MDC Properties Likely to Remain Open for Recreation Despite State Supreme Court Action

The state Supreme Court's decision last week to uphold a 2010 judgment against the Metropolitan District Commission (MDC) that awarded $2.9 million to a bicyclist injured on its West Hartford property was disappointing to the organization, but its chairman said that subsequent legislative action granting immunity will likely permit recreational use of its facilities to continue.

What that means to those who use the MDC reservoir properties on Farmington Ave. and Albany Ave. in West Hartford, as well as land in Barkhamsted and Hartland, is continued access to hiking and biking trails that are enjoyed by thousands each year.

MDC customers, however, may ultimately pay the cost of the settlement through increases in the cost of water.

"The Metropolitan District (MDC) is disappointed in the Supreme Court decision affirming the verdict for Ms. Blonski. For over 75 years, the MDC has provided safe, secure, and open facilities for the use of all types of recreation, including cycling, while fulfilling our primary mission to provide safe, pure drinking water to our member towns and customers," MDC Chairman William DiBella wrote in an email to Patch on Tuesday.  

Although the decision to amend policy regarding public use of its facilities is ultimately up to the MDC Board of Commissioners, DiBella said, "On a positive note, as Chairman of the MDC and consistent with my position immediately after the verdict at trial [in 2010], I do not support restricting or eliminating the public’s use of MDC’s current publicly-available facilities."

However, DiBella said that the costs associated with the verdict, which will likely impact the organization's insurance and thereby operational expenses, may ultimately affect the public.

"As a non-profit municipal corporation, the MDC will unfortunately have no choice but to pass along these costs to our ratepayers, even as we continue to look for savings and efficiencies elsewhere in the organization to offset rising operational 
expenses generally," he wrote.

The case was the result of an incident on May 16, 2002, involving Maribeth Blonksi of Rocky Hill who was riding her bike on "Red Road" (customarily known as the "red loop") in the Farmington Ave. reservoir property in West Hartford when she struck an iron gate. According to a story in the Hartford Courant and other publications, Blonski was going in the opposite direction of the signage, and also riding at a high speed, with her head down.

Blonksi, who sustained multiple injuries including four broken vertebrae in her neck, struck the yellow gate, and in her suit claimed that there was no signage indicating that the gate was closed.

The MDC claimed that the gate, which has been in place for decades, was always closed, and after the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks even more vigilance was used to protect the water supply and ensure that the gate was kept closed, blocking vehicle access to the paved loop. The loop is accessible to pedestrians and bicyclists through worn dirt paths on either side of the gate.

In a settlement reached eight years later, in May 2010, the MDC was deemed to be 70 percent liable and was ordered to pay $2.9 million in damages to Blonski according to the Hartford Courant.

This case brought the issue of municipal immunity to the forefront, and after significant lobbying efforts and outrage at the prospect of the MDC closing its well-used facilities to the public, the legislature passed Public Act 11-211, granting immunity not only to the MDC, but to all municipalities that provide free benefits to the public.

In his email, DiBella expressed his thanks to those who worked for passage of the Act, and specifically acknowledged the efforts of Representative David Baram of Bloomfield and Eric Hammerlling, Executive Director of the Connecticut Forest and Parks Association "for their thoughtful and tireless work in making this public act a reality." 

"Of no less importance is their continued work in opposing subsequent legislative proposals to 'water down' the protections extended by this important public act," DiBella wrote.