State Rep. Linda M. Gentile and Sen. Joseph J. Crisco hailed Gov. Dannel P. Malloy’s announcement Thursday (Sept. 19) that the Department of Economic and Community Development (DECD) has awarded $200,000 to the City of Ansonia.
The money — part of $1,698,400 in grants awarded to 11 municipalities — will be used for investigation of an approximately 6‑acre portion of the former Ansonia Copper and Brass site in the heart of Ansonia, which could support a mix of redevelopment uses.
The city signed an agreement with Ansonia Copper and Brass in August to forgive a portion of the company’s massive tax debt to the city in exchange for demolition commencing there.
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“Ansonia is a small city that is filled with rich history of the industrial revolution. As such, we face enormous, but not impossible challenges,” Gentile said. “During this past legislative session, I was fortunate enough to be a part of a working group that drafted and introduced comprehensive and most importantly, common sense, brownfield legislation. I was especially pleased that the legislature recognized and understood the need for such legislation and overwhelmingly passed significant funding to fund the program.”
“It seems like every other month Ansonia is receiving huge injections of state financial support for one important project or another,” Crisco said. “Democrats passed a state budget this year that gave Ansonia another half-million dollars in education aid. In May, the governor approved a $40,000 state grant to connect Ansonia Town Hall to Connecticut’s high-speed Internet network. In July Ansonia got $500,000 for downtown redevelopment, and today Ansonia is receiving another $200,000 in state aid to clean up part of the old Ansonia Copper and Brass site.”
“Ansonia is benefitting from these financial investments by the state and I am very proud to be a part of that advocacy and funding process for my constituents,” Crisco said.
The grants are intended to allow the municipalities to take the vital first or next step toward returning sites to reuse that in many cases have been underused or abandoned for decades.
“We designed these grants to help eliminate the uncertainty of the redevelopment process by helping municipalities, developers and site owners get properties one step closer to productive reuse,” Malloy said.
“Because of Governor Malloy’s experience as a chief elected official, he understood the need for this investment. Under his leadership and with the cooperation of DECD Commissioner, Catherine Smith and DEEP Commissioner, Rob Klee, old mill towns like Ansonia will get the boost that they desperately need to begin the process of revitalizing these properties, ” Gentile said.
DECD is providing funding to eligible cities, towns, and regional development agencies to assess and investigate brownfields in their communities. Prior to redevelopment of a brownfield or suspected contaminated site, environmental assessments are required to provide more information to potential developers about the site’s environmental conditions.
“Revitalization is vital to our small community. It will eliminate blight and initiate economic development and re-development. This means increased tax revenues, preservation of open space and pristine lands, increased public health and safety and an overall improvement in quality of life,” Gentile said.
“Assessment grants that provide support for conducting initial environmental testing and review of demolition activities go a long way in furthering the state’s brownfield redevelopment goals and community revitalization,” said DECD Commissioner Catherine Smith. “Many of these projects are important community assets and represent great economic potential, and this funding is just the jumpstart needed to get these sites back into productive use and contributing to the long-term viability of the communities in which they belong.”
