ANSONIA - Following the passage of a capital improvement package that includes a new Ansonia police station, the chief and members are giving a big thank you to voters.
Currently the Ansonia Police Department is headquartered in the 121-year old former Larkin Elementary School on Elm Street. Space is limited both inside and out.
Voters approval came more than two years after Mayor David Cassetti first proposed building a state-of-the-art police headquarters in the former Olson Drive housing project.
The new station’s funding was in a $18.3 million in capital improvement project package. Topping the list was $12 million for a new police headquarters on Olson Drive. Relocating the Ansonia Senior Center to East Main Street was estimated at $500,000 along with is $1.56 million for Board of Education projects, including new boilers for Ansonia High and Prendergast School.
“Chief Kevin J. Hale along with the men and women of the Ansonia Police Department would like to take this time to thank the residents of Ansonia for voting yes for the citywide Capital Improvement Plan,” police posted on their Facebook page. “The commitment the residents have shown to provide us with a state of the art building and equipment is greatly appreciated. Our commitment to the residents will remain, as it always has, to provide the highest level of professional, compassionate and fair law enforcement to the City and its residents. Once again thank you for your support.”
Officials break ground on CCSU academic building renovation project
NEW BRITAIN — Students come first, students are the focus.
That is the reasoning behind the $62 million renovation and expansion project of Willard and DiLoreto Hall that began Wednesday with the groundbreaking ceremony.
“This is a central part in the social, cultural and economic development of the University,” said incoming President Zulma R. Toro, who was joined by Susan E. Pease, Interim President of CCSU, Laura Tordenti, Vice Ppesident of Student Affairs, Pasquale J. Salemi, Deputy Commission of the Department of Administrative services with the state, Mark E. Ojakian President of the CSCU System, and Dannel P. Malloy, Governor of the State of Connecticut. “With 90 percent of students coming from Connecticut, and staying in the state , these project are key to ensure a national presence and students receive services that facilitate success.”
“This should have been done long ago,” said Malloy, who explained he has a close relationship with the university since his two brothers, sister and sister in law attended the school. “If we want people to compete in manufacturing, if we want to have better teachers, better arts, we owe it to the students, to tax payers” to reinvest.”
The project is part of the CSCU 2020 renovation master plan that will renovate the approximate 60,000 Gross square feet of the four floor and basement of Willard Hall and approximate 45,000 gross square feet of the four floor DiLoreto Hall and create and approximate 35,000 “in-fill” structure combing the two buildings that have not been renovated since they were constructed in 1953 and 1969, respectively.
The renovations and addition will include exterior masonry repairs and improvements, new doors, new windows, new roofs and new reconfiguration of interiors to provide additional classrooms and offices.
Four academic departments, 20 classrooms, 10 to 15 faculty rooms, and a grand atrium will be added, as well as student administrative services. Students will no longer have to “ping pong” around campus, according to Tordenti.
The CSCU plan was enacted by former mayor Jodi Rell in 2008, and includes renovations to the other Connecticut State College and University system, which consists of the Western, Eastern and Southern Connecticut State University. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
Election Day voters approve $6 million Portland recreation complex
PORTLAND >> The $10 million bond proposal that included funding for a new recreation complex off Route 17 was overwhelmingly approved by voters. The proposal was adopted by 2,788 to 2,353, a 436-vote margin.
The bond proposal also includes funding for road and sidewalk improvements as well as new roofs and furnaces for the highway garage and the Company No. 2 fire house. It also features funding for new air condensers for the Portland Public Library.The approval Tuesday came amid record-setting voting, in which 5,377 residents cast their ballots. That was an extraordinary 86.27 percent of those eligible to vote, according to figures compiled by registrars Pauline Neumann and Athena Neville. The bond issue had become a hot topic of discussion and debate. One side called for approval of the recreation proposal while the other side questioned spending $6 million on a recreation complex when the town faced a host of other infrastructure needs.
