Longfellow demolition makes way for new school
BRIDGEPORT -- Ground-breaking events are a dime a dozen, but seldom do city officials gather for a school's demolition. An exception was made Wednesday for Longfellow School, which after two years of work to rid it of contaminants, is being torn down and replaced with a $51 million school building. The new school, set to open in 2016 on the same spot at 136 Ocean Terrace, can't come soon enough for Lataysha Hester, who lives a block from Longfellow, but whose four children are now forced to board buses to attend school across town at Columbus School and Columbus Annex. "Definitely -- we can't wait," Hester said. She went to Longfellow herself, back when the late Jettie Tisdale was principal. Tisdale's name was evoked repeatedly during the ceremony by interim Schools Superintendent Fran Rabinowitz, Mayor Bill Finch and others. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
Stamford school purchase gains support
STAMFORD -- After some qualms about a lack of specifics on enrollment and overcrowding in schools, a joint committee of the Board of Representatives voted quickly and unanimously to approve spending up to $65 million to acquire, modernize and expand a former all-girls Catholic school on the outskirts of downtown. The full Board of Representatives is expected to vote Wednesday on a fast-track proposal to purchase the 11-acre former Sacred Heart Academy property for up to $10 million. The board is also being asked to approve another $55 million appropriation for renovations and possible expansion of the 1928 building to accommodate more than 800 students. "The city is growing, the elementary population is growing and we need eventually to have a school," Martin told members of the joint Committee of the Whole. "I want to build a school that is close in to the downtown area, and this is a unique opportunity." A year's delay in applying for state reimbursement to establish a public school at the former Sacred Heart campus might affect said funding for a portion of the cost, Martin said. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
Brookfield Village developers seek zone change
BROOKFIELD -- Come October, if all goes well, the Four Corners' flagship mixed-use project, on which the revitalization of the business district hinges, will break ground and construction to be well underway within a year, according to the town's chief executive. The Brookfield Village project, one approved last year for the center of the district on Federal Road and adjacent Station Road, just a short ways from the Four Corners intersection, would be the first mixed-use development conceived as part of the effort to transform this area into a pedestrian-friendly, commercial destination.
First Selectman Bill Tinsley is one of the project's biggest cheerleaders, envisioning the possibility that the success of this complex of 21,000 square feet of stores, restaurants and 79 apartments priced for young professionals and retirees will be contagious. The development firm, Unicorn Contracting in Garrison, N.Y., envisions the construction to take place in phases over a two-year period. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
Regions water system getting a boost
Waterford - Regional town and water authority leaders on Wednesday morning officially broke ground on the final stage of a project they said will ensure uninterrupted water supply for the foreseeable future. The final phase of the project, constructing a new intake pump in Lake Konomoc, will allow the water authority to draw an additional 366 million gallons of water from deep within the reservoir off Route 85 in Waterford. It will also create, in effect, a backup to the current pump system. "When finished, we will be able to access millions of gallons of drinking water that is already here but currently unattainable," said Barry Weiner, chairman of the Water & Water Pollution Control Authority. "As the demand for water increases and it is much harder to get, we will be able to pump that water efficiently and economically well into the future." Already, the water authority has completed the installation of a 2,200 foot intake pipe that reaches about 35 feet deeper into the lake than the current one. "This will allow us to access water at a lower level in the event that the lake water level is lower," said Joseph Lanzafame, New London's director of public utilities. "The concern about running out of water to serve our communities kind of goes away with this project." CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
Murphy, Corker call for 12-cents gas tax boost for highway bill
Sens. Christopher S. Murphy, D-Conn., and Bob Corker, R-Tenn., are proposing a 12-cent increase in the gas tax to pay for a renewal of highway and transit programs, which could run out of funding by the end of the month. “Reaction on the Democratic side has been positive,” said Murphy, who noted he spoke with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., and Senate Finance Chairman Ron Wyden, D-Ore., about the plan. “I think on our side of the aisle we recognize that it’s time to stop talking theoretically and start talking really in practical terms,” Murphy said, adding that bipartisan support is key to getting the plan through the chamber. But it’s unclear if a substantial number of the Republican Conference will embrace the idea. “We will see,” Corker said when asked how his GOP colleagues would react. One big GOP selling point was that the tax increase would not violate the Americans for Tax Reform pledge if it is paired with a provision making some popular tax breaks that are typically part of the tax extenders package permanent. According to Corker, the list of tax breaks includes: the research and development tax credit; Section 179 expensing, a tax break encouraging small businesses to by business equipment; the deduction of state and local sale taxes; the deduction of up to $250 in classroom expenses that teachers paid for out of their own pocket; a subsidy for mass transit and benefits given for land donated for conservation purposes.
“If you just took those, we do them each year, but you make them permanent; I don’t think there is anybody that disputes making those permanent, by the way, that alone would generate $189 billion in savings over the next 10 years,” Corker said. “So if the Finance Committee chose to link this … with that … you would not be violating the pledge.” CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE