South Windsor Town Council to Meet Thursday on Possible CT Studios Extension

The South Windsor Town Council will have a special meeting on Thursday, Oct. 25 that will presumably address several issues surrounding the Connecticut Studios LLC project.

At the forefront of the meeting will be the reverter clause contained in an agreement between the developer and the town council that requires Connecticut Studios to start construction on the project by Oct. 26.

If the developer fails to do so, then a 20 acre parcel of land that the town provided the developer for $1 three years ago reverts back to the town.

In a possible effort to satisfy the reverter clause, Connecticut Studios this week finally began construction on a 600-square-foot security building.

There are questions, however, as to whether starting construction on the small building meets the legal requirements of the clause.

Stevenson said that building the security office was meant to initiate construction, not necessarily to satisfy the town.

The meeting scheduled for Thursday does represent some progress, however.

Indeed, the town and the developer appeared to be headed toward a legal showdown over the reverter clause issue, as Mayor Tom Delnicki a week ago had offered to have a special meeting tonight to discuss the project’s status.

While not outwardly rebuffing the mayor, Craig Stevenson, an economic development consultant for the developer, said in an interview that he was not sure that CT Studios representatives would be in attendance, as there might not be anything new to report.

The meeting was instead scheduled for Thursday.

“I hope they will be coming in asking for an extension,” Town Councilor Cary Prague, an outspoken critic of the project, said in a telephone interview Sunday.

Prague said that he found the developer’s uncertainty as to whether the “shed” satisfies the reverter clause and subsequent possible request for an extension “to be a step in the right direction.”

“It’s what they should have done in the first place,” Prague said.

But Prague said he needed more than just a request.

“If there is a deal for financing - and I don’t know that there is - and we see the numbers and the plan makes sense, then we have no choice but to approve [the extension of time],” Prague said. “I’m hoping they can bring us one.”