Vote approves town's application for $3.15 million grant

Town residents voted Thursday night to authorize the town to move forward with an application for a grant in the amount of $ 3.15 million from the Connecticut Brownfields Redevelopment Authority in order to cleanup the formerly contaminated site and bring new businesses to 300 Universal Dr., now known as North Haven Commons.

The financing plan, a Tax Incremental Financing (TIF) grant, would help the developer finish cleaning up the site in order to further develop it. TIF is a financing method which uses future anticipated tax revenues to finance the construction and improvements of properties which will then create those gains. The assumption is that increased site value will then increase tax revenues, which can be used to finance the debt to pay for the project. Typically, a developer will propose a project, which will then need to be approved by a town, and then grant money from the appropriate authority can be secured.

The proposal for the North Haven grant dates back to the fall of 2007. Douglas Gray, president of the California-based Eclipse Development Group, which owns North Haven Commons, was assured by then-First Selectman Kevin Kopetz that the town would support the application. On Thursday, town officials discussed the merits of the application.

"I am a huge proponent of economic development in our town," said third Selectman Michael Freda. "This will be a wonderful thing for North Haven."

He praised Gray's character, and said that the project would generate approximately $7.5 million in tax revenue for the town.

Town attorney John Parese said that the grant would result in a "win-win-win" situation for all the parties involved. The town, he explained, would win because extra tax dollars would be generated by the new development, which would include personal property taxes. The developer would be able to get assistance for cleaning the site, and the state would also benefit because a previously contaminated site could be cleaned up and put to good use.

Freda, however, took issue with some of the language that was being used in the description of the resolution. He explained that it was more of a bond or a loan than a grant, since the money would have to be paid back.

"I'm dissapointed in the confusion that was caused," he said.

The town will need to pay the money back over a period of 15 years, a sum which amounts to $3.6 million with the added interest. It must pay the lesser amount of either $237,500, or 50% of the real property taxes for the grand list of Oct. 1, 2007,per year.

Town resident Caren Genovese also questioned the terminology being used, using the analogy of student loans. "When I take out a loan for my son in college, I have to pay it back," she said. "That's not semantics to me."

Another resident, Sherman Katz, said that the project would eventually be completed in some way, and argued against voting for the resolution. "I'm against spending money for a project that is essentially a fait accompli," he said.

First Selectman Janet McCarty argued that the money in question was in fact a grant.

"It's called a grant," she said. "The town is simply paying the state some of the tax dollars that we get."

Other resolutions were also addressed at the meeting. A resolution authorizing the first selectman to apply for a Small Town Economic Assistance Program (STEAP) grant, which would help expand capacities of the Public Works Field Operations Headquarters at 110 Elm St., was approved unanimously. A resolution appropriating an amount not to exceed $69,500 to pave the parking lot at Montowese Elementary School under the Local Captial Improvement Program was also approved unanimously.

Residents were also set to act upon a pair of resolutions that would prevent building and liquor permits from being issued for property owners whose taxes, charges, or fees are delinquent. However, both resolutions were tabled to be considered at a later date.