A Google satellite image shows the woods near the intersection of Coon Hollow Road and Chatfield Street in west Derby. The roof of the former VARCA building on Coon Hollow Road is on the right.
A public hearing on a proposed 1‑million gallon, 52-feet tall water tank to be built on public land between Coon Hollow Road and the entrance to the Derby High School on Chatfield Street is scheduled for 7 p.m. Thursday (Jan. 17).
The hearing is in front of the Representative Policy Board of the South Central Connecticut Regional Water District. It will take place at the Regional Water Authority’s offices at 90 Sargent Drive in New Haven.
The Regional Water Authority has been trying to find a location for a water tank in west Derby for years.
The water tank, if approved, will serve about 13,000 customers, according to Regional Water, including Griffin Hospital.
The tank is needed to stabilize water pressure, improve fire flows, provide extra water storage, and to make more water available during emergencies, according to the company.
The utility first floated a plan to put the tank on Summit Street at the top of “Telescope Mountain.” That plan was met with massive opposition from neighbors who said the blasting and rock excavation was simply too intense for the location.
Derby government also came out against the Summit Street location, so the utility company withdrew the application to look elsewhere.
Regional Water has been eyeing the woods between the high school-middle entrance and Coon Hollow Road across from the former VARCA building for some time. Click here for a previous Valley Indy story on the latest location.
The land is owned by the city.
The Coon Hollow Road location is also being met with some opposition.
At a Derby Aldermen meeting Oct 25, resident Sharlene McEvoy correctly noted the land in question carries a Depression-era deed restriction preventing it from being used as anything other than open space.
“I have very grave concerns about the use of this public park that has been in our city for 83 years, through 18 mayors, being leased or sold to the water company,” McEvoy said.
McEvoy also said she was concerned about “the lack of candor and the lack of transparency in connection to this.”
McEvoy suggested that the water company buy the land on Summit Street where the water tank was initially proposed, then give the land to Derby. Derby could then preserve that land as open space, she said.
Derby resident Carol Senfield also opposed the tank’s location, saying Derby government should not be so eager to give away its woods.
She said encountering such “monumental blight” when traveling along Chatfield Street is less than ideal.
But at that same Oct. 25 meeting, Charles Sampson, president of the Board of Aldermen and a former Derby Fire Department chief, said the water tank is a matter of public safety.
“The number one goal of this tank is for public safety,” Sampson said. “There is absolutely no water pressure on the west side of town whatsoever. I’ve been to structure fires there where we’ve had to do extra long (hose) lays, to bring in (water) tankers, which we’ve never had to do before,” he said.
The tank will cost $5.1 million to build, according to Regional Water. It stand 52 feet high and 60 feet wide.
A deal endorsed by the Aldermen Oct. 25 will see Derby lease about 2 acres to the Regional Water Authority for $1. The utility company has agreed to buy about 1 acres of woods on Lombardi Drive that cannot be developed. That land will be purchased on behalf of the city, who will use the land to improve long-standing water drainage issues in the immediate area.
In addition, the utility company has been negotiating to buy undeveloped land from a third party on Coon Hollow Road across from the former VARCA building. That land will be used so that Regional Water can access its tank — and so that Derby can put a parking lot there to support any future use of the old VARCA building.
Both McEvoy and Senfield said they don’t like the fact west Derby is losing open space and that Derby government thinks buying open space on the other side of town makes up for it.
“I am dismayed that the board has not considered public input prior to making these decisions,” McEvoy said.
Click here for a detailed explanation from the utility company regarding why the company says the water tank is needed.
“This critical infrastructure investment will further ensure that the residents of Derby, Ansonia and Seymour have access to a reliable, high-quality water supply at all times,” Dan Doyle, a spokesman for the water company, said in an email.
