Residents voted Wednesday night to remove the Naugatuck River Greenway from the Elm Street reconstruction project, following hours of discussion and one of the largest turnouts for a town meeting in recent years. The final vote was 174 in favor of removing the Greenway and 84 opposed. The decision means the Greenway, previously included as part of the Elm Street project will be eliminated from the design.

The meeting was originally scheduled to take place in the Lena Morton Gallery at Town Hall but was moved upstairs into the Thomaston Opera House to accommodate the larger crowd. The change reflected the high level of public interest, which far exceeded that of the town’s last meeting in July, when just 53 voters participated to approve funding for the school district’s feasibility study. Votes on Wednesday were not tallied until late in the evening, following lengthy and at times tense exchanges between residents and town officials over the scope and communication of the project.

“The town spoke, and as result of the vote the Greenway section of the Elm Street LOTCIP project will be eliminated,” Mone said in a written statement to the Chronicle following the meeting. “Engineering plans will be developed to show this change, be resubmitted to NVCOG and CTDOT. The funding remains unaffected.”

Mone said the updated design will continue as a roadway and pedestrian improvement project under the state’s Local Transportation Capital Improvement Program, with road and drainage reconstruction, sidewalks, on-street parking, raised crosswalks, flashing pedestrian beacons, and a traffic table at the intersection of Union and Elm Street. “All in all,” he said, “it’s a win for our town,” noting that the project will move forward without the use of town funds being spent on the construction.

For members of the Thomaston Greenway Committee, the outcome was a setback after several years of work to establish the trail and build public awareness. “Last night was a setback for our committee and for the entire Greenway project. But as we’ve done before, we’ll continue to persevere,” said Amanda Burch, who chairs the committee.
Burch pointed to the committee’s accomplishments since forming in 2022, including securing grants, organizing community cleanups, and building partnerships with NVCOG and the Steering Committee. “It was disheartening to see the spread of misinformation and the lack of decorum during the meeting,” she said. “Still, I respect that people care deeply about their community. My hope is that, moving forward, we can use that same passion to build unity instead of division.”

She added that the regional Greenway project will move forward and encouraged residents to participate in upcoming committee meetings. “The Greenway is coming through Thomaston and will be a wonderful asset for our town,” Burch said. “We’ll keep doing the work, together, just as we always have.”

The Greenway’s removal from the Elm Street project reverses a design approved by the Board of Selectmen in September. The town meeting was held after a petition was filed requesting a vote on the issue — a move petitioners said was necessary because the Board of Selectmen’s agenda for that meeting listed the item as a discussion about a potential town meeting, rather than as an action item for a vote.