To the Editor,

So here's the deal. After finishing my chores this morning, I decided to go to the Board of Selectman's meeting because I saw on the agenda a few interesting topics.

Well, it turns out that the Open Space Committee is proposing that Killingworth purchase the Venuti property for no more than $8.5 million dollars, and they were looking for the BOS to support their proposal and send it on to the Board of Finance for their consideration. The BOS did not follow their recommendation, but rather sent the proposal on to the BOF for their analysis.

The two separate appraisals for this property were completed in early summer, and the negotiations occurred over the past few months. As many of you know , I have been pointing out how property values in Killingworth seem to be falling faster than any other town in Middlesex County this year, and given the most recent news on the US and CT economies, I think that trend is most likely to be continuing for sometime. The price today is not the price tomorrow.

If Killingworth were to go ahead with this purchase without any assistance from others, it would require the selling of twenty year bonds, costing about $615,000 per year for a total outlay of about $12.3 million.

Presently, Killingworth's PZC is working to amend its regulations to allow for Active Adult Communities. If a developer were to present and gain approval for such a development on the Venuti  property Killingworth would stand to gain $500,000 per year in new taxes when the project is totally build out, and these types of developments require no added educational costs.

Knowing that you were not there because you had to work, or have not found these types of meetings enjoyable, I thought I would share with you my thoughts so that you too can learn more about this proposal and express yourself.

Phil Stull