On May 14, 2013, there will be an important vote in North Stonington regarding Firefly Farms. We are not eligible to vote in North Stonington because we do not own property in North Stonington (renting only) and Rob is military (WA resident) while Anna is not a US Citizen. However, we feel strongly enough about this subject that I would like to call the matter to the attention of others who can vote in North Stonington.
I have spent a lot of time reading everything I could find that was publicly available on town websites, Facebook (clearly has a personal slant), and newspaper articles. I have also been to Firefly Farms multiple times, seen the animals, watched the progress improving the land and buildings, and met the farmers. In the end, we support Firefly Farms.
I am not going to rehash all the details. If you are not familiar with the subject matter behind the vote, you can read about it on the North Stonington bulletin board. You can also read about it on the Firefly Farms website, but I wanted to make sure everyone had the independent site as well. I do want to explain why I think this is important and why North Stonington voters should support Firefly Farms.
1. What if your property was next? This is a case of the town First Selectman, Nick Mullane, clearly admitting multiple times to have made an error in the recording of a transaction over 20 years ago. Now, the town has decided to “fix it”. Read the documents and see if you think the town is offering a fair deal to Firefly. Do you have the ability to fight a legal battle like this if the First Selectman decided they made an error about your property sometime before you even owned it?
2. Last fall, I attended (but did not vote at) a town meeting regarding budgets since the voters did not approve the first 3 budgets. At that meeting, the town VOTED AGAINST extending voting hours for residents who requested it. The major source of opposition was the few hundred dollars of cost to support the request for extending the hours. HOWEVER, somehow, the town has tens of thousands of dollars to fight for a small amount of wet acreage. I have personally walked on the acreage in question and trust me, you won’t go on family hikes in this area. In fact, Firefly Farms (via their title insurance) offered the town $100,000 to drop the issue. I think it is ridiculous because I think they should be chomping at the bit to go to court and seek financial damages from the town. The First Selectman rejected the offer! Quite a disparity in my opinion.
3. North Stonington is the only town I know of that boasts a book about the history of dairy farms (which I have a copy of) and even has it on display in the town hall. Yet, when a family wants to operate a reasonably sized farm, that generates income, jobs, and pays taxes to the town, the town fights like crazy to block the efforts. During our 2.5 years operating our small farm, I can honestly say, there are easier ways to make money. This town can not claim to be farm friendly and expect to keep rural culture, if it blocks farms from starting up like this.
4. The power lies with the people. I think this is an example of elected officials using their power without the knowledge of the constituents. The voters need to be heard and need to send a message to town hall that they are out of line. And if the vote goes against Firefly Farms, it will send a nice clear message to others who are thinking about farming in North Stonington.
DO NOT RELY ON WHAT I HAVE HERE. PLEASE READ THE INFO FOR YOURSELF AND MAKE YOUR OWN DECISIONS. If you agree, vote to support Firefly Farms. If not, vote against them. Regardless, your vote on Tuesday May 14th will matter on this issue.
