Hartford Courant from Hartford, Connecticut • 21

THE HARTFORD COURANT HHTiKSOM oTTKJIa SKI in THrrnSr Uf ED OLDSAYBROOK CROMWELL PORTLAND EAST HAMPTON GROTON NEW LONDON SATURDAY, JUNE 26, 1982 B3 Television Firm To Fight for Tower 1 rr 5- I L' 1 9 MIDDLETOWN The Television Corp. of Hartford will contest a lawsuit intended to block construction of a television tower off Bartholomew Road, despite the corporation's loss of much of the financial backing it needs to buy Hartford's WHCT-TV. The company received preliminary approval from the Federal Communications Commission in March to take over the station, Channel 18, from its current owner, Faith Center a California fundamentalist group headed by the Rev. W. Eugene.

In May, Television Corp. of Hartford received approval from the Planning and Zoning Commission to build the Middletown broadcast tower. But last week, a group of Virginia businessmen decided not to buy 48 percent of the company's stock and withdrew their offer to provide almost, all of the financing for the $4 million purchase of the television station. All of Television Corp. of Hartford that remains committed is the 49 percent of the stock held by the East Los Angeles Community Union (TELACU) and two of its officers.

TELACU, an Hispanic community group, is currently under investigation by the U.S. departments of justice and labor for possible misuse of federal funds. Sources familiar with the proposed sale of the television station, who have asked not to be named, have said it is highly unlikely that TELACU could obtain a new financing arrangement and proceed with the sale. Nevertheless, a Middletown attorney who is representing Television Corp. of Hartford said Thursday that he had been instructed to fight the lawsuit.

"As far as I know, the deal has not fallen through, and we intend to defend (the corporation's decision to build the tower) wholeheartedly and with vigor," attorney Irwin Hausman said. The lawsuit, filed last month by Middletown attorney David A. Bengston on behalf of 40 property owners who objected to a Planning and Zoning Commission decision allowing the corporation to erect a 499-foot-high television tower off Bartholomew Road. Filed against the corporation and the Planning and Zoning Commission, the suit claims that the tower would devalue surrounding property by "changing the rural residential character and environment" and would endanger the plaintiffs' health by emitting radiation. The complaint also alleges that the commission acted improperly when it granted the corporation permission to build the tower.

Hausman said he filed an appearance in the case in Middlesex Superior Court this week. Marvin Diamond, a Washington D.C. attorney representing TELACU, said Friday that the group had not yet decided whether it would seek new partners to help finance the acquisition of Channel 18. He added, however, that Hausman had been told to contest the lawsuit because "clearly the corporation wants to protect its interests while making the decision. The parties want to preserve their right to build the tower." The special exception to build the tower in Middletown is good for one year under the city's zoning regulations.

The zoning board had eliminated such towers from the zoning code, effective Feb. 30, but the application from the Television Corp. was submitted Jan. 20. The Middletown Press Publishing Co.

has said it will broadcast Channel 6 from the tower if it is built. Channel 18 and two other stations owned by Faith Center are under investigation by the FCC for fundraising practices. 0 VL COURANT PHOTO BY DONNA COVENEY Sebastian Annino of Middletown shows off the 25- end. An associate of Annino, Sebastian Liseo, foot-long float that will be showcased this week- stands on the float. Garibaldi Centenary Celebrated Fired Principal Asks Court Hearing By ELIZABETH SANGER Courant Staff Writer MIDDLETOWN The Garibaldi Mutual Benefit Society is throwing itself a three-day celebration this weekend to mark the 100th anniversary of the death of its namesake, Giuseppe Garibaldi, the father of modern Italy.

The festivities, which started Friday night at Harborpark, will continue there today from noon to midnight and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 11 p.m. About 20,000 to 30,000 persons are expected to revel in Italian-American music, food and rides for children. Also on Sunday, a parade is planned sort of a belated Memorial Day march because that procession was canceled as a result of rain. The parade will begin at noon at St.

John's Square and will go down Main Street to Union Street and end at Harborpark. Many other local civic clubs and bands will march in this parade, said Joseph E. Milardo former president of the Italian American Civic Order. A 25-foot-long float designed by resident Sebastian Annino will be showcased this weekend, and will be stationed at the riverside park after the parade. The city's two other Italian-American societies, the Sons of Italy and the Italian American Civic Order, are joining with the Garibaldi society in organizing the celebration.

"It's getting all three organizations to work together on a community project," Milardo said. Middletown's Garibaldi society, which has about 1,600 members, is the largest of two clubs in the state, said Philip Lom-bardo, society president. The society has been in Middletown for 77 years. "No one ever did anything like this (celebration) before," Lom-bardo said. Garibaldi is the father of modern Italy, and is to Italy what George Washington is to America, Garibaldi Society vice president Guy Cardella said.

"He is best known for his efforts to unify a fragmented Italian peninsula into one country," Cardella said. The 25-foot float depicts that concept. An 8-foot-high statue of Garibaldi stands between American and Italian flags, in front of a flower with 17 petals. Each petal represents a region of Italy. The statue of Garibaldi is made of steel covered with papier-mache.

The flower also is reminiscent of Italy's warm climate, and the petals move around in a circle, representing unity, according to a description of the float. WESTBROOK Ronald J. Studzinski's day in court may come this summer if the motion filed this week for a hearing on the appeal of his dismissal as principal of the Westbrook Junior-Senior High School is approved. Richard Hershatter, Studzinski's attorney, said Friday he has ref iled the motion for an immediate hearing on the case with the Middlesex County Superior Court. Studzinski, who served as principal for seven years, was fired by the Board of Education last September.

