Eagle Scout Project Given Green Light

If a Boy Scout badge existed for perseverance, Nicholas Carabillo would probably get one.

The 15-year-old has been to several board and commission meetings in order to gain approval for his Eagle Scout project — building a shed behind the boathouse at 36 Drake Hill Road.

As of Tuesday night, he received the final approval needed from the zoning commission and can move forward.

Carabillo, a member of Boy Scout Troop 175, has already appeared before the conservation commission/inland wetlands agency and the board of selectmen.

The shed will cost about $3,500 to build, and will be used by the crew team to store supplies.

Carabillo, a sophomore at Simsbury High School, is also part of the crew team. He said his engineering teacher has helped him with the design. Because it is in a flood plain, he had to abide by Federal Emergency Management Agency guidelines.

Carabillo said he is not interested in architecture, but is interested in engineering.

At the zoning meeting Tuesday night members asked him about materials and other such details. Made primarily out of wood, the 14 x 15-foot shed will be about 20 feet from the boathouse and 100 to 200 feet from the river. If the water rises the shed will be elevated enough so the water flows through underneath. It will sit on tubes (called sonotubes) that are filled with concrete.

Commission member Madeleine P. Gilkey described the project as “pretty ambitious” adding “It’s a good project.”

Other commission members agreed. The vote was unanimous to approve the project.

Friends of Simsbury Crew will own and manage the shed, but it will sit on town property.

The locked-shed will contain leaf raking equipment, tarps and boxes of items/supplies the crew team uses at the common table when it races.

With approvals out of the way, a design ready to go and the money almost raised, Carabillo said he hopes to get the project started before the end of October — before the winter slows the project down. And he will have help

“The troop is going to help me,” he said.

So how did he find his experience going to various town government meetings?

He said it was “fun,” “interesting” and that it’s a “pretty good system.”

Carabillo needs to raise a bit more money before he can begin. If you‘d like to help, you can email him at mtnbiker14@sbcglobal.net.