The Sludge Meter, Kohut Calls Sewer Plan A Stinker

Sewer manhole

Neighborhood watchdog Jeff Kohut, an alternate member of the city’s Ethics Commission, is holding his nose as the city pursues an agreement with Trumbull and Monroe for a regional wastewater authority that would generate upwards of $40 million in one-shot revenue for the city while processing additional wastewater from suburban towns. In short, the three communities would create a mini municipality to purchase the wastewater treatment infrastructure from the city. Processing crap generates lots of dough.

Monroe has no sewers and wants to open up development. Trumbull has sewers but no wastewater treatment plant. Bridgeport has two treatment plans and needs desperately to separate storm and sanitary systems to avoid rowboats on the East Side during heavy rains and raw sewage flowing into the harbor from rain-swollen treatment plants. Mayor Bill Finch wants the deal done for 2011 so he can keep taxes down in an election year. The deal requires approval of respective water pollution control authorities, legislative bodies and state Department of Environmental Protection. Critics such as Kohut say the short-term revenue infusion will betray future development opportunities for the city as businesses bypass Bridgeport for the suburbs. In addition, how would this deal impact water rates with the regional authority purchasing so much debt? Read Kohut’s observations:

Potentially-lethal, sewer-borne, parasite (Trumbullus Municipalius)

Truly, from Bridgeport’s perspective, this deal stinks to high heaven! It is an insane, no-win situation for Bridgeport. This proposal is nothing more than an addendum to the unholy compact signed between Trumbull and Bridgeport during the Tedesco Administration of 50 years ago, which allowed Trumbull to usurp Bridgeport’s development prerogative and steal our tax base, with the added injury of ruining our Trumbull-border neighborhoods (hence, the North End traffic-safety/air/noise/light-pollution nightmare – attributable to the effects of Trumbull Shopping Park and the Old Town Road/Lindeman Drive/Reservoir Avenue, and Park Avenue border-development by Trumbull).

When we accepted Trumbull’s sewage, we effectively committed economic suicide!

Coincident with the deal was the establishment of Trumbull Shopping Park and the beginning of the painful, on-going death of our Downtown – with the consequent loss of a mighty piece of tax base! Along with Downtown retail/commercial tax base, a large number of East Main Street and Main Street retail/commercial businesses fled to Trumbull (as border-development/Trumbull Center expanded) – as did a significant portion of our middle class.

In addition to our huge loss of extant and potential retail/commercial tax base, we also eventually lost a significant amount of extant and potential industrial tax base to Trumbull (e.g., Trumbull Industrial Park). Bridgeport’s socioeconomic collapse would have been averted if Trumbull had been forced to accommodate their own sewage/tax-base growth dilemma!

Now we want to expand Trumbull’s use of our sewage capacity and include Monroe in the bargain! Insane! Do you hear the whoosh as our remaining, and potential, tax-base exits or by-passes Bridgeport via the 25-8 Connector?! (The 25-8 Connector was part of the same “regional development scheme” as the Trumbull-Bridgeport sewer link-up, and had a huge synergistic effect in regard to the exodus of the Bridgeport economy and our prosperous middle class …)

No amount of bribe money from the suburbs for our sewer capacity will ever be able to even make a dent in the losses we will suffer from the tax-base theft and development diversion (around Bridgeport!) that will result from such an ill-conceived (undoubtedly corrupt!) deal. Bridgeporters, we must not allow our “leaders” to make any such deal with the suburbs! We must remember history’s lessons. Our response to overtures from the suburbs for such “regional cooperation” must be “Never again!”

To even consider this proposal should be enough to impeach/fire all Bridgeport officials involved! All developers/business “leaders” pushing this deal, along with the political lackeys doing their bidding, should be carefully watched by the FBI.

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15 comments

  1. Lennie:

    I should have explicitly stating in the original piece that not only are we ensuring tax base will be “stolen”/diverted if we give Trumbull/Monroe more sewage-processing capacity, but, as was stated at the meeting on this issue in January 2009 at Golden Hill UMC, we will also be “crowding out” (regarding our municipal sewage capacity) any large-scale development requiring large-scale sewage accommodation that we might otherwise be able to lure to Bridgeport …

    It also should have been mentioned that making such accommodations to ensure large-scale development in “bucolic” Trumbull and Monroe flies in the face of the “Smart Growth” philosophy espoused by our mayor, Regional Planning Commission and regional business councils (FCBC/BRBC) … [I guess if the development being considered were A SEWAGE PLANT (or solid waste recycling plant!), then the “Smart Growth” controls would kick in! …]

    Truly, we should give Trumbull notice their volume option for the Bridgeport sewage system will not be increased in the next WPCA contract negotiations, and that, indeed, they will need to have their own plant and accommodate all of their own sewage by the end of next 5-year contract period (during which time they will pay Bridgeport WPCA rates, and after which time they will be cut off from the Bridgeport sewage system–and the “gravy train” will thereby come to an end …).

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  2. I read Mr. Kohut’s piece and follow-up piece and he does make a lot of sense. Unfortunately in Bridgeport if something makes sense it is not acted on.
    I see no upside for Bridgeport. Sure we will get 40 million dollars up front but all that will do is allow Finch to crow how he kept the taxes down.
    We all know the sewer system is near capacity now so what will it be if we add Monroe to the treatment plant? It will be overburdened and need to be expanded. Who pays for that? We the users pay for it thus there goes your tax savings.
    Other than the 1-time payment there is no benefit to Bpt the regional board will be made up of more representatives from combined Monroe & Trumbull than from Bridgeport thus a screwing we will get.
    Trumbull has been a lousy neighbor for years. The have bastardized our borders with some of the ugliest buildings imaginable. I am with Jeff on saying let Trumbull build their own treatment plant.

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  3. This sewer nightmare has everything to do with Bucky being hired by Trumbull to fight their fight. Also Bob Scinto projects (Jewish home), Julian Bros./Kimball projects, UNCLE SAL Rte.111 projects and all big-box projects that cannot handle their human waste.

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  4. To all these developers, build it in Bpt, we have sanitary system, hospitals and all the support systems these projects and employees would require. Including employees for all these companies.

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  5. Does anyone know more about this Bodine building I read about today in the Conn Post?
    Something seems incredibly fishy with this deal.
    I can’t possibly fathom that $1.3 million will renovate that space and I couldn’t imagine the electric and heating bills.
    Why is the EPA involved? Is it contaminated?
    As a taxpayer I am thankful for the people who were there representing us to question this negotiation as it seems like a terrible deal to rent something for 10 years at 6.6 million dollars.
    Can anyone enlighten us more about it? Is someone getting their palm greased? Is it fiscally responsible? I for one can’t see how.

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  6. I got an idea. Find some property (the city has enough of it) and put up a building for probably less than $10 million and own it. What’s left after the lease is up? … NOTHING!!!

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  7. Bpt Guy and Eye doctor, excellent ideas. We currently have more open space (ready to be built upon) than the other towns. Maybe we can entice the Discovery Museum to build an Aquarium in the “steel point” lot. If you look at wherever Aquariums are built (locally/nationally) there are usually “great” developments in close proximity.

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