Comments on: You’re Making Me Dizzy, My Head Is Spinning …

By: yahooy

yahooy — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 12:42:12 +0000

There is a lot of open space adjacent to the Women’s prison in Niantic. Far more space then is available on Virginia Avenue. To the argument that the facility must be located so as to be convenient to the social workers who deal with the errant teens; I say what better site then one already served by a staff of highly skilled social workers.

To the people who made the decision to place the facility in Bridgeport, I say … THBBBBBBBBBT. Especially to you, Musto.

By: countdown

countdown — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 02:17:00 +0000

go to this link! www .youtube.com/watch?v=3vSDLCU2Pj4

By: donj

donj — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 01:52:12 +0000

Been busy lately but Rell and Musto lost respect from me on this issue. Why don’t we build one in Brookfield or why don’t we build one in Trumbull at the back of his house? Those 2 I would never vote for again. Thank god Rell is going out I’m voting for Sue B!!! And we need a Dem to run against Musto … I want Moore to run!!!

By: town committee

town committee — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 01:40:48 +0000

You and I will be long gone before the WPCA comes downtown and separates the sewers. That’s a pipe dream. As far as the utilities they are required to put the street back into a proper condition. Are you telling me that we have to wait another couple of years before that road is properly paved? Only in Bridgeport!

By: Nancy Hadley

Nancy Hadley — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 01:10:15 +0000

One more thing to TC's comment about the awful condition of Main Street. UI is down here again tearing up streets to put in new manhole covers. ATT is down here doing something which I hope is the new fibre optic cable so we can get ATT Cable as well as Cable Vision. Then there is the matter of separating the sewer and storm drains. WPCA has been designing that major construction project and told the Downtown Task Force that they were doing Black Rock and Railroad south before they are doing the Downtown. The downtown streets are going to be ripped up for that sewer separation project. So one has to ask how do you repave the downtown when it may be a continual construction zone? I was pleading with all that would listen to open the streets once, do everything, pave it over and get out of dodge once and for all. As there are full or partial street closures, post the information on www .infobridgeport.com so we all know what is happening. The logic of what the utilities are doing and the WPCA in the downtown makes no sense to me. I shudder to think what the snowplows are going to encounter this winter.

By: Nancy Hadley

Nancy Hadley — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 01:01:37 +0000

Grin,
Since you weren’t at the Black Rock Library, I will restate what I said to the question about Steel Pointe. When I joined the Fabrizi administration in Feb 2004, it was my perception that it was the developer that was dragging his/her feet. So I thought OPED needed to do more to hold the developer’s feet to the timetable in the Land Disposition Agreement that was signed years before I arrived. What totally surprised me is that the City had not concluded its negotiations with the United Illuminating Company, the Pequonnock Yacht Club, the Oyster Company and the MOVE Yacht Club. Of the 50 acres, there were approximately half that weren’t in the city’s control. So how do you hold the developer accountable if the City hadn’t gained control over all of the property on the peninsula? That started an intensive two-plus year period of condemnation/eminent domain proceedings by Mayor Fabrizi through the Court and DPUC. Then the city passed a new Land Disposition Agreement in November of 2007. New Finch Administration arrives on Dec 1, 2007. I left OPED in Jan/Feb 2008. New OPED director arrived in August 2008. Economy goes in the tank in the fall 2008. New Land Disposition Agreement was signed last week and now the timetable is real with enforceable milestones. I didn’t say anything about lazy. I didn’t say anything about good or bad. I just know that all the pieces are finally in place. The LDA spells out the rules and the timetables. Next up is getting the zoning in place for the Planned Design District designation. The frustration of the public is understandable but two important points. The City had to gain control of the entire peninsula in order that the timetable and milestones became enforceable. Second, Steel Pointe is not the silver bullet for Bridgeport. That development plus the development of the downtown and major transit corridors is the blueprint for Bridgeport.

By: countdown

countdown — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 00:31:15 +0000

The burden on the residential property owners is awful. I agree completely but look at the numbers. When you knock out all of the tax exempt properties due to the courthouses, hospitals and the various religious and educational institutions, you are left with about 60% of the property having to cough up all of the tax revenue needed for the cops, teachers and the like. Of that 60% that is taxable, 85 percent is residential and 15 percent is commercial. So who is going to build the high-density uses that can generate the most tax revenue in the downtown and the major transit corridors? It is the developers and investors. A single-family residential strategy will do nothing to bring down that high and uncompetitive 37 mil rate. All I am saying is that if we all don’t coalesce around a positive set of beliefs and talk up the positive future of Bridgeport, it will be a long hard road to travel. We need to do more to be positive despite all that has gone wrong. I was sick a lot when I was a kid, in and out of hospitals for weeks on end. My Mom used to say ‘Today is the first day of the rest of your life. Go for it.’ Once that new zoning map and regs become effective (Jan 1, 2010 I hope), it will be Bridgeport’s first day of the rest of its life. I beg all of you to get on a positive road to travel.