Stonnington building looks at possible sites for new middle school
Stonington - The K-12 School Building Committee is considering three properties in town for the site of a new middle school, which has emerged as the preferred option among school officials for upgrading the town's aging elementary schools. A subcommittee of the building committee met Thursday night and discussed the three sites - land behind the high school between the picnic pavilions, the existing West Vine Street School property and 28 acres on Route 1 just east of the high school, which are owned by the McShane family. It is also interested in beginning discussions with the Harley Chase VFW post about some of its property. The first two properties are owned by the town, while the third would have to be purchased. Superintendent of Schools Van Riley said that purchase cost, however, could easily be offset by the sale or lease of one of the three elementary schools and school administration building, all of which would be closed under the new middle school plan. That plan calls for moving students in kindergarten through grade five to the Mystic and Pawcatuck middle schools. The subcommittee on Thursday agreed it would have its architect design a building and come up with a cost estimate for each site. It also plans to discuss and update First Selectman Ed Haberek about the procedure involved with a possible purchase. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
New Highway Garage debated in Canton
CANTON — Residents at a town meeting sparred over whether the town needs to reconsider plans for a new highway garage or press on with the $4.78 million plan to be presented at a referendum Nov. 4. About 20 people spoke at the special town meeting Wednesday, which was required before the referendum. The plan being presented at referendum calls for a new highway garage to be built at 325 Commerce Drive.
About six mentioned a plan that was given to town officials earlier this month that calls for a combined highway garage and firehouse to be built at 51 River Road, the location of an existing fire station. Several speakers asked whether officials had reviewed the plan, and others said the town should give the proposal a more serious look. David Hudon said long-range plans calls for the River Road firehouse to be replaced, and that the town should take a closer look at putting a new one on the same site as the highway garage. "We have a history of knee-jerk emotional reactions, and I get the feeling that we are not looking far enough ahead," Hudon said. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
Industry confidence remains steady in October
The Equipment Leasing & Finance Foundation (the Foundation) released the October 2014 Monthly Confidence Index for the Equipment Finance Industry (MCI-EFI). Designed to collect leadership data, the index reports a qualitative assessment of both the prevailing business conditions and expectations for the future as reported by key executives from the $827 billion equipment finance sector. Overall, confidence in the equipment finance market is 60.4, slightly better than the September index of 60.2, with survey participants indicating increasing or consistent demand tempered by U.S. economic concerns. When asked about the outlook for the future, MCI-EFI survey respondent David Schaefer, CEO, Mintaka Financial LLC, said, “Application volume has been solid this past quarter. We expect exceptional year-over-year fourth quarter growth to be greater than 50 percent. It's hard to find much negative at this point so we are focused on being disciplined both in terms of credit and pricing.”
October 2014 Survey Results
The overall MCI-EFI is 60.4, steady with the September index of 60.2. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE