Public Comment Period Has Opened for the Draft 2021-2024 CNVMPO TIP

Road work ahead sign

The public comment period has opened for the Draft 2021-2024 Central Naugatuck Valley Metropolitan Planning Organization Transportation Improvement Program (CNVMPO TIP). The TIP lists all proposed highway and transit improvement projects programmed to receive federal financial assistance from the US Department of Transportation – Federal Highway Administration and Federal Transit Administration – over the next four federal fiscal years. The MPO’s TIP conforms to the State Transportation Improvement Program (STIP) being developed by the Connecticut Department of Transportation. The CTDOT has completed the air quality assessment of the draft TIP and the results of the analyses are also available for review and comment.

A forty-five (45) day review and comment period has been established, beginning on August 24, 2020, and ending on October 9, 2020. The public is welcomed and encouraged to review and comment on the MPO’s draft TIP and air quality analyses.

The TIP is expected to require about $1,113.9 million to implement over the next four years. This funding requirement includes regional (specific projects located in one of the fifteen municipalities in the Central Naugatuck Valley MPO area), statewide, and multi-region projects. Project located wholly within the CNV planning area accounts for $70.4 million of this total value. The complete list of projects is available in the CNVMPO TIP.

The public is invited to attend and offer comments on the draft TIP and air quality conformity documents at the virtual CNVMPO meeting to be held on October 9th at 10:00 AM. A virtual public information meeting to be held on September 16th at 5:00 PM. Agency and CTDOT staff will be available to informally discuss any aspects relating to the draft TIP/STIP, air quality conformity determinations, and any other transportation issues and concerns. All documents and additional information is being made available here.

ACIR has developed Best Practices Guidelines to assist municipalities in their response to the COVID-19 pandemic

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The Advisory Council on Intergovernmental Relations (ACIR) has developed Best Practices Guidelines to assist municipalities in their response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The goal of this effort is to provide local officials with solutions that meet local needs and are in sync with state expectations.
Chaired by Mayor O’Leary, the ACIR appreciates the leadership provided by COST, CCM & CTCOG, and guidance from the General Assembly’s Office of Legislative Research and many state agencies.
The Best Practices Guidelines, which will be updated regularly to reflect any new Executive Orders or guidance, are available here.
In addition, towns that are planning to reopen to the public and employees or expand public access to town halls should adhere to the Safe Workplace Sector Rules for Offices.

CT ReOpen Enforcement Guidelines & Nuisance Form

Building and Sky

The Department of Economic Community Development, Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection, and Department of Public Health have released a document with consolidated information regarding ReOpen Enforcement Guidelines concerning municipalities and local health officials.

As authorized by Executive Order 7PP, issued May 18th, 2020, a local or district health director can order the closure of Public Health Facilities (defined as hair salons, barbershops, beauty shops, nail salons, spas, tattoo or piercing establishments, restaurants, eating establishments, private clubs, or any locations licensed for on-premise consumption of alcohol, that is allowed to reopen pursuant to the Sector Rules) until such time as the local or district health director determines that the Public Health Facility has abated the nuisance by coming into compliance with the Sector Rules.

As authorized by Executive Order 7PP, issued May 18th, 2020, a Municipal Designee selected by the municipal chief executive officer can order the closure of any business other than hair salons, barbershops, beauty shops, nail salons, spas, tattoo or piercing establishments, restaurants, eating establishments, private clubs, or any locations licensed for on-premise consumption of alcohol until such time as the Municipal Designee determines that the business has abated the nuisance by coming into compliance with the Sector Rules. A municipal chief executive shall not select a local health director, a district health director, or the staff of a local or district health director as their Municipal Designee.

In order to ensure compliance with Connecticut’s Sector Rules for May 20th Reopen, the State has established a Reopen CT Online Complaint Form which will become available at https://portal.ct.gov/coronavirus beginning on May 20th.
For more information, please refer to the aforementioned documents, provided below.

NVCOG receives $800,000 EPA grant for regional brownfields

The federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has awarded Naugatuck Valley Council of Governments’ (NVCOG) Revolving Loan Fund (RLF) $800,000 toward the remediation of contaminated properties in the greater Naugatuck Valley region.  

The grant will be used to provide loans and subgrants to support cleanup activities. Grant funds also will be used to conduct community outreach activities. The majority of the award will be utilized in the City of Waterbury’s Brownfields Corridor, which contains more than 45 acres of closed metal manufacturing and foundry sites within the low-income, minority South End neighborhood and five Qualified Opportunity Zones. 

