Residents get first look at agreement for former Norwich Hospital
Preston — About two dozen people attended the first public informational meeting Wednesday to hear details of a proposed purchase and sales agreement between the town and the Mohegan Tribal Gaming Authority for the former Norwich Hospital property in town.
The Preston Redevelopment Agency approved the Property Disposition and Development Agreement last Friday, launching a series of required steps that could lead to town approval of the agreement at a referendum scheduled for April 18. Even if residents endorse the agreement that day, it likely would take another year to 18 months before the property could be conveyed to the gaming authority.
A second public informational meeting will be held at 7 p.m. March 29 at Preston Veterans' Memorial School. The public hearing and town meeting will be held at 7:30 p.m. April 6 at PVMS and the referendum will be April 18.
The Mohegan Tribal Gaming Authority plans to develop multiple entertainment, sports and resort projects at the Route 12 property, including a marina, three hotels, a theme park, indoor water park, synthetic skiing, large outdoor sports themed retail store, sports training complex, senior housing and time share units.
At the start of Wednesday's session, PRA Chairman Sean Nugent showed a map of the property and pointed out a 5-acre parcel — adjacent to a state hospital coal ash landfill that the state still owns — that will be removed from the agreement as too contaminated. That reduced the size of the property from 393 to about 388 acres, Nugent said.
Nugent said trees have grown on the small parcel, and the property is stable if not disturbed.
Another parcel that appears gray on the project map represents the historic Jewish cemeteries located on Route 12 at Fort Point Road. Jerome Schwell, president of the Norwich Hebrew Benevolent Association, which oversees the cemeteries, sat in the front row in the Preston Veterans' Memorial School gymnasium quietly listening to the presentation.
The agreement does not specifically address protections for the cemeteries — other than a plan to discontinue Fort Point Road beyond the 400 feet needed for cemetery access. But Nugent said PRA officials have been in contact with the association to address concerns about protecting the cemeteries and providing a buffer zone from the development.
Schwell said the association will work with the tribe on protections for the cemeteries, with the town as the facilitator.
Questions from the audience following an hourlong presentation pertained to property tax provisions, how the town's past outstanding $912,000 legal bill to the Shipman & Goodwin law firm would be paid and how the town would be protected from any efforts to annex the property as reservation land. Shipman & Goodwin has agreed to work out a payment plan with the town to start when property taxes start to be collected on the property.
PRA attorney Scott Murphy repeatedly described legal provisions to protect the town from the Mohegan tribe's status as a federally recognized tribe. The tribe has agreed to waive its sovereign immunity, Murphy said, meaning the town would have the authority to enforce provisions in the agreement and any normal land use regulations in court if necessary.
Also, the agreement and state deed restrictions prohibit the tribe from attempting to annex the land into trust as sovereign reservation property. The MTGA as master developer could sell portions of the property to outside entities, but all of the original restrictions still would apply, Murphy said.
If the referendum approves the agreement, the town would start work to complete the environmental cleanup using a $10 million grant approved by the state Bond Commission Feb. 1. The town also has agreed to obtain an additional $2 million low-interest state loan to cover any additional cleanup costs.
First Selectman Robert Congdon said the new loan would be “forgivable” by the state if the project creates 100 permanent jobs — defined as 35 hours per week for at least one year.
While the town would do the environmental abatement of contamination in buildings and the grounds, the gaming authority would take on the responsibility to do the actual demolition of the remaining nine buildings — not including the Administration Building, which the parties hope to save.
Property taxes on the development would be phased in based on the size and value of the project, Murphy said. Projects valued at least $45 million would be taxed at 60 percent of its assessed value for the first five years, gradually increasing over the next five years. Projects valued from $10 million to $45 million would be taxed at 75 percent of assessed value at the start. Raw land and smaller valued projects would be taxed at full assessed value.
If the gaming authority builds nothing on the property, the town would receive $11 million through a line of credit the MTGA would have to provide as a guarantee for the project. And the town would get 100 percent of assessed value in property taxes on the raw land, Congdon said.
c.bessette@theday.com
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