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Middletown council reviews $499,000 Newfield Street purchase, weighs ARPA funds for firehouse and infrastructure
Summary
At a Dec. 2 workshop, Middletown councilors and city staff discussed buying a Newfield Street property for $499,000, demolition bids near $47,000–$50,000, and using unobligated ARPA dollars (about $669,096.17) to cover the purchase and water/sewer priorities; no final purchase vote was taken.
MIDDLETOWN, Conn. — Middletown councilors and city emergency officials on Dec. 2 examined a proposed land purchase on Newfield Street that staff say could address cramped fire department facilities but raised questions about site suitability and funding.
Councilman Vincent J. Lofredo introduced the topic, asking whether the city planned to put a fire station on the roughly 22-acre former Nike/Mile Lane site the city already owns. The fire chief told the council the Mile Lane property is “not conducive” to a station now, citing nearby residential development, access constraints and concern about potential contaminants, and said the site’s layout could add up to two minutes to response times.
“The site just is not conducive to what we’re trying to do,” the fire chief said, describing how travel from the property’s access road to Newfield Street could slow emergency responses. He also said the department faces serious space problems: “I have 24 staff members Monday through Friday … jammed into 2 small … buildings,” and that a department-wide survey prioritized additional space and a third station.
Staff told the council the city has negotiated an agreement to purchase an additional parcel on Newfield Street for $499,000, with demolition estimated at roughly $50,000. The chief said the city solicited three state-bid vendors for demolition and that the apparent low bid was about $47,000.
Attorney/staff Eddie Smith reviewed the city’s ARPA (American Rescue Plan Act) tracking spreadsheet, saying the final row of previously unallocated ARPA funds showed $178,000 and that the total unobligated city-side ARPA balance for the council to consider was $669,096.17. Smith warned that funds not obligated by year-end risk reverting to the U.S. Treasury.
“If we don’t use it, we lose it,” Smith said, summarizing the obligation timeline for departments and purchase orders.
Councilwoman Jeanette Blackwell and staff walked through arithmetic on several resolutions before the council: allocating roughly $550,000 toward the purchase and demolition would leave about $120,096 available for water and sewer projects, according to the figures presented during the workshop.
The council pressed staff on who handled the purchase negotiation; staff identified city attorney Chris Fort as the point person on the real estate deal. Council members also asked whether consolidating fire districts or sharing a station with neighboring Westfield had been considered; the chief said the property sits in the city’s taxing district and that mutual aid would continue but a cross-district shared station was not feasible under current district boundaries.
No formal authorization to buy the property was recorded during the workshop. The meeting closed after a procedural motion to end the workshop was moved, seconded and adopted by voice vote.
The council packet and staff spreadsheets referenced at the workshop list the ARPA balances and the proposed resolutions; staff said they will move quickly to encumber funds if the council approves the purchase and demolition, and that they will continue to seek state and federal funding to reduce taxpayer cost.
What’s next: Councilors discussed multiple resolutions related to ARPA allocations and the Newfield Street purchase but did not take a final recorded vote on those resolutions at the workshop. Any formal approval or appropriation would appear on a future regular meeting agenda.
