Residents to Vote on Three Referendums in November

While residents are marking their ballots on Nov. 8 to choose who will represent them on the Town Council and Planning Zoning Commission, they will also be asked to approve three capital projects that total $34 million.

The bulk of the funding request comes from a planned $30 million upgrade of the town's waste water treatment plant in Quinnipiac Park.

The last upgrade was in 1990 according to Tim Pelton, chairman of the Water Pollution Control Authority. Pelton told the Town Council this week that long-range planning for the upgrade has taken four years.

"We looked at scores of options. We must run 24/7, 365 days a year. Blizzards, hail, sleet; we can never go out of service," Pelton said.

The second largest funding request is for an extension of the Rails-to-Trails pathway at a cost of $2.5 million. 

The total cost, however, could be reduced by 80 percent if the town receives a federal grant for the project. If so, the local cost would be $360,000, according information from the Department of Public Works and Engineering. Additional grants could reduce the amount even further, engineers have said.

The expanded trail would run from West Main Street to Jarvis Street, providing a total of nearly seven miles of paved pedestrian trail through Cheshire.

The final referendum question is for $1.5 million to pay for the town's road repavement program. The funding would cover the third year of a multi-year Pavement Management Study.

The date for special council meeting to approve the capital budget and send the three items to referendum has been moved to Mon., Aug. 29. It had originally been set for next week.