Little Pink House_ A True Story of Defiance and Courage - Jeff Benedict [35]
Basilica now got the picture. The governor and the NLDC had a sudden interest in the navy property. But why? And why now, after two years of disinterest? Basilica wondered.
“The purpose of this meeting is to get everything on the table and answer questions regarding the process for the disposal of the NUWC property,” Basilica said. He turned some time over to one of the navy officials, who explained that the Department of the Interior planned to convey a portion of the base to the state for a park, but that the core of the navy base was set for public auction. The bids would be sealed, and the land and buildings awarded to the highest bidder.
Percy asked if the sale would be absolute. He was told it would be, as long as the bids weren’t below the land’s appraised value.
Representatives from the state and the NLDC began peppering the navy official with questions and scenarios designed to delay the public auction. Markowicz glanced at Basilica. The federal officials made it clear that the government had already appropriated $300,000 for Basilica’s committee to analyze the situation and come up with a plan. The process was too far along to change course now.
The NLDC and the state suggested that Pfizer’s recent entry into the mix was sufficient cause to reconsider the plan. The navy disagreed. Changing the plan now would require a new round of public hearings and another audit by the navy. The time to modify property-transfer plans had passed.
The state indicated it now had an interest in the navy property. Basilica bristled. His committee had already planned to transfer the southern tip of the property to the state for a park. If the state acquired the rest of the property as well, the city might not get any tax revenue at all from the land or the buildings.
Markowicz couldn’t understand what the state would possibly do with the land or how it would pay for it.
Federal rules and regulations permitted only four methods of transferring navy property: a public sale, a negotiated sale, an economic-development conveyance, and a public-benefit conveyance.
The state officials expressed interest in the last one.
But federal law permitted public-benefit conveyances only for uses such as airports, educational and public-health purposes, port facilities, and public park or recreation areas.
The state suggested it would use the land for a marine school.
Markowicz had his suspicions. He sensed that the state planned to flip the property to a private developer when nobody was looking.
This is a smoke screen, Markowicz thought.
Basilica didn’t plan to play along. “We dropped three hundred grand of fed money on the plan we’ve put in place,” Basilica said. “If somebody wants to come forward, we’ve got to have money to redo the plan. Otherwise, it doesn’t make any sense to stop what we are doing.”
The meeting closed with the navy officials reiterating their intention to conduct the public auction in June, enabling the city to start collecting taxes on the property six months later.
Afterward, Basilica and Markowicz huddled. Markowicz sensed a connection between the threatening letter sent to Fort Trumbull property owners and the presence of state and NLDC officials at the meeting. “These people want our property,” said Markowicz. “And they want it for free.” Basilica agreed.
Markowicz wondered if there was any chance the public auction would be delayed.
“Screw them,” Basilica said. “We’re going forward unless they produce the coin.”
“Broker Pressures Fort Trumbull Residents to Sell”—Susette loved the headline in the Sunday paper. The story exposed Hamilton Lee’s threatening letter. “It was an unfortunate use of words,” Steve Percy told the paper, after being confronted with the letter, which at least four homeowners had received. The threat of eminent domain had left residents fearful and anxious.
Angry at the prospect of being connected to a public-relations mess, the governor dispatched