Cassetti: Construction On New PD To Begin Next Spring

A rendering of Ansonia’s new police station.

ANSONIA Downtown has changed for the better since Mayor David Cassetti took office in 2013, but on Thursday he again promised the best is yet to come.”

The mayor and his staff gave updates on several projects while speaking to about 50 people inside the Ace Cosmetology, a new barber training school that opened this year on East Main Street.

There is no limit to what we can accomplish together,” Cassetti said. Onward and upward.”

The most prominent project detailed during the event is the police department’s long-awaited move to 65 Main St., first authorized by Aldermen last May.

Police Chief Kevin Hale unveiled a rendering of the new facility, a former office building once owned by the Farrel Corp.

The building will get a new address, too, Hale said — 505 E. Main St.

A construction timeline shared Wednesday anticipated the project going out to bid early next year, with construction to begin in the spring.

We’re really looking forward to this,” Hale said.

When unveiled last spring, officials said the new police department could be on Main Street by the end of 2017. 

But that didn’t happen because the city couldn’t acquire the building as quickly as it anticipated. So Aldermen voted in January to acquire it through eminent domain.

At the time, the mayor said the police could be moving in by the end of 2018.

Cassetti said after Thursday’s event that engineering and environmental work on the building took longer than expected, but that he hoped for a groundbreaking in May with construction taking 9 months to a year.

We’re on course to get it out to bid hopefully in February,” Cassetti said.

Aldermen appointed a building committee to oversee the project will be meeting on the first and third Wednesdays of the month.

The new police station was one of several changes coming to downtown highlighted during Thursday’s event.

East Main Street will be changed to one-way traffic headed south between the police station and Kingston Drive, and more parking will be added to East Main Street.

The city is still negotiating deals to sell the nearby ATP and Palmer buildings to developer Jerry Nocerino for redevelopment into mixed-use, primarily residential properties.

Across the street, Economic Development Director Sheila O’Malley said similar plans are in the works for 158 and 200 Main St., though no official applications have been submitted to the city’s land use boards to convert the under-utilized office buildings into apartments.

On West Main Street, officials are still awaiting approval from Target to develop a property adjoining the big box store’s in a project that’s been in the works for years.

Arby’s, who the mayor said was eyeing the site during his State of the City” address in 2017, would now be going to another to-be-announced property elsewhere in Ansonia, O’Malley said Wednesday.

And on Wakelee Avenue, where a paving project is set to conclude next month, O’Malley said an announcement about a project at 557 Wakelee Ave., the former Molto Bene/John J. Sullivan’s, should be forthcoming.

The increased commercial activity has helped the city’s bottom line, according to Assessor Marsha Benno, who said about 40 new businesses have been added to the city’s grand list since last year totaling $1.7 million in value.

Cassetti also said that while the city’s annual audit is still being finalized, he said the report will reveal the city’s fund balance at 8 to 9 percent of its budget, a major indicator looked at by credit ratings agencies.

Ansonia’s finances are rock solid and only improving,” the mayor said.

ethan fry photo

Ansonia Mayor David Cassetti speaks to about 50 supporters inside Ace Cosmetology during his “State of the City” address Thursday, Oct. 25, 2018.

One thing that wasn’t discussed at length Thursday — the city’s ongoing legal battle with the Board of Education over a $600,000 budget cut made by the Board of Aldermen.

While not directly addressing the controversy, Cassetti touted the school district’s budget increases since he took office — $3.2 million in five years. 

He thanked Alderman Joseph Jaumann and Board of Education Member John Izzo for their work on a committee exploring whether to regionalize schools with Derby.

When we talk about the needs for positive growth, I want to make one thing clear: one of the most vital functions of our government is to provide a quality education for our children,” the mayor said.

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