Hartford Business Journal

www.HartfordBusiness.com • January 22, 2018 • Hartford Business Journal 11 FOCUS Quality Construction + Butler Manufacturing = Repeat Customers www.borghesibuilding.com © 2011 BlueScope Buildings North America, Inc. All rights reserved. Butler Manufacturing™ is a division of BlueScope Buildings North America, Inc. 2155 East Main Street • Torrington, Connecticut 06790 Nufern, East Granby, CT | 1989 | 40,000 sq. ft. 2013 | Addition — 20,000 sq. ft. Contact us at 860-482-7613 or visit us on the web. if you recognize that most state financial aid to municipalities is spent on mu- nicipal employees. State law — collective bargaining for government employees and binding arbitration of their contracts — guarantees the contentment of govern- ment employees but not the contentment of the innocent needy or taxpayers. In Connecticut government and politics, the people on the payroll come first. Q. Of all the stories you've covered or opined on, is there one that stood out or was most memorable? A. The Journal Inquirer's coverage of the scandals in the administration of Gov. John G. Rowland was crucial to his removal from office. The JI pursued these scandals doggedly long before the Hart- ford Courant did. Rowland even went on the radio to claim that the Courant's avoidance of what the JI was reporting was proof that there was nothing wrong. Rowland's chief of staff telephoned me — he said it was on the governor's spe- cific instruction — to threaten the paper that there would be serious consequenc- es if the JI continued its coverage. That was pretty memorable — and stupid and sad. I knew that since they were resort- ing to such clumsy threats, they were terrified and soon would be finished. Of course when they were finished, the Cou- rant took credit for the outcome. Q. So, what do you plan to do in retirement? A. I plan to keep writing columns and to do more work for a nonprofit organization of which I'm an officer. I can produce more columns when I'm away from the office than when I'm there. It's not that I think the columns make any difference. I gave up on that long ago when I saw how literacy and civic engagement were collapsing. There's not enough literacy left in the state and not enough people who care about the public interest. At least the people who care about the public interest are outnumbered by the people on the government payroll. So for some time now I have written mainly for spite. I haven't wanted certain people to think that nobody was on to them. family residential use or special use for religious, academic and other facilities, said Dallas Dodge, chairman of the West Hartford town council's ad hoc subcom- mittee on economic development. Future uses may be envisioned that require rezoning, he said. "If the town is going to work in partner- ship with some developer, there's going to have to be some grand list growth," said Dodge. "There are certainly possibilities under current zoning. I can't speculate on possible uses. The town council is the final arbiter on land use, so I can't prejudge any potential zone changes." Milone & MacBroom is being paid up to $20,000 to facilitate a community en- gagement exercise in February to gauge support for uses residents and taxpayers would like to see, Hart said. "We'll likely go out [after that], and look for a development partner — not market the site per se — but [solicit] someone who can acquire the property from UConn in partnership with the town," he said, acknowledging UConn could sell the former campus before that happens. Goman asserts that marketing proper- ties like this one requires the seller to assess what may drive demand first. And that's not an inexpensive propo- sition. "To do it the way we do it," said Go- man, "and get the market study done, and understand the demand, and [create] conceptual site plans to use to engage the commu- nity — that process [costs] $100,000 to $200,000 and takes six months or more to get through. In our view, with sites like this one, it's the only practical way." Ideally, the seller works concur- rently on both feasibility — what's physi- cally possible in the marketplace — and visioning — what the community would like to see, Goman said. "At the end of the day, you need some- body to sign up to use this space and pay for it," he said. Financial feasibility also must be deter- mined: cleanup costs, road and infrastruc- ture costs, and if the eventual project would generate "enough revenue to make the cost side make sense," he said. Morizio said another idea Hart would like to implement — establishing a public-private partnership with the right developer — makes sense, because a public entity like the town is eligible for brownfield grants to remediate contami- nation that a private developer could not get independently. Ultimately, Goman says, the way to market this kind of site in New England, where the seller is competing with "10 'opportunities' a week" put in front of any potential investor, is to craft "a well- thought-out, well-supported story that can be moved to the top of the pile in the marketplace." An overhead view of UConn's former West Hartford campus, which is spread over 58 acres. DIAGRAM | CONTRIBUTED INFORMATION IS POWER! Did you know our lists are available for download? Our lists can be your lists! • Choose your formating: Excel or PDF • Download one or all the lists • Get extendend lists not available any where else Our Lists are the only comprehensive source for information on the region's companies, executives and industries that drive Central Connecticuts' economy and market. Questions? Want to be included on a List? Contact Stephanie R. Meagher at smeagher@nebusinessmedia.com ACCESS THE LISTS TODAY! Order now at hartfordbusiness.com/datacenter

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