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Naugatuck Mayor Bob Mezzo, left, greets then gubernatorial candidate Dannel Malloy at the Naugatuck Fire House in November. Governor Malloy has promised not to cut municipal budgets, but warned they could take a hit if state employee unions don't come through with concessions.

Malloy’s proposed two-year, $39.9 billion budget relies heavily on receiving $2 billion in concessions from state employee unions yet to be negotiated. If unions do not agree to the cuts, municipal grants could be on the chopping block to the tune of $2.8 billion a year.

Although Malloy does not intend to make such drastic cuts to local governments, his budget office prepared estimates of how $1 billion worth of cuts in municipal aid would affect each town next year.

Under this worst-case scenario, Beacon Falls could stand to lose about $1.5 million, Prospect would lose nearly $2 million, much of which would surely hit the Region 16 school district. Naugatuck could see nearly $11 million in cuts to state grants.

“It would be catastrophic,” said Prospect Mayor Bob Chatfield, who estimated such cuts would increase the mill rate by 2.3. “The Prospect Town Council and myself would have to sit down with the regional Board of Education.”

Prospect’s proposed budget is $6.3 million, so $1.9 million in cuts wouldn’t leave very much for the town, Chatfield said.

With most municipal budgets due for vote before the state budget is expected to pass in May, it’s tough to predict whether they’ll be able to count on revenue from the state to balance the budget.

“This is on my mind all the time, but I want to wait and see what the final results are. I haven’t hit the panic button yet,” Chatfield said.

Chatfield said he wished state legislators would ignore other bills until they pass the state budget, but he acknowledged that was unlikely.

He said the town’s budget is based on estimated revenues from when the Malloy presented his budget in February. The Governor’s budget office gives towns hints as to what grants they may get, but they don’t know for sure until the legislature adopts the budget, according to Chatfield.

Once they get those numbers, if the mill rate hasn’t been set, it can be increased. Otherwise, the town can take money out of its rainy day fund or surplus account to make up the difference.

Chatfield said he didn’t know what state grants would be affected.

“Everything’s on the chopping block,” he said.

Chatfield said state cuts can’t be can’t be on his shoulders or the town’s shoulders.

“I know the Governor’s doing the best he can, and I like some of the things he’s doing, but I don’t think he can solve several years of problems in one year,” Chatfield said.

Naugatuck’s Mayor Bob Mezzo said he couldn’t conceive how the town would account for a $10.9 million loss in revenue from the state.

“Our community would be unrecognizable at that point,” Mezzo said. “If that were the case, we would be forced to drastically reduce base level services, lay off more employees than I could imagine, and likely still not have enough to balance our budget.”

Mezzo said he supports Malloy’s budget, even though people can criticize various portions.

“The reality is he’s the only person there who’s put a plan on the table,” Mezzo said.

In Naugatuck, the joint boards of finance and burgesses are hearing budget requests from various departments every Monday. They have not yet discussed the revenue side of the budget. Mezzo said he hopes to get some final figures from Hartford before tackling that side of the equation.

“I think everything is fluid at this point,” Mezzo said.

Mezzo said that even if the town budget remains even, there will be some loss of state revenue.

Under Malloy’s proposed budget, MME PILOT grants, which reimburse manufacturers for new machinery and equipment, would be eliminated. Last year, Naugatuck received about $274,000 from MME grants. Prospect received about $70,000 in MME grants, and Beacon Falls received about $77,000.

Beacon Falls First Selectman Susan Cable said she hoped the state would come through with at least a portion of those grants. The Beacon Falls Board of Finance budgeted $39,000 in revenues from the reimbursement program. If the state eliminates the program, it will impact the mill rate, Cable said.

Mezzo said he hoped state employee unions would reach a compromise with the state.

“I do think that everyone, including our state employees, realize the severity of the situation,” Mezzo said.

With 55 education positions eliminated last year, Naugatuck officials are hoping they won’t have to repeat that loss.

