Rory Glaeseman/Norwich Bulletin The Sprague Board of Selectmen has proposed combining Three Rivers' campuses at the site of the former Baltic Mill.

SPRAGUE -- First Selectman Dennison Allen has continued his quest to lure Three Rivers Community College to his community by providing the college president with a site plan proposal at the former Baltic Mill.

"The town of Sprague is excited about the opportunity to have the college come," Allen said Thursday, "but that's a decision that has to be made outside the town."

Three Rivers President Grace S. Jones said she appreciated the gesture, although at this time she is authorized by the state College Board of Trustees to talk only about Mahan Drive site.

"I think it's very thoughtful that they have done this," she said.

Allen said he dropped off the plans last week. In July, he sent a similar proposal in a letter to Gov. John G. Rowland. Selectmen are working with the Sprague Economic Development Commission in creating a vision plan for the town. Commission members said they would like to see an office park or community college at the mill site because it would attract more businesses and broaden the tax base.

Only crumbled remains of buildings are left on the vacant property located off Route 97 after the mill burned on Aug. 18, 1999.

The Baltic Mill site is included in the town's 26-acre proposal. Allen said he did not know the trustees' specific land requirements, but he thought it would make a great campus because it's several miles from Interstate 395 in a scenic area near the Shetucket River on land ready for development.

The Rev. David Cannon, a college board member, said he and other trustees would want an area between 40 and 50 acres to accommodate expansion, construction and parking needs.

"When any community college consolidates, the enrollment increases 35 to 40 percent in the first year," he said. "You need to build for what you anticipate, and building up is very costly."

The Norwich college is divided into two city campuses, on Mahan Drive and New London Turnpike. The Norwich City Council opposed the consolidation of the campuses at the Mahan Drive site last month. On Monday, however, the City Council approved a resolution declaring its intention to keep the college in the city, although the resolution did not specify where.

But since the controversy began, officials from other towns have explored options to lure the college to their communities.

Jones said she hs written thank you letters for proposals, including Allen's. Others have included the former Norwich Hospital site in Preston, East Lyme, Plainfield's Greyhound Park and several private properties.

Allen knows the college decision is in a holding pattern, but said he was not making a sales pitch on the land. He seconded a motion at a Southeastern Connecticut Council of Governments meeting last month to give the city of Norwich more time to make its decision on the matter.

Mayor Arthur Lathrop said Thursday that his stance on the consolidation has remained the same throughout the entire process.

"I decline comment on proposals from other towns and remain optimistic that an Uncas-on-Thames-Thames Valley Campus will be very attractive to the Community College Board of Trustees, the Three Rivers administration and most importantly, Gov. John G. Rowland," he said.

Cannon said the college trustees would be more interested in putting the college on land the state already owns. Both Norwich campuses are, as is the former Norwich Hospital site.

"Those sites are easier so we don't have to buy or lease. We don't want additional costs," he said. "The state of Connecticut Department of Public Works would be the first to review plans if the door is open for additional site proposals, wherever they happen to be."

Allen said the Baltic land is basically free.

"We can take it over with back taxes, that's no problem," he said.

Cannon said that while Norwich voted to reject the Mahan Drive site, that doesn't mean that the college board has. He said the board is still receiving information from the state environmental, public works and transportation officials on how the Mahan Drive site would work. He said environmental review by the departments of Environmental Protection and Public Works will be the ultimate factor in the trustees' decision.

"It will be the final factor. It's the last piece of evidence," he said.

Cannon said the trustees could see that review by late September.