Assuming the feds are OK with it, a $235,000 loan from a Brownfields fund will be used to clean a contaminated property at 44 Commerce St.
The loan, at 1 percent interest, was approved by the Valley Council of Governments at its Wednesday meeting.
The property still has to be approved by the federal Environmental Protection Agency. That is expected to happen within the next three weeks.
The loan will be given to VDAR, Inc., a company owned by Terry Sekelsky, who wanted to develop the land as 18,000 square feet of warehouse space, but has been unable to do so due to heavy underground contamination.
The land was previously used as an auto repair shop. The soil is contaminated with oils, metals and other materials.
The property is vacant now, as the buildings there were torn down several years ago.
There are, however, several large mounds of contaminated dirt, which will be taken away.
“They’ll clean it and get it ready for construction and hopefully, a bank will approve a loan for construction,” said Sheila O’Malley, Derby’s Economic Director.
Sekelsky didn’t want to comment until he actually gets the loan to clean up the site.
“I have nothing in my hand right now and I want to wait until it is approved,” he said.
The Council and Sekelsky had previously spent money to assess the contamination at the property.
“For a long time with this site, we were at a point where a bank wouldn’t fund construction unless it was cleaned up,” said O’Malley, crediting the efforts of Arthur Bogen, the Valley Council’s environmental planner.
The money comes from the Environmental Protection Agency via a fund administered by the Valley Council of Governments.