You have to make those decisions on the local level, but in Hartford, tough decisions have not been made, Mezzo said.

Although the Beacon Falls Board of Finance has carefully planned the budget using conservative revenues, losses not currently in Malloy’s proposed budget would be difficult to handle, according to Cable.

“He is going to take our ECS money (the state’s contribution to education costs) and that’s going to hurt us,” Cable said.

She said if Beacon Falls has to bear the burden of the additional cuts Malloy proposed, it would be over a 2 mill increase. She said the town would have to raise taxes, cut services and employees, and greatly impact the schools.

Cable said she hoped Malloy made the statement about municipal cuts in frustration, to bring unions to the negotiating table.
“Malloy promised he would not impact us,” she said.

She said she would be very disappointed if he broke his promise.

Naugatuck Mayor Robert Mezzo, a Democrat, was nominated to run for a second term in office last Saturday. Republicans did not nominate anyone to run against him. But, that could change.

The Republican Town Committee nominated two former mayors to run for burgess. But, no Republican was nominated to run for the borough’s top spot, leaving current Mayor Robert Mezzo to run unopposed for now.

Ronald San Angelo and Michael Bronko nominated each other as burgesses, putting aside differences that surfaced during a contentious primary election two years ago.

Both said they chose not to run for mayor again because of the instability of the job.

In Naugatuck, the office of mayor is a full-time job, meaning whoever is elected must give up their current employment for a position that will expire in two years if they are not reelected.

Bronko, who was mayor from 2007 to 2009, said he considered running for mayor again, but with his construction business just getting off its feet again, it just wasn’t worth it.

“I loved being mayor, but disrupting my construction business was really detrimental to me and my family,” Bronko said.
San Angelo, who was mayor for four years before Bronko, said he never stopped serving the town after leaving office.
“It’s just not right in my life to [run for mayor],” San Angelo said.

He currently works as executive assistant with the state department of information technology but doesn’t know if he’ll be reappointed by the new governor.

“These are difficult times and we need the best qualified people to run for office,” San Angelo said.

If anyone comes forward to run for mayor, the Republicans can still nominate them before the election, San Angelo said. The Republican Town Committee appointed a vacancy committee to try to fill that position as well as the tax collector position, which was also left empty.

“We’re hopeful that someone will step forward as mayor,” said Republican Chair Dorothy Hoff.

If Mezzo is reelected as mayor, San Angelo said he and Bronko would work with Mezzo to make Naugatuck a better place. He said he doesn’t have anything against Mezzo, but debate between the mayor and burgesses is healthy.

Both San Angelo and Bronko said their combined experience will benefit Naugatuck, even though they have disagreed on certain issues in the past.

“At such a vital time, for our country, state and for Naugatuck, our Republican Town Committee has just endorsed a slate which offers the experience of two former mayors – coming together for the good of Naugatuck,” Hoff said.

For his part, Mezzo said he was honored and humbled to be nominated for mayor by the Democratic Party.

Mezzo said his administration has changed the way the borough does business by linking the municipal financial office to that of the Board of Education, reorganizing the public works department and reducing insurance and pension costs.

“I love Naugatuck. I have a lot of lofty goals that we’ve begun to work on over the past two years, but there’s still a lot of work to be done. I think we have a good team in place to move Naugatuck forward,” Mezzo said.

He said he has worked well with members from both parties.

No other Democratic candidates have challenged Mezzo for the position.

“I think that’s a tribute to the perception by most Democrats that the mayor is doing a good job,” Kevin McSherry, chairman of the Democratic nominating committee, said.

Each party nominated six candidates for the nine-member Board of Burgesses.

Republicans nominated incumbents Burgess Robert Neth and Deputy Mayor Tamath Rossi as burgesses as well as newcomers Matthew Katra, who served on the Zoning and Finance Commissions, and Catherine Ernsky, whom Rossi called “a phenomenal fresh face.”

