Connecticut approves funding for 800 housing units, Enfield mall project and more
HARTFORD — In its final meeting before the end of
Connecticut's fiscal year June 30, the State Bond Commission on Friday approved
about $790 million in long-term borrowing for dozens of projects, from more
than $32
million for planning and renovations to the Agricultural Experiment
Stations laboratory in Windsor, to $171 million for statewide school
construction.
In a fast, 15-minute meeting in the Legislative Office
Building, the committee dominated by Democrats, with no debate, approved $222
million for a variety of dwelling initiatives,
including workforce housing and the Time
to Own program, which offers forgivable loans to first-time home buyers.
The additional $40 million approved for Time to Own brings the total pool to
$155 million that has assisted 5,800 people with loans of up to $25,000 for
down payments, which can be forgivable if the owners keep up with their
mortgage payments.
Seila Mosquera-Bruno, state housing commissioner, told
reporters after the commission meeting that the programs approved Friday will
help create about 800 units.
The Agricultural Experiment Station's Windsor laboratory
dates to about 1940 and staff there have had to deal with many issues in recent
years, from leaks in the slate roof, to mold in a lab ceiling, as well as
failing plumbing and a septic tank, which have been addressed since about 2020.
The 10-member commission also approved $80 million for the
state Department of Economic and Community Development's local investment fund
for 35 projects. The awards include $2 million for the Barnum Museum
revitalization program in Bridgeport; $3 million for the second phase of an
industrial park project in Naugatuck; $5 million for Danbury's downtown
revitalization program; $4 million for downtown Waterbury's streetscape and
utility improvements; $1.5 million for the completion of the Norwalk section of
the Norwalk River trail; $10 million for the town of Enfield's Marketplace
mixed-use development at the site of its current mall; and $2 million for the
United Way of Greater New Haven's mixed-use and mixed-income State and Chapel
program downtown.
Other awards included:
$99.4 million for the Department of Public Health's loan
program for public drinking water systems
$50 million for the Department of Energy and Environmental
Protection's clean water projects, offering towns and cities grants of up to 20
percent and loans of up to 80 percent of the costs of upgrading local sewage
treatment projects.
$11 million for improvements to academic, security and other
building improvements at Western, Central, Eastern and Southern Connecticut
state universities.
$10.3 million spread around 16 small harbor improvement
projects, including $3.5 million for the Veterans Park Marina in Norwalk;
$1.4 million for the Middletown Marina; $800,000 for the Stony Creek Wharf in
Branford; and $170,000 for the Compo Marina in Westport.
Improvements and renovations to the Manson Youth
Institution in Cheshire, including a new shower room, totaling $5 million.
$4 million to help finance the remediation and redevelopment
of the former Anamet Manufacturing property in Waterbury.
A one million dollar state grant for the Easton Public
Library to expand its children's department.
$900,000 to inspect and monitor state dams during extreme
weather events, including a $100,000 contract with a wildlife service under the
the U.S. Department of Agriculture's on-call beaver-control program.
West Haven to build floodwall around wastewater treatment plant to protect the system
WEST HAVEN — The city received a $10.4 million grant from
the Federal Emergency Management Agency for the design
and construction of a floodwall around its wastewater treatment plant, Mayor Dorinda
Borer recently announced.
Borer uploaded a short video to Facebook to announce the
award, which the city has sought since at least last summer.
West Haven's Assistant Grant Writer Olivia Bissanti
shared in Borer's video that roughly 20 people from FEMA, the Environmental
Protection Agency and the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental
Protection visited the city's plant last summer to evaluate the needs.
"When the plant, located on the ocean, gets flooded it
compromises the system, the infrastructure breaks down and it's costing us
millions of dollars to repair and we’re millions of dollars behind on
repairs," Borer said.
The impacts of damage to the plant would be felt throughout
the city, Borer said.
Plant Administrator Mark Magri said simply that if that
were to happen then residents wouldn't be able to flush their toilets. Borer
said it also has environmental implications for the entirety of the Long
Island Sound.
