On June 16, the town council voted on a motion to transfer and approve the sale for $50,000 of Daley Court, to be redeveloped into elderly housing. The property, located on 590 Burnside Ave., was purchased by the town for $200,000 in 2002.

When opposition to the motion was expressed at a public hearing held before the council meeting, which accused the town of not following proper procedures , it was met with heated reactions from the town council.

Daley Court was built in 1961, and was a 30-unit dwelling complex used for elderly and handicapped housing. It was run by the East Hartford Housing Authority. In 2000, the EHHA asked the East Hartford Redevelopment Agency if they would be interested in the property , citing that the structure was “functionally obsolete” and becoming difficult to maintain fiscally.

The state of Connecticut Department of Economic and Community Development did not support EHHA’s intentions of disposing of the property, saying that there was still need for low cost elderly housing in the area. Timothy Coppage of DECD encouraged EHHA to apply to them for funds to rehabilitate the property in a letter dated Sept. 5, 2000. They suggested that if EHHA was still unwilling to operate the facility, they would discuss the transfer of the facility to another entity that would continue to operate it.

Robert Counihan, the current executive director of EHHA, said that through the ’90s, the cost of utilities were increasing, especially after a problem with the boiler was discovered, and the state’s budget was too dry to assist them. “There was no way we were going to survive with the project the way it was,” said Counihan.

EHHA continued to dispose of Daley Court. In a letter dated Dec. 5, 2000, the executive director of EHHA at the time said, “Under the Authority’s disposition plan, all residents of Daley Court have been transferred, at EHHA cost, to other EHHA owned developments in town.” In July 2002, the town of East Hartford took the property, through eminent domain, for $200,000. After a proposal, submitted December of 2002, to redevelop the property into an artist studio was deemed unsuitable , the property was left unused and allowed to blight by the new owners , the town of East Hartford.

“It has been vacant for over seven years, notwithstanding efforts to find a beneficial use keeping with the goals of the redevelopment plan,” said Robin Pearson, chair of the Redevelopment Agency at the public hearing. After considering a number of proposals during two Request for Proposal (RFP), processes, held in 2006 and 2008, Pearson said the Redevelopment Agency decided to sell to a team composed of New Samaritan Corporation and Sheldon Oak Central. Their proposal is to remove the existing structure and build a 24-unit apartment for elderly housing. They will apply to the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to assist with the cost of construction .

The motion from the Real Estate Acquisition and Disposition Committee first asked to transfer the title of 590 Burnside Ave. from the town to the Redevelopment Agency.

Secondly, it asked approval for the sale of the property to New Samaritan Corporation (or a new not-for-profit corporation to be created by New Samaritan Corporation with respect to this project), for $50,000.

The motion carried along party lines, Democrats 6, Republicans 3.

During the public hearing, East Hartford citizen Jon Searles voiced what Mayor Currey described as “serious allegations” regarding the process leading to the vote.

Among his points, Searles referred to Section 10-19 of the town’s code of ordinances and said that the Real Estate Acquisition and Disposition Committee must have an appraisal done on the property, which was not done.

Another discrepancy was that, “the Real Estate Committee must publicly open all bids. To my knowledge, the Real Estate Acquisition and Disposition Committee did not see the bids [from the Redevelopment Agency], much less unseal them publicly themselves,” said Searles.

Afterwards, Rich Gentile, Assistant Corporation Counsel for East Hartford, responded. He said the committee did not commission an appraisal, “but the ordinance allows for the Real Estate Acquisition [and Disposition Committee ] to basically review the issue, not get an appraisal if the town council waives that requirement.”

In response to the issue of the Real Estate Acquisition and Disposition Committee’s review of the bids, Gentile said that it was not the committee’s job to “go out to bid with respect to who might do the job in the end.” They had two issues to resolve: to transfer the property to the Redevelopment Agency, and to approve of the sales price. The Redevelopment Agency, a separate group from the town, and therefore under statutes different from 10-19 , was not obligated to submit to the town council the other bids they reviewed by RFP.

“This is a homerun for this community , to have this happening on Burnside Avenue,” said Mayor Currey. “It flabbergasts me that anyone should think that we should not be providing housing for needy senior citizens.”

“We think it will be a great addition to the neighborhood and East Hartford, and will eliminate an outdated and vacant building,” said Pearson.