On Tuesday, residents of the Lynn Drive neighborhood in Preston attended a presentation by Blue Water Development Corporation about a 50-year lease for a proposed RV park on Mashantucket Tribe-owned property on Route 2.

Blue Water CEO Todd Burbage repeatedly joked at the meeting about his low intelligence and how he liked to hire smart people. That is why it is worth mentioning to readers in Preston that within the past week, Blue Water’s website was updated to remove reference to Steven Kremer, manager capital projects and procurement. Kremer is a former NASA executive who was convicted in 2018 of taking kickbacks from NASA contractors and otherwise personally enriching himself with taxpayer funds. A simple Googling of “Blue Water Development” and “NASA” will reveal details of Kremer's case and that he got court approval to leave the area to perform work for Blue Water.

Within the past week of bringing this matter to the attention of reporters and tribal executives, Blue Water Development's website has been updated. What does it say about the kind of "smart" people that Blue Water Development hires, and can we trust them to keep their word to neighborhood residents? Does Blue Water still employ this guy?

Michael Hotchkiss

Griswold