Hospital cleanup grant not on Bond Commission agenda

Norwich, Preston will have to wait a little longer

Preston — The town will have to wait a little longer to receive an approved $7 million state grant to complete the environmental cleanup of the 393-acre former Norwich Hospital property before ownership can be transferred to Mohegan Gaming

& Entertainment for a planned $400 million to $600 million development.

The town’s request for the $7 million to finish the cleanup was approved overwhelmingly March 11 by the General Assembly as part of a large municipal aid package signed by Gov. Ned Lamont on March 13, just days before the legislature and much of the state was ordered shut down due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The funding for the entire package needs to be approved by the state Bond Commission. Lamont, who chairs the commission, has been focusing on the state’s response to the public health emergency, with daily news briefings and executive orders.

The commission will hold a teleconference meeting at 1 p.m. Wednesday, but the Preston $7 million Norwich Hospital cleanup grant is not on the 31-page agenda that includes critical and long-delayed municipal aid grants.

David Bednarz, spokesman for Lamont, confirmed that the Preston funding is not on Wednesday’s agen

da. He said it is expected to be on a future agenda, and the wait is not expected to delay the cleanup.

Preston town officials and state Sen. Cathy Osten, D-Sprague, were disappointed that the Preston grant will be delayed until at least May. But Preston Redevelopment Agency Chairman Sean Nugent said the COVID-19 emergency likely would have delayed the start of the work even if funds were released immediately.

Nugent said meetings will be needed between the town’s environmental consultant, state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection and Department of Economic and Community Development to coordinate the final cleanup. He said it would be difficult to hold those meetings during social distancing protocols, which require avoiding large gatherings and for people to maintain a physical distance of 6 feet from one another.

“The delay is a combination now of waiting for Bond

Commission approval and COVID-19 release from the distancing perspective,” Nugent said. “It just means we’ll be more appreciative when we’re done.”

Osten had a conference call Friday with DECD and DEEP officials to discuss the Preston funding, among other issues.

“The $7 million should be on the next Bond Commission agenda, which should be in May,” Osten said Friday. “I talk to them about this all the time. I think they’d want to do it just to get rid of me.”