I am stuck at this point when I click on the Refresh button. Looks like there is a problem in September 2021 update, I've downgraded to August and it's working fine.
The app continued to appear to be stuck at "Creating Connection in Model" after reverting to Aug 2021 version, but it wasn't. It simply wasn't providing the status indications I was used to. The refresh completed in the normal time - transitioned directly from "Creating Connection in Model" to "Success" when it finished.
It will be nice to get normal indications back when this is finally fixed.