State, Environmental Group To Purchase BHC Property

By Diane Scarponi

Associated Press

BRIDGEPORT – Some of the last, wild spaces in southwestern Connecticut would be preserved under a $90 million plan to buy more than 15,300 acres from a British water company.

The deal, which Gov. John G. Rowland announced Tuesday, will be presented as part of Rowland’s two-year budget proposal to the Legislature.

Most of the land is in Fairfield County, where development pressures and high land values made the preservation agreement a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, Rowland said.

“We have been charged with preserving this type of beauty, with a debt to preserve and to pass along to future generations a Connecticut that is better than the way we found it,” Rowland said.

The land mostly surrounds reservoirs owned by Kelda Group, the parent company of Bridgeport Hydraulic Co. The forested property protects the water supply and is home to wildlife, including bears, bobcats and migratory birds, the state Department of Environmental Protection said.

The DEP, working with Kelda and the state health department, will determine which parcels will be open for public recreation, such as hiking and boating.

Britain-based Kelda will receive the proceeds of the sale within five years and is eligible for up to $20 million in state and federal tax credits.

Kelda USA President Richard Schmidt said the company wanted to preserve the land and never intended to sell it to build condominiums, shopping centers or for other development.

“It’s a great deal because we got proceeds for land we never anticipated would be developed,” Schmidt said.

Rowland said the state’s payment this year will include $5 million from the regular budget for open space projects and $30 million in bonds.

He also said up to $30 million in anticipated tax surplus money would be spent on the land, if the total surplus this year exceeds $500 million. The state comptroller currently estimates the budget surplus will exceed $538 million.

In the following years, the state will continue to tap these resources to pay for the land, Rowland said.

Despite this big-ticket purchase, the state budget will still have about $27 million for open space purchases and matching grants for other parcels around the state, Rowland said.

The Nature Conservancy, an environmental group, pledged $10 million toward the $90 million tab. The group plans intensive fund-raising to come up with some of the money over the next few years.

Kelda estimated the land was worth $193 million. The sale price was about $5,900 per acre.

The Department of Public Utility Control must approve the sale. The agency can reject any deal that is not deemed to be in the best interests of ratepayers.

The deal counters a plan put forth Monday by area leaders, conservation groups and Attorney General Richard Blumenthal to turn BHC into a public water authority.

Blumenthal said Tuesday that Rowland’s plan be a burden on taxpayers without offering benefits to ratepayers.

The plan Blumenthal has endorsed would use tax-exempt bonds to make Bridgeport Hydraulic a public water authority. The bonds would be paid off through water sales, and lower rates were expected to result.

Blumenthal estimated it would cost $500 million to take over the company, but Bridgeport Hydraulic put the price tag at $1.3 billion.