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HomeMy WebLinkAboutAutumn Dr HrM-CJ.GUU J 11 C-1Hri NO.996 P.1/3 C GC- in 0 Karen G.Parks 78 Autumn DM South Windsor,CT 06074 Tele:86044"US 4 April 25,2003 Attn: Mr.Jeff Doolittle Town Engineer, Town of South Windsor 1540 Sullivan Avenue South Windsor,Cr 06074 VIA FAQ: 8604A4-7281i-.three MMMS total STJBJP_GT: Your concern over improvements made at 78 Auhunn Drive and its impact to property owned by the Town of South Windsor located between the propemies of 78&77 Autumn Drive(a.ka.the walking path) Dear Jeff; After numerous phone Calls with you,I have decided that the best and most productive way to resolve and obtain closure of the issue of the improvemett work referenced in the Subjectne,is to put the line, facts in writing to you. In the summer of 2000,I contacted the office of Public Works for the Town of South Windsor to inquire about what could be done to eliminate a problem that I was having with the`walking path'that is located between my property(78 Autumn Drive)and 77 Autump.Drive. I explained that I was frequently finding garbage including empty beer and other alcohol containers dumped in the heavily overgrown section of the path. The gentlemtan that I spoke with at Public Works told me to contact the South Windsor Police DcPartment and file a complaint, I asked if I filed the complaint,would the Public Works area help me get the area cleaned up and groomed to be less of an eyesore and`opened up'to deter future problems? The g ntloman from Public Works informed me that I"was welcome to do whatever I wanted," When I pushed the issue of why I couldn't obtain any support for this clean up effort from the Town,I was told that"only the path itself was the respoirsibility of the Town and that the mowing and maintema=of the adjacent land was the home owners." This last comment was a memorable one as I took this opportunity to ask the gentleman why it was that no one from the Town ever showed up to shovel the p�after snowstorms. I mentioned to him that I had been shoveling it since no one else ever had since I purchased the property. The good news is that from that point forward,the Town of South Windsor did take over the shoveling dutyl However,mo one ever arrived to clean up the other issue. I did contact the South Windsor Police Department one Sunday morning after my next`discovery'which was of marijuana smoking paraphernalia and more empty alcohol containers. The evening before,I had heard lots of`activity'on the walking path. The South Windsor Police did visit with me and agreed that the area was a mWet for these types of problems as the path had areas that were hidden and dark. The overgrowth of trees and shrubs prevented any light from the streetlights from illumuiating the path, The Police Officer encouraged me to open up the area so that the path would be boater lit at night and the 'hiding'spot for teenage drinkers would effectively be eliminated, In the fall of 2000,I had a discussion with my neighbor(whose property is located on Tallwood,adjacent to mine)over the threat that several dead and dying trees presented to my residence. I also discussed my j hrR.cam.cr�r�� li:ciHM NO.996 P.2/3 i K Parks 4/25M3,page 2 of 3 intent to undertake a project to clean,up all of the brush and plantings along the path and that I was planning on obtaining quotes from some local tree QMM to see what the cost would be. I asked my neighbor about the potential of their paying for the removal of one tree its particular which,as we stood there talking,we all observed clearly had a dead leader and we commented that it had not`leafed'out for several years. My neighbor stated that they were not sure that the dead tree was truly on their property,and they stated that they thought it was mostly or at least partially on my property. However,they were completely clear and direct about two items--fast,they supported my efforts to clean up this area including the removal of the dead tree,and second,that they were not willing to pay for any of the work to be done. In the spring of 2002,1 hired the contractor to remove the dead trees and clear out all shrubs and brush. To stabilize the area,which has a significant slope from the high point of the center of the walking path toward my property,I installed a modular stone wall. It is quite beautiful. In late summer 2002,I noticed that someone had perfortited surveying activity on and about my property. I contacted the Public Works area again to inquire what,if any activity the surveying was about, I was told to contact your office,which I did immediately as I was about to install new,law-to-the-ground decorative plantings so drat I could finish`beautifJ►ing'the area. Auer my second call to your office,you retmned my call in early auhimm of 2002 and that is when you told me about a complaint received by the Tree Warden's office, We discussed the history exactly as I stave restated it above. You agreed that there was no basis for the complaint to the Tree Warden. During our conversation,you indicated a potential concern that the stone wall may be an impediment to accessibility to the sewer line that runs underneath the paved area of the walking path, I explained that the stone wall was `modular'by nature and I suggested that you visit the site in person as soon as possible so that we could discuss and settle this concern prior to my finishing the project. At the time of our conversation,you lead not beets to the site. Furthermore,the former trees,shrubs and rocks that I had removed clearly had presented more of an impediment to access than the new modular stone wall could ever posel As a matter of fact,there eMsts today fences and shrubs at both of the entrances to the walking path on both the Tallwood and the Autumn Drive side that quite clearly present a s�nificant issue with regard to accessI You also mentioned that there may be a potential`tdp'hazard as a result of me of the top-cap f Wish' stones of the wall=,t to the walking path being slightly above the grade of the paved path. I agreed to look into that and to rectify that situation, I remember jig With you that I had so worked to bard to hopefully eliminate folks from getting drunk or stoned on the path,that the last thing we needed was someone sober stumblitigl I also specifically recall asking you to recognize and be sensitive to the fact that I had spent a lot of time and money im ovin the area and that until I felt comfortable that your`concerns'were resolved,they were holding me up from finishing the work. You agreed to review the matter with your staff who bad actually visited the site and to get back to me right away, Weil,you never did get back to me—at least not for another EIGHT months I Last week,when you contacted rite,I was obviously annoyed to hear from you again since it had now been eight months from when we had our last conversation! Also just days that Wei �J briar to your most recent phone Call,I was informed my neighbor on Tallwood,whose property is adjacent to nine(the one who didn't want to have to pay anything to remove their deader than-dead treel)was asldng other neighbors what was going on with my project. It all seemed just a little too coincidental and frankly led me to feel that perhaps you were not trying to resolve the situation in a fair and reasonable manner,but that you were simply trying 11•ccnri NO.996 P.3/3 K.Paft 4/25/03,gage 3 of 3 to pander to someone else who seems to enjoy eomplauungl Your phone call to me after an eight month delay felt clearly like harassment, The bottom line is that the stone wall has been moved 4 reasonable distance away from the path and it has been modified to eliminate any potential`trip hazard", The Plus have been placed in such,a marxw to onsme that nothing interferes with access to the walking path by the Town to any greater extent than other pre-existing impediments do. I will continue to improve and maintain my pfOperiy to ensure that it is always and unequivocany recognized to be an outstanding asset to both the Town of South Wmdsor and to my neighborhood. In exchange,X want this pattern of inconsistent messages,and apparent random`bothering'on this matter to Cease. It is completely inappropriate that such a sim*matter has taken so long to conclude and that instead of serving your constituents,you have annoyed onel Sincerely, Karen G.p Homeowner