Date: Fri 19-Apr-1996

Publication: Bee

Author: KAAREN

Quick Words:

Hawleyville-development

Full Text:

Selectmen Approve Funds For Hawleyville Development Study

B Y K AAREN V ALENTA

The Board of Selectmen Monday night approved the use of $20,000 in Local

Capital Improvement Funds (LOCIP) to augment a traffic and development study

being done in the I-84 Exit 9 Hawleyville area.

The study, conducted by the Barakos-Landino Design Group of Hamden, is being

underwritten by a $110,000 federal/state ISTEA (Intermodal Surface

Transportation Efficiency Act) grant. It was spearheaded by the Housatonic

Valley council of Elected Officials (HVCEO) which wants to use the results of

the study to coordinate land use planning and traffic control in the four

square miles of land in Hawleyville that are served by I-84, Route 6 and Route

25.

This part of Newtown has been targeted for economic development purposes for

many years, most recently in town's Strategic Plan for Economic Development

and the Plan of Development.

Community Development Director Elizabeth Stocker said that of the 15 tasks

HVCEO wants to accomplish with the grant, three have been identified as

requiring local funding sources. They include the development of an

illustrative site plan which shows the roads, buildings, parking and driveways

in the study area; creation of three-dimensional graphic images of proposed

development alternatives, and a cost-benefit analysis which takes into account

of the state and town of Newtown costs and revenues associated with the each

of the alternative development scenarios proposed for the study area.

The selectmen also voted 3-0 to approve the use of $6,600 in LOCIP funds to

put replacement carpeting in the offices of the first selectman, the town

clerk, the tax assessor and the tax collector in Edmond Town Hall.

Earlier this month the selectmen approved the use of $6,500 in LOCIP funds to

upgrade the smoke alarms at Edmond Town Hall and $500 for maintenance to the

generator which provides emergency power to the 911 emergency dispatch center.

They also approved an expenditure of $35,000 for an addition to the pavilion

at Treadwell Park.

The funds are part of a $186,262 LOCIP grant which the town expects to receive

from the state this year. With this grant, the town will have $605,354 of

LOCIP funding on hand, of which $200,000 has been committed to prepare new

maps for the tax assessor's office. The uncommitted balance in the LOCIP

account now is $336,754. Of that, an estimated $250,000 may be needed to

replace the aging municipal underground fuel oil tanks with above-ground

tanks, according to First Selectman Bob Cascella.

Mr Cascella said LOCIP funds may be spent by the selectmen for items already

identified in the town's Capital Improvement Plan. Items not in the plan

require action by the Legislative Council.