Hills — an idea that was not well received by Hook & Ladder officers.

The fire company had initially proposed constructing an 11,414-square-foot firehouse on a one-acre section of a wet 9.4-acre site at 12 Sugar Street. Under that proposal, the Borough of Newtown Land Trust, Inc, and the R. Scudder Smith Family Partnership would donate land for the project. Mr Smith is the owner and publisher of The Newtown Bee.

Town officials have agreed to designate $1.5 million in capital spending toward the overall cost of a new Hook & Ladder firehouse.

Although 12 Sugar Street has not found approvals, the company has expended much time, effort, and funds pursuing this location.