Emergency Access Road Revisited

          “ At the latest deposition regarding Straw Pond the Developer cited Paul Perrotti's "opinion" in a letter that a road leading to Straw Pond could be built between Veleses house on George St. and Mannings house on White Ave.We have had a copy of that letter for some time now and we know that: 

This "opinion" is nothing more that the "opinion" of a volunteer, non-professional. As far as we know the "opinion" is somewhat off kilter because:

  

1. Perrotti is not an engineer of any kind,

2. Perrotti , to our knowledge, did not see schematics of the area 

so knows nothing of elevations, grades, etc.

3. Perrotti , to our knowledge, knows nothing about "line of 

sight" regulations or road regs in general of the State of CT,

4. Perrotti knows little or nothing about  traffic flow engineering 

problems,

5. Perrotti knows little or nothing of the law regarding planning 

and zoning.

6. Perrotti is a volunteer fireman not a professional fireman

First, all firefighters are professional.  Some are paid, but 75% of the firefighters in this country are volunteer, and they all are professional.

Second, the location of an emergency access road has nothing to do with engineering, line of sight, traffic flow, or any of the others on the list. It has everything to do with public safety.

Why Perrotti felt that he had to interfere with the process and volunteer his assessment of road ways to the developer is anybody's guess. 

Public safety is the responsibility of both the Fire and Police Departments.  Where emergency access roads are located has a direct bearing on the safety of those who will live in the development. Both the Fire and Police Departments chose the location of the emergency access road because it made the most sense from a public safety perspective. Whether or not Mr. DeAngelis approves of the location is not what is important. 

As far as we can determine Perrotti never consulted with the Chair of Planning and Zoning or the Selectmen. He sent the letter on his own. Why? 

Why would he? He was being asked his “opinion” as Fire Chief.  Public safety is not governed by consensus.  You don’t put your finger in the air to see which way the winds of public opinion are blowing.  You simply do the right thing and then move on. The Fire Chief makes the decisions regarding public safety.  Those decisions should be made independently from biased exterior influences.

What can the point have been and why did he not consult with the neighborhood people on White Ave about such a bombshell letter? Who knows?

Again, for the reasons stated above. 

The location of the emergency access road has already been addressed on this blog.  For those who may have missed it the post is reprinted below:

Past Post:-------------------

Apparently, Mr. DeAngelis does not know the definition of an EMERGENCY ACCESS ROAD. The proposal was not to build an interstate highway from White Ave. to the Straw Pond Development.  The proposal was to put an emergency access road on White Ave.  

An emergency access road is just that.  It is only used during emergencies, and only when conditions at the emergency warrant not using the main entrance.  It would not be used at any other time. These roads are not unique to Middlebury.  There are similar arrangements at Timex, Steeple Chase, and other locations.

The main entrance to the Straw Pond development would be located on Straits Turnpike. Because of the size of the development, and the number of people living in the area, an emergency access road is necessary.  So where do you put it? From a Fire Department standpoint, the optimum location is from the opposite side of the main entrance.

Former First Selectman Ed St. John proposed that the emergency access road run through the Town Yard. There are two problems with this scenario.

1) The emergency access road would be situated on the same road as the main entrance. From an emergency response standpoint, it is not practical.  If there is a natural disaster such as a tornado or hurricane, or even a motor vehicle accident that brings down the telephone poles on Straits Turnpike, making it impossible to access, how would emergency vehicles reach Straw Pond?  They could not.  The emergency access road must come from a different road.

2) In order to access the development from the town yard,  emergency responders would have to enter through the Town Yard and have to unlock and open 3 gates before reaching the development.  That would reduce response time.  When you consider that a fire will double in size every 15 seconds, this is significant.

The emergency access road on White Ave. would not impact the residents in the neighborhood one bit, unless there was an actual emergency, and access through the main entrance was impossible.  It would remain closed at all other times.

“Again, the developer in their lawsuit rely on Perrotti's statements ( not 

the FIRE DEPT ,”

The Fire Chief speaks for the Fire Department Mr. DeAngelis. Chief Perrotti made his recommendations on sound fire fighting principles.  But it was not just him.  The Police Commission voted and recommended that an emergency access road be situated at White Ave.  It was also the recommendation of the Police Chief to put it there as well.

You are asking Chief Perrotti to compromise “Public Safety”  and the safety of all those who would live in the development for your benefit.  You are asking Chief Perrotti to do something dishonest. He is not responsible for the Straw Pond development.  I think you used up enough pixels on your website in years past pointing the finger at someone else for your Straw Pond woes.  I guess you forgot about that.