Valley Independent Sentinel

Derby Gets State Cash For Project

by Valley Indy Staff | Oct 22, 2009 10:09 am

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Gov. M. Jodi Rell announced Thursday Derby will receive $800,000 to develop land behind BJ’s Wholesale Club off Division Street.

Click here to read background information on the project.

Derby plans to build a road and install the necessary infrastructure — water, sewer, storm and sanitary, gas, telephone and cable — that will provide access to and support the proposed 27-acre commerce park, according to information provided by the governor’s office.

“We want to do everything we can to help create jobs in Derby,” Rell said in a prepared statement. “The development of the Commerce Park will bring in new businesses to the Naugatuck Valley. This project can potentially create 150 new jobs and bring in $22.5 million in private investments.

In August, Derby Economic Development Director Sheila O’Malley said she had received three inquiries from developers who would consider developing the land when an access road is completed. She didn’t name them, but noted the zoning district allows a variety of uses, from light manufacturing to retail.

The land in question is referred to locally as the former Department of Transportation property.

Rell said that Derby Mayor Anthony Staffieri and local legislators have been strong advocates for this project.

The state grant, which will be offered through the Department of Economic and Community Development, will be combined with $200,000 in municipal funds to match a $1 million U.S. Department of Commerce grant through the Economic Development Administration, the governor’s office said.

UPDATE: Phil Robertson, the mayor’s chief administrative officer, said Derby received a federal grant about four years ago for $300,000 which was used toward the matching of the federal grant. Derby itself didn’t spend money on the project, Robertson said in an e-mail.

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