45°
The meeting got off to a rough start with a nearly 45-minute delay as the city set up a system using a smartphone to broadcast the meeting on the fifth floor of the Government Center while holding it in the cafeteria on the fourth due to the large number of people who had shown up.
About 300 people were in attendance, with 170 squeezing into the cafeteria with a 150-person capacity.
Under city ordinances, all people must be able to hear and view the public hearing. The people upstairs would have had an opportunity to speak at a second meeting, Planning Board Chairwoman Theresa Dell said before the meeting started.
The board heard presentations from Joseph Capalbo, director of the legal affairs for the city, and Laure Aubuchon, director of economic development for the city, breaking down the agreement between the two sides.
Building and Land Technology would give the city $5 million in capital improvements in order to lease 2.4 acres of land where a new boatyard would be built.
The improvements are to include a new animal shelter to be built at its current location, upgrades to Czescik Marina and several city parks, and $50,000 each year for two years toward the city’s Fourth of July fireworks. The money would not have to cover all of the intended improvements but would go toward them, Aubuchon said.
John Freeman of Building and Land Technology was speaking on behalf of the landowners about the developer’s intentions for the city’s South End when a medical incident occurred. The meeting was postponed at about 8:30 p.m. after paramedics arrived and transported a child to the hospital who suffered a seizure during the hearing.
The public hearing will start up again at Turn of River Middle School at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Dell said. The board has the signup sheet for speakers and will bring it to the continuation of the meeting. She did not say at what point the meeting will pick up when it restarts.
Click here to follow Daily Voice Stamford and receive free news updates.
