
ANSONIA — City government postponed a public hearing on a land deal after the leader of the Democratic Town Committee raised questions about whether the meeting had been properly noticed.
The meeting was supposed to take place Tuesday evening. It has been rescheduled to 6 p.m. July 12 at the Ansonia Armory, 5 State St.
John Feddern, the chairman of the DTC, sent an email to public officials Tuesday morning marked “urgent.” The email said the city did not follow state regulations regarding the sale of public land. Feddern said state law required the meeting notice to be published twice in a newspaper, and one of the notices had to be 10 days before the meeting.
Feddern said the City of Ansonia’s meeting notice was posted in a local paper just once, and only six days prior to the meeting. In addition, there were no signs placed on the land — in this case about 8 acres on Olson Drive — letting the public know a hearing had been scheduled.
Feddern called for the city to cancel Tuesday’s meeting and to reschedule.
Mayor David Cassetti’s administration canceled the meeting and rescheduled it for July 12 about an hour after Feddern’s email — but did not concede Feddern was correct.
“To address the Democrats’ constant and persistent smears, we are allowing as much time for public transparency as we possibly can,” said Sheila O’Malley, Ansonia’s economic development director and grant writer.
City Democrats said asking the administration to follow the law isn’t a smear.
At 3 p.m. Tuesday Ansonia Corporation Counsel John Marini forwarded an email from the Ansonia fire marshal dated 7:18 a.m. Monday. The fire marshal’s email recommended a venue change, apparently anticipating an over-flow crowd. That played a part to postpone the meeting, too, Marini said.
The public hearing is to discuss the pending sale and connected tax break of the Olson Drive property for $510,000 to Bridgeport-based Primrose Companies.
Primrose President/CEO John Guedes has proposed building a multi-million dollar project that would feature a 39,000-square foot indoor soccer facility and a FIFA regulation-sized outdoor soccer field, as well as a second, 49,000-square-foot, multi-sports facility/and/or NCAA indoor skating rink. City officials estimate the project could annually pump six-figures annually into to the city’s tax base.
Click here for a previous story.
However, city Democrats have said the Cassetti administration is not following the Ansonia City Charter when it comes to the sale. The property should have been put out to bid, they have said. They have also raised questions about the property’s appraised value, have said other uses should be considered for the property, and have complained about tax breaks being offered.
Resident Matt McGowan has filed a lawsuit taking issue with the process by which Ansonia is selling the land.