James Redeker brought a check and a smile to New Haven Tuesday, but he wasn’t budging in his opposition to the city’s efforts to gain control of Union Station from the state — an idea that advanced this week.
Redeker, the commissioner of the state Department of Transportation (DOT), said he was caught off guard when New Haven officials put forth a bill that would put control of Union Station into city hands. He thought they had a deal to have the city remain in charge of managing the station for three years —- after which point he’d like to put management out to bid.
“We have a letter from the city and the parking authority,” Redeker said after a press event at City Hall where he presented New Haven Promise with $10,000 to help support scholarships for future engineering students. “Actually we were surprised by the action to take a different course.”
A bill containing a provision for transferring ownership from the state to the city was unanimously approved by the legislature’s Government Administration and Elections Committee Monday, and is headed to the full body for consideration. (Click here and here for previous stories about the arguments Mayor Toni Harp and her administration are making for city control.)
Redeker said he was aware that the city has a different vision for the train station, but the state has its own vision. He said that revolves primarily around the train station as a transportation hub, rather than a way to generate revenue.
“We have a vision for the station which requires substantial state support,” he said. “In just the last five years over $22 million was put [into Union Station] by the state. More is necessary. It needs that kind of funding. If it’s not in the stewardship of the department, I wonder and worry about where that would come from.”
Markeshia Ricks Photo
Redeker at City Hall Tuesday.
Redeker said he believes that state would be in the best position to make those additional capital investments and that the opportunities for future growth with the new parking garage being built by the state lend themselves to three separate contracts that manage parking, maintenance of the station and the commercial development of the station.
City officials disputed testimony that Redeker gave in Hartford that Union Station accounts for 68 percent of the New Haven Parking Authority’s administrative fee, but he stuck by his number Tuesday.
“The parking authority has a much broader scope that goes outside of the station,” he said. “So, they manage other parking facilities and they have other responsibilities. If you take my administrative cost as a percentage of the total, it’s in the 30s. But for me —I’m only responsible for paying for a restricted account for the station and the parking — that’s my number and it comes right out of their audit report.”
He also stuck by his criticism of a PILOT [payment in lieu of taxes] contribution by the parking authority to the city, which he said the state is paying on top of the administrative fee. Again, city officials disputed the charge, saying that the parking authority using unrestricted funds generated from all of its other facilities for the PILOT payment. Union Station funds are restricted. (Click here to read the city’s full rebuttal to accusations Redeker has made about its stewardship of the train station.)
“Our position has never been to give the city the asset, even if we were to enter into a contract with the city it wouldn’t be to turn over the asset,” he added. “It is the state’s project, we own the building. We own the station and the parking lot. It is leased to the city for their operation and maintenance. That was the agreement.”
Redeker also held firm on his position regarding 16 empty lots in the city owned by the state. Somebody’s got to pay the federal government back for any property that that entity paid for, and it shouldn’t be the state.
“It’s a work around so the city doesn’t have to pay what they’re supposed to pay by federal law and by state requirement,” he said.
Following is a status report on bills of particular interest to New Haven before the state legislature this session:
The 2017 Agenda
| Bill # | Status | Summary | Sponsors |
|---|---|---|---|
| SB11/ HB5539 | Committee Denied | Would legalize, tax recreational use of marijuana. | Candelaria Dillon Lemar Walker Porter et al |
| SB 17 | Committee Approved | Would make certain undocumented immigrant students (DREAMers) eligible for state college financial aid. | Looney |
| HB 5434 | Committee Approved | Would have CT join with other states to elect the President based on popular, rather than Electoral College, vote. | Winfield, Porter Albis Elliott D’Agostino et al. |
| HB 5458, HB 6058 | Committee Approved | Would establish electronic tolls on state highways. | Genga |
| HB 5575/HB 7126 | Passed Senate | Would regulate companies such as Uber and Lyft. | Scanlon |
| HB 5589 | Passed House | Would expand disclosure requirements for contributions to campaign funds. | Dillon Lemar D’Agostino Elliott et al. |
| HB 5591 | Passed House | Would require equal pay for employees doing comparable work. | Dillon Walker Lemar Albis D’Agostino Elliott et al. |
| HB 5703 | Committee Denied | Would have CT enter into an agreement with other states to limit “poaching” of each other’s businesses. | Lemar |
| HJ 13/HJr 95 | Passed House | Would amend the state constitution to permit early voting. | Lemar |
| HJ 16 | In Commitee | Would amend the state constitution to permit absentee voting for all voters. | Lemar |
| SB 1/HB 6212 | Committee Approved | Would require employers to provide paid family and medical leave for their employees. | Looney |
| SB 2 | Committee Approved | Would make the education funding formula more equitable. | Duff |
| SB 8 | Committee Denied | Would allow municipalities to adopt a 0.5% sales tax. | Looney |
| SB 10/HB 5743 | Passed Senate | Would strengthen hate crime laws. | Winfield |
| SB 13/HB 6208/HB 6456 | Committee Approved | Would increase the minimum wage. | Looney Winfield et al. Albis Candelaria D’Agostino Elliott Lemar Paolillo Porter Walker |
| SB 137 | Committee Denied | Would expand birth-to-three and provide universal pre-school, among other things. | Gerratana |
| SJ 5/HJ 1 | Passed House | Would amend the state constitution to create a “lock-box” for transportation funding. | Duff |
| HB 5588 | Committee Denied | Would limit certain bond allocations. | Dillon Lemar Albis Walker Elliott et al. |
| HB 5912HB 6127 | Committee Denied | Would establish a 1‑cent/ounce tax on sugared beverages. | Lemar Elliott et al. |
| HB 6554 | Committee Denied | Would tax carried interest as ordinary income. | Porter Albis Lemar Elliott Winfield Candelaria Dillon D’Agostino et al. |
| HB 5831 | Committee Denied | Would provide bonding for transitional housing for NH female ex- offenders. | Porter Candelaria Lemar Winfield Looney Paolillo |
| SB 631 | Committee Denied | Would provide bonding to make structural improvements to the Shubert Theatre. | Winfield Looney Walker Porter Lemar Candelaria Paolillo |
| HB 6863 | Committee Denied | Would authorize bonds for renovating the Barbell Club as a youth/ community center. | Canelaria Porter Paolillo Lemar Winfield |
| SB 649 | Committee Approved | Would allow local building officials to impose fines for building w/o a permit. | Looney Winfield Walker Candelaria Lemar Porter Paolillo Et al. |
| SB 590/591 | Committee Denied | Would limit police ccoperation w/Immigration and Customs Enforcement (590); establish an immigrant’s bill of rights | Winfield |
| SB 20 | Committee Denied | Would require affordability to be considered in reviewing proposed health insurance rate hikes. | Looney |
| HB 6352 | Committee Approved | Would establish a deposit system for car tires. | Ritter Gresko McCrory |
| HB 6901 | Committee Denied | Would impose a surtax on large employers that pay an average wage less than $15/hour. | Elliott |
| HB 7278 | Passed Senate | Would convey various parcels to New Haven, among other things. | Gov’t Administration and Elections |