BRISTOL — City councilors plan to give Renaissance Downtowns more time to put the pieces together to get started on its Depot Square project. A draft motion for Monday’s special City Council meeting proposes giving Renaissance until March 31 to “for the initial closing and the approval of the developer’s Financing, Leasing and Development Plan.” That’s two months more time than the nonprofit Bristol Downtown Development Corp. recommended. It also includes a provision that if there is no closing by March 31 the city will be able “to solicit and consider other development proposals for the Depot Square property” where the mall once stood in the city center. The motion requires that Renaissance begin its project with the so-called Building B, which would consist mostly of market rate apartments constructed above an entire floor of commercial space fronting Main
Street. The motion, whose general terms were discussed in closed-door executive session by councilors Thursday, also allows the city to construct or fund a public piazza, along with associated utilities and infrastructure, as part of the development of Building B. In addition, it includes an open-ended section that allows “such other provisions as many be necessary to resolve any other open issues” between the city and Renaissance. The council plans to meet at 6 p.m. Monday to discuss the proposed amendments to the preferred developer deal struck between Renaissance and the city four years ago. The meeting agenda provides for a public comment period at the beginning of the
session. It then calls for another executive session, if needed, to discuss the negotiation of additional amendments. Councilors said they plan to discuss the proposed changes and to take action on them
Monday.
East Hampton breaks ground for high school renovation
EAST HAMPTON >> The students and faculty of East Hampton High School embarked Thursday on a journey that will, with luck, end in September, 2017, with a school for the 21st century.
Officials held an unusual indoor groundbreaking Thursday morning in the high school auditorium to signal the unofficial start of the $51 million school renovation project. A pile of rich, dark dirt sat at center state (atop a sheet of protective plastic) with a shovel sticking out of the dirt. However, no dirt was harmed during the making of the ceremony. Instead, members of various boards: Education, Finance, the Town Council and the School Building Committee took turns posing in front of the pile while wearing hard hats and wielding shovels. As soon as one group finished having their photos taken, they swapped off their shovels and hardhats with members of the next board who were waiting to take their places behind the dirt pile. The actual groundbreaking will take place outside later this month, Superintendent of Schools Diane Dugas said. And while various officials took turns addressing the all-school assembly, the two speakers whose words were perhaps the most affecting were delivered by the respective presidents of “the bookend classes” — the Class of 2014 and the class of 2018 which will be the first class to graduate from the newly renovated school. Emma Cook, Class of ’18, said while the construction will cause occasional disruptions, the work will result in “a building as amazing as the teachers and students who go here.” CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
Montville power plant stuck in limbo as demolition stalls
Montville — Demolition of the defunct coal-fired power plant on Depot Road, once the most taxed property in town, has stalled. The company that now owns the plant has not indicated when work on the demolition is expected to resume. The plant, which has already fallen off the list of the top 10 taxpayers in town, will continue to be worth less money as demolition proceeds, before the waterfront property can developed in a new way. The demolition work stalled about two months ago, according to town Fire Marshal Raymond Occhialini. Mayor Ronald McDaniel said the town has pledged support for marketing the property and putting it to the best use, once the demolition is finished.
The plant was formerly owned and operated by AES Thames Inc., which filed for bankruptcy in February 2011. Arizona-based Interstate Construction Services purchased the plant from the bankruptcy court for $2.5 million in December 2012 and began the demolition process in late 2013.
Then, in September of this year, Georgia-based packaging manufacturer RockTenn took ownership of the plant, according to town land records. RockTenn already owned the land underlying the structure. Town officials have deferred to RockTenn for answers to questions. "The original asset owner is no longer in sight and we're negotiating to have the remaining assets removed from our property," RockTenn spokeswoman Robin Keegan said in a phone message Oct. 31. Keegan did not return subsequent calls or emails for comment. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
NPU customers face proposed 15% sewer rate hike
Norwich - The closure of Fusion Paperboard in Sprague in July is having dramatic ripple effects on Norwich Public Utilities operations, forcing a 15 percent sewer rate increase across the board to make up the $1 million annual revenue from the paperboard plant and an immediate halt to the planned nearly $100 million sewage treatment plant upgrade project. NPU General Manager John Bilda said Friday that the immediate steps are unavoidable, as NPU lost "by far" its biggest sewer customer, which amounted to about 10 percent of the sewer system revenues. The Sprague plant, owned by OpenGate Capital, a global investment firm, which made high-grade coated paperboard boxes, closed suddenly in July, costing 145 jobs and having potentially long-lasting ramifications in the region.
Bilda said NPU will advertise next week for a public hearing to be held later in November, possibly Nov. 25, on the proposed sewer rate increase. The 15 percent increase would cost the average household sewer user about $8 per month. Bilda said Fusion stopped paying its bills in July and now owes the Norwich utility "six figures" in overdue bills. About $250,000 of the company's annual $1 million bill to NPU was for the mandatory sewer plant upgrade fee - a fee charged to all customers to help cover the planned $96 million sewer plant upgrade. Fusion's contribution to the upgrade was $5.5 million over the next 20 years to pay off the upgrade project. Without that revenue, NPU ordered an immediate halt to the upgrade project. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE