Protecting and Enhancing Natural
Resources and Environment
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Worked with the Branford Land Trust to acquire key open space land including the Medlyn Farm, the Forrest Hill property, the Foote Trust Pisgah Brook property; started negotiations for the Saltonstall Mountain property and fought to protect the Queach. |
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Established the Town’s first Select Committee on Open Space Acquisition to create a unified strategy for identifying, acquiring and protecting open space. |
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Made protecting our natural resources a priority for Branford residents and Town employees. |
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Supported the Branford River Project’s efforts to acquire and operate a pump-out boat, reducing the discharge of sewage from recreational boats into Branford Harbor and Long Island Sound. |
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Supported the formation and work of the Friends of the Farm River Estuary. |
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Worked to get abandoned contaminated industrial sites inventoried, cleaned up and redeveloped. |
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Built the $ 36 million sewage treatment plant, with the help of a $4 million state grant and low interest loans, eliminating problems with untreated discharge and reducing nitrogen release into Long Island Sound to levels below the DEP and EPA target, and making possible the improvement of other parts of the sewer system now nearing completion. |
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Received the National Resources Defense Council’s coveted Beach Buddy Award, presented to the DaRos/Walsh administration for the Town’s successful efforts to improve our water quality and clean up our beaches. |
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Spoke out against the Islander East gas pipeline, making Unk the first official to publicly oppose the project. |
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Worked with the Conservation & Environment Commission to produce Branford’s first Natural Resources Inventory. |
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Kept the Queach pristine and successfully defended the Planning & Zoning Commission, the Inland Wetlands Commission and the Town against a lawsuit and two appeals by those seeking to develop the Queach property. |
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