Norwich Hospital agreement not yet ready for votes
Preston — For the second time this month, the schedule is being pushed back for approving a proposed purchase and sale agreement between the town and the Mohegan Tribal Gaming Authority for the former Norwich Hospital property.
With the draft final agreement still in the hands of attorneys for the town and tribal authority, public informational meetings tentatively scheduled for Thursday and Saturday have been canceled. The town meeting to review the document will not be held Feb. 16, and the tentative referendum date of Feb. 28 also will be postponed, town officials said Wednesday.
Preston Redevelopment Agency Chairman Sean Nugent said Wednesday the agency did not have a final draft of the proposed Property Disposition and Development Agreement to review and approve Wednesday night. Instead, the agency reviewed the status of the negotiations in executive session Wednesday.
The Board of Selectmen, which had planned to review and vote on the draft agreement Thursday, has canceled its meeting in anticipation of Thursday's snowstorm.
First Selectman Robert Congdon said if the final draft can be completed in time, the PRA and Board of Selectmen would hold special meetings next week to review and act on the agreement. Tentative new dates could be Feb. 23 for the town meeting and March 7 for the referendum.
Both Nugent and Congdon said the roughly 150-page agreement mostly is under technical review by the attorneys. Nugent declined to comment on any specific issues that might be outstanding.
In November, town and tribal officials set a deadline of Feb. 19 to have the agreement approved by both parties. Congdon said Wednesday that deadline still could be met if the PRA and selectmen can approve the agreement next week. “If not, we'll have to look at a plan B,” he said.
“People are looking at it from a legal perspective at this point,” Nugent said. “Both sides are reviewing the edits and giving comments back and working through the questions. It's a normal agreement process. And while everybody would like to think (the revisions) can be done overnight, they can't.” CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE