Watergate…New Britain Style
By Bill Shortell | Chairman of the New Britain Democratic Town Committee at June 22, 2024 | 3:00 pm | Print
Last summer I was at a City Council meeting, packed with regular voters who were outraged at the idea of selling one of our wells. Early New Britain leaders bought watershed property all over the region, to make sure we never ran out of water. The City was proposing to sell a well, without even having it appraised.
At that time we were in a severe drought, and people were not believing assurances that we don’t need the water from the Patton Brook well that we own in Southington. At the same time, people were angry at the idea of turning over another piece of our watershed land in Plainville for mining the big trap rock deposit under it.
Well, a few months later, we DID run out of water, and had to spend $500,000 buying it from the Metropolitan Water District Commission (MDC).
TAX INCREASE
Now, on top of two recent property tax increases, the City is raising the water rates, just enough to cover the payment to the MDC. (The Democrats on the City Council voted “No”). They also have spent hundreds of thousands of dollars “studying” the deal with Tilcon.
Enough is enough! We can’t have our city government trashing beautiful Bradley Mt, and, at the same time, socking us with higher taxes! In Washington, the Republicans are pulling out of the international agreement to fight global warming, and slashing the Environmental Protection Agency. Here in New Britain, they want to turn our beautiful watershed into corporate profits.
The Republican majority DID vote that night to sell our well. A few months later, after heavy public pressure, they reversed themselves.
But now, do you trust them with our water, with our environment, with our finances?
