By Brian McCready
Milford Bureau Chief
MILFORD — The city is seeking $12,000 from Al Dente Restaurant after it was forced to clean up a sewer backup from the Bridgeport Avenue eatery.
Mayor James L. Richetelli Jr. said the sewage backed up into the adjacent M-Bellish Cafe and Tea Room last week, forcing the city to conduct an emergency cleanup. The city is still in the final stages of the cleanup, he said.
Al Dente’s has an agreement with the city that it is liable for the costs of the cleanup, which total $12,000 for the city, and $5,000 for M-Bellish, the mayor said.
“It’s the city’s full intention to seek the money from Al Dente’s,” Richetelli said.
The sewer backup led to flow inside of M-Bellish.
Al Dente’s co-owner Daniel Bagley said late Monday that “this is the first I’ve heard of” the city charging the eatery for the cleanup costs. Richetelli said the city always had the intention of collecting the money for the cleanup.
“The city is not doing this as a favor to any businesses. We will be seeking damages,” Richetelli added.
City Engineer Robert Brinton said Sewer Commission Chairman Paul Austin has sent a letter ordering Al Dente’s to install a grease trap, which would have prevented the backup.
Brinton said basically the buildup occurred because as pots and pans were washed, grease got into the sewer line. He said the grease solidified in the pipes, leading to a clog.
When Al Dente’s opened in 2003, the Sewer Commission allowed the restaurant to operate without a grease trap for 18 months.
When Al Dente’s opened in 2003 it was hailed as being a major part of the city’s Devon Revitalization efforts. In fact co-owner Christina D’Archangelo is a member of the Devon Revitalization Committee.
M-Bellish is housed at the former site of Video Pleasures, a porn store that was bought out by Kingdom Life Christian Church, and it’s Bishop Jay Ramirez, who is a member of the Devon panel. M-Bellish closed down its Stratford location last year and moved to the Devon site. Edward and Caroline Perez operate M-Bellish. They could not be reached for comment.

By James Tinley
Register Staff
MILFORD — Overcoming an initial stumble out of the starting gate, an off-track-betting facility is set to be up and running after gaining approval from the Board of Aldermen Monday night.
The 10-5 vote to approve the 89 Rose’s Mill Road site came after the former Tommy K’s video store site on the Boston Post Road was tabled at last month’s aldermanic meeting.
The landlord of the 321 Boston Post Road parcel has since found another tenant, forcing Autotote Enterprises, which will operate the OTB, to find a new location.
People can wager on horse and greyhound races, as well as jai alai, at off-track gambling facilities.
The new site gained bipartisan approval Monday, after Democrats voted to table the Post Road site in a party line vote in December.
Ray Vitale, R-5, was the lone Republican to vote against the gambling parlor Monday night.
“When it comes to budget time, the $65,000 … will weigh heavy on me,” said Alderman Nick Nick Veccharelli Jr., D-3. “Any way we can, we need to bring tax relief to this community.”
While Democrats and Republicans alike said the new site was not much different from the Post Road site, they voted to approve the new gambling parlor after studying OTB sites in other communities.
OTB will occupy the former Saber Electric building on Rose’s Mill Road. Autotote Enterprises will have to make about $100,000 in renovations to create more interior space and more parking, said Mayor James L. Richetelli Jr.
While the location wasn’t perfect for Autotote Enterprises, it was better received by aldermen.
Democrats said they voted to table the first site because it abutted a residential neighborhood and a day care facility, and they wanted more time to listen to area residents and businesses. They also wanted to look into possible safety and traffic concerns that an OTB might bring.
But Republicans said the vote to table the OTB facility amounted to walking away from $65,000 and the OTB did not bring safety issues with it.
In the last full year of operation at OTB’s former site on Old Gate Lane, the OTB brought in $65,000 to the city.
The city gets a “handle,” which is 1.6 percent of all bets placed at the OTB.
There were only 14 calls to the Police Department in the five years OTB was at the Old Gate Lane location, none of which was serious and most had to do with lockouts and traffic violations, police said.
Autotote Enterprises owns 10 other off-track betting facilities in Connecticut, including Sports Haven in New Haven and an OTB facility in East Haven.
By state law, any off-track gambling facility must be approved by the local municipality before gaining approval of the state Division of Special Revenue.
James Tinley can be reached at jtinley@nhregister.com or 876-3030.

