Redding threatens foreclosure on former wire mill site

BY DIRK PERREFORT
Hearst Connecticut Media

After more than a decade of little progress on redeveloping the former Gilbert and Bennett wire mill in the Georgetown section of Redding, local officials are threatening to foreclose on the builder for unpaid back taxes.

With the exception of crumbling brick buildings and intersection upgrades near the site, the property looks much as it did in 2002 when the Georgetown Land Development Corp. took ownership of the mill.

At the time, developers promised to complete a master plan calling for a train station, more than 460 units of affordable and luxury housing, and at least 300,000 square feet of commercial and retail space. The transit-oriented development promised hundreds of jobs and millions of dollars for local government coffers in a town with a tiny commercial tax base.

But the developer has failed to pay the town more than $2.5 million in overdue property taxes, according to Redding Tax Collector Patricia J. Moisio. The company owes more than $14 million in back taxes to the developer-controlled Georgetown Special Taxing District, she said.

The taxing district, a public entity, was created in 2005 to allow the developers to float project bonds without affecting local taxpayers, including a $14 million note and a $5 million loan to build a new sewer-treatment plant near the site that have gone into default, according to First Selectman Julia Pemberton.

While the state has approved a $5.6 million grant for additional infrastructure work on the site, the developer has yet to meet his obligations needed to secure the funding.

Pemberton said the town is on the hook for more than $250,000 annually for the additional treatment-plant capacity earmarked for the development. The bill for the excess plant charges stands at about $1.3 million.

“Georgetown Land Development had a contract with the operator of the treatment plant to pay the difference between what the town had been paying prior to the upgrades and the new cost of operating the facility,” Pemberton said. “Since they’ve stopped paying, the town has to make up the difference.”

While the development company may have stopped paying its bills, it apparently continues to collect lease payments from tenants using the property, including a landscaping business, an illegal use, Pemberton said. Other tenants include Bruce Bennet Nissan, which stores cars on the site, and the federal government, which has a maintenance shop on the property for the nearby Weir Farm National Historic Site.

“At this point, we are trying to determine just how much revenue the company has been collecting from the property,” Pemberton said. “I’d love to know how much the federal government is paying them.”

Moisio, the town’s tax collector since the 1970s, said past administrations have been reluctant to foreclose despite the mounting bills out of concern the municipality might become responsible for any contamination on the site. Recent legislation, she said, relieves the town of that responsibility.

Pemberton said when the taxing district was created, the entity was put on a level playing field with the town in terms of lien obligations.

“I can’t understand why a municipality would have allowed that,” she said. “It’s far from the common practice.”

However, Pemberton said she has uncovered language approved by the state Legislature in 2007 giving the town the upper hand in debt proceedings. The developers agreed to their first sit-down with the first selectman this month, when she told them about the discovery.

Shortly after the meeting, the town received a check for a little more than $77,000 to help pay some of the back taxes on several lots adjoining the 55-acre property controlled by the developer.

“There will be further discussions soon about how to move the project forward,” she said. “Our hope is that the project moves forward and the town is paid the taxes that are due.”

Christopher Lynch, president of the taxing district who works for the developer, did not return calls seeking comment. Rocco Trotta, the principal behind the development, could not be reached.

Most officials, including Pemberton, said they would like to see the project proceed.

“The entire area represents one of the best candidates for smart growth in the entire region,” said Ridgefield First Selectman Rudy Marconi.

At one point, Ridgefield officials hoped to combine the project with efforts to revitalize the Branchville section of Ridgefield that sits near the border with Georgetown. “My door is always open to discuss working together to create an intermodal transportation center that would benefit the entire region,” Marconi said.

Hearst Connecticut Media includes four daily newspapers: Connecticut Post, Greenwich Time, The Advocate (Stamford) and The News Times (Danbury.) See newstimes.com for more from this reporter.