#MIDDLEBURY
By TERRENCE S. MCAULIFFE
The Middlebury Economic and Industrial Development Commission (EIDC) at its Aug. 23 meeting unanimously approved a Straits Turnpike car wash design. It also reviewed, but did not vote on, a tax-incentive application for a Newtown company considering relocating to Middlebury.
Attorney Michael McVerry and County Line Carriage owner Patrick Bayliss used conceptual drawings to describe the conversion of the old Suzuki dealership at 2160 Straits Turnpike into a public car wash by adding a building to the front on the south side. Bayliss discussed the landscaping and traffic flow and said the estimated cost of the conversion would be more than $1 million.
“This was a vibrant business a few years back with Mitsubishi and Suzuki there,” said Bayliss, “but Suzuki left the U.S., and Mitsubishi is sort of winding down. We’re trying to reinvigorate this piece of property.”
McVerry discussed changes concurrently under way to use Watertown water and sewer, and he noted Middlebury approvals were still needed by the Zoning Board of Appeals, Conservation Commission, and Planning and Zoning Commission, as well as the Connecticut Department of Transportation.
A decision on the tax-incentive application by O2 Concepts LLC was postponed because several pieces of information were missing in a section requiring attachments. The company, with headquarters in Oklahoma and manufacturing and R&D facilities in Newtown, was planning to move the Newtown operation to leased space in the old Timex building at 199 Park Road Extension.
Winchester Electronics, formerly of Wallingford, relocated there in 2012 and received a tax incentive. After some discussion on whether to approve the O2 Concepts application pending receipt of those attachments, the commissioners agreed to wait for them to be submitted and then vote at a future meeting.
The next regular EIDC meeting will be Tuesday, Sept. 27, at 6:30 p.m. in the Town Hall Conference Room.
