Preston — The state General Assembly Wednesday overwhelmingly approved a nearly $400 million bond package Wednesday that includes $7 million the town requested for the final cleanup of the former Norwich Hospital property to prepare to turn it over to Mohegan Gaming & Entertainment.

State Sen. Cathy Osten, D-Sprague, said the next step for the funding would be for Gov. Ned Lamont and the group of state legislative leaders and administration officials to include the Preston funding request in an upcoming Bond Commission meeting. The next commission meeting is not yet scheduled.

“I’m excited about it,” Osten said Wednesday evening. “It still has one more big piece to go through. Congratulations to the town of Preston. Let’s get this moving along now.”

Mohegan tribal officials said earlier this month that the tribe expects to receive a plan from a consultant by early April that could solidify the tribe’s conceptual plan for a $400 million to $600 million development on the property. That included sports complexes, a marina, recreation, hotels, upscale camping and senior housing. The tribe also is exploring a way to cross the river — such as a seasonal ferry, gondolas or a tram.

The town requested the $7 million after environmental test crews discovered extensive contamination throughout the property, where the state had used coal ash from an on-campus coal-burning plant as subsurface for roadbeds and parking lots.

The Senate passed the bond package, 31-5, without discussion of the Preston funding request and the House of Representatives earlier in the day approved the package, 126-4. Osten, state Sen. Heather Somers, R-Groton, whose district includes Preston, and state Sen. Paul Formica, all of whom worked on the funding request, voted in favor of the overall bond package.

But state Rep. Mike France, R-Ledyard, whose district includes Preston, voted against the package. He said after the vote Wednesday that he appreciated that Gov. Ned Lamont included the Preston request in the $398 million package, but he objected to several other items, which led to his vote.

France objected that the bond package included $65 million for renovations to the XL Center arena in Hartford, on top of $40 million approved in 2017. France said the state should sell the center to a private entity that would do the renovations and market the arena for more events that would bring more people to downtown Hartford. He also objected to the $45 million allocated to the Municipal Redevelopment Agency, which has not yet been established and board members are not yet appointed.

“I struggled with it,” France said of his vote, “because I did appreciate the Preston money. That’s a priority the state should have, although it hasn’t been a priority to the new administration.”

France and Somers co-signed a letter to Lamont on Feb. 28 asking that the Preston funding request be included in the bond package.

The Senate vote came 10 minutes before the start of Wednesday evening’s Preston Redevelopment Agency meeting, and some members spent three hours prior to the meeting watching the Senate bond package debate on CT-N. There was no discussion on the Preston funding during the debate.

First Selectwoman Sandra Allyn-Gauthier congratulated the PRA on Wednesday night and thanked them for their work and persistence in getting the 393-acre property cleaned.

PRA Chairman Sean Nugent said the agency needs to wait for the Bond Commission action before ramping up the cleanup, and first would need to work out an agreement with the state Department of Economic and Community Development and the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection on the cleanup procedures.

The final remaining cleanup is expected to cost $9 million, including the $7 million state grant through the Bond Commission and the town’s preapproved, low-interest state loan for $2 million. Nugent said the plan is to use the first $5 million of the grant, putting the remaining funding in escrow, and try to reach an agreement with state environmental officials on the extent of the cleanup needed.

Nugent said the town could hold planning meetings with DEEP to be ready to go upon Bond Commission approval.

c.bessette@theday.com