The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
Bond Commission steers nearly $5M toward projects
The State Bond Commission steered nearly $5 million toward projects along the Shoreline and Lower Connecticut River Valley Friday, with the money going to fund dam improvements, library renovations, and the building of a new sports facility in Killingworth, among other projects.
The 41-item, almost $1.1 billion borrowing agenda for Friday’s meeting was headlined by a pair of high-profile projects: runway repairs for Sikorsky Memorial Airport in Bridgeport and an overhaul of the State Pier in New London.
Dozens of other projects were also greenlit or aided by the sale of state
bonds. Those on the Shoreline and in the river valley included the following:
⏩ $2.7 million for the Department of Transportation to fund the Local Transportation Capital Improvement Program developed by the Lower Connecticut River Valley Council of Governments
⏩ $770,000 to the town of Madison for the replacement of a bulkhead protecting Garvan Point
⏩ 675,000 for renovations at the Brainerd Memorial Library in Haddam
⏩ $500,000 to the town of Killingworth to build a new sports facility
⏩ $132,000 to replace the roof of the Deep River Elementary School
⏩ $60,000 to repair the dam at Hurd State Park in East Hampton
All of the bond sales were approved with little opposition. As a result, millions of dollars were also earmarked for statewide road projects, new investments in state parks and trails, and energy efficiency improvements in state buildings. The DEEP, which oversees state parks, received a total of $36.8 million in bond funding Friday
“For many of these projects, the state is addressing a lot of delayed maintenance issues, particularly at state parks,” said RiverCOG Executive Director Sam Gold, adding that parks received renewed interest during the pandemic. “This is a good first step toward addressing that.”
Gov. Ned Lamont, who chaired the State Bonding Commission meeting, released a statement Friday hailing the investment in outdoor recreation.
“If Connecticut residents didn’t know before the pandemic how important our trails and conservation projects were before the COVID-19 pandemic, they do now,” Lamont said. “These projects will provide safer, cleaner, and more modern outdoor space for residents and visitors to participate in enjoyable, healthy activities.
“I’m also pleased that we’re moving forward with a number of clean energy projects to help our state become more sustainable, and plan for the future,” the governor added.
Killingworth First Selectwoman Katherine Iino said the town will use grant-in-aid from the state to build a full-sized baseball diamond at the Eric W. Auer Killingworth Recreational Park. The town has been without a full-sized diamond since 2013, when renovations were made to Sheldon Park, she said.
“We’ve had a long-term plan in place for a while” to build the field, Iino said.
In addition to the new funding that DEEP received Friday, the agency said it recently used state bond money to complete $980,000 in renovations at Gillette Castle State Park in East Haddam and $800,000 for improvements at the agency’s Marine Headquarters in Old Lyme.