SAVE THE SOUND (SIX LAKES COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT)

Project Description

In 2020, Save the Sound convened the Six Lakes Park Coalition (SLPC) at the request of community activist and began working to help preserve the Six Lakes (Olin Powder Farm) property and assist the adjacent underserved community of Newhall, as well as the larger Hamden community, in securing this 102-acre, ecologically diverse parcel as publicly accessible open space. Although seemingly ideal for passive recreation, the property is owned by out-of-state Olin Corporation and closed to the public due to unaddressed contamination. The Six Lakes Park Coalition, of which the Town of Hamden is a member, has been instrumental in re-engaging the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (CT DEEP) in enforcing a 1986 consent order requiring Olin to conduct updated water and soil testing onsite and eventually, to produce a remediation plan and complete a cleanup. Olin's report on the most recent test results from 2023 is due to DEEP this spring. Then DEEP will determine whether further testing is required before the creation of a remediation plan for cleanup. The SLPC is also actively working with all stakeholders to reach a land deal for public access. Concurrent with ongoing testing and remediation, as well as land acquisition and management conversation, it is critical that residents of the neighborhoods adjacent to Six Lakes - including Newhall and Whitneyville - and Hamden residents at large have a voice in the future of Six Lakes. This project will convene a series of public visioning sessions and communicate the resulting vision to key decision makers to guide the project according to the community's wishes.

2. Scope of Work (to be completed with ARPA funding no later than June 30, 2026)

As directed by the Town of Hamden Legislative Council, the scope of work will include "outreach and community engagement for Six Lakes." We will run a series of three in-person visioning sessions- one each in Newhall and Whitneyville and one in a central town location- as well as a remote, recorded introductory session and a remote, recorded wrap-up session. The purpose of these five sessions is 1) to provide the community basic information about Six Lakes so it can create a meaningful vision for the property; and 2) to elicit from community members their vision for the property via a scientific survey and conversations. Save the Sound's land protection manager, Kathy Czepiel, and Save the Sound consultant and community organizer Elizabeth Hayes will direct this work. Additional specialized consultant will be required for the following: 1) scientific interpretation into accessible terms of testing results on contamination on the property that will affect options for its future; 2) creation and administration of a scientifically valid community survey; and 3) organizing by6 a college of graduate student of door-to-door youth and other volunteers who will conduct outreach for the sessions in advance and encourage participation, particularly in Newhall and Whitneyville. Czepiel and Hayes, with the help of the survey facilitator, will produce a final Vision Report, which will be designed by Save the Sound communications staff member Martin Hain and printed for distribution to key decision-makers to guide the project according to the communities wishes

3. Detailed Budget(s)

Save the Sound personnel:
Land protection manager	$6,864
Fringe	$1,923
Designer	$2,300
Fringe	$ 644
Consultant
Community organizer (Elizabeth Hayes)	$5,000
Survey design/facilitation	$9,965
Scientific consultant to interpret contamination test data	$1,900
Youth volunteer coordinator	$1,200
Rent for meetings facilities	$1,000
Printing of Vision Report	$ 500
NICRA (27.83%)	$8,704 (adjusted from $8,710)

TOTAL	$40,000

4. Performance Measures

Outreach: Target of door knocking to cover at least 30% of homes in both Newhall and Whitneyville, including direct conversations with residents and leave-behind materials (not funded in this grant)

Meeting attendance: Target of at least 75 participants at each meeting, for a total of at least 225 individuals participating in the visioning process.

Diversity: Target of representation of at least 20% of total visioning session participants coming from Newhall and at least 20% from Whitneyville.

Acknowledgement: Responses to a survey question on the process itself indicating a positive experience on the part of the majority of participants.