High-Tech Firm Receives Go-Ahead for Manufacturing Plant

For a second night in a row, Advanced Fusion Systems received another quick land use approval on Thursday, clearing the way for the firm to relocate to Newtown.

Company president Curtis Birnbach said construction work needed to start by next month for the firm to meet its deadlines.

The firm intends to manufacture  equipment for the environmental remediation, power grid and semi-conductor industries, officials said. Its long-term goal is in the area of nuclear fusion power generation though the actual development of that technology will be carried out at another site, probably in eastern Connecticut, Birnbach said.

Land use consultants for Advanced Fusion Systems said the firm intends to start with 40 employees at 11 Edmond Road, though future plans could bring the workforce up to 250 people working round the clock in three shifts.

After a short presentation of a traffic study and review of site plans, zoning commissioners wasted little time Thursday in giving the project the green light during the meeting at the Municipal Center, saying the plans have been heavily scrutinized by the Inland Wetlands Commission, which also gave the project a quick approval a day earlier.

The project has received strong backing from town officials, who cite the economic woes  in the state and town and the potential for the company, which apparently would become the largest single taxpayer in town, to attract more business.

"They are trying very hard to bring business and jobs to the state," said Robert Rau, head of the town's Economic Development Commission. "At the same time the town has a similar problem and is trying to find ways to increase revenue other than increasing taxes. AFS has the potential to make a big difference in both of those areas."

Pitney Bowes once used the property as a manufacturing center where several hundred people worked, said Bruce Hillson, a Glastonbury-based traffic engineer who said traffic would likely stay the same. The only exception might be at the intersection of Edmond and Church Hill roads, which would likely become congested if 250 people were to start working immediately, though perhaps not as bad as during the peak of Pitney Bowes occupancy when truck traffic was heavy, Hillson said.

In addition to constructing an electric substation, which will be needed because the company must draw a significant amount of power, the firm plans to build two additions that will be tacked onto each side of the existing building. One addition will measure about 17,000 square feet and the other at 13,8000,  and both will measure about 50-feet tall, company representatives said.

Only one neighbor, Robert Morey, who also serves on town's Economic Development Commission, voiced concern over the length of the construction work and whether he would be able to see the substation from his property.

The exterior construction work would take about a couple of months, said company representatives, adding that the building additions also would effectively screen the substation from view.

Morey said he generally supported the proposal.

"Certainly from a business person's standpoint, this property needs to be occupied," he said.