August 20, 2009

Stimulus cash may pay for ex-gas station cleanup

A former gas station at the entrance to Rockwell Park may get a $150,000 environmental cleanup with money allocated by the federal government to stimulate the economy.
The 316 Park St. property needs the costly cleanup to remove wastes that have leaked from underground fuel tanks in years past.
The Valley Council of Governments’ regional brownfields partnership has already helped the city pay for studies to find out what needs to be done to clean up the privately owned site. It is now considering a final allocation to carry out the work, city officials said.
“That’s really good news,” said Edward Krawiecki, Jr, an assistant city attorney.
The city has long eyed the property for inclusion in neighboring Rockwell Park. It’s an eyesore that detracts badly from the newly overhauled entrance to the historic park, officials said.
But efforts to purchase the site have fallen short because the city has repeatedly said it won’t take ownership of the property until it is cleaned up.
The regional brownfields program recently got $1 million in stimulus funds to begin tackling projects on its 26-town list.
Krawiecki said Bristol has a good shot at the money because it has already invested $7 million or more to overhaul Rockwell Park and has been working on the gas station issue for years.
The city has a letter of intent from the property owners to sell the site with any costs absorbed by city taxpayers taken off the selling price.
The property is owned by Vincent Nemeragut of Easton. Its appraised value is $215,200, which doesn’t take into account the necessity of an environmental remediation.
He bought the 1960 gas station a decade ago for $110,000. It closed about five years ago.
The city is spending millions to spruce up Rockwell Park in a bid to pump life back into the West End park that used to serve thousands of working class families. It had fallen into disrepair and was little used until recently, when improvements to its playground and a new skatepark began drawing crowds again.
By purchasing the gas station and a house at 15 Dutton Ave., the city aims to open up the entrance to the park more, to make it more visible and attractive from Park Street.

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Copyright 2009. All rights reserved.
Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com

25 comments:

Anonymous said...

Sounds like Krawiecki is Wards Deputy mayor.

Anonymous said...

So we the taxpayer have to pay to clean up some business mess?

Anonymous said...

What about the owners of the property? Aren't they accountable? Do they still own the property or is it now owned by the city?

Anonymous said...

Are we sure this is Federal money?

Peter said...

Ward was against this when he was a councilman, why the change to approve it now? Oh yeah - eleciton year.

idiot said...

8:46 - ward wasn't at the meeting, he was on vacation

Concerned Constructive Conservative said...

Eddie:

I know ole' Tip said "all politics is local", but can't you get some backbone here?

This is stimulus? For contruction contractors and local pols exclusively I guess.

NOT mine said...

Are we sure this is Federal money?

August 21, 2009 8:39 AM
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Any way you look at it ..... IT'S YOUR $$$$ .

Where do you think the 'leaders' (local /national) get the cash from ??

Anonymous said...

JUST ASK WALTER HES THE NEW UNTOUCHABLE MAN.

Anonymous said...

Guess the city really isn't short of money.

Was Art trying to look tough for election purposes?

Gary L. Lawton said...

I have to say that before any money is spent cleaning anything no matter whose money it is the orginal owner should be held accountable, he knew what he was doing was wrong and yet failed to correct his problem, while city inspectors should have tried to do more and keep up with the proper inspection to not let the problem get as bad as it has the owner should still bear the burden of paying for the cleanup.

Anonymous said...

Sounds like people's federal taxes will be going up instead of local taxes. Does it really make a difference what pocket of your pants your money is being spent from?

Anonymous said...

in case anyone has forgotten, this was Kevin's point last week about center St. - certain projects even if they have been in the pipeline - should not get priority status right now.

and to the posters who say this is all our money no matter what govt level it is coming from, amen. I get it, you get it, why don;t they get it?

Anonymous said...

Why is federal "stimulus" money being spent? What is it going to stimulate? I hope the feds review this again before money changes hands. I'd rather see it go to stimulate job training, education...

Anonymous said...

9:47, You don't think that improving our City and making it more attractive to retailers is "stimulating" enough? Geez, what a putz!

Ricky said...

10:44am - so that is what Ward is using as an excuse? Ever hear of cell phones, texting?
Typical Ward, if he wasn't there don't blame him? Nice.

NOT mine said...

Hey Putz ..... Maybe you should try looking into a mirror before you post.

Anonymous said...

Hey not mine (AKA putz), I looked. I'm good. Not sure what that has to do with you being a putz though?

idiot said...

so that is what Ward is using as an excuse? Ever hear of cell phones, texting?
Typical Ward, if he wasn't there don't blame him? Nice.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Dear Little Ricky,

First off, Ward didn't make any excuses. I only mentioned he was on vacation.

Second, ever think maybe no one bothered to call or text Ward because he was on vacation and had already given his opinion on the subject?

But hey, you just keep on with your typical pointless, baseless rhetoric. It's obviously all you've got. Nice! ;0)

Not Ricky... said...

2:20pm and you just keep kissing Wards butt - I am sure he will reward you nicely.

Anonymous said...

Not Ricky,

Nope, no butt kissing, just making some clarifications. No reward necessary!

Anonymous said...

Did I really read CC talk about backbone? What a joke , he doesn't have enough to say his name. He's a coward with no backbone!

Anonymous said...

Another useless blog . Babies as usual !

Anonymous said...

More taxpayers money to bail out businesses mess!

Anonymous said...

WHO owns the gas station?