Ernsky has worked on Capitol Hill on behalf of non-profits, including Amnesty International, Agents for Change, and Save the Children. She has been involved in national politics and felt she could provide leadership to Naugatuck.

Katra, who works as an IT architect for IBM in Southbury, said his experience on the Finance Committee would help Naugatuck through difficult times.

On the Democratic side, newcomers include Laurie Jackson and Rocky Vitale, who currently serves on the Board of Education. The town committee re-nominated Burgesses Robert Burns, Patrick Scully, Mike Ciacciarella and Henry Kuczenski Sr.

Danny Anderson, 4, chats with Santa during the seventh annual Holiday Kickoff held Dec. 6 on the Naugatuck Green.

Scarlett Delsignore, 2, watches the bonfire during the seventh annual Holiday Kickoff on the Naugatuck Green Dec. 6.

Santa greets fans while Mayor Bob Mezzo shows his approval.

Santa spreads Christmas cheer.

People watch the bonfire during the seventh annual Holiday Kickoff on the Naugatuck Green Dec. 6.

Esther Delvalle (left) and Kaylee Delvalle watch the bonfire during the seventh annual Holiday Kickoff on the Naugatuck Green Dec. 6.

Two horses wait to pull children around downtown Naugatuck during the seventh annual Holiday Kickoff Dec. 6.

Santa steps off the fire truck Dec. 6 to bring holiday cheer to the citizens of Naugatuck.

Santa greets supporters Dec. 6 on the Naugatuck Green.

Joseph Wagner, 6, tells Santa what he wants for Christmas Monday at the 7th Annual Holiday Kickoff on the Naugatuck Town Green.

Danny Anderson, 4, chats with Santa during the seventh annual Holiday Kickoff held Dec. 6 on the Naugatuck Green.

Naugatuck residents kicked off the holiday season Monday with a tree lighting ceremony on the Town Green. Santa and his friends Rudolph and Frosty made a special appearance, arriving via fire truck to greet Mayor Bob Mezzo. After the tree lighting, Santa took up his throne to receive Christmas requests from Naugatuck’s youth. On the snow-blanketed grass, teenagers warmed themselves by the bonfire while listening to holiday tunes. Families lined up to take horse-drawn carriage rides and tractor-drawn hay rides through downtown Naugatuck. The town collected non-perishable food items as donations at the event.

Building 25, which was built in 1895, was at one time the central office for Goodyear’s India Rubber Glove Manufacturing Co.

The Maple St. building known as Building 25 still sits empty and neglected despite efforts by the Naugatuck Historical Society to raise money for its restoration.

Threatened to be torn down during Mayor Tim Barth’s administration in the 1990s, the Historical Society managed to raise $600,000, with $500,000 coming from a state grant. The Society used part of the money to stabilize the building and prevent its destruction.
However, this was not enough to pay for the museum the society hoped to construct in the building.

To some, the building is an important historical landmark, but to others, it’s an eyesore.

The building, built in 1895, was once the central office for Goodyear’s India Rubber Glove Manufacturing Co., which began in Naugatuck in 1847.

“After the United States Rubber Co. was founded, the building served as the Central Office for the entire facility in Naugatuck, and subsequently, Uniroyal, until that company closed in 1979,” according to an article by Martha Ann Simons, Past-President Naugatuck Historical Society.

The rubber industry once dominated Naugatuck’s landscape.

“When I was a kid, there were buildings like that all around downtown,” Naugatuck Mayor Bob Mezzo said.

Some people think building should be taken down. It was mentioned as a blighted building in debates over Naugatuck’s new blight ordinance, Citizen’s News previously reported.

Mezzo disagrees.

“I do think that our past is important. If there’s any way to restore that building and also create some jobs in the process, I think we should exhaust those possibilities,” he said.

The money from state is still sitting in an account, waiting for the borough to come forward with a plan to restore the building, according to Mezzo.

