Selectmen table Renzullo offer

WINSTED — The Board of Selectmen tabled a proposal for Laurel City Revamp to purchase tax liens on the Capitol Products building at a meeting on Tuesday, July 5.The nonprofit organization, led by Selectman Michael Renzullo, purchased the long-vacant Capitol Products building at 35 Willow St. through a quitclaim deed.However, Capitol Products has owed the town $84,203 in back property taxes since 2004.At the meeting, Renzullo said his organization would like to offer the town $25,001 to purchase the town’s tax liens on the property.Renzullo gave the selectmen a presentation on his organization and laid out plans on what the organization wants to do with the building.“We’re a public charity dedicated to providing remediation for contaminated properties,” Renzullo said. “We will do our best to stimulate the economy by hiring local contractors and local businesses to keep money in town as much as possible. We feel that these deteriorating factory buildings can provide valuable commercial space that can generate activity.”Renzullo said that the working name for the rehabilitation project is Laurel Center.He said a restaurant is already negotiating with the organization to move into the first floor of the building. Renzullo added that he was in negotiations with other prospective tenants, including an English pub, an art gallery, a genetic testing laboratory, a psychology practice and a printer.“Why is this going to work? It’s because our real goal [for the organization] is not to make the maximum profit,” Renzullo said. “If there were a lot of profits that were already made on the building, a private owner already would have done it and the town would have already foreclosed on the building.”Renzullo said Northwest Community Bank has made a verbal offer to the organization for a loan for building rehabilitation.He added that he anticipated revenue from renting out the first floor would begin coming in within months.Selectman George Closson asked Renzullo if he had a backup plan if the selectmen did not approve the tax lien purchase.“We always have a backup plan,” Renzullo said. “However, any backup plan would take significantly longer to execute. The backup plan will cost more, plus it would put the project on the back burner and leave it sitting there for a while.”Renzullo revealed that there are several liens on the property besides the town’s lien, including a lien from the Internal Revenue Service and liens from several companies that are owed money by the now defunct Capitol Products company.Renzullo said the other liens could be discharged once Laurel City Revamp owned the town’s tax lien.As Renzullo explained it, once the organization owns the town’s tax lien, it can foreclose on the property and wipe out the other tax liens.Instead of approving Renzullo’s proposal, the board voted to send it to Town Attorney Kevin Nelligan for review.“I have some concerns, but [the project] is a great idea,” Selectman Karen Beadle said. “There are a lot of big ifs. I want this to be successful and I want you to succeed, but I also want everything to be above board.”Selectman Ken Fracasso said he is skeptical of the plan.“I find it mind boggling that a bank would loan money to a building that has known contaminants,” Fracasso said. “I am also baffled that you are saying that you can occupy the building [with the restaurant] as remediation is going on. For the Board of Selectmen to basically forgive $60,000 [of tax liens] from the taxpayers of Winsted to a sitting selectman, I think that’s extremely unethical.”Closson said he is in support of the project.“A lot of these buildings have been vacant for a very long time,” Closson said. “If this project goes through, the town will not lose anything. Are all the t’s crossed and i’s dotted? I doubt it. But I think as a community we need to get to work towards getting something to be done.”Economic Development Commission Chairman Bill Pratt sent the selectmen a letter of support for the project.“We urge [the Board of Selectmen] to approve the proposal as a positive and progressive step toward the long-term revitalization of this community and its commercial complex,” Pratt wrote in his letter. “We believe the proposed payment for transfer of tax and service liens represents a fair and equitable opportunity for the town to recoup otherwise uncollectable liabilities.”

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