"We have a responsibility in West Haven to protect
anything and everything that can flow out to the ocean," Borer said.
Thursday's announcement came less than a week after Homeland
Security Secretary Kristi Noem issued a memorandum canceling the Building
Resilient Infrastructure and Communities program that initially allocated $47.5
million in additional funding for a coastline resiliency program in Bridgeport.
The city had been ravaged by Superstorm Sandy and sought infrastructure
upgrades.
FEMA said in a statement that the BRIC program was
"more concerned with political agendas than helping Americans affected by
natural disasters."
West Haven's funding is through FEMA's Hazard Mitigation
Assistance Grant Program, the city said.
West Haven said it will plan public input sessions this
summer to discuss the design and construction, similar to what it did prior to
the project to raise Beach Street. Construction is expected to begin in 2026.
“FEMA’s $10.39 million grant award to the city is a game
changer,” Councilwoman Ruby Melton, D-2, said in a statement. “It will fund a
vitally needed project to protect the city’s wastewater treatment
infrastructure against 500-year floods, which will benefit the city for years
to come.”
The planned floodwall is part of the city's approach to
coastal resiliency, including the raising
of Beach Street, which concluded last year, and the installation
of new tidal gates.
Bridgeport begins $19M police headquarters planning, design process with search for consultant
BRIDGEPORT — The officers who make up the local police force
may be "Bridgeport's Finest," but the building they occupy could
likely be categorized as one of the city government's worst.
The nearly 60-year-old
structure at 300 Congress St. is considered a cramped, outdated money
pit that not only makes it more challenging for those within to do their law
enforcement jobs but dampens the enthusiasm of those uniformed men and women.
"We talk about officer morale; they deserve a
state-of-the-art professional police headquarters, as do our citizens,"
said Chief Roderick Porter.
Finally, after a few years of talking about the need, city
officials are prioritizing providing a new home for the department. Mayor Joe
Ganim's administration is on the hunt for a consultant to kick off the planning
and design process.
Thomas Gaudett, the mayor's chief operating officer, said
the selected hire would perform a needs assessment of the force and rate
potential new locations for a police headquarters, taking into account response
times to emergency calls.
The total price tag is not cheap. Ganim's proposed five-year
infrastructure spending plan pending before the City Council estimates
borrowing $19 million by 2028 for construction.
In the meantime, the administration hopes to receive some
federal dollars to help with the design. U.S. Rep. Jim Himes, D-Bridgeport,
tried to get an $850,000 earmark included in the current federal budget, but
all such "community project funding" was rejected by the Republican
majority in Congress.
However, Himes' office this week encouraged Bridgeport to
reapply by April 18 with the understanding earmarks will be back on the
table.
Porter, whom Ganim made top cop in late 2022, is hardly the
first chief to lobby for a new building to replace the department's Congress
Street address, erected in 1966. Three years ago, Porter's
predecessor, Rebeca Garcia, listed her priorities for a new structure
that ranged from an updated booking facility and interview rooms to increased
storage to a training area to a section for officers and the community to
grieve following traumatic incidents.
"Our members feel real strong about having a new
building," the police union's president, Michael Salemme III, said
recently. "It's not set up properly. We don't have proper parking. The
windows leak. The bathrooms are a disaster. ... We need more space."
And there seems to be a willingness on the part of the City
Council to fund the expense.
"We absolutely need it," said Councilman Scott
Burns, a co-chairman of the council's budget committee. "There's flooding.
It's dark and dingy."
Porter recognizes it will likely take years for a new
headquarters to be completed and would be satisfied if he ends up just playing
a part.
"If I can just get an architectural rendition, see a picture and some land someplace with what the building would look like," Porter said. "If I can accomplish that in my remaining time here, I'd be really happy."
New Waterbury development at former industrial site 'moving in the right direction,' mayor says
WATERBURY — Mayor Paul K. Pernerkewski said Friday the
city's long search for a redevelopment partner for the former Anamet
factory complex on South Main Street could be nearing a successful
conclusion.
"It looks like this is going to come to fruition,"
he said.
