Many area legislators are questioning Gov. Dannel P. Malloy’s proposal to spend $250 million on renovations to the XL Center, saying they would prefer more attention be paid to the crumbling foundations plaguing northeastern Connecticut.
Malloy’s plan also calls for $2.7 million for the state Housing Department to help address the foundation problem. The funds would be used to subsidize interest rates on loans for foundation repairs.
“I’m disappointed that the state continues to punt on this issue,” said Rep. Kelly Luxenberg, D-Manchester. “The money for the XL Center to lure a hockey team could be spent on eastern Connecticut.”
Luxenberg, who owns a home with defective concrete, said more than thousands of homes could be repaired with the XL Center funds if they were used properly, adding that most affected homeowners cannot afford to pay their mortgage and a loan for the cost of the repairs.
“Low interest loans are not a viable option for most these homeowners,” she said. “It’s just not going to work.”
Sen. Tony Guglielmo, R-Stafford, said that while he understands the state has a serious fiscal problem, the foundation problem is an “800-pound gorilla” that must be addressed.
He said he recently learned from one of his constituents that another condominium complex is affected.
“How many more of those are out there that we don’t know about?” Guglielmo said, adding that proposing to spend hundreds of millions of dollars to lure a hockey team that might not come to Hartford is “mind-blowing.”
‘New toy?’
He likened the pursuit of a hockey team to the state police pursuing a new training facility, which he has opposed.
“Everybody wants a new toy,” Guglielmo said.
Rep. Timothy Ackert, R-Coventry, called the foundation issue “a catastrophic fiscal problem” for the entire state, not simply the affected homeowners.
“We’re talking about trying to drag a hockey team here by enticing them because we’re going to spend money on the XL Center when people are losing their houses,” he said. “We have a problem. We need to address the problem.”
“Obviously there’s bigger priorities” than the XL Center, said Rep. Kurt Vail, R-Stafford. “It doesn’t make any economic sense.”
While the General Assembly made progress last year to attempt to prevent the concrete problem from recurring in the future, said Rep. Thomas Delnicki, R-South Windsor, there must be a commitment from the state for homeowners who are currently struggling.
“They need a light at the end of the tunnel,” he said, adding that more people would likely file a formal complaint with the state Consumer Protection Department if they knew they would be protected financially.
“People need a life preserver right now because they’re drowning,” Delnicki said.
Larson wants both
Sen. Timothy Larson, D-East Hartford, who has proposed numerous concrete-related bills and said he is working on a solution before the end of this year’s session, supports the renovations to the XL Center, saying Hartford needs a venue to draw in both sports and other forms of entertainment.
“I’m excited if we can get the Islanders,” he said, referring to the National Hockey League’s New York Islanders, to whom Malloy sent a letter informing the organization of the availability of the XL Center.
Larson said he feels it is unfair to pit projects against each other but added that he believes the foundation problem is “horrible.”
“I’m committed to putting together a solution,” he said, adding that the $2.7 million in Malloy’s budget and the $5 million approved last week for testing has put some state “skin in the game” that wasn’t there previously.
Rep. Christopher Davis, R-Ellington, said he appreciates Malloy’s willingness to propose some financial assistance for homeowners but questions the governor’s priorities.
“I am very disappointed that he would prioritize spending hundreds of millions of dollars on an arena owned by the city of Hartford for a few events a year rather than recommending the first step towards a remediation program for an issue impacting so many towns and homeowners in eastern Connecticut,” he said.
Davis added that he will continue to work on a bipartisan basis to address the problem.
Town bonds for repairs?
Larson is continuing to develop the language of a bill he announced in November with Sen. Catherine Osten, D-Sprague, which would enable towns to issue bonds for repairs in the same way they would to repave roads.
The voluntary program would have to be approved by a town’s governing body. The current language in a draft of the bill says the program would “provide grants to eligible homeowners of residential buildings for the purposes of repairing or replacing the concrete foundations.”
The draft nowhere mentions the use of “loans,” a term that irked affected homeowners when the bill was announced in November.
Eligibility requirements would include that the owner obtain a written evaluation from a licensed engineer and submit a complaint to the Consumer Protection Department.
In order for towns to be able to cover the cost of the bonds, the proposal would enable them to accept contributions from any public or private source, including insurance companies, banks, the Connecticut Housing Authority, local housing authorities, real estate agents, and other sources.
Malloy has said that there may be more than 34,000 impacted homes, costing up to $1 billion to fix.
“The scope of this problem is huge and devastating,” Luxenberg said.
