Little Pink House_ A True Story of Defiance and Courage - Jeff Benedict [105]
After two full days, Bullock had pored through boxes and boxes of files. He also had compiled a list of additional documents he had been unable to locate in the NLDC’s records. He handed the list to Goebel, indicating he wanted the NLDC to produce them.
“What are you talking about?” Goebel asked, incredulous.
“Follow-up documents,” Bullock said, unsure what had upset Goebel.
“What do you mean follow-up documents? You are only here for two days.”
“Well,” Bullock said, trying not to smile, “the discovery period extends out until the end of April. You have an ongoing obligation to produce these documents during that time period.”
“I’ll have to talk to the attorneys about that.”
Bullock figured Goebel found his presence unnerving.
After Bullock’s visit, Goebel e-mailed Corcoran Jennison president Marty Jones to stress the importance of finalizing the development agreement right away. “We [NLDC] … feel that concluding the development agreement prior to the start of the Institute lawsuit will go a long way to deflate the argument that property is being taken with no plan in place,” he said. “In fact, we feel this is crucial.”
After spending nearly two full days examining files at Pfizer’s facility, Bullock hadn’t turned up any corporate documents that proved that Pfizer was behind the NLDC’s efforts to clear the Fort Trumbull area.
Then he came across two letters. The first one had been written by Claire to Milne on December 15, 1997, months before Pfizer announced its decision to build in New London: “Dear George: The directors of the New London Development Corporation are pleased to make the commitments outlined below to enable you to decide to construct a Pfizer Central Research facility in New London,” she had written. “The new Pfizer facility will be the centerpiece of a concentrated reuse of the area surrounding the former New London Mills.”
The letter showed that the promises Claire outlined had been endorsed by Governor Rowland and had ultimately convinced Milne to recommend New London to Pfizer’s board of directors. Among other things, Claire had promised a “mixed retail and residential space that will be fully integrated into the surrounding neighborhoods.” She had closed her letter with a simple assurance to Milne: “We will work with you to refine this proposal to meet Pfizer’s requirements.”
The word “requirements” caught Bullock’s attention. “Requirements” has a different implication than “preferences” or “suggestions.” A requirement is a demand.
The second letter was written by Milne to Claire on March 8, 1999, shortly after Pfizer had begun construction: “We are building a $270 million Global Development Facility [GDF] in New London to open October 1, 2000,” he wrote. “This facility will employ more than 2,000 Ph.D.s, M.D.s and other scientists, researchers and clinical specialists. Our New London expansion requires the world class redevelopment planned for the adjacent 90 acres in the Fort Trumbull Municipal Development Plan.”
Again Bullock noted the word choice: “requires.”
Milne was more explicit than Claire had been, making clear that the redevelopment of the ninety acres around the Pfizer facility was part of the deal. Bullock read on: “The Fort Trumbull area is integral to our corporate facility and to the plan for the revitalization of New London to a world class standard,” Milne had written. “The Amended Reuse Plan will provide a waterfront hotel with about 200 rooms, a conference center and physical fitness area, extended-stay residential units and 80 units of housing. We will use the proposed hotel and conference facility as an extension of our facility, committing to 100 of those rooms on a daily basis for visiting international staff and other professionals. In addition we require conference space and are exploring a ‘virtual’ Pfizer University to keep our researchers up to date on the most recent breakthroughs in biotechnology. The extended-stay