Local/Municipal

The repositioning of Gold Street was part of the $25 million Intermodal Triangle project to renovate Union Station, streamline bus transit service on the roads around Bushnell Park, and open up more pedestrian walkways. The project is funded through a $10 million federal transportation grant and an $11 million commitment from the city of Hartford as well. The remaining costs were acquired through several smaller grants.

In a concentrated campaign of spending and activism over the past several years, two powerful New Haven unions took control of the city’s Board of Alders. Now the Board’s activities, investigated by the New Haven Independent, are raising questions about whether some Alders are pursuing the unions’ interests over those of the city and its taxpayers.

Bridgeport, New Haven, Waterbury and Hartford all face mounting debt, pension and OPEB liabilities, coupled with high taxes, high rates of poverty and declining services, according to a forth-coming study entitled Connecticut's Broken Cities. However, Stamford remains the one major Connecticut city that does not qualify as a “distressed municipality.”

Faced with mounting retiree healthcare costs, Connecticut towns are making changes to get out of the healthcare business altogether. Matt Gallagan, town manager of South Windsor, said they no longer provide health benefits for retirees. Instead retirees can purchase a health plan through the town. South Windsor is one of several towns and cities that have moved away from providing long-term health benefits for their retirees.

It typically takes a couple of years to get a dog park up and running, but Maria believes that barring any unforeseen challenges the Weston dog park will be ready in 2017, about a year after the project launched – an ambitious timeframe she attributes to the helpfulness of local town officials. “I believe they want the park,” Maria said, adding that she understands the dog park is one more thing on their already-busy plates.

One of nominees for the Yankee Institute’s 2016 Unsung Hero Award, Alex worked with a fellow Wilton resident to form “Sensible Wilton” in the summer of 2014. Sensible Wilton’s goal was to stop a renovation of the Miller-Driscoll school that started as a $3 million facelift but ballooned into a $50 million teardown and reconstruction project.