Norwich – The Board of Education next week will reconsider its January rejection of a proposed school restructuring plan, but Vice Chairman Dennis Slopak pledged once again to raise a separate rejected proposal for a single, giant school campus.
Slopak, chairman of the School Facilities Review Committee, was criticized by committee members and public speakers Monday for his continued support of the one-school campus, rejected by the committee, and for failing to back the recommendation of the review committee for a $144.5 million project to renovate four schools.
Slopak was one of four school board members to vote against the renovation plan that was recommended by a consultant group and endorsed by the facilities review committee. The board rejected the plan on a tie 4-4 vote.
During Monday's School Facilities Review Committee meeting, committee member and Alderwoman Joanne Philbrick asked Slopak to resign as chairman, and said if he refused, she would ask the committee to appoint a different chairman.
But Mayor Deberey Hinchey, also a committee member, said that move would be unnecessary, because she plans to recommend to the City Council that the School Facilities Review Committee be disbanded.
Hinchey will address the Board of Education at its meeting at 5:30 p.m. Feb. 14 at Kelly Middle School to urge the board to reconsider the four-school renovation plan. Reconsidering the plan would require a board member who voted against it to bring it up again for a new vote.
The plan called for complete renovations of four elementary schools and restructuring the schools by grade level rather than by geography, with two schools for kindergarten through second grade, two schools for third through sixth grade and the recently renovated Kelly Middle School for seventh and eighth grades. If current state reimbursement rates remain intact, the local cost to Norwich taxpayers would be $57.6 million.
Hinchey said if the school board and then the City Council endorse the four-school option, she would call for disbanding the review committee and appointing a formal school building committee. That committee would oversee the effort to bring the project to voters at a referendum.
Despite the criticism Monday, Slopak was adamant that the single school campus could still be considered. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
Trump advisers' tax credit plan for infrastructure has risks
WASHINGTON (AP) " President Donald Trump has promised to revitalize America's aging roads, bridges, railways and airports, but a plan put forward by his economic advisers relies on a transportation financing scheme that hasn't been tried before and comes with significant risks.
The plan was set out just before the election by billionaire leveraged buy-out specialist Wilbur Ross, Trump's pick for commerce secretary, and conservative economics professor Peter Navarro, whom Trump has tapped to head his National Trade Council. They recommended the government allocate $137 billion in tax credits for private investors who underwrite infrastructure projects.
Ross and Navarro estimate that over 10 years the credits could spur $1 trillion in investment. That's how much Trump promised to spend on infrastructure " a key part of his job-creation plan.
But there's skepticism even among free-market oriented Republicans that the Ross-Navarro plan could work on a massive scale. Infrastructure projects like roads and bridges are attractive to investors only if they have tolls or some other way of generating revenue. There are relatively few projects in the country that meet those conditions. Tax credits offer additional incentive, but economists and transportation experts warn the government could end up rewarding investors in projects that would have been built even without credits.
"I don't think that is a model that is going be viewed as successful or that you can use it for all of the infrastructure needs that the U.S. has," said Douglas Holtz-Eakin, a former head of the Congressional Budget Office and economic adviser to John McCain's 2008 presidential campaign.
Business and labor executives told a House transportation committee hearing last week that private investment won't provide nearly enough to address America's infrastructure woes. While public-private partnerships can help, "what needs to happen is to increase the gasoline and diesel taxes" to pay for more direct federal spending, said FedEx CEO Fred Smith. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
Malloy Will Propose $250 Million Renovation of XL Center
Gov. Dannel P. Malloy will propose spending $250 million for a major renovation of the city's aging XL Center — half of it over the next two years — as he seeks to woo a major league hockey team back to Hartford.
Malloy's budget chief confirmed Monday that the governor's two-year capital plan — to be unveiled Wednesday along with the state's proposed operating budget — will include $50 million in 2018 and $75 million in 2019.
"We are essentially suggesting, if the legislature approves this funding, they are committing to the full $250 million," Ben Barnes said.
Barnes said the proposal is consistent with other state investments in downtown Hartford, including apartment conversions, Front Street and the new University of Connecticut campus.
The $250 million renovation — including the addition of a second concourse — would be key to attracting any NHL franchise to Hartford, absent since the Hartford Whalers left in 1997. Renovations, however, do not guarantee that a major league franchise will choose the XL Center.
On Friday, Malloy said he and Hartford Mayor Luke Bronin reached out to the New York Islanders asking the NHL team to consider moving to the XL Center.In a press conference Monday, Malloy said he spoke with the NHL's commissioner several months ago about the renovation plans for the XL Center. The call was prompted by the state picking up on tensions between the Islanders and the Brooklyn arena where the team now plays, the Barclays Center.
"I'm going to send another letter to the commissioners spelling out what we think would be appropriate in the modernization of that facility so he may have an understanding of what we are trying to do," Malloy said. "Listen, this is a long shot, but if you don't reach out and if you're not in the discussion, then you can't be considered."
Malloy said he has pursued the return of major league hockey to Hartford throughout his administration. The governor said he's talked with "individuals or groups of individuals who were in the process or hoped to be in the process of acquiring teams."
Malloy said an NHL team would not disrupt the Wolf Pack, Hockey East or UConn schedules.
Meanwhile, a $130 million renovation is reshaping the Nassau Coliseum, where the Islanders once played, according to the New York Post. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
New Haven officials seek developer for Newhallville parcel mix of housing, retail
NEW HAVEN >> A large parcel in Newhallville that has remained empty for decades is being shopped around to developers interested in qualifying to build a mix of housing and retail.
The 2.3-acre site between Ashum and Canal streets in Newhallville is adjacent to 25 Science Park and Monterey Place and is near the Winchester Lofts, where Forest City Enterprises converted the former Winchester Repeating Arms factory to apartments.The project is being directed by the Livable City Initiative, which is also working with the Economic Development Corp.Economic Development Administrator Matthew Nemerson said it is an important development piece for the Newhallville neighborhood and the city generally given its location near the main arteries of Dixwell and Whitney avenues, as well as Science Park.The site is made up of a number of small parcels bound by Henry Street to the north, Canal Street to the east, Ashmun Street to the west and residential properties to the south.
The request for proposals was issued in August and the original schedule anticipated a selection among qualified developers by the end of October. The RFP said the private development community had made attempts over the years to develop the site by working directly with the state, which owned it. The land was potentially a second phase of the federal HOPE VI program that built Monterey. The private development plans included single-family housing and a daycare center, which did not come to fruition. The presence of a troublesome bar at the intersection of Ashmun and Henry streets, which has since been replaced, was one of the factors that stalled developmentNow that the city effectively has control of the land, it decided to move forward to identify the most appropriate developer for the project, according to officials. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE