Author: Glenda Prentiss

Seymour Pilots Innovative Trash Reduction Program with 1,100 Households

The Town of Seymour launches its Trash Reduction Pilot on February 13th for approximately 1,100 households, which involves diverting food scraps from the waste stream and limiting the number of trash bags used each week. The goal of this program is to help the state of Connecticut address the waste crisis while saving taxpayer money on disposal costs. The Town received funding through a Sustainable Materials Management grant from the CT Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP).

Residents on the Monday trash pickup route are asked to separate their waste, placing food scraps in green bags and regular trash in orange bags. Each participating household will receive a 9-month supply of color-coded bags, allowing for two 15-gallon orange trash bags per week and one 8-gallon green food bag. Families are encouraged to adjust their habits to reduce the amount of trash they produce, such as increasing recycling, donating textiles, and purchasing reusable products instead of disposable ones. Orange and green bags will go in the same bin for curbside pickup. The hauler will bring the bags to a sortation facility where the green bags will be picked out and sent to an anaerobic digestor to create clean energy.

Town of Seymour First Selectwoman Annmarie Drugonis encourages residents to take advantage of the free bags. “This program represents a great opportunity for Seymour to address the garbage crisis and control costs,” she states. “If we all do our part, we can reduce our waste, save money and help the environment.”

The goal of the program is to pilot this new waste management system for a single trash collection route and use the resulting data to determine if it would make sense on a town-wide scale. There is the potential for the Town to save tens of thousands of dollars annually if the program is implemented permanently. Sending food waste to a digestor is less expensive than paying for disposal, and reducing waste through behavioral changes will result in lower hauling costs. In a permanent version of the program that may be considered after the pilot, the fee residents pay to dispose of trash would be transferred out of property taxes and into a per-bag charge. This would give residents control over how much they pay for waste disposal by reducing their trash, similar to an electricity bill.

A Community Champions Dinner will be held on Monday, February 27th at 6 p.m. at the Seymour Community Center. Pilot participants, as well as interested stakeholder groups such as gardening clubs, sustainability teams, or students are welcome to join. Details about the program will be shared and there will be an opportunity for people to ask questions and give feedback. Pizza will be served. Those interested in attending should RSVP to sperry@nvcogct.gov.

Residents are encouraged to visit the pilot program’s website at  http://reducethetrashct.com/seymour/ to learn more. Anyone with questions can also contact Naugatuck Valley Council of Governments Regional Environmental Planner Christine O’Neill at 203-489-0351 or ReduceTheTrash@nvcogct.gov.

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Contractor Hired to Build Fishing Platform on Housatonic River and Construction Set to Start Soon 

The City of Derby has awarded a $497,246 contract to Terry Contracting & Materials Inc. of Riverhead, New York, to build a long-awaited fishing and viewing platform on O’Sullivan’s Island overlooking the Housatonic River. 

City officials awarded the contract on Jan. 27, and city leaders expect that construction to start within the next few weeks. The goal is to finish work so people can use the platform later this year. The platform will be 80 feet across, 16 feet wide, and extend 30 feet into the river. In addition, the plans include four benches.  

“I am pleased that we can bring this long-awaited project to construction. As an avid fisherman myself, I look forward to our residents beginning to enjoy an expanded opportunity to enjoy the Housatonic River. Hopefully, this provides a catalyst for increased use of the Greenway and O’Sullivan’s Island,” said Mayor Richard Dziekan. 

The Naugatuck Valley Council of Governments (NVCOG) is managing the grants that are paying for the project and working with the City of Derby and HRP Associates to see the project to completion.  

Grants from state and federal agencies are paying for the project. That includes a $325,000 grant from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection has also provided a grant of $204,252, with the funding coming from the Federal Sport Fish Restoration Program.  