Critics also said managing the new recreation complex would also create added burdens for an already undermanned town staff. However, supporters said the complex is one of the amenities families look for when they are deciding where to live.A steering committee appointed by the Board of Selectmen had worked with an engineering firm to develop a proposal for the complex, which would occupy 23 acres on the 37-acre parcel. Their proposal, which relied in part on a $230,000 state Small Town Economic Assistance Program grant, calls for constructing a complex that will include two baseball fields, two soccer fields, a splash pad, basketball court, playground and hiking and walking trails.The remaining 14 acres of the property will intentionally be left undeveloped but available for hiking and bird watching.Following the passage Tuesday, First Selectwoman Susan S. Bransfield said her first act on Wednesday was to “notify the town’s bond counsel.” She did so, Bransfield explained, “to make sure we’re doing everything correctly.”The town “will start the process of implementing the bond question as soon as possible,” Bransfield said. “I felt very good that we got the facts out and that 86 percent of our residents turned out and voted to proceed with this proposal.“An important statement was made about improving the infrastructure of our town,” she said. “I look forward to working with the many people it will take to implement this project — the selectmen, the boards and commissions, the town employees, the many people who will be affected by this, and all the people who worked so hard to inform people about this project,” Bransfield said.
Conservation Commission Approves Permit For Final Phase Of South Mill Village
Cotton Hollow Nature Preserve will have a new neighbor, but developers and members of the conservation commission believe it will hardly be noticeable to hikers navigating the popular park in South Glastonbury.The commission Thursday approved an inland wetlands and watercourses permit for the fifth and final phase of South Mill Village. The development will be located directly to the east of the existing village. The end of South Mill Drive will be extended into a cul-de-sac where 10 two-unit and four single-unit condominium buildings will be built. The development will be a mix of 2-3 bedrooms units.
Although the easternmost buildings will only be 315 feet away from Roaring Brook and its trail system "as the crow flies," the topography and heavily wooded area will screen much of the complex from view. Several existing Mill Village buildings can be seen along the trails close to the entrance, but only when the leaves aren't on the trees.
Also the trail system follows the edge of a steep rocky incline, further screening anything on top of the hill where the development would be located. The development is close to the ruins of the Hartford Manufacturing Co., the skeleton of an old cotton mill and popular destination. Visitors can view the ruins, located on private property, from across Roaring Brook.
"You won't really see much of this activity," commission vice-chairman Dennis McInerney said of the new development.
"I really can't see how you would," added Tom Mocko, the town's environmental planner.David Sherwood, the attorney representing developer Michael Kamis, said the proposal has been years in the making going through six informal reviews and multiple site walks. The proposal will be reviewed by the town plan and zoning commission next month and the town council, the town's zoning authority, in January or February. Construction could begin next spring or summer.
The original development, constructed in 1982, was approved for 262 units. Including the newest - and final phase, only 156 units will be built. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
Hearing continued on zone issues for West Haven outlet mall project
WEST HAVEN >> The Planning & Zoning Commission began a public hearing Thursday night to re-hear previously-approved applications for zoning text and map changes for the area targeted for the proposed The Haven upscale outlet mall, but took no action after a lawyer for holdout property owners raised questions about procedure and other issues.
But an outside attorney for the city, which initiated the two applications, said holdouts attorney Thomas Cody of Robinson & Cole in Hartford — who submitted two packets of documents to PZC members for consideration — said he thought the proposed regulations are solidly-written.And an attorney for developer The Haven Group suggested Cody was just raising issues to stymie the development.PZC Chairwoman Kathy Hendricks made a motion to continue the hearing until Nov. 22 and urged her fellow members to read all the materials they had been given and digest what was said Thursday night. Cody and Robinson & Cole represent SZS Enterprises LLC, which has owned the Citgo station and convenience store at First Avenue and Elm Street for 17 years. SZS, owned by Sheik Hossain and Saed Ahmed, was one of two plaintiffs in the court appeal that spawned a stipulated settlement in September that resulted in the applications being reheard. Ahmed and Hossain both were among the 11 people who attended the hearing. They are among six property owners against whom the city has initiated eminent domain proceedings. Cody raised questions about whether the notice for the proposed zoning map changes that would rezone eight properties along Main Street and Bayview Place, one the edge of the proposed project, that would place them all within the Waterfront Design district in which The Haven would be located.
He also raised questions about the application to amend the city’s zoning regulations with regard to “shared use” restrictions, which would affect how much parking the outlet mall would need by making it easier to take into account businesses that require peak parking at different times of the day. Cody suggested that the way the proposed new regulation is written, an applicant could come up with almost any reason to vary the requirements. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE