By Luther Turmelle
New Haven Register
CHESHIRE — The town now is free to move forward with its efforts to recover $1.8 million in delinquent sewer fees and interest that is owed by the state Department of Correction.
Gov. Dannel P. Malloy signed a public act Monday waiving a one-year statute of limitations for filing claims with the state’s Office of the Claims Commissioner. Town manager Michael Milone said the town previously has recovered one year of fees owed by the state agency for the sprawling prison complex it operates off Route 10 and Jarvis Street, but has refused to discuss paying for the previous nine years.
“This opens the door for us, but there’s still a lot left to be done,” Milone said Tuesday. “We have to file with the Claims Commissioner and we don’t know how long it will take to get a hearing. But it’s another important step in the process.”
Andrius Banevicius, a spokesman for the Department of Correction, said the agency has been involved in ongoing discussions with the town in an effort to resolve this issue, but declined to comment on the status of the negotiations,
“Suffice it to say, the Department of Correction has a vested interested in being a good neighbor to its host communities throughout the state,” Banevicius said. “Our staff members not only work in these communities, but in many case, they live there, as well.”
The signing of the public act by Malloy comes a year after the town slapped a lien on the prison complex. Liens normally are used to prevent property from being sold or transferred until the owner pays a debt.
Although it is unlikely that the state will sell the prison complex, Milone has said the lien still is an appropriate way to address the issue because it is consistent with what the town would do with any property owner that had an outstanding sewer bill and it protects the amount owed by getting it on the legal record.
The town has had a strained relationship with the Department of Correction in recent years because of how much capacity it uses in the town’s wastewater treatment system, which is being modernized. The town sued the agency in July 2012 to force a renegotiation of the agreement with the state over its three prison facilities.