Letter: 'Facts Matter'

To The Editor:

I have been following the details of the Georgetown Gilbert & Bennett property since I

moved to Redding 33 years ago

It is important for voters in this First Selectman election to be acquainted with the facts

There is an extensive story beyond surface details that accounts for these decades:

• 1989 Gilbert & Bennett Manufacturing Co. declares bankruptcy and closes the mill
• 2002 Gilbert & Bennett tax liens are sold to Georgetown Land Development Corp. (GLDC)
• 2004 GLDC develops plans for a mixed-use walkable village district
• 2005 Redding Zoning Commission approves the GLDC Master Plan
• 2005 CT Legislature passes legislation creating a Georgetown Special Taxing District
• 2005 Georgetown Special Taxing District receives $5mm USDA loan to build sewer
• 2008 Financial crash of 2008 stalls redevelopment
• 2009 Georgetown Special Taxing district issues $14,45 million GO Bond to finance project
• Between 2009 and 2015 Multiple attempts to revive the development fail
• 2015 Town of Redding files foreclosure lawsuit against GLDC
• 2021 After years spent in a legal fight, concluding with favorable rulings from the Connecticut Supreme court over the millions of dollars in unpaid taxes and lack of site development by the property owners, Redding gained ownership when the title transferred over

The town website has a page loaded with information titled Gilbert and Bennett Wiremill https://townofreddingct.org/ab...

With knowledge of these facts, I am concerned with recent comments by Redding First Selectman Republican candidate John Shaban.

This was part of Shaban’s statements in the Patch:

Weston-Redding-Easton Local News
"I will reengage the developers who, despite expressed interest in the project, have been ignored and/or had their phone calls go unanswered. I will resolve any remaining legal constraints personally and through my contacts in the environmental remediation and commercial construction industry, and will promote redevelopment through smaller steps. I will also shop the project to Connecticut's colleges and hospitals, who are all in an expansion mode. By doing
so we can amplify our tax base, create a quaint mixed use town center, and also maintain our unique town character.”

I would categorize these claims quoted in the Patch and at the debate as misinformation.

Additionally, I watched the First Selectman debate and question one of John Shaban’s claims. He said that development at the site could begin in 5 acre increments.

The questions I have are the following:
How could it be feasible to develop the site in 5 acre increments without adhering to a unified master plan? Is he suggesting we should look forward to a 5 acre hospital site, next to a 5 acre college site, next to apartment/condos on another 5 acre site? The sum of these parts not equal to a coherent whole that feels like an intended village?

How would this “....create a quaint mixed use town center.”

The facts are that there has been continuous progress under Julia Pembertons’ leadership. Environmental and structural assessments will begin this fall funded by a state grant of $200,000, to be followed in 2022 by a community planning process. Redding's citizens will collaborate on a collective vision for redevelopment of the Gilbert and Bennett Wire Mill. Julia Pemberton doesn’t just answer and return phone calls. She responds to emails round the clock.

Terry Karpen
Redding, CT