Town Briefs Task Force on Millwood Train Station

• Editor's Note: This article is based on information from the Jan. 5 Millwood Task Force meeting. The original version was unclear. We have also gotten in touch with Paulette Rotta Beldotti to get her family's side of the issue.

Talking to the Millwood Task Force on Thursday, Town Administrator Penny Paderewski said that Leo Rotta, owner of the Millwood train station site and landlord of Millwood Lumber, died last month.

Paderewski said Larry Rotta, Rotta's son, had been in touch with them about the site but that there hasn't been much going on since Rotta's passing.

Paulette Rotta Beldotti, Rotta's daughter, said that she, Larry Rotta and her mother, Susan Rotta, own the site. She said that they are appreciative of how Millwood residents have supported them.

Going forward, she said that the family is looking at ways to preserve the station. These possibilities include donating it to the town or having it moved to another part of the family property. She said that the family has retained an architect and an engineer.

According to Paderewski, a soil test was done on the property recently. It is part of a process to look at the engineering logistics of whether or not it's practical to save the building.

Maintenance of the train station has been an ongoing issue. In June, the New Castle building department, in response to a request from the Millwood Task Force, calling for him to fix code violations or tear the station down.

In the early fall, Rotta , according to town officials. The process for doing so slowed as his health declined, and when his son became a point person for town officials to speak with, Larry Rotta informed them about looking , Paderewski said.

In 2004, the Millwood Board of Fire Commissioners had mulled using eminent domain to take over the lumber yard site and build a new firehouse on it, which was dropped after controversy. A property across the street, called the Realis property, was ultimately chosen.