Hershatter is appealing Studzinski's firing, contending that the school board acted illegally when it voted to fire him. The board voted to fire the principal for incompetence and inefficiency in the performance of his duties at the high school, acting against the recommendation of an impartial panel that said Studzinski should be placed on probation and given a reprimand. Hershatter charges that the termination was "exceedingly excessive punishment" and "an abuse of discretion" by the board. Hershatter filed a motion for an immediate hearing of the case earlier this year, but later withdrew it because he said a crowded court docket could result in a judge's denial of the motion. Such a denial, he said, could be prejudicial to the case.

"We have just refiled our motion to have it reassigned for a hearing," he said Friday. "Things seem to have eased up on the docket, so I expect we'll have a hearing on when it can be assigned in 10 days to two weeks." The school board first considered firing the principal at the recommendation of School Super-intendent Robert Schreck. Schreck had asked Studzinski to resign in December, 1980; Studzinski had refused. In December 1981, the school board voted to hire Carmen F. Marottolo Sr.

as the new high school principal. Hershatter filed a motion in court to block that hiring, but the motion was denied. Marottolo took over as high school principal this spring. Commission Overrules Vote To Expand Commercial Zone By PAULA AUCLAIR i-y Courant Correspondent EAST HADDAM For the first time in its nine-year history, the Connecticut River Gateway Commission has reversed a decision of the East Haddam Planning and Zoning Commission, invalidating the town agency's split vote June 14 to expand the commercial zone at Goodspeed Landing. Gateway commissioners said the change would not "be in the best interest" of the conservation zone, saying it "wouldn't be consistent" with the goals of preserving the riverfront environment.

Despite advice to the contrary from the Gateway commission and the Midstate Regional Planning Agency, the East Haddam commission voted 4-3 two weeks ago to add about 10 acres near the river to a commercial zone. The change would have been effective July 14. Commissioners favoring the change said it is necessary to straighten irregular zone lines that cause some Goodspeed Landing parcels to straddle as many as three zone boundaries. They also said the town has too little commercially zoned land for its needs. But opponents of the proposed change including some property owners, zoning commission Chairwoman Susan Gelston and Commissioner Robert Mather said it would endanger the fragile soil and waterways near the riv er, increase traffic at the landing and invite loitering there.

Gelston said Friday that the zoning commission will discuss the Gateway commission veto at a meeting Monday at 7:30 p.m. in the town office annex. The town agency, however, can do nothing to overrule the regional commission's statutory authority, she said. The Gateway Conservation zone was established by the state legislature in 1973 to try to pro tect the scenic beauty of the lower river valley from development. The eight towns in the zone delegated to the Gateway commission the authority to disallow zone changes, timbering operations and special exceptions for land visible from the river.

Sidney Jones, whose family owns 2.5 of the 10 acres the town agency voted to rezone, said he will pursue the change through a separate application he has filed with the zoning commission. He is requesting that the land his family owns two parcels straddling three zone lines be zoned for commercial use. Before the unanimous veto Thursday night, the Gateway commission had used its power to refuse a zone change only once. In 1977, it voted to override a Haddam zoning amendment that would have allowed the construction of a shipyard on the river-bank near the East Haddam bridge, directly across from the Goodspeed Opera House. GEE? AT? River Agency Rejects Request for Legal Fees By PAULA AUCLAIR Courant Correspondent ESSEX The Connecticut mental battle, and noted that the agreement awarding the money to the commission specifies that it Low cost, no-frost.

Big inside, small outside. nWs rap River Gateway Commission has rejected a written request from its attorney for $100,000 to com-pensate him and another lawyer for work the two did while representing environmental groups in la 16-year battle against North-least Utilities. The commission voted unanimously Thursday night not to approve commission attorney Peter Cooper's request for 10 percent of a $1 million award the commission received as part of the settlement of the dispute with the utility company. The motion also asks Cooper, of New Haven, and attorney Julian Rosenberg of East Haddam to withdraw the $100,000 claim. At the meeting, commissioners cited a number of reasons for rejecting the claim.

They said that the commission never hired Cooper and Rosenberg to represent it in connection with the environ- be used tor acquisition of property and scenic easements. Under a compromise negotiated last summer between Northeast, the environmental groups, Middletown and East Haddam, Northeast was allowed to keep towers carrying high-tension electrical cables over the river, but agreed to donate $1.25 million for environmental preservation. Dismantling the towers and burying the cables under the river would have cost $26 million. After Cooper and Rosenberg respond to Thursday's vote, commissioners said, the Gateway will consider awarding the two attorneys an honorarium perhaps $10,000 when some interest has been earned on the $1 million invested in savings certificates. The honorarium could not be construed as a precedent, they said.

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459 John Fitch Boulevard South Windsor NEW BRITAIN A city man found guilty Thursday of planning two major jewelry store robberies and receiving some of the stolen items. Joseph Girolamo, 58, of Stanley Street, was convicted by a six-member jury in Hartford Superior Court of first-degree larceny and two counts of conspiracy to larceny, jrle was accused of receiving jewelry, including diamonds, taken by other men in the armed robberies of J.P. Jewelers in Plain-ville July 14, 1981, and of Kientzy Jewelry store in New London July 24, 1981. Jewelry worth $140,000 was stolen in the New London heist, which the chief state's attorney's office said it believes was the biggest jewelry store robbery in Connecticut's history..