O’Sullivan’s Island is a peninsula at the confluence of the Housatonic and Naugatuck Rivers under the Route 8 bridge that connects Derby and Shelton. The fishing platform will add to the public amenities on the site. Those include the O’Sullivan’s Island Recreation Park, which reopened to the public in 2009 after being closed for more than twenty years. Another attraction is a section of the Naugatuck River Greenway trail through the site’s northern edge that opened in 2013. 

Draft Metropolitan Transportation Plan for Central Naugatuck Valley Planning Area is Released for Public Comment

NVCOG is excited to release the draft of NVision50, The Metropolitan Transportation Plan (MTP) for the Naugatuck Valley COG and Central Naugatuck Valley MPO, which includes the Air Quality Conformity Determinations for ozone and fine particulate matter for the Central Naugatuck Valley Metropolitan Planning Organization (CNVMPO), which is available for public review and comment between February 6, 2023, and March 17, 2023.

Public comment on NVision50 is an important part of the process and will shape the final version that the CNVMPO may adopt in March. NVision50 establishes a regional vision for and will guide transportation planning in the region through the year 2050. Information about the MTP, including draft chapters of the plan and presentation materials, can be viewed on the project’s webpage.

A hybrid public information session will be held on February 16 at 6 p.m. at the Naugatuck Valley Council of Governments (NVCOG) offices at 49 Leavenworth St., Waterbury, CT, and via Zoom. In addition, a virtual town hall-style meeting will be held on March 9 from 3 to 7 p.m. At that meeting, the public can comment on the MTP and ask questions about the document. For more information about the town hall meeting please visit the project’s site. The public may also comment by email at contactus@nvcogct.gov or by calling NVCOG’s office at 203-757-0535.

The CNVMPO must update the MTP every four years, and the plan lays out the vision for transportation in the future. The goals outlined in the draft include the following:

• Reduce and ultimately eliminate traffic fatalities and serious injuries.
• Improve air quality and address noise and light pollution caused by the transportation system.
• Provide more ways to travel by foot, mobility aid, bike, and micro-mobility devices.
• Expand access to bus and rail transit and improve those services’ speed, reliability, and wait times.
• Establish a strong footing for future changes in transportation technology.

The CNVMPO’s board of directors will meet at 10 AM on March 17, 2023. The board will take additional public comment on the MTP at that time, and that will close the public comment period. CNVMPO Board members will also share comments and questions regarding NVision50 before voting on adoption of the plan at that time.

The South Central Regional Council of Governments (SCRCOG) wants to hear the public’s thoughts about the future of transportation in the Greater New Haven area, and a virtual meeting to do that will be held on Feb. 2 at 6 p.m. via Zoom.

SCRCOG is updating the Metropolitan Transportation Plan (MTP), the guiding document for setting the region’s transportation priorities. The public’s comments will help the agency shape the updated MTP. The meeting on Feb. 2 and an in-person one set for Feb. 8 is part of the agency’s public participation plan in revising the MTP. The Feb. 8 meeting will be at 12:30 p.m. in SCRCOG’s offices at 127 Washington Ave, 4th Floor West, North Haven.

The public can also participate in a survey that SCRCOG is doing so agency planners will better understand the issues and opportunities for all those who live in and travel to the region, including motorists, bicyclists, pedestrians, and transit users.

SCRCOG is the Metropolitan Transportation Organization (MPO) for the Greater New Haven area. Writing and administering the MTP is one of the agency’s most important functions. The updated MTP will replace the one that SCRCOG adopted in 2019.

An update of the Metropolitan Transportation Plan for the Naugatuck Valley Planning Region & Central Naugatuck Valley Metropolitan Planning Organization is almost finished. Three draft chapters are now available on the NVCOG website for the public to review in advance of public comments that people can make in February. One is the executive summary, another is the regional profile, and the third is on transportation issues and goals.

The new plan will identify the region’s transportation needs, lay out a vision for transportation to the year 2050, and establish steps to achieve those goals.

