Welcome everybody.

This is the November 13th, 2024 meeting of the Common Council.

And as always, we will begin with public participation.

The time is now seven o'clock.

I have a list that I'll read from.

We'll also call, see if anybody's calling in online.

And then anybody in the room who wants to speak may do so.

Please remember to state your name and address for the record.

You've got three minutes to address the council.

And I'm gonna start with our first name.

Daniel Bates.

And thank you.

My name is Daniel Bates.

I live at 45 Orchard Brook Drive in Weathersfield.

I've come as a member of the Ragged Mountain Foundation, which was founded in 1991 to preserve and protect access to rock climbing areas in Connecticut, particularly those on the trap rock ridges of central Connecticut.

I would like to appeal to the Common Council to allow rock climbing and passive recreation generally on the 375 North Shuttle Street property in Southington, which is owned by the city and managed by the New Britain Water Department.

This area is known among climbers as the Bradley Mountain Boulders, named from its proximity to a high point on the Trap Rock Ridge.

The Bradley Mountain Boulders have become a renowned destination for the subsport of bouldering with something for every level of climber from elites to enthusiasts to beginners.

And it regularly attracts visitors from around the Northeast region and beyond.

The property also hosts a section of the 235 mile New England Trail, as well as numerous hiking trails, mountain biking trails, and carriage paths.

It's used by local residents for hiking, trail running, mountain biking, dog walking, and of course, by the climbers who come from near and far to test their skills.

New Britain also owns several additional watershed properties that contain an abundance of unique worthwhile and historic climbing areas that would benefit the community if opened to recreation.

Sadly for us, last year the Water Department began enforcing a closure of the property to climbing.

The climbing community has over the last year or two respected the closure of the property and tried to reach out to the water department without success.

So we are now appealing to the common council.

Opening the property to recreation would benefit more than just climbers.

One just needs to observe the popularity of the West Hartford reservoirs or the nine watershed areas open and managed for recreation by the regional water authority in the Greater New Haven region.

The communities that live around the New Britain watershed lands deserve the same recreational opportunities in their backyard.

The Bradley Mountain boulders and the surrounding watershed lands are also special to me personally as I've been climbing, hiking, and trail running through these areas for more than 20 years now.

Thank you, Dan.

Our next speaker is Jen.

Uh Camille.

Yeah.

Did I say that correctly?

Oh, usually people don't say it right.

I'm shocked.

Please proceed.

My name is Jen, and my address is 105 Mill Rock Road in Hamden, Connecticut.

I am also on the board of the Ragged Mountain Foundation, as Dan is as well, Connecticut's local climbing organization.

So I'm also here to talk about Bradley Bullers and the enforced closure that happened last year by the New Britain Water Department.

This area is the highest concentration of bouldering in Connecticut, subset type of climbing.

And it's also some of the highest quality bouldering in the Northeast where people travel from out of state and further to come climb here.

And it's also a great parcel of land for outdoor recreation in general to allow hiking, dog walking, trail running, whatever your outdoor recreation pursuits may be.

So it is upsetting that the enforced closure is happening to all types of outdoor recreation because the benefits of outdoor recreation beyond just the physical movement, there are such great ones.

Like we're talking about mental and emotional benefits of being able to recreate outdoors in nature, decrease stress, decrease anxiety, depression, and overall enhanced mood that happens with the outdoors.

And then you also get the outdoor communities along with your pursuits in the outdoors.

So with that comes self self-purpose, self-belonging, human interaction, which is also benefits the community at large because then people become more active outside of just those smaller communities, but the larger communities as well.

And climbers as well are great stewards of the land.

So it's not like they would just let this land go away.

Like we would take care of the land through trail days, trail maintenance cleanup to preserve the land itself, and then also allow other outdoor recreation to happen and enjoy it as well.

And the RMF actually started a program, Craig's Steward program, where climbers within our community take part in hosting a crack is like a climbing area that climbing is allowed on, and they host trail cleanup days, and the community comes along, and we would definitely be doing that at Bradley Boulders if access were permitted.

So we are just hoping to try and open access to all outdoor recreation on this piece of land, and we have not had success with the New Britain Water Department.

So that's why we are coming to you all to hopefully have the conversation, open the doors and come up with some way.

We have worked with other towns as well, like Meredyn Parks and RECT.

We worked with them to allow climbing through a permitting system.

We've worked with Deep to allow climbing and also the Berlin Land Trust to preserve climbing areas in Connecticut as well.

So we are hoping to do the same with you all.

Thank you.

Thank you, Jen.

Our next speaker is Dana Snau.