MONROE — When it was built in 2004, Victoria Drive was a road with a stoplight leading to nowhere.
But now, in addition to Ole Soccer Training Center and Victorinox Swiss Army, the road will soon be home to Fairfield County’s first Wal-Mart Supercenter.
“Some people love it and some people hate it. … But either way, they’re coming,” said First Selectman Steve Vavrek.
It will employ about 300 people, said Phillip Keene, a spokesman for Wal-Mart, adding that it typically takes about a year to get a store up and running.
John Kimball, who owns the local developing firm The Kimball Group, said he expects to begin construction of the 150,000-square-foot facility in June. He’s just waiting for one more state permit to come through.
“It puts Monroe on the map for national retailers. Since Wal-Mart has come in, we’ve had interest from several other national retailers. Wal-Mart is going to be the anchor, the catalyst,” said Kimball.
Constructing Wal-Mart is one part of a larger development plan Kimball has dubbed Shops at Victoria Place.
Next door to the Wal-Mart, at 10-36 Main St., he hopes to build a shopping center that would house 22 stores. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
Housing Authority In Norwalk Gets $1.3M From HUD
Four areas in the 4th District received a total of $6,268,644 divided as follows:
- Housing Authority of the City of Bridgeport: $3,876,098
- New Canaan Housing Authority: $25,523
- Housing Authority of the City of Norwalk: $1,272,166
- Housing Authority of the City of Stamford: $1,094,857
“We have a potential housing crisis on our hands in Southwest Connecticut,” Himes said. “There is not enough affordable housing for low-income individuals, and the housing that we do have is too often dated, inefficient, and in need of repair. The Capital Fund Program is absolutely invaluable in helping us deal with the most pressing of these issues, but only scratches the surface of addressing the underlying needs. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
Cromwell takes first step toward riverfront development
CROMWELL >> The town has agreed in principle to buy two parcels of land along the Connecticut River. The proposed purchase is seen as a dramatic “first step” to draw more people to the riverfront and, by extension, to the adjacent historic downtown.
On Wednesday, the Town Council voted 7-0 to authorize Town Manager Anthony J. Salvatore to continue negotiations with the owners, CLM, for the purchase of two parcels at 60 and 61 River Road. Taken together, the parcels, which are commonly known as the Marino property, contain 2.74 acres. “We have an agreement in principle,” Salvatore said Thursday. The council also agreed to spend up to $250,000 to complete the purchase. If the negotiations are successful, Mayor Enzo Faienza said it will be a major step forward in “capitalizing on our riverfront, which is one of the largest” of any community along the river. “Our whole goal is to get people in the community to embrace the riverfront,” Faienza said. The town’s next step is to go to the Board of Finance Thursday to seek board approval for a supplemental appropriation to cover the cost of the purchase price.
Faienza said he has been assured by Director of Finance Marianne Sylvester that “there is [sufficient] money within the budget, in fund balance.” CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
Brownfield cleanup grants helping reshape downtown Meriden
MERIDEN — Between cleanup grants, Transit-Oriented District planning and implementation grants, and Choice Neighborhood grants, the city has received more than $24 million in state and federal money for downtown Meriden in recent years.
Any visit downtown yields the sights of a city in transition, with construction in almost any direction one looks. The former Hub site is nearing completion as a flood storage basin and park; a new train station on State Street is taking shape; a Meriden Housing Authority and Westmount Development Group joint venture at 24 Colony St. is springing up; 11 Crown St., 116 Cook Ave., and the former Factory H site are all nearing cleanup and demolition; and residents of the Mills Memorial Apartment complex are leaving and the buildings are about to be torn down.
All this, while year after year, residents urge elected officials to attract more businesses and more private development to lighten the tax burden on homeowners.
According to information provided by city Economic Development Director Juliet Burdelski, within the past decade Meriden has received $24,401,000 in state and federal grants.
The city received at least $12.9 million toward the Hub park alone from the state Department of Economic and Community Development, the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
LOOMFIELD — Growing numbers of residents from Bloomfield and surrounding communities who are opposed to the construction of a water-bottling plant in town packed a town council meeting Monday, asking the council once again to reverse course.
The group BloomfieldCitizens.org is opposed to a yet-to-be built 443,000-square-foot plant that would be run by California-based Niagara Bottling. The facility, which could be up and running later this year, would initially use up to 450,000 gallons of water a day, but could use as much as 1.8 million gallons a day at full capacity.
Opponents of the plant have said they are worried about the environmental impact of the Metropolitan District Commission supplying the company with that much water and the pollution caused by the production and distribution of plastic bottles.
The town council in January approved a tax abatement for the company, which town officials have said completed the deal for the company to come to town. News of the abatement sparked an outcry from opponents, who flooded the next council meeting asking for reconsideration without success. The group organized and went to another town council meeting before holding a forum on the issue that was attended by about 200 people last week. A similar opposition group has formed in West Hartford. The Bloomfield group has collected more than 1,100 signatures on a petition opposing the plant and feels that the town council has not taken its concerns seriously. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE