October 12, 2011

'LAND ROBBERS' TRY TO OFFER ASSURANCE
REP. BUTLER STANDS UP FOR HOMEOWNERS

By Penelope Overton and Michael Puffer, Republican-American

WATERBURY — Nobody knows how it will happen yet, but local officials pledged Tuesday to “make whole” the families displaced by a new high school planned for Birch Street. City officials plan to use several acres of city-owned land behind Wilson Elementary School for the $68.2 million project, along with several acres of undeveloped land and six parcels occupied by houses. Unfortunately for these homeowners, the real estate market has collapsed just as the city is compelling them to sell.

Three of the families slated to be moved for the Waterbury Career Academy project made personal pleas to the Board of Aldermen during its Tuesday night meeting.

“Are you guys going to be OK laying your head on the pillow at night knowing you left my family out in the street?” asked Ana Hernandez-Antuna.

The city offered Hernandez-Antuna $115,000 for her house at 161 Birch St. The city bases her annual property tax bill on a $143,799 assessed value, but she owes $170,000.

If they take her home, she said she will be left homeless but still owing the bank $55,000, which is too much for someone to handle after clawing her way out of bankruptcy and foreclosure.

“What if this were you?” she pleaded. “What would you do?”

Every elected politician who spoke on the topic was angry on the families’ behalf.

State Rep. Larry B. Butler, D-72nd District, said the city looked like a bully, or worse — “land robbers.”

Board of Aldermen President Paul K. Pernerewski Jr. said the city lawyers were working out a deal to give the Birch Street families additional money. He expected details soon.

“We’re not heavy handed in this city,” said Mayor Michael J. Jarjura. “I guarantee you there is going to be a solution. No one is going to be forced out until we have a solution.”

After offering the families reassurances, the politicians then turned on each other.

Jarjura chastised the Board of Education for breaking local protocol. They should have come to the aldermen for legislative approval before getting state OK for a bigger project, he said.

Alderman Lawrence V. De Pillo wanted an official letter of reprimand to be placed in the personnel file of chief operating officer Paul Guidone, who is overseeing the project.

The school board also met Tuesday night. There, Guidone assured members that the city was going to offer additional assistance to homeowners in light of the unusual burden created by the housing market.

The city’s offers are based on recent comparable property sales. The resulting offers are well below values the city uses for tax purposes. Residents have said this has left them with an uncertain future.

Board of Education member John E. Theriault called it an “absolute atrocity” that taxpayers could be taxed at one value, then ordered out of their homes for less compensation than their tax assessment. Other board members expressed similar, if somewhat more muted, concern.

Guidone would not elaborate publicly on the extra help that will be available to homeowners. Instead, he said he’ll brief the school board in a closed executive session meeting next Monday. The additional assistance offered to homeowners will vary with their circumstances.

“I don’t know it’s a problem we can’t solve, or at least go a long way toward solving,” Guidone said.

Some school board members seemed largely comforted by Guidone’s assurances. Others wanted more assurances that the homeowners were treated fairly.

“I have confidence we are going to work this out,” Board of Education President Patrick J. Hayes Jr. said.

Waterbury’s procedure for taking homes by eminent domain is based in part in on state and local law and regulation and past practice. Two appraisals are done, setting the bounds for the city’s offer. The Waterbury Development Corp. — which is handling property acquisition for the project — used the higher appraisal in their offer.

If a property owner won’t sell, they can get their own appraisal and attorney, and fight the price in court.

City officials hope to have all residents out of their homes by December, so that they can start construction early in the new year.

First proposed in 2008, the Waterbury Career Academy is intended to provide an alternative to hundreds of city students who are turned away from Kaynor Technical High School each year. The 800-student school will also relieve overcrowding in Waterbury’s three mainstream high schools. It’s slated to open in 2013.