To the Editor of The Day:
State Sen. Cathy Cook's Dec. 30 commentary, “Three Rivers compromise cheats
region,” requires a response. Sen. Cook stated that if this were a perfect
world there would be no parochial or political decisions made, and Three Rivers
Community College would be built on the Norwich Hospital site. She would have a
community college removed from an urban area with a population of 35,000 people
and in a catchment area of well over 100,000 people, (this number excludes her
political fiefdom), to a rural area with a population of 7,500.
Sen. Cook was being disingenuous, because she knew that the area marked for the college by Spaulding & Slye was not in the area of the hospital, but rather across the street on property that allegedly had been designated a bird sanctuary. She also knew that the state Department of Transportation has plans for a cloverleaf traffic plan that would impact that site.
Developers interested in the Norwich Hospital property have not come forward in droves, but it is beautiful pristine property and, eventually, it will be developed, and Preston will reap the rewards. We in Norwich wish the town of Preston success, because that is what good neighbors do.
It would appear to any observer of Sen. Cook's attitude and treatment of Norwich, that she has obviously written Norwich off as a part of the region.
I suggest that her thinking is both political and parochial. Her concerns are
what she wants for her territory, not the region; her mind is closed to any
opinions other than her own; and I found her op-ed piece self-serving and
shortsighted. She apparently lacks any empathy or understanding of the people of
the region who live on the other side of the Preston line. 
Susan Ponder
Norwich