U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy said during a brief stop in Ansonia Tuesday (Aug. 20) that he’s confident city and federal officials will arrive at a compromise regarding land off Olson Drive where part of a federally subsidized housing project is due to be demolished.
City and federal officials are expected to meet about the property by mid-September.
Ansonia and the federal department of Housing and Urban Development were initially at odds over the future of the property. HUD said the city would have to rebuild public housing units on Olson Drive — or face sanctions from the agency.
The south block of apartments on Olson Drive, containing 48 units, are due to be demolished.
Mayor James Della Volpe said Aug. 20 that asbestos abatement will be completed in the buildings due to come down by the first week of September. He said city officials will know within about a week when the buildings will actually be bulldozed.
Meanwhile, Ansonia Aldermen are considering asking voters to approve spending $320,000 to purchase the property on Olson Drive, part of nearly $5 million the city may borrow for a number of capital improvement projects.
About 71 percent of people who voted in a Valley Indy True Vote survey published in June supported preserving open space on Olson Drive.
Della Volpe told Aldermen during a meeting last week (Aug. 13) that he had met with staff from Murphy’s office, as well as from the offices of U.S. Rep Rosa DeLauro and U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, to lobby them on behalf of the city’s stance that the property be left as open space after the buildings are demolished.
“I explained to them our concerns about acquiring the property,” Della Volpe said of his meeting with staff from the city’s federal representatives. “They don’t know if we could. HUD still has to give us approval.”
“It’s still the city’s position that we would like to see that as open space,” Della Volpe said during the meeting.
The mayor reiterated that stance to Murphy Tuesday as the two strolled along the city’s Riverwalk Tuesday, part of the senator’s effort to visit all of the state’s 169 towns in 169 days — he also made stops Tuesday in Seymour, Oxford, and Shelton.
Murphy said he’s been talking with HUD officials about Ansonia.
“We’re actively in discussions with HUD trying to find a solution,” he said. “I think there’s a middle ground we can find here in which we can get the town some open space and satisfy some of HUD’s concerns about maintaining affordable housing in the region.”
Della Volpe said that if HUD were amenable to the plan, federally subsidized housing could be preserved on Olson Drive north of High Street, in the buildings not slated for demolition.
“We’ll still have low-income housing there, just not as much as before,” the mayor told Murphy.
HUD Responds … Sort Of
But Kristine Foye, a deputy regional administrator in HUD’s New England regional office, said via e‑mail Wednesday (Aug. 21) that “There have been no developments in the matter since June, 2013.”
Foye did say Murphy’s staff is organizing a meeting with HUD officials, which she expects will take place by mid-September.
The issue was discussed at length last month at a meeting of the Ansonia Housing Authority attended by several Aldermen.
At that meeting, Jimmy Miller, the interim executive director for the Ansonia Housing Authority, said that the federal housing agency has agreed to consider placing housing units elsewhere in the city.
Miller said a design firm is identifying other locations in the city where affordable housing units could be created, and that he’d present those options of the housing authority’s Board of Commissioners by Oct. 1.
Once the board picks a plan, it will develop it more thoroughly and present it to HUD for approval, Miller said.
Asked if Miller’s statement reflects HUD’s position, Foye wrote: “There is no alternate plan approved or currently under consideration by HUD that reflects zero units on Olson Drive.”
The Valley Indy then asked Foye for clarification — would HUD dispute what Miller told the housing authority, or are they just reserving judgement until they see the plan the city puts forward?
Foye, via e‑mail, declined to comment further.
Miller is on vacation until Aug. 27. The Valley Indy left messages on his cell phone and with his office.
The Valley Indy also left a message seeking comment with Robert Lisi, the chairman of the housing authority.
Della Volpe said Thursday (Aug. 22) that though he couldn’t speak for Miller, it’s his understanding that HUD officials will have an open mind regarding the city’s proposal for the property.
“Everything has to be submitted in an appropriate, timely fashion,” the mayor said. “We’re looking forward to once again sitting down with HUD and trying to get a clarification.”
Riverwalk Next Step
The Olson Drive plans were one of several items Della Volpe and Murphy spoke about during their stroll Tuesday.
The mayor also asked Murphy to do what he could to speed up grants for the city to extend its Riverwalk, which currently extends about a mile along the Naugatuck River from the intersection of Division and North Division streets, where it connects to Derby’s Riverwalk.
The city wants to build a bridge extending the walkway over the Metro-North Railroad tracks to Pershing Drive, with a view to bringing more people into downtown.
The Board of Aldermen’s planned bonding referendum includes about $200,000 in city spending on the project, the costs of which total about $1 million.
About $800,000 in funding would come from the state and federal governments.
“It’s a great quality of life project, and people are really enjoying it,” Della Volpe said.
Murphy said he’d do what he could to get the grants allocated to the city sooner.
The mayor said designs have been sent to the state’s Department of Transportation for approval.
“It’s a tremendous asset that could be an even bigger economic development generator if we could connect it to downtown,” Murphy said.