Public comment is crucial to this process and will help shape the final document. A formal comment period will begin in February, but NVCOG is happy to receive comments at any time. Please send comments to contactus@nvcogct.gov, or you can call our offices at (203) 757-0535.

Oxford Receives $3.4 Million Grant to Extend Multi-Use Path on Route 67

The Town of Oxford has been awarded a $3.4 million Congressionally Directed Spending grant and will use the funds to build a mile-long multi-use path on Route 67 that is integral to making the center of Oxford more walkable and bicycle-friendly.

“This project will be a significant improvement to the Town of Oxford.  It will not only allow for more passive recreation, but it will also enhance the historical ambiance in our town,” said Oxford First Selectman George Temple.

Oxford was awarded the grant in December, and the project is in the design phase. The path will run from Dutton Road to Quarry Walk, a mixed-use development with stores, medical and commercial office space, and 150 residential units. Plans include three pedestrian bridges to carry the path over water courses, a sidewalk between Oxford Municipal Center/ Town Hall and Academy Road along with lighting, street furniture and crosswalks.

The new path will connect with one that opened in the spring of 2021 and runs from the Little River Nature Preserve across from Oxford Town Hall to Dutton Road. A $398,200 award from the Connecticut Department of Transportation’s Community Connectivity Grant Program (CCGP) paid for the first project.

Putting a multi-use path on Route 67 is a key part of town leaders’ goal of making Route 67 better for pedestrians and cyclists. There were no sidewalks or safe access for cyclists and pedestrians until the path from the town hall to Dutton Road was built.

In 2019, the town partnered with the Naugatuck Valley Council of Governments (NVCOG) and the Connecticut Department of Transportation (CTDOT) to conduct the Oxford Route 67 Alternative Transportation Study to address the lack of pedestrian, bicycle, and transit connections along Route 67. The study identified routing for a pedestrian and bicycle network along Route 67 and a plan for implementing improvements. The Oxford Board of Selectmen adopted the study’s findings in February 2022.

The long-term goal is to build a multi-use path on Route 67 that connects to the Naugatuck River Greenway where it passes through Seymour and the Larkin State Park Trail in Southbury.

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The town of Seymour starts a Trash Reduction Pilot Program on Feb. 13 that will run for nine months. When this happens, Seymour will be the third NVCOG member community to implement this program. Ansonia started its program in December and Woodbury is expected to start on Feb. 7.

NVCOG has produced a video that explains how the program will work in Seymour.

Households whose trash is picked up on Mondays are in the pilot and Seymour received a $121,000 grant from the state to run the program, so there is no cost to those residents to participate. The town will collect data throughout the pilot and if it shows that a permanent, town-wide program would save taxpayers money then town leaders may vote to go that route.

The Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (CTDEEP) is funding Trash Reduction Pilot Programs around Connecticut in response to a waste crisis. Currently, cities and towns in Connecticut send a lot of their garbage to facilities in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Virginia. This hurts the environment and burdens taxpayers because without any changes waste disposal costs could quintuple by 2050. State and local leaders hope that the pilot programs will pave the way for a healthier and more sustainable way to manage waste.

The Connecticut Department of Transporation (CTDOT) will hold virtual public meetings on Jan. 31 where people can offer thoughts about the New Mix project in Waterbury. One is scheduled for noon and the other at 6 p.m. This will be the third time that CTDOT has held meetings where the public can speak about the project.

CTDOT started the New Mix program to assess the condition of Waterbury Mixmaster, where I-84 and Route 8 intersect, and plan for its long-term future. Through the New Mix program CTDOT is gathering public and stakeholder input and analyzing the options for rehabilitating or replacing the Mixmaster. Reconstructing the Mixmaster, whether through replacement or an intensive rehabilitation, will likely be phased with breakout projects that will occur over a number of years.

People can learn more about the New Mix project, watch previous public meetings and register for the sessions scheduled for Jan. 31 on the website that CTDOT has created for the project.