Public Hearing Wednesday on Phase II of Still River Greenway

The Inland-Wetlands Committee is holding a public hearing Wednesday night, the final local approval for Phase II of the Still River Greenway, also known as the bike path.

Engineers from Fuss and O’Neill will be presenting an overview of the project (see aerial map above) and the public will have an opportunity to give input.

“All signs are pointing to a project that’s ready to go,” Brookfield Director of Parks and Recreation Dennis DiPinto said Tuesday, as once Inland-Wetlands gives their approval, the town is only waiting on the Army Corps of Engineers.

The Army Corps is the final federal agency to give approval on the plan, as the some 80 percent of the funding for the project is through state and federal grants.

DiPinto said Tuesday he is hopeful the town will have a final cost for Phase II by April and, if so, “There’s a chance to get a shovel in the ground on this in 2014.”

The 2-mile Greenway will extend north and south from the existing Phase I, which has an entrance and parking lot next to the police station on Silvermine Road.

The path will stretch from a turnaround just north of Route 133 at its southern point to 777 Federal Road — just south of Four Corners — at its northern point.

DiPinto said he doesn’t expect too much public comment Wednesday, as the project “has been vetted out” thoroughly over the last several years.

The hearing starts at 7:15 p.m. in Town Hall room 135.