Gateway, working with its partners, should show some leeway concerning its end-of-month deadline for State Pier tenants to vacate the facility.

Disruptions are unavoidable as the state-owned pier transitions. In two years, under current plans, it will be serving as a hub for the assembly and transportation of massive wind-turbine components. The New London port will play a major role in the construction of electricity-producing windfarms far offshore.

Plans call for filling the space between the two existing piers to form one large platform able to handle the heavy components. Also planned is installation of heavy-lift equipment.

But the goal should be to mitigate the disruptions, not exacerbate them. Yes, there must be a deadline. No, it need not be inflexible.

Gateway manages State Pier under an agreement with the Connecticut Port Authority. According to the deal announced three weeks ago, Gateway will sublease the facility over the next 10 to 17 years to Orsted North America, a partnership of the Danish wind-turbine company Orsted and the New England energy company Eversource.

Construction to transform the pier facility is set to start early next year and be completed by August 2022, an ambitious timetable. To meet its obligations, and to allow for site preparation work, Gateway announced no more ships would be offloading. That means no work for the 45 longshoremen, eight of them full-time.

Additionally, it set a March 31 deadline for the road-salt storage operation at the pier, and a small commercial fishing fleet that docks there, to find other accommodations. Because negotiations on the wind deal dragged on so long, the tenants said they expected to have more time to find new arrangements.

Deadlines can be a negotiating tactic. Set a deadline, but with a spirit to compromise. Gateway and Orsted North America should want to build good will about this project. That means working with folks who predated them at the pier operations.

Matt Satnick, an executive with Enstructure, Gateway’s parent company, expressed a willingness to “minimize disruption” and help tenants “land on their feet. We care a lot about the continuity of those relationships.”

That may well mean providing more time for DRVN Enterprises to find an alternate location for the mountain of salt left behind by a mild winter, and for the three fishing boats to find other docking space, preferably in New London.

As for the displaced longshoremen, every effort should be made to provide them work in conjunction with the planned redevelopment, if they so choose.

Host agreement

It would also help on the good-will front if negotiations can be completed on the host community agreement, outlining what revenue will flow to New London as the state and Ørsted North America move forward on the project. The state is contributing $79.5 million and Ørsted North America $77.5 million toward the $157 million project, with the state port authority retaining ownership of the facility and all new infrastructure that is added.

Because State Pier is state owned, and so exempt from property tax assessment, New London has profited little from it over the years, at least in terms of revenue. The state sends New London $125,000 annually — payment in lieu of taxes — only a fraction of what it would generate as a private, taxable facility.

New London Mayor Michael Passero, in seeking a second term, made a commitment to gain just compensation for the host city. The mayor has said he has a tentative deal that would average the city $1.3 million annually over the next decade, a combination of existing state and port authority commitments and Orsted payments.

That is a base number that could increase if the project is completed on time or if the state buys more offshore wind power from the partnership, or both. The negotiations considered that if the pier project were strictly a private development it would qualify for substantial tax breaks as an Enterprise Zone.

Given that, it seems fair, yet no final deal has been announced, no contract signed.

Our preference would have been for Gov. Ned Lamont not to sign off on the State Pier deal until New London had a host agreement in place. “Details of compensation to New London must accompany a final deal,” stated our Jan. 16 editorial.

Unfortunately, concerned about further delays, the governor moved forward, essentially leaving the Passero administration to fend for itself, without legal leverage.

Yet we remind Orsted about its stated commitment to be a good corporate neighbor. Here’s the chance to prove it. Complete the deal.

The Day editorial board meets with political, business and community leaders to formulate editorial viewpoints. It is composed of President and Publisher Timothy Dwyer, Executive Editor Izaskun E. Larraneta, Owen Poole, copy editor, and Lisa McGinley, retired deputy managing editor. The board operates independently from The Day newsroom.