By James Tinley
Register Staff
MILFORD — Some call it a “dismantling” while others call it a “demolition,” but by any name, razing the historic Cadley farmhouse has become a source of political turmoil that will be hashed out at a public meeting next week.
Aldermanic Chairman Ben Blake, D-5, has announced a public meeting will be held Feb. 11 in City Hall at 7 p.m. He said he hopes the meeting will determine if the developer who bought the property broke a deal with the city. If the Board of Aldermen finds Westwood Ranches broke the agreement, whether the city should seek damages will be discussed, Blake said.
“I think it’s important to have this out in the public,” Blake said. “And a public meeting is needed to get a consensus of what direction the Board of Aldermen wants to go in.”
That direction may be to seek $200,000 that Blake said the city paid for the historic landmark to be preserved.
At the meeting, the Board of Aldermen will ask questions of Mayor James L. Richetelli Jr., the city’s chief building inspector and the city historian to find out exactly what happened.
Richetelli has maintained the Cadley farmhouse was meticulously dismantled after it was determined that the beams holding the house up were too rotted for it to be moved, as was originally planned. A replica of the house which will contain salvaged materials will be built on the same Old Field Lane site.
City Attorney Marilyn Lipton has also maintained that the developer has not violated the deal.
City historian Richard Platt wants to find out why the house was issued a demolition permit without his knowledge and in violation of a city ordinance mandating a 45-day waiting period before any house built before 1902 is demolished.
The Cadley farmhouse was built in 1790. It was dismantled in November, before the 45-day waiting period expired.
Building Inspector Tom Raucci has since admitted that one of his employees issued the demolition permit in error.
“I’m very much puzzled by what happened and would like to find out,” Platt said Friday.
“We can’t bring the old house back now, it’s gone. I would basically like to find out what happened and why, to prevent this thing from happening again,” Platt said.
The Cadley farmhouse was purchased by the city and sold to Westwood Ranches in a deal that left 3.6 acres of open space and required the construction of a replica of the house, using any materials that could be salvaged from the previous home.
The deal permitted 1.5 acres to be sold to Westwood Ranches and a $200,000 discount because of deed restrictions contained in the historic preservation covenant.
James Tinley can be reached at jtinley@nhregister.com or 876-3030.

By James Tinley
Register Staff
MILFORD — The city should soon be home to a "clean energy" fuel cell power plant as the project this week gained final approval from state utility regulators.
The Department of Public Utility Control announced its decision Wednesday to grant final approval for the project and six other alternative energy projects. The seven power plants will produce a total of 109 megawatts of energy and are designed to help reduce the state’s dependence on fossil fuels.
The projects will be subsidized by premium rates being paid to the selected power plants. That cost will be shared by ratepayers throughout the state. Only two biomass projects and one landfill gas project are expected to provide financial benefits to ratepayers, totaling more than $70 million.
But, "the seven projects selected are expected to result in an additional cost to ratepayers of $101.5 million over the life of their contracts," according to the DPUC decision.
The contracts can last up to 20 years.
DPUC spokeswoman Beryl Lyons defended the project as it diversifies the state’s means of energy production and said the projects are positive for the environment.
"Renewable energy is a good thing, period, because it diminishes and mitigates our dependence on fossil (fuel)," Lyons said.
The nine-megawatt power plant planned for Milford will produce enough energy to run about 400 homes; it will cost about $35 million to build, according to officials from Fuel-Cell Energy of Danbury, which will manufacture the fuel cells.
The power plant will feature three fuel cells housed in boxes that are 60-feet long, 20-feet wide and 13-feet high. It will be installed on Oronoque Road near the city transfer station.
Texas Based Enbridge Inc. will own and operate the fuel cells. The cells will capture energy that is normally lost through transmission of natural gas by Southern Connecticut Gas Co. The process also will heat the gas in the line, negating the need for burners to heat the gas.
The fuel cell system is more efficient than conventional fossil fuel plants and produces very low amounts of harmful carbon and other chemical emission, R. Daniel Brdar, CEO of Fuel-Cell Inc. said, after the project granted preliminary approval in December.
Ann Berman, chairwoman of the city’s Environmental Concerns Coalition, said she is pleased to see the fuel cell technology come to Milford, and hopes fuel cells will be installed in the future and run without the use of natural gas.
"I think it’s a great thing and it’s another good example of clean energy," Berman said. "I love to see it."
James Tinley can be reached at jtinley@nhregister.com or 876-3030.

By James Tinley, Register Staff
MILFORD — The owner of an off-track betting parlor is still betting on the Board of Aldermen’s approval for a new home in the city.

Mayor James L. Richetelli Jr. announced Wednesday that Autotote Enterprises has found a new site on 89 Roses Mill Road for an OTB site where people will be able to place bets on horse racing and jai alai. The site has to win approval from the Board of Aldermen, which is scheduled to vote on it Monday.

This came after Autotote Industries, which owns and operates Sports Haven in New Haven as well as 10 other sites across the state, had its proposal for a Boston Post Road site tabled by the Democratic aldermen in a 9-6 party line vote in December.

The site’s landlord found a new tenant to fill the vacancy in the strip mall after the vote.

Republicans criticized the move to table the proposal and said it amounted to walking away from $65,000.

The town that hosts an OTB site gets 1.6 percent of all the bets placed there. Autotote’s OTB in Milford, which was formerly located on Old Gate Lane, brought $65,000 into the city.

The previously proposed site in the former location of Tommy K’s video store at 321 Boston Post Road came under fire by Democratic aldermen because it abutted a residential neighborhood, as well as a day-care center.

Aldermanic Chairman Ben Blake, D-5, called the location at Rose Mill Road “new and improved,” but said Wednesday that he hasn’t had enough time to decide if the new location will gain his approval.

