New London — The debate over a possible change of control of some parcels of land at Fort Trumbull appears to be at a standstill until the issue works its way through the City Council's committee process.

The Renaissance City Development Association's board of directors met Thursday evening and was slated to discuss Mayor Daryl Justin Finizio's request to have the city assume ownership of any Fort Trumbull land that could legally be transferred. RCDA board President Linda Mariani on Thursday said she had been expecting the mayor to be there.

But Finizio did not attend the meeting, at which board members had hoped to question him about his request and plans for the properties.

"My understanding was that the mayor was going to be here; I thought we were going to have an open and candid discussion about what his plans are," Frank McLaughlin, an RCDA member and commissioner of the city's Economic Development Commission, said during the meeting. "I, for one, want to hear what his plan is."

Because the mayor was not present to answer questions, the RCDA board chose not to discuss the possibility of a title transfer.

On Wednesday, Chief Administrative Officer Laura Natusch told The Day that Finizio would not attend the Thursday meeting and does not anticipate attending any RCDA meetings until the City Council has taken action on his request.

In the last two weeks, Finizio had renewed his push to have the title to properties at Fort Trumbull transferred into the city's name. He had urged the council to authorize him to request and accept title to the land before Thursday's RCDA meeting.

But the City Council on Monday chose instead to send the matter to its Economic Development Committee for further study and debate.

The land that could legally be conveyed to the city includes parcel 5C and lots in parcels 3C and 4A that the city does not already own. Parcels 3C and 4A include the former sites of homes taken by eminent domain to make way for developments that still have not been realized. Within those parcels, the city already owns the lots that were part of the Kelo v. City of New London U.S. Supreme Court case. RCDA owns the rest of the lots in those two parcels.

Land at the peninsula that was once part of the Naval Undersea Warfare Center must remain in the name of the RCDA due to federal Base Realignment and Closure laws.

c.young@theday.com

Twitter: @ColinAYoung