Officials are pushing for help to clean up the massive old mill property off Terryville Avenue that once housed a New Departure factory.Mayor Art Ward said that state economic development officials have expressed support for the idea of cleaning up the old mill site as well as the former J.H. Sessions factory on Riverside Avenue.
“There’s a ton of potential there,” Ward said.
The 7.3-acre site, which is technically on Franklin Street, is owned by the Stratford-based Gavlick Realty Co., which paid off a $251,000 back tax bill on the site in 2003.
Some of the old mill buildings are in pretty good shape while others are shabby, with their windows shattered and trees growing up around them.
Even so, officials said, there’s hope that the site could become a thriving enterprise again.
Roger Bergeron, a vice president of Pan Am Railways, pointed out that tracks still stretch into the complex from the little-used rail line that runs along the back of the buildings. He said they could be used again.
In addition, he said, the old buildings have high roofs of the sort that many companies are looking for so they can load and unload material easily.
Ward said that the Connecticut Development Authority and other state agencies are interested in the idea of cleaning up the site so that it could become a source of jobs and taxes again.
Getting state dollars to fund the cleanup “would prove invaluable,” Ward said.
New Departure manufactured ball bearings on the site from the early 1900s into the 1960s, records show. It had a foundry on the site.
Back in 2005, General Motors, the successor to New Departure, agreed to pay for for the cleanup of the site, where oil and PCBs were leaking into North Creek. It isn’t clear how much work GM did on the site or what remains to be done.
During last fall’s municipal campaign, city Councilor Mike Rimcoski said a major environmental problem still exists on the property.
"We've got a big problem there," Rimcoski said, and will need federal cleanup help to deal with it.
Until that’s done, Rimcoski said, "We can't touch it."
*******
Copyright 2008. All rights reserved.
Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com
25 comments:
These properties have been up for Brownsfield clean up grants for years. It's about time it was addressed again. Good job to Robin Bugbee for her hard work even though the politicians kept putting it off.
The Sessions property was eyed by a man in Bridgeport that converts old manufacturing buildings into high rent condos back when Couture was in office. Wonder if he'll come back now.
Sounds like Bugbee has been dragging her feet, Rosenthal too.
You obviously don't know Robin. She doesn't drag her feet on anything. She gets road blocks from the others around her.
Robin can lead a horse to water but she can't make it drink.
The Main Street revitalization project got yanked from the 2009 Capital Projects list by Mayor Klocko, er, Ward. Why don't they finish one project befoer looking for new ones???
tracks still stretch into the complex from the little-used rail line that runs along the back of the buildings. He said they could be used again.
``````````````````````````
Hasn't anyone told this fella that Bristol officials in charge of locating manufacturing have a strict policy of putting plants as far away from a railline as feasible , even if it means tossing a little old lady out into the street and stealing her home to do it .
There is that Rosenthal guy again!
Surely people must realize by now that Stortz was right in wanting him to go.
Hopefully, this works out because it will be good for Bristol.
Surely people must realize by now that Stortz was right in wanting him to go.
He had 2 years to do it and didn't need council approval to do so. So if he really wanted to get rid of him, he could have.
If he couldn't get council approval, how could he fire him and expect to win?
I hear by now that even Ward is convinced that Rosenthal should go.
If he couldn't get council approval, how could he fire him and expect to win?
He needed council approval to re-appoint him, but he didn't need council approval to fire him.
All he had to do during his 2 years in office is write Jonathan up for every time he came in late, every time he misused City equipment, every time a careless mistake was made due to lack of management, etc. All Stortz needed was documentation and he chose not to do it.
Stortz couldn't get council approval because there wasn't anything to back up a reasonable termination.
Stortz did start documentation, and did get Rosenthal to improve, but he could not go after just Rosenthal for attendance, as others were guilty also, and Jonathan complained about being singled out.
The more important aspect was performance and Ward and Minor were not going to support Stortz: they were more interested in embarassing Stortz.
And Ferguson was/is no help.
Lets see what Ward can accomplish.
A little boy goes to his dad and asks, 'What is Politics?'
Dad says, 'Well son, let me try to explain it this way:
I am the head of the family, so call me The President.
Your mother is the administrator of the money, so we call her the Government.
We are here to take care of your needs, so we will call you the People.
The nanny, we will consider her the Working Class.
And your baby brother, we will call him the Future.
Now think about that and see if it makes sense.
So the little boy goes off to bed thinking about what Dad has said.
Later that night, he hears his baby brother crying, so he gets up to check on him.
He finds that the baby has severely soiled his diaper.
So the little boy goes to his parent's room and finds his mother asleep. Not wanting to wake her, he goes to the nanny's room. Finding the door locked, he peeks in the keyhole and sees his father in bed with the nanny.
He gives up and goes back to bed.
The next morning, the little boy says to his father, 'Dad, I think I understand the concept of politics now.'
The father says, 'Good, son, tell me in your own words what you think politics is all about.'
The little boy replies, 'The President is screwing the Working Class while the Government is sound asleep. The People are being ignored and the
Future is in deep shit
The reason that Jonathan is still here is that there was no supporting documentation in his file to fire him. In other words, Stortz was all talk and no action. Without the documentation the union would have had a field day with this one and it would have cost the city plenty. You may not like it but it looks like Jonathan will be a part of Bristol for a long long time.
Have you seen Jonathans file?
Certainly will enhance the value of adjacent property owners, including those owners related to current officials.
Makes timing a curiousity.
Here comes that pesky ethics issue again.
Bristol is a community with alot of interrelationships.
Conflicts, the potential for conflicts, or the perception of conflicts will undestandably occur from time to time.
All any official has to do is point out the possible conflict, step down from their seat and stay out of any discussion.
Shouldn't be a problem if the right intention exists.
I wish they would recondition some of the railroad bridges in town. They look terrible....like the one on Terryville Ave.
HaHa at least they proved they could win a seat.....can you ?
Hell yeah can't you count either?
6:31
So did Rowland, Ganin, Giordano, Cianci, Nixon, Newton, Sylvester.
We do need to set the bar higher.
mama - they are picking on me again - wah, wah
I hear that Jonathan blew another one.
Stood up a potential developer.
Boring cry babies.
Post a Comment