GOP leader backs Norwich Hospital cleanup

The top Republican in the Connecticut House of Representatives said Tuesday that the state government should allocate about $10 million to finish the cleanup of the former Norwich Hospital site.

?Let?s clean up our mess,? Rep. Larry Cafero, R-Norwalk, testified during a public hearing before the Commerce Committee.

Cafero was testifying on behalf of Bill 6267, of which he is lead sponsor. He called the legislation ?a caucus bill,? meaning it has the support of all House Republicans.

The minority leader testified that he made the bill ?purposely vague? in order for the Commerce Committee to add ?meat to the bone.? When committee Co-Chairman Sen. Gary LeBeau, D-East Hartford, questioned if a $9 million to $10 million commitment would be appropriate, Cafero agreed.

?It?s a great bang for the buck,? he said. ?We don?t need a half measure.?

Cafero spoke aftr testimony by three Preston leaders ? First Selectman Robert Congdon, Redevelopment Agency Chairman Sean Nugent, and state Rep. Timothy Bowles, D-Preston, who is a Preston selectman.

Nugent estimated total cleanup costs at between $18 million and $23 million. Preston, which bought a 393-acre portion of the former hospital property in 2009 from the state for $1, has secured $8 million in cleanup funding with $6 million of that coming from the state, he said.

The town has applied for a $5 million Urban Act grant, leaders said during the morning hearing at the Legislative Office Building in Hartford.

Congdon said the state ?turned off the heat and left the water? on when it closed the hospital in 1996 during the administration of Republican Gov. John Rowland. Water pipes burst, doing great damage to the site?s 58 structures, 22 of which have been torn down, he said.

?I believe the state has a responsibility to clean it up,? Congdon said. ?They left it in a mess.?

Several committee members as well as Cafero and Bowles, who are not members of the committee, discussed the long period that the site has sat without redevelopment and mentioned the regional economic development potential of the property, which has been renamed Preston Riverwalk. The state has been trying to sell 47 acres on the Norwich side of the city line that it still owns.

Redevelopment would be a ?great shot in the arm for an area that needs it,? Cafero said. Bowles agreed.

?I think it?s not just good for my town and my district but for all of southeastern Connecticut,? Bowles said.

He thanked Democratic Gov. Dannel P. Malloy, who said Bowles is the first governor to visit the site since the hospital closed. Among the efforts of the Malloy administration is a $4 million loan package that was approved last year through the Department of Economic and Community Development. The package includes a $2 million town matching portion.

?I think this bill will move us forward in a bipartisan manner,? Bowles said of Bill 6267.

Cafero said cleaning up properties is a better economic development strategy than paying companies to locate businesses in Connecticut, something Malloy did through his First Five initiative. The state could work out a reimbursement plan with municipalities or developers, Cafero said.

Rep. Steven Mikutel, D-Griswold, thanked the Republican leader for his support of the hospital property.

?I welcome that interest,? said Mikutel, a Commerce Committee member whose district used to include Preston. ?It will benefit Eastern Connecticut and the state of Connecticut. I hope we coordinate our efforts.?

Cleanup costs remain the biggest hurdle to developers signing on, Nugent said. The land will be used for mixed-use development. including hotels that could complement tourism businesses including nearby Mohegan Sun, he said.

Cafero?s bill calls for the state to work with the owners of Mohegan Sun and Foxwoods Resort Casino as well as the U.S. government.
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Source: http://www.norwichbulletin.com/carousel/x898135182/GOP-leader-backs-Norwich-Hospital-cleanup

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