By Dave Moran
Record-Journal staff
dmoran@record-journal.com
(203) 317-2224
WALLINGFORD — John Le Tourneau stood his ground Tuesday, casting the lone dissenting vote against the planned expansion of the Quinnipiac River Linear Trail.
Le Tourneau, a Republican who won his second term on the Town Council last week, was troubled by the cost and the reasons used to justify funding for the project.
Although the town has already been authorized for up to $2.6 million in state and federal grants for the expansion, Le Tourneau said he was troubled that so much grant money was available for an “alternative transportation project” in the midst of a recession.
He argued that while the grant money might be available now, 20 to 30 years down the line, when the pedestrian bridges that carry the paved path over the Quinnipiac River need to be replaced, the money won’t be there.
“You might get grant money now, but the maintenance of this thing is going to be on the town’s shoulders, and that’s a concern,” Le Tourneau told the council.
He also doubted that the trail would be used to bike or walk to work, a key part of its eligibility as an alternative transportation project.
But advocates including state Rep. Mary M. Mushinsky, D-Wallingford, who is co-chairwoman of the Quinnipiac River Linear Trail Advisory Committee, disputed that assertion, citing the success of the trail and those in other towns, which will eventually be linked to Wallingford’s.
She and other officials said the grants were in place and planning is already under way for the one-mile expansion, reasons that helped sway the council to 5-1 vote, with three councilors absent. However, the absences meant that if another councilor had joined Le-Tourneau, there would not have been the five votes needed to carry the measure.
“Thankfully, that didn’t happen,” Mushinsky said. “The town applied for those grants, the mayor put his name on them and signed for them, so it would have been a really awkward situation if we turned the grants down. It makes us look rather foolish.”
Town Engineer John Thompson said the town had already spent money on the design phase of the project that would be reimbursed through the grants.
The project, which will extend the trail from an underpass beneath the Wilbur Cross Parkway to the intersection of Route 150 and includes two pedestrian bridges to cross Fireworks Island, is estimated to cost $2.3 million. Work could begin this spring.
Councilor Rosemary Rascati, the only other Republican present Tuesday, said she voted to accept the grants because they had already been awarded to the town and she didn’t think the local level was the appropriate place to oppose them.
“You can take a stand, talk to your senators and representatives and say we think you should do away with grants,” Rascati said. “But money that’s already there, that’s already been granted to the towns and states, why shouldn’t we take it?”
Wednesday, Le Tourneau reiterated his stance, but pointed out that his argument wasn’t against the trail but the way the state and federal government chooses to spend tax dollars.
“People think it’s free money,” he said. “Nothing is free; nothing’s for nothing. If it doesn’t come out of your local tax dollars it’s going to come out of your state and federal taxes. Somebody’s got to pay for it.”
Tags: linear park, Quinnipiac River Linear Trail, taxes, Wallingford