8 May 2008
To: All Members and Friends of the Farmington Valley Trails Council
From: R. Bruce Donald, President
Subject: Salmon Brook Bridge, East Granby
Priority: URGENT

On the Fourth of July, 1825, more than 2,000 people gathered at Salmon Brook Village in Granby to celebrate ground breaking ceremonies for the eagerly anticipated Farmington Canal. By 1835, the canal was completed from New Haven to the Connecticut River in Northampton, MA. Using only hand tools, horses, and oxen and overcoming countless technical obstacles including the construction of a 280 foot aqueduct across the Farmington River, the Farmington Canal Company was able to complete this extraordinary undertaking in 10 years.

Fast-forward to the late 20th century. In 1992, the Farmington Valley Trails Council was founded to increase public awareness and support for the construction of a multi-use trail along the path of the old canal from Farmington to the Massachusetts border. Sixteen years later the trail is still not complete.

The last major gap in the trail is the Salmon Brook Bridge, a derelict 300-foot long railroad trestle in East Granby only a few yards south of RT 189 overlooking Granbrook Park. After years of repeated submissions to ConnDOT, a design to rehabilitate the bridge was finally approved and sent out to bid. Not surprisingly, all bids received on March 20, 2007 were substantially over budget and were rejected. The bridge was redesigned and in order to reduce costs, a number of attractive amenities were removed. After the revisions were approved by DOT, the bid package was once again sent out. On April 9, 2008, more than a year after the first bids were rejected, former East Granby Town Engineer, Charles Francis announced that the new low bid still exceeded the appropriation for the project by approximately $170,000.00. This amount remains an impossible per capita expenditure for a small town.

According to State regulations, the town has 45 days to accept or reject the bids. Working with the low bidder, East Granby was able to extend the deadline to August 1, 2008. If the bids are again rejected, the project must be revised, approved by DOT and sent to bid again with no guarantee that an acceptable bid would be forthcoming, perpetuating this cycle of delay in the face of massive cost increases.

The Farmington Valley Trails Council is doing everything in its power to close this funding gap. Although most of our local legislators are sympathetic to our cause, finding money at the state level is a time consuming task and funds are not likely to be available by the deadline.

As you may know, the Trails Council has established the "Salmon Brook Bridge Fund" and has raised $18,000 which we have matched with funds in our treasury for a total pledge of $36,000.00, leaving us $134,000.00 still to raise. We are canvassing the East Granby business community to help meet this challenge, but desperately need the support of all of our members and friends to insure the completion of this marvelous resource. We will also match donated funds one to one up to a point to be determined shortly by our board (and limited by our treasury).

We are only 300 feet from having a continuous twenty-one mile paved trail from Farmington to Suffield. Be a "Bridge Builder" and send your donation to the Farmington Valley Trails Council, P.O. Box 576, Tariffville, CT 06081. Please make your check payable to the "Farmington Valley Trails Council". We are a 501(c)(3) corporation and your contribution may be tax deductible, but be sure to consult your tax advisor before taking the deduction. Any questions may be directed to R. Bruce Donald at 677-9462 or Dwight D. Weed at 242-1383.