Norwich officials campaign for bond

Public hearing, vote scheduled for Monday; spot on referendum in November at stake

Norwich — Mayor Peter Nystrom is in the middle of a busy two weeks of campaigning, and it has nothing to do with Tuesday’s primary or the November statewide election.

The City Council will hold a public hearing next Monday, followed by a vote on whether to place a proposed $8.47 million economic development bond on the Nov. 6 ballot for a referendum. At least five council members must vote in favor for the bond ordinance to be forwarded to residents, and aldermen have expressed reservations and asked questions about the proposal.

Because state laws strictly prohibit government spending to advocate for a position in a referendum, Nystrom and the Norwich Community Development Corp. are racing to get the word out prior to the Aug. 20 vote.

NCDC, which administers a similar $3.38 million downtown revitalization bond approved by voters in 2010, has created an 11-by-17inch three-panel pamphlet that condensed the agency’s July 24 presentation to the City Council on the new bond proposal.

The new bond would expand the economic revitalization program to specific areas outside downtown shown on a map in the pamphlet. It also would include $890,000 for “city guided development,” allowing city officials to target specific properties.

Half the new money would be dedicated for downtown.

Nystrom said Monday he will distribute the pamphlets to local businesses and banks if owners agree and plans to campaign doorto-door this week. At noon today, Nystrom and NCDC President Robert Mills will hold an open discussion on the bond proposal in the Otis Library community room.

At 4:30 p.m. Friday, NCDC will host an open house at the Foundry 66 shared workspace at 66 Franklin St. Members of the City Council and the public are invited to tour

the facility and visit with business owners who received grant or loan money from the current downtown revitalization bond program.

Within the building, formerly the home of the Norwich Bulletin, Epicure Brewing and Rose City Athletics each received a loan through the program, and the crossfit gym also received a building code upgrade grant and a lease rebate.

NCDC and building owner Tim Owens did not use the bond program to fit out the Foundry 66 shared workspace facility, but Owens did receive a utility rebate through Norwich Public Utilities’ commercial energy efficiency program, Mills said. He said NPU officials will be invited to Friday’s open house.

The pamphlet, titled “Invest in Norwich,” reviewed the $3.38 million downtown bond, claiming the $2.47 million allocated thus far has resulted in $22.8 million in economic impact with 124,000 square feet of building space renovated.

The new proposal would divide the funds into five programs, with $4.1 million for building code corrections — deemed critical to making historic buildings economically viable — $2.9 million for a lease rebate, $355,000 for façade improvements, $120,000 for signage and $890,000 for city-guided development.

One full panel in the pamphlet attempted to answer the question posed by several aldermen: Why the rush to put this on the ballot this November. The pamphlet described a “Window of Opportunity” for Norwich, the state of Connecticut and for the southeastern Connecticut region.

The pamphlet described Norwich’s relatively low existing bonded debt, favorable bond rating and the ability to combine the new program with new development tax credit programs, including the state Small Business Express Program, the Connecticut Manufacturing Innovation Fund and the new federal Opportunity Zones approved in Norwich.

For the region, the pamphlet cited the state’s investment of $25 million, matched by $26 million in private investment, the build-up at Electric Boat, the new $80 million convention center at Mohegan Sun and the proposed $200 million to $600 million Mohegan Gaming & Entertainment development at the former Norwich Hospital property in Preston.

“Now is the time to capitalize on the major economic growth in the region,” the center panel stated.