Passero played his cards right in high-stakes port agreement
East Offshore agreed to amend the Host Community Agreement and boost its guaranteed minimum payments to the city to $750,000 a year for at least seven years and up to 10 years. These are significantly higher amounts than originally guaranteed, but do not entirely close the gap Passero had sought to fill. But if Ørsted/ Eversource wins additional wind-power contracts, payments could reach $1.5 million annually.
In return for the increased payments, New London has withdrawn any objections involving the MDP and will cooperate in either amending it, dissolving it, or establishing its legal compliance with the planned project, whichever proves necessary.
“As of that signature, I am a cheerleader for the project,” said Passero, referencing the revised host-community deal.
Passero could have pushed harder. He had reached out to the Lamont administration to, as part of a grand bargain, also dissolve the MDP for Fort Trumbull, which the mayor said only makes development there more difficult. The governor had no interest and Passero opted to fold on that one. Likewise, he decided not to hold out for assurances of greater aid to the city.
Had Passero overplayed his hand, and endangered the project, it could have proved to be a million-dollar mistake, annually, not counting the jobs and economic development that would have been lost.
But more aid may yet flow to New London for State Pier. In the state legislature, Sen. Paul Formica, a Republican whose 20th District includes New London, has introduced legislation that would direct $400,000 annually to New London as compensation for the pier facility that it cannot tax. The legislation mirrors existing law that directs $1 million annually to the city in lieu of the taxes that are lost because it hosts the U.S. Coast Guard Academy.
Sen. Cathy Osten, a Democrat representing the 19th District and co-chairwoman of the Appropriations Committee, said a more likely source of added revenue could come from a movement, within the Democratic caucus, to boost PILOT funds across the board.
Passero seemed to need all his skills in this high-stakes poker game — the politician using the media to apply pressure, the lawyer utilizing the MDP for legal leverage, and the firefighter getting in and out of the burning building before the floor let go.
The New London mayor held out for increased funding to the city, but was wise not to push matters too far. He now calls himself a cheerleader for the wind-power project.