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03/27/2018 04:30 PMOn March 15, the Board of Selectmen voted to apply to the Connecticut Department of Economic and Community Development (DECD) for a second BAR (Brownfields Area Revitalization) grant. If awarded, this second BAR grant funds would be used to study ways to make a pedestrian and bicycle link from the Connecticut River recreation areas on the eastern stretch of Route One with the town center.
The grant requires the town match 10 percent of its value. As a result, the BOS also voted to send a request to the Board of Finance for approval of up to $20,000 to use as BAR grant matching funds.
The town’s first BAR grant supported the hiring of contractor Civic Moxie to develop a Mariner’s Way Discovery + Action Plan. The firm’s final report was presented to the town and the public in December 2017.
The report offered a vision for the area and listed future actions the town could take to facilitate the area’s revitalization. One of these was to create a “pedestrian and bicycle-friendly connection between the Town Center and the Connecticut River recreation and natural areas.” The newest BAR grant funds would be used by the town to conduct transportation planning and a study to assess how to more efficiently and effectively use the 75-foot wide right-of-way in this stretch of Route One.
Other work to implement Civic Moxie’s recommendations is planned thanks to $22,000 of the first BAR grant that was not spent. The state DECD approved the town’s request to use the remaining funds to develop a Tax Increment Financing Plan that, if adopted, could help facilitate and fund infrastructure improvements in the Mariner’s Way area.
First Selectman Carl Fortuna, Jr., told the selectmen that Patrick McMahon was tapped to draft a Tax Increment Financing Plan that could be used in the Mariner’s Way area for this purpose.