Pernerewski said the city's recruitment efforts were boosted
by by the
State Bond Commission's approval Friday of an additional $5.3 million to
support the continued environmental cleanup of the former industrial property
abutting the Naugatuck River on South Main Street.
"We are continuing to have conversations with a
potential investor. There are still some things to go through, but this will
help us a long way in getting there because there is still cleanup that needs
to be done there, and this money becomes available for that," the mayor
said.
The city issued its third request for proposals for
redeveloping the former the campus of the Anamet network of factory buildings
late last year.
The former industrial complex at 698 S. Main St. was used
for manufacturing from 1812 to 1977 by, in turn, Benedict & Burnham
Manufacturing Co., American Brass Co., Anaconda American Brass Co., and ARCO.
The two previous attempts came up short, but Pernerewski
said a promising and qualified candidate submitted a proposal this time to the
city selection committee, and the negotiations are going well.
"It looks like it is moving in the right direction. I
think we are close to being able to come to terms with it," he said.
"But some of it has to do with just how we do get this bit of cleanup done
that makes it viable for them to be able to use it."
The city initially entered negotiations with
an aquaculture company that raises ocean-going fish, but terminated the
talks with Ideal
Fish in September 2023 citing a lack of progress. The city next
considered two redevelopment proposals from Los Angeles-based developer
Cornerstone Realty and Industrial Realty Group, but rejected them last year.
"We put it out a third time, and this time there seems
to be a viable project that is in there," Pernerewski said.
He declined to identify the developer, but he said generally
that the proposal on the table involves light industrial and warehouse uses.
One of the property's selling points is a surviving high-bay
warehouse building that is suitable for a distribution center.
"That is going to be useful because you can bring
trucks in and out of there," Pernerewski said. "That is the direction
we are going in now."
The mayor said the $5.3 million bond allocation approved
Friday will help negotiations because the cleanup cost is such a major
consideration.
"I'm hoping that within weeks, a month, a month and a
half or so I will be able to know where we're going definitively. I won't say
for that sure that it is going to happen," Pernerewski said.
State Rep. Geraldo C. Reyes, D-Waterbury, said the $5.3
million represents another installment in a long overdue investment in the
South End neighborhoods that he represents.
"Preparing the site for redevelopment opens the door to
new economic opportunities, safer neighborhoods, and a renewed sense of purpose
for an area that has sat idle for far too long," he said. "I’m
excited to see the space live up to its potential.”
The bond commission was initially set to vote to
reallocate $1.3 million remaining from previously approved funding for the
expansion of electric and water service to the Captain Neville Industrial Park
to the Anamet redevelopment project. The commission added an
additional $4 million on Friday that had been approved last August to finance
the demolition and remediation of the former Bristol Babcock industrial site.
Downtown streetscape work
The bond commission also approved $4 million Friday for
funding the third phase on an ongoing project to redesign and rebuild West Main
Street to create a revitalized corridor that connects downtown Waterbury with
parts of the city that are on the west side of the Naugatuck River.
State Sen. Joan V. Hartley, D-Middlebury, said this latest
infusion of state funding is pivotal to the revitalization of West Main Street.
In addition creating an inviting streetscape, the West Main
Street project is intended to make the thoroughfare safer for motorists,
pedestrians, cyclists and transit users, according to planning documents.
The planned work involves reducing the number of travel
lanes on West Main Street to one through lane of traffic in each direction and
making the road a uniform width, creating a bus stop pull-off, adding a bicycle
shared lane from Riverside Street to the railroad bridge and a green strip on
the south side of West Main Street between Thomaston Avenue and the railroad
bridge.
The additional state funding approved Friday will pay
for upgrading approximately 4,440 linear feet on the street and underground,
including water, sanitary, sewer, and storm drainage.
"The investment addresses long-overdue upgrades to
infrastructure dating back over a century, laying the groundwork for long-term
economic growth,” said state Rep. Ron Napoli Jr., D-Waterbury, chairman of the
General Obligation Bonding Subcommittee of the Finance, Revenue and Bonding
Committee.