Danbury City Ad Hoc Committee Meeting on Proton Therapy Bond Issuance – February 5, 2026
Danbury City Ad Hoc Committee Meeting on Proton Therapy Bond Issuance – February 5, 2026
The Ad Hoc Committee of the Danbury City Council convened at 6:00 p.m. on February 5, 2026, to consider a bond resolution for the Danbury Proton therapy facility. The proposed financing involves the city acting as a conduit issuer for up to $130 million in tax-exempt bonds, with no financial liability to the city or its taxpayers. The meeting included a presentation from Danbury Proton, bond counsel, and the mayor's office, followed by extensive questioning from committee members and ex-officio members. The committee voted to recommend the bond resolution to the full council with modifications, including an increased bond cap and a right of first refusal on future expansions.
Public Comments & Testimony
- No public comments were made by citizens during the meeting. However, several council members expressed general support for the project while raising procedural and financial concerns.
Discussion Items
- Presentation by Danbury Proton: Steve Courtney (Danbury Proton) and Joe Pescatello (financial advisor) outlined the project: a single-room proton therapy facility using Mevion equipment, located on Worcester Heights (Lee Farm). The facility will be built underground, using geothermal energy, and will create 30+ professional jobs with a $6 million payroll. The city would receive $250,000 at bond closing, $30,000 per year in monitoring fees, and approximately $550,000 in building permit revenue during construction. The project is structured with the nonprofit Ilymos (501c3) as owner, Danbury Proton LLC as operator, and CID as developer. The bond amount increased from $100 million (as originally referred to committee) to $130 million to include subordinate bonds from the equipment supplier and developer equity.
- Mayor's Office and Bond Counsel: Taylor O'Brien (Chief of Staff) and Farley (Economic Development) emphasized the economic benefits and lack of city liability. Glenn Santoro (bond counsel) confirmed the bonds are non-recourse to the city and do not affect the city's credit rating or charter borrowing limits. The city's financial advisor, Derek, noted the fees align with past discussions.
- Procedural Concerns: Councilman Henry questioned the increase from $100M to $130M, arguing it should have been reviewed by the committee before the document was amended. Corporation Counsel Dan Castogrande and bond counsel clarified that the committee can recommend an amended resolution to the council, and the statutes governing conduit bonds supersede the city charter. The mayor's office noted the council did not vote on the original $100M resolution; it was simply referred to the ad hoc.
- Financial and Operational Questions: Council members asked about the bond structure, the role of Ilymos, the potential for default, referral pipelines, property tax loss (approximately $2 million annually for a $115M facility), and the feasibility of future expansion. The project team explained that the IRS approved Ilymos's 501c3 application, the facility will serve Medicare and Medicaid patients, and the city is protected by the indenture's priority payment structure. Councilman Queller requested a detailed fee schedule.
- Charitable Purpose and Tax Exemption: Councilman Giordano questioned how a landlord (Ilymos) can qualify as a 501c3 charity. The project team responded that the IRS reviewed the structure and approved it; the facility will provide charity care (5% for uninsured/underinsured) and will be subject to quadrennial review by the city assessor. Bond counsel noted that tax exemption requires the project to be not self-sufficient without government support, which is initially the case.
Key Outcomes
- The committee voted to recommend the bond resolution to the full City Council with two modifications: (1) increase the authorized bond amount from $100 million to $130 million (or such higher amount as the council may authorize), and (2) condition approval on a right of first refusal for the city to finance any additional treatment rooms proposed while the bonds are outstanding.
- The motion was made by an unidentified committee member and seconded; it passed with a unanimous voice vote (all ayes). The meeting adjourned immediately after the vote.
- Next steps: The full City Council will consider the amended bond resolution on March 3, 2026. If approved, the bond marketing and closing process will proceed, with a target to issue bonds in late March or early April.
Meeting Transcript
Alright, so I'm gonna call this meeting to order at 6 p.m. on the dot, I think. Um so let's go ahead and get started. So let's first start with attendance. So Ryan Holly is present. I'm in the chair. To my left, I have Councilman Michael Henry, and then to my right, I have Councilman Lou Giordano, the seventh ward. Um ex officio in the room. You start uh let's start the table, just announce yourself and uh John Lapion, second ward here in the bench and AT6 ward show Frank Salvatore, third ward, Peter Bazay, third ward. I'm gonna hide at large, and Dre Gartner and Fifth Ward. All right, and then at the table, the members of the committee, who I just skipped over. Let's over here. Uh Dan Castogrande Corporation Council. Robin Edwards, Deputy Corporation Counsel. Taylor O'Brien, Chief of Stafford. Hey, Derek Director of Finance. Glenn Santoro, Robinson and Cole Bond Council. Thank you. And then ex official member, councilwoman Candace Faye is here, and then members of the public and Burton. Hi, Steve Courtney, Danberry Proton. Thank you. Uh Greg Burton from Carmody Torrent Sandack and Hennessy, counsel for the uh developer. Thank you. Mike Grell, uh lobbyist government relations for Danbury Proton. Joe Piscotel, DMG worldwide, we're advisor to Denver Proton. Drew Crandall with Danbury Proton. And then Jeff Harrell, citizen. Tom Brown also is a citizen. Awesome. All right, did I miss anybody? All right, I think we're good. All right, so we're all present. Um before we begin, I should want to kind of uh briefly outline how uh tonight will flow. So first we're going to be hearing a prepared presentation from Danbury Proton. During that presentation, I ask that you keep your comments and questions uh to yourselves and just keep those held until we get to that portion. Following that, we will hear from both the mayor's office and our bond council to provide their respective perspectives. And then uh after we hear from those uh bodies, we will the members of the committee will open the up to questioning. And uh then after the questioning has been exhausted by members of the committee, we will go from left to right for ex officio members to ask any questions. First, we'll start with members of the table, then go out to the um outer ring. And I'm just asking everybody to please keep your remarks uh succinct, and I'm really just trying to focus on one question, one follow-up because there's a few members here, and this is uh a decent matter that we should should be um allocating some time to discuss. So we want to make sure everyone has their um ample time to ask questions, and then also just reminder to ex officio members in the room, please. When you're addressing your remarks or remarker through the chair, and then uh after we finish the full round, we'll go back uh the same way. The committee will be asking questions or comments, and then we'll open up to right to left for final rounds of questioning, and then we'll be at the point where we could uh either make a motion to recommend this to the council or possibly extend this ad hoc if we get to that point. So that's kind of uh the way I want to run things tonight. So um with that, I will pass it over to Proton and we can start the presentation. Thank you everyone for being here. All the council members in particular, legislators, etc. Um, particularly Mike and Lou who have a responsibility here. We have brought key members of our staff who just briefly introduced themselves there. Um I know life is short and there is not much time, so we'll try to make haste with our presentation.
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