U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro and Sen. Richard Blumenthal are scheduled to visit Ansonia Wednesday to announce the city will receive a $1 million economic development grant from the federal government.
The city will use the funds to build an access 1,100-foot road leading into the Fountain Lake Commerce Park, where the Farrel Corp. plans to relocate.
The city has been pursuing the funds — from the federal Economic Development Administration — for months.
In February Aldermen committed the city to building the road whether the federal grant came through or not because they wanted to ensure Farrel, which has called Ansonia home for more than 150 years, stayed in the city.
DeLauro, Blumenthal, and Mayor David Cassetti are scheduled to announce the grant Wednesday (Aug. 19) alongside Robert Scinto, the developer who has been trying to develop the industrial park for nearly a decade.
They’re due to gather at 12:30 p.m. at the Fountain Lake Reservoir off Birmingham Boulevard.
Cassetti said Tuesday that the city was notified of the grant award last week.
The federal grant will not pay for the entire cost of building the road.
Though initial estimates put the cost of building the road at about $1.35 million, the low bid for the job came in around $1.65 million, the mayor said.
Cassetti said the city is looking for state grants to make up the difference. The city might also ask the state to use a $500,000 grant it received last July for the work.
The funding for the project will be spelled out completely when Aldermen award the bid, officials said.
Back in February, the Aldermen also promised the road would be finished by Sept. 1.
That clearly won’t happen.
But the mayor said enough of the road will be built by the end of the year that Farrel shouldn’t have any problems accessing their site.
The road would then be completely finished next spring.
Cassetti pointed out the finished road will also open access to four other “site pads” at the commerce park, which has struggled to attract tenants since being approved eight years ago.
The mayor said he made two trips to Philadelphia to lobby officials at the federal EDA for the $1 million grant, and last month traveled to Washington, D.C. to drum up support from DeLauro and U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy.
He thanked the city’s legislative representatives for helping with the project.
“Finally something’s getting done,” Cassetti said.
