This and that from the council meeting

Former Republican mayoral contender Ken Johnson and Mayor Art Ward exhanged some sharp words over the failure of the city to pursue vigorously the $400,000 or more than Connecticut Light and Power may owe the city for back streetlighting overcharges.
They really went at it.
Johnson blamed the city for doing nothing. Ward seemed to know nothing about it and thundered that Johnson should have told him, not just the city attorney's office.
I'll have much more on this after I make sense of it all in the days ahead.
Meanwhile, we've had nothing about the resigning lawyers. Yet.
The council approved a pay cut for the next mayor and City Council. They'll make 5 percent less than the council does this year. They also froze the pay of department heads and other non-union personnel.
More to come.

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

No more big trucks on the mall site

Tired of seeing a handful of large trucks parking overnight at the former downtown mall site, the city is cracking the whip.

After city Councilor Ken Cockayne complained recently that the 17-acre site “looked like a truck stop,” Mayor Art Ward said he was already on the case.

He said that public works employees were making signs barring overnight parking on the city-owned property – signs that are now posted.

Before the signs went up, Ward said, he was growing increasingly irritated.

“I looked out my window and saw a truck depot,” Ward said.

 With the truck problem dealt with, city officials are eyeing what to do next to revitalize the site the city bought almost four years ago for $5.3 million. It has spent about $8 million on the property, counting the demolition of the mall, hiring lawyers and consultants, and shelling out for the operation of the nonprofit Bristol Downtown Development Corp.

City Councilor Frank Nicastro said he plans to prod Ward into arranging the promised workshop session between the council and the seven-person BDDC to talk about what’s next for the property.

“We would like to know what’s happening,” Nicastro said.

The BDDC sought last year to find a developer, but wound up with only a single offer, from a Florida get-rich-quick real estate course seller whose offer fell well short of what officials hoped for. He was quickly dropped from consideration.

The nonprofit plans  to seek more development prospects, this time without laying out in any detail what it’s looking for on the site. That effort is slated to begin soon.

But officials have said they understand that given the rough economy and the difficult in lining up financing for projects, it’s unlikely that a project will get underway on the site, tagged Depot Square, anytime in the near future.

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

Dunlap to return to finance board?

Mayor Art Ward sent an email out to the City Council saying that he's thinking about appointing former Board of Finance member Robert Dunlap to the panel to take the place of Republican Don Soucy.
Dunlap, a fiscal conservative during his stint on the finance board, is Ward's former campaign treasurer.
What's unusual about the choice is that by law Ward can only appoint an independent or Republican to the board this time around.
Dunlap was apparently a registered Democrat until he switched his voter registration this week to unaffiliated, making him eligible for the appointment.
Councilors on both sides of the aisle are concerned. It's not yet clear whether Ward will try to push through the nomination or not.

Update on Friday afternoon: Dunlap's out, Tonon's in

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Copyright 2008. All rights reserved.
Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com