He said the building will probably cost $1.5 to 2 million to restore.

Building 25 will be part of the plans for Renaissance Place, a mixed-use development meant to revitalize downtown Naugatuck along the Naugatuck River. The building sits on Parcel C, an empty industrial site currently undergoing a remediation process to clean the contaminated soil to residential standards. The cleaning, now in its third attempt since the 1990s, should be completed by the end of the year, according to Mezzo.

“We’re going to do it right this time,” he said.

The borough and Naugatuck Economic Development Corporation (NEDC) are currently trying to tailor application to U.S. Economic Development Administration (EDA) to seek funding to restore building 25, Mezzo said.

The borough’s plans for the building, in conjunction with plans for Renaissance Place, meet EDA standards for responsible economic development, Mezzo said.

They hope to revitalize building and investigate the creation of incubator office space with a medical theme to complement the proposed medical office building that would be built next to it by Conroy Development, Mezzo said. The incubator space would create offices with shared common areas for fledgling businesses to get off the ground. Restoring the building would created jobs and improve infrastructure, qualities the EDA likes, said Mezzo.

Such a renovation would also include the relocation of the historical society and the NEDC into Building 25. That would free up the borough-owned railroad station at 195 Water St., where Historical Society is currently located, for private development.

“That’s been our intention since day one to make the building the real home for the historical society,” said Charles Marino, president of the Historical Society.

This is one of several proposals over the years, including a plan for the Historical Society to have two museums, with Building 25 concentrating on the rubber industry, and some interest by the Seven Angels Theater to reconstruct part of Building 25 into a black box theater capable of seating 200 people, the Citizen’s News previously reported.

“Our primary goal has always been the restoration of Building 25,” said Mezzo.

He said that doing something with the building is essential because once Conroy Development completes the brand new state of the art medical office building on Water St., blighted Building 25, right next to it, will stick out even more in contrast. With plans for Renaissance Place moving along, plans for Building 25 must as well.

“We’re getting to a point where we can talk about construction in the near future for Renaissance Place,” said Mezzo.

Unlike other towns, which have canceled or postponed similar projects because of the economy, the borough, NEDC, and Conroy Development are working in partnership to make sure this project comes to fruition, Mezzo said.

Although some residents are frustrated with the pace of the project, which was passed in referendum in 2007, just as the recession hit, the fact that the project is still alive is an accomplishment, Mezzo said.

“We haven’t been simply waiting for better days. We’ve been doing a lot of work,” Mezzo said.

He said they were doing all the work necessary to prepare before the project moves into its construction phase. The development agreement outlining everyone’s obligations was approved by all three partners, Mezzo said.

“If we want to do a project of this size and complexity, it does take time,” Mezzo said.

Mezzo said the extra time such a big project takes is worth the economic benefits it will eventually bring. Whereas big box stores might provide a more immediate economic benefit, Renaissance Place will provide spill-over benefits to surrounding businesses and bring up property values in Naugatuck.

“People will want to be there,” Mezzo said.

Despite support from friends and at least one neighbor, Lois Ackerman’s dilapidated house at 146 Walnut St. in Naugatuck is slated to be demolished on Jan. 10.

NAUGATUCK – Former Burgess Lois Ackerman has six weeks before the town razes the house her grandfather built in 1890.
After three hours of testimony on Tuesday night, the Board of Mayor and Burgesses dolefully affirmed the previous decision by the Building Code Board of Appeals to demolish the house at 146 Walnut St. in a unanimous vote.

“It’s probably one of the most difficult and upsetting motions I’ve made in my eight years on the board,” Deputy Mayor Tamath Rossi said on making a motion to uphold the Board of Appeal’s order but push back the demolition date to Jan. 10 from Sept. 1.

The Victorian home is filled with heirlooms and family memories. Ackerman’s father was born and died in the house, and she lived there until Dec. 18, 2008.

