The Killingworth Democratic Town Committee announced that at last night's Town Meeting, Marty Klein and the Board of Selectmen received strong support for the purchase of the Wettish property.

Proponents of the purchase included speakers representing the Land Conservation Trust, the Conservation Commission, the Field Study Committee, the Killingworth Youth League, the Parks and Recreation Commission, the H-K Soccer Club and H-K Recreation. Inland-Wetlands Commission Chair Wayne Addy said an informal site walk showed the property to be far more viable for recreation fields than anything on the Bosco property – a reference to the previous administration's twice-failed attempt to locate fields there.

Klein told the 150-member audience that the 143-acre Wettish property, which abuts the Chester town line and Cockaponset State Forest, is a "prime tract of land" and an "extraordinary opportunity" that will give the town both recreation fields and open space. Plans call for approximately 20% of the land to be developed for active recreation, 60% to be preserved as open space for passive recreation and 20% to be "land banked" for future needs.

Klein, Town Attorney Mike Wells, and Board of Finance Chairman John McMahon assured questioners that the sale would be contingent on the results of ongoing, thorough due diligence procedures and that the purchase will be bonded at the most favorable rate possible. Residents, whose homes neighbor the property, were assured that they would have ample opportunity for input into how the fields would be developed and that their concerns would be addressed.

The issue goes before voters at referendum on Wednesday, February 15, from 6AM to 8PM at Killingworth Elementary School.

Killingworth Democratic Town Committee