News

Bulkhead repair one step closer

After the recent approvals from the state Department of Environmental Protection and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the bulkhead located along the New Haven Harbor off Water Street is one step closer to being repaired.  For more on the story, read the New Haven Register article from Monday, March 1, 2010.

Public informational meeting set for Campbell Ave. streetscape project

The city is a step closer to launching the vast reconstruction of Campbell Avenue from Captain Thomas Boulevard to Route 1.

According to City Engineer Abdul Quadir, the preliminary design work of the estimated $6.5 million streetscape has been done, paving the way for the project’s construction under the federal Surface Transportation Program administered by the state Department of Transportation.

As part of the city’s policy on informing and involving the public in projects that affect quality of life, the city will hold an informational meeting at City Hall, 355 Main St., where residents can voice their concerns to assist in the project’s development.

The meeting will take place at 7 p.m. Nov. 19 in the second-floor Harriet C. North Community Room.

Quadir said plans call for milling and paving more than two miles of Campbell Avenue from Captain Thomas Boulevard north to the Boston Post Road and enhancing the thoroughfare with new sidewalks, curbs, benches, trees and streetlights.

Quadir said the Federal Highway Administration will fund 80 percent of the construction cost, with the city paying for the remaining 20 percent.

Right now, about $4.5 million in funding is available for the estimated $6.5 million project.

Anyone interested in obtaining more information or offering advice about the project can call Quadir at 937-3577.

UNH dedicates “green” dorm, breaks ground on Lee Forensic Institute

Mayor John M. Picard cuts the ribbon with ceremonial gold-plated scissors on Friday, September 25th to mark the dedication of the University of New Haven’s new, $43 million Soundview Residence Hall with members of the UNH board of governors, along with Christopher Rinck, president of the Undergraduate Student Government Association,and UNH President Steven H. Kaplan.

The five-story, 402-bed dormitory, which sits on a portion of the university’s 80-acre main campus on Ruden Street off Campbell Avenue, showcases panoramas of Long Island Sound and the New Haven skyline. Energy-efficient lighting, recycling rooms and a first floor exclusively devoted to sustainable living mark it as one of UNH’s most ambitious capital initiatives to date.

The dorm was completed as UNH experiences record-breaking enrollment, with the largest freshman class in history arriving in late August. Founded in 1920, more than 5,200 students now attend the private, liberal arts university.

With ceremonial gold-plated shovels in tow, Joan McDonald, commissioner of the state Department of Economic and Community Development, state Attorney General Richard Blumenthal, University of New Haven President Steven H. Kaplan, and members of the UNH board of governors break ground on the new, $9.4 million Henry C. Lee Institute of Forensic Science in honor of world-renowned forensic scientist Henry C. Lee on Friday, September 25th.

Lee founded UNH’s forensic science program in 1975 and has served as its endowed professor. His testimony figured prominently in the trials of O.J. Simpson and Connecticut’s notorious “Woodchipper” killer.

Lee’s experience has been called on in the investigations of the JonBenet Ramsey slaying, the 1993 death of White House counsel Vincent Foster, and in a recent review of evidence in the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.

The 15,649-square-foot Lee Institute, which should open next fall, will include a Forensic Crisis Management Command Center, a forensics and crime scene technology learning center and classrooms.

The Forensic Learning Center will include classrooms, laboratories and virtual crime scene training modules to train police, lawyers, investigators and students in new concepts and practices in forensic investigation and physical evidence.

It also will include sophisticated crime scene equipment, including ground-penetrating radar for locating buried bodies and evidence, a high-intensity laser for bullet-trajectory reconstruction, portable instrumentation for analysis of chemical and biological matter, and a teleforensic satellite Internet system.

The teleforensic satellite system will allow investigators to uplink via satellite to local, state and federal law enforcement, the Federal Emergency Management Agency and other governmental agencies and then downlink time-sensitive information to a panel of forensic experts at the Forensic Learning Center and beyond.

Informational session to discuss loan programs for small businesses

The city will hold an informational session at 6 p.m. Feb. 26 at the Savin Rock Conference Center, 6 Rock St., to discuss assistance programs for small businesses in the current economic downturn.
The two-hour session will inform business owners on ways to improve their business with assistance through the city’s façade and signage loan program and small business loans, including non-bankable loans.
The meeting will also discuss assistance for startup businesses and business plan writing.
The session is presented in cooperation with the Community Economic Development Fund, Connecticut Small Business Development Center, and the city Community Development Administration and Planning and Development Department.
For details, call city special-projects coordinator Ashley McClellan at 937-3635 or e-mail mcclellan@westhaven-ct.gov.

The Best Places to Raise Your Kids 2009 & 2010

WEST HAVEN – The City of West Haven has been lauded by “BusinessWeek” as one the “best places to raise your kids.” Noting that West Haven is home to the University of New Haven and is about five miles from Yale University and offers easy access to Bradley Point Park beach and the Sandy Point bird sanctuary, the publication narrowed the list of towns using the following weighted criteria: affordability; school performance; number of schools; household expenditures; crime rates; air quality; job growth; family income; museums, parks, theaters, and other amenities; and diversity.

Runners-up were: East Hartford and Norwalk.

See more at: http://finance.yahoo.com/family-home/article/106120/The-Best-Places-to-Raise-Your-Kids-2009

Public Info Session for Draft Grant Application

WEST HAVEN – The City of West Haven is conducting a public meeting to allow for review and comments on the City’s draft grant application for funding from the United States Environmental Protection Agency Brownfields Program. The grant award, if successful, will be used for environmental cleanup activities for the property located at 742 Washington, Ave.

The meeting will be held on:
Wednesday, November 5, 2008, at 5:30 p.m.
Harriet C. North Community Room,
City Hall, 355 Main Street, West Haven

Interested parties can also view the draft application and submit comments to the Planning Department located in the 3rd floor of West Haven City Hall.

Questions should be directed to:
Lisa Johnson
Assistant Grant Writer
City of West Haven
355 Main Street
West Haven, CT 06516
203-931-4941

West Haven Mayor Announces Potential Economic Development Opportunity for City

WEST HAVEN, Oct. 14, 2008 – Mayor John M. Picard and state officials announced at a news conference today the favorable results of a privately funded feasibility study that recommends that the University of New Haven house its future law school in the city.

The potential development site is located within the city’s Transit Oriented District plan, across the street from the site of the future West Haven train station. Conceptual drawings for a UNH Law School will also be privately funded.

“With record enrollment, new construction and the growth of programs at UNH, if the University secured funds to establish a law school, we would need to locate it off campus,” said UNH President Steven H. Kaplan. “This West Haven location on the train line would be ideal.”

Mayor John Picard said, “With support from the state departments of Economic and Community Development and Transportation, I am confident that the potential for this development will have a positive economic impact on the city and the region.”

“Turning this vision into a reality will be another major step forward in the renaissance of the City of West Haven. Building a law school here will be a very good thing for the University of New Haven, our city and the state,” said Mayor Picard.

The news conference included remarks from Picard, Joseph F. Marie, Commissioner of the state department of Transportation and Steven H. Kaplan, President of the University of New Haven.