Despite support from friends and at least one neighbor, Lois Ackerman’s dilapidated house at 146 Walnut St. in Naugatuck is slated to be demolished on Jan. 10.

Although sympathetic to Ackerman’s emotional attachment, Rossi and the other board members were concerned with the danger the building posed for police and firemen as well as potential intruders.

“I think right now our greater concern has to be for the safety and well-being of everyone,” Rossi said.

Ackerman argued her home was boarded up and padlocked, and didn’t pose an immediate danger.

Bill Herzmann, Naugatuck’s building inspector, said once he received neighbors’ complaints about the house’s dilapidated condition, he was obligated to act or he and the town could be held liable if anyone was hurt.

“Once we know, we have to act. It’s not always something we want to do, but we have to,” Herzmann said.

Herzmann said the rot in the floor and ceiling is so bad “you can almost crush it with your hands.”

Ackerman’s attorney, Kevin McSherry, said his client was looking for an opportunity to repair the property.

According to Ackerman, she has tried every recourse available to her to repair the house since she was first notified that it was a hazardous property in August 2007.

“It has always been my intention to repair my house,” Ackerman said.

Ackerman has not yet raised the money to pay the estimated $80,000 for the repairs.

McSherry said Ackerman applied for, but was not able to secure, a reverse mortgage on her house to pay for the repairs. She also attempted to sell part of the land surrounding the house and work with a contractor to rent out part of the house once it was repaired, but to no avail, he said. Ackerman tried to sell some of the antiques within her home, but was not able to find a buyer, McSherry said.

In 2008, Ackerman paid a contractor $5,000 to help stabilize the building, but it has since fallen into further disrepair with exposure to the elements.

Ackerman attempted to prove that she had not been given due process.

She complained the borough put out a bid to demolish the house while she was still in the process of appeals. She said she was not granted due process. According to Ackerman, she never heard back from the mayor after sending him a letter and never received a demolition order.

She did not attend an initial meeting with Herzmann because she thought it would be a private meeting and she had personal grievances against him.

“He had already told me the first time he came to my house that he would demolish my building,” Ackerman said.
Mary Lou Sharon, a friend of Ackerman’s, testified on her behalf.

“Her rights have been reprieved. She’s tried very hard to find other avenues,” Sharon said. “She was and still is a victim.”
Sharon said other houses in a similar state have not been demolished.

Ackerman’s neighbor, Edward Walker of 55 Phyllis Drive, wrote her a letter of support saying Ackerman should make the decision to live in her house.

“Isn’t it her right to take that risk?” he wrote.

Mayor Bob Mezzo said he thought the process had been fair.

“For me sitting here, it’s been quite a sad and emotional night,” Mezzo said.

Several of the board members complained that the decision should fall to them and called to revise the process set out in the town’s charter.

“I think (Bill Herzmann’s) decision should stand. It shouldn’t come before this board,” Burgess Robert Burns said, adding the appeals process should be rewritten.

After her power and water were shut off in December 2008, Ackerman spent several months in a hotel and temporary apartment before moving to Oak Terrace, a state housing facility, in August 2009.

If she cannot pay for storage, Ackerman’s affects will be auctioned off by the town, she said.

“Everything I own can be taken from me,” Ackerman said. “To think that my family home which, you know, has been there for about 110 or 120 years, all that will be left is a piece of property with four inches of topsoil. And I’m sorry. I’m absolutely amazed that this could happen.”

Herzmann said he had tried to get grants to help Ackerman, but was unable to because of her socio-economic situation.
“She almost falls through the cracks,” he said.

Attorney Edward Fitzpatrick, the town council, said even though the decision was made, the building official has discretion to halt the demolition if significant progress is made on the house.

McSherry said he needed to discuss the decision with his client, but it is likely they will file an appeal to the Waterbury Superior Court to buy more time to make repairs.

“There has been no end to her efforts,” he said.