The Inland Wetlands Commission (IWC) has postponed a public hearing on a Hawleyville firm's proposal to expand its Mt Pleasant Road automotive business because the applicant had not met the legal requirements for holding such a hearing.Town Drainage Project

At their April 26 meeting, IWC members rescheduled the planned public hearing for Hilario's Service Center, Inc, from that night to 7:30 pm on Wednesday, May 10, at Newtown Municipal Center, 3 Primrose Street.

In other business Wednesday evening, IWC members approved a town drainage project involving the replacement of a large-diameter culvert that carries a brook beneath Hundred Acres Road, near its intersection with Hattertown Road.

Because the agent for Hilario's had not sent formal mailed notices of the planned April 26 public hearing to property owners with holdings in the area near the development site, the application did not meet a basic requirement for conducting that pubic hearing. Consequently, those mailed notices will be sent to the property owners informing them of the planned May 10 public hearing.

If the Hilario's development proposal gains IWC approval, the project also would need development approvals from the Planning and Zoning Commission (P&Z).

Hilario's, of 131 Mt Pleasant Road (US Route 6), is the applicant/developer of the project proposed for the adjacent 135-139 Mt Pleasant Road, which lie generally west and south of 131 Mt Pleasant Road. The addresses 131, 135, 137, and 139 Mt Pleasant Road total 5.66 acres. The proposed development would alter 3.95 acres of the overall site.

Under the proposal, a one-story 11,500-square-foot commercial vehicle service shop would be constructed, as would a one-story 15,200-square-foot warehouse. The warehouse would include a wash bay for large commercial vehicles. Also, an existing Hilario's building would be converted for use as an employees' lounge.

The site contains wetlands on its eastern and western sides. The site currently holds three residences and some gravel parking lots.

The relocated business would have two new driveways extending from Mt Pleasant Road. The site, which would have a public water supply and public sanitary sewer service, would hold 21 parking spaces.

Hilario's is seeking a wetlands/watercourses protection permit from the IWC.

Hilario's specializes in the recovery of trucks, trailers, and various other commercial vehicles that have been involved in accidents and other incidents. The firm provides towing and hauling services, plus the storage of recovered cargo from commercial vehicles.

It has a service facility for commercial vehicle repairs and also has vehicles that respond to make repairs on the road. Recovered vehicles handled by Hilario's include trucks, buses, recreational vehicles, coaches, fire trucks, and limousines.

In other business at the April 26 session, IWC members granted a wetland/watercourses protection permit to the town for its plans to replace an aging, deteriorated 5-foot-diameter concrete culvert, which carries a tributary of the Pootatuck River beneath Hundred Acres Road, about 500 feet northeast of its intersection with Hattertown Road.

Town Engineer Ronald Bolmer said that the new drainage pipe would be 40 feet long. That pipe would be oriented diagonally beneath the 22-foot-wide Hundred Acres Road. The new pipe would be made of reinforced concrete or a high-strength plastic, he said.

A poured-concrete headwall and endwall would be constructed at the inlet and outlet sides of the pipe, respectively, to stabilize the structure. Adjacent slopes also may be rip-rapped to stabilize them.

IWC Chairman Sharon Salling noted that a recent inspection at the construction site indicated a significant amount water flowing through the existing culvert.

Mr Bolmer said the drainage construction project would be put out to competitive bidding by the town. The engineer said he expects that construction work would start sometime between midsummer and late summer.

During construction, the brook that now flows through the culvert would be diverted in some fashion via piping to allow work to proceed, he said.

In granting the town the wetlands/watercourses protection permit, IWC members placed eight environmental conditions on the project. Also, they required that final construction plans be reviewed and approved by the town Land Use Agency.