“In terms of the location, it’s an improvement and I credit the Board of Aldermen for forcing Autotote to come back with a better proposal and a better location,” Blake said.

Richetelli said he worked closely with Autotote to find the new site, although it “wasn’t exactly what they wanted.”

The building will have to undergo $100,000 worth of renovations to build an addition and create additional parking, Richetelli said. He said the six-year history of an OTB in Milford has been a positive one, and only 14 police calls were made to the former site in front of the old jai alai building.

None of those calls were serious and most were for routine traffic violations and people locked out of their cars.

James Tinley can be reached at jtinley@nhregister.com or 876-3030.

By James Tinley
Register Staff
The prospect of upgrades to Sikorsky Memorial Airport in Stratford has environmentalists buzzing over a potential increase in noise and air pollution that could affect residents of the Milford shoreline.
But Airport Manager John Ricci said Tuesday the $30 million in upgrades, which include a 38,000-square-foot hangar, a 15,000-square-foot terminal and 15,000 square feet for office space, will only replace existing structures and that there is no plan to expand air service.
The entire site plan will be on display at a building committee meeting at 3 p.m. today in the Ramada Inn, 225 Lordship Blvd., Stratford.
The renovations to the airport, which is located in Stratford but owned by the city of Bridgeport, have been hotly contested for years. After once mounting strong opposition, Stratford has approved adding 60 new "T" hangars and the new terminal and large hangar that will replace the existing structures. This came after Bridgeport agreed to pay the town $135,000 a year for serving as host for the airport.
"I’m concerned about the fuel and pollutants from the planes as they go shooting across Milford because we are on their flight path," said Ann Berman, chairwoman of the Environmental Concerns Coalition. "People have complained that the route goes right across the coast of Milford. We have enough pollution from I-95 that we don’t need another source."
The airport also abuts a portion of the Stewart B. McKinney National Wildlife Refuge.
Berman and Marcia Stewart, president of the Stratford-based group Protect Your Environment, have expressed concerns that the construction and new proposed fueling station may adversely affect the delicate ecosystem.
Those plans have already passed the Stratford Planning and Zoning Board, and Ricci said all environmental concerns have been addressed there. He added that the new construction will replace existing buildings and the footprint of the airport won’t change.
"We’re replacing a terminal that is very near the end of its serviceable life," Ricci said.
He also insisted that air traffic patterns will not change and there are no plans to increase service.
Milford Mayor James L. Richetelli Jr. said he is watching the situation carefully, and that if he thought Milford would be adversely affected by noise and air pollution, he would oppose the plans. For the time being, he said he is reserving judgment until a conclusion has been reached, as talks and proposals have been going on for years.

By Brian McCready
Milford Bureau Chief
MILFORD — The $2.5 million next phase of the Devon revitalization project will likely be delayed until the summer, but top city and Devon officials say they are trying to expedite the work.
Economic and Community Development Director Robert Gregory said at a recent Devon revitalization meeting that the project is behind schedule. Gregory said that, realistically, construction on the next phase of streetscape improvements could begin in the summer.
It is unlikely work could start in the spring as initially planned, he said.
"Is there anything we can do to move this?" said state House Speaker James A. Amann, D-Milford. "I want this completed this year, not 2009."
Architect John Hammer said everyone is doing their best to move the work along, but officials revealed that they need to get easements from more than 30 property owners along Bridgeport Avenue.
"I’m dying to get this done this year," Amann said. "I don’t want to wait another year."
Several members of the commission and other residents volunteered to help track down the property owners in an effort to expedite the work.
"Give everyone one name and they are responsible for that one person," added state Sen. Gayle Slossberg, D-Milford.
The next phase of work includes improvements from the gateway of Devon at the Washington Bridge to the intersection of Naugatuck and Bridgeport avenues. The improvements include new sidewalks, benches, trash receptacles, landscaping, bike racks and lighting features.
The work is expected to take eight months. Plans also include the creation of a fountain along Bridgeport Avenue, across from Al Dente Restaurant.
Informal designs of the fountain were panned by commissioners, who asked the architect to come back with new plans. Commissioners said they’d like to a see a water fountain that closely resembles the one by the Green.
"There has to be something different than this. It’s just awful," said Commissioner Libby Ditchkus.
"Can we go back to the drawing board?" Amann asked Hammer.
Ditchkus said she’d like to see a more Victorian model, adding that the current plans are too small.
Hammer said he’d come back with new drawings for the commission.
Millions of dollars have been spent on streetscape upgrades on Naugatuck and Bridgeport avenues, along with creating a small park with a giant clock tower by Washington Bridge.
Brian McCready can be reached at 876-3001 or briannhregister@gmail.com.


MILFORD - On Jan. 23 at noon, the Milford Chamber of Commerce will hold its Annual Meeting and Awards of Distinction. Eleven community organizations, individuals and corporations will be honored, the Chamber said in a statement. Keynote speaker will be Rob Simmons, business advocate for the state. Also expected to attend are the Speaker of House James Amann, D-Milford, state Sen. Gayle Slossberg, D-Milford and Rep Paul Davis, D-Orange..