Mayor James Della Volpe recently outlined some goals for 2010 – and many involve plans to revive the city’s downtown.
Della Volpe also hopes to complete the first phase of a new wastewater treatment plant, refurbish the city’s transfer station and start work on a new greenway before the end of 2010.
But Della Volpe said the goals will be tempered by the tough economy and the difficult budget season that is coming up.
“Because it’s a very difficult budget year, we’re hoping to maintain the services we have at this point,” Della Volpe said.
Downtown Goals
The city will help move along plans for new life in several downtown factory buildings this year, Della Volpe said.
One such project is a plan to build 54 market rate condominiums in the ATP building on East Main Street.
The city sold the building to Duke Realty of Connecticut LLC in December 2008, but has to remediate brownfields at the site before Duke can move forward with proposals.
Della Volpe said, with a state grant, the clean up will likely happen in the spring.
Also, a local real estate agent last week announced that nearby unused Farrel Corp. buildings were also being looked at for condominiums.
The city doesn’t own the property, but Della Volpe said other plans to clean up the train station and build a riverwalk along the Naugatuck River will help attract tenants to the site.
The train station rehab is being paid for through the state Department of Transportation, Della Volpe said. Construction on the riverwalk should begin by the fall, Della Volpe said.
Waste Water Treatment Plant
One longtime project in the city that should be completed in 2010 is the construction of a new $50 million waste water treatment plant, Della Volpe said.
The state Department of Environmental Protection in 2007 ordered the city to build a new plant to prevent the contaminants from getting into the Naugatuck and Housatonic Rivers. The last time the plant had been upgraded was in 1970, according to the New Haven Register.
“That’s a huge project we’re looking forward to having completed,” Della Volpe said. “Right now they’re ahead of schedule and under budget.”
Della Volpe said the project is 50 percent completed, and when it’s finished will mean a more efficient system for residents.
“Hopefully we won’t have as many back-ups,” Della Volpe said.
After the treatment plant is complete, the city can begin working on building a new transfer station, Della Volpe said.
The transfer station project likely won’t begin until 2011, but Della Volpe said planning for it will begin this year.
Riverside Apartments
“We’re continuing the renovation of the Riverside Apartments,” Della Volpe said.
Stimulus money is paying for new roofing and sidewalks to be installed in places, Della Volpe said.
And the city recently received initial approvals to put up a new building to house all the boilers so the old building can be torn down as part of the overall plan to change the apartment complex.