However, that commitment also frees up resources that can be used in any of the Regional Brownfields Partnership’s (RBP) 27 Western-Central Connecticut towns 

EPA’s Brownfields Program empowers states, communities, and other stakeholders to work together to prevent, assess, safely clean up, and sustainably reuse brownfields. A brownfield site is a real property, the expansion, redevelopment, or reuse of which may be complicated by the presence or potential presence of a hazardous substance, pollutant, or contaminant.  

RLF’s are one of the competitive grant programs that EPA provides financial assistance to eligible applicants. Additionally, funding support is provided to state and tribal response programs through a separate mechanism. 

Read more about the Regional Brownfield Partnership and see a list of brownfield sites around the region.

Governor Lamont Encourages Connecticut Residents to Use the “How We Feel” App to Improve COVID-19 Response

How We Feel App

Original Press Release

Posted on April 20, 2020

The How We Feel app was developed by leading health experts from several institutions, including Harvard University, MIT, the University of Pennsylvania, and the Weizmann Institute of Science. It was created in response to the need for health officials and doctors to obtain more information on COVID-19 in the face of widespread testing shortages. It only takes users about 30 seconds each day to report any symptoms they may be experiencing, and the information shared has the potential to reveal outbreak hotspots and provide insight into the progression of COVID-19.(HARTFORD, CT) – Governor Ned Lamont today announced that the State of Connecticut is partnering with the developers of the How We Feel app in an effort to anonymously provide scientists with critical health information needed to understand the spread of COVID-19. Available to download for free in the Apple App Store and the Google Play store, it is supported by a nonprofit organization and does not require logging in or the sharing of any personal details, such as name or email address. In addition to being available to download to mobile devices, users can also complete the survey through a web version available at howwefeel.app.

People in Connecticut – whether they are healthy or sick – can help this research by using the app and self-reporting their daily symptoms through a series of short prompts about how they’re feeling, and share that data with scientists in real time. Aggregate data is securely shared with leading medical institutions so scientists and public health professionals can better spot emerging outbreaks early, identify new populations who are at risks, and measure the efficacy of public health measures such as social distancing.

Getting this data to the medical community as quickly as possible enables them to make faster decisions to help slow or contain the virus. When they have a better idea of who is sick, how sick they are, and where they are, there’s the potential to increase testing, deploy additional resources, and ultimately save lives.

“We’re all looking for something we can do to stem the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, and this app provides an opportunity for everyone – regardless of whether you are currently sick or if you are in healthy condition – to share how you’re feeling to leading health professionals, so they can track the spread of this virus and quickly determine where a new outbreak may be occurring,” Governor Lamont said. “Likewise, as people report healthier symptoms, the data could reveal which health measures are having the fastest impact and apply those learnings in other areas. It’s quick and easy to use, and completely anonymous. By encouraging everyone to use How We Feel, we all benefit.”

Dr. Albert Ko, co-chair of the Reopen Connecticut Advisory Group, said, “We need to provide all residents of Connecticut with the best technology to identify whether they are feeling ill and need to get tested for COVID-19. We can all be assured that by partnering with most trusted and high-caliber doctors and scientists who created How We Feel, we can provide the best care the highest standards of data privacy.”

Indra Nooyi, co-chair of the Reopen Connecticut Advisory Group, said, “As our taskforce works on our plan for fighting the virus and getting the state back to work, How We Feel will be a critical tool for us to get a better understanding of how the whole population is feeling, both healthy and sick. This will enable us to more quickly make the important decisions about opening the economy.”

Download the app now:
Apple App Store | Google Play Store

For more information, visit www.howwefeel.org or contact info@howwefeel.org.

 

Please visit our COVID-19 Response page for more information concerning this virus.

Everyone in the Valley Counts – Your Local Resource on the 2020 Census

Naugatuck Valley 2020 Census logo

Do you have questions about the 2020 Census? Are you unsure of what is being asked of you? Do you think taking the Census is unsafe? Do you need assistance with filling out the questionnaire?

We answer these questions and concerns by providing all the real facts about participating in the Census and why you are so important. Visit our 2020 Census page or http://nvcogct.gov/2020census for information on the 2020 Census.

Naugatuck Valley 2020 Census logo

In the CT Post, “Coronavirus crisis reveals partisan divide”

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Original Article: https://www.ctinsider.com/news/coronavirus/article/Lingering-voices-call-coronavirus-reaction-15165153.php

Liz Teitz and Ken Dixon March 29, 2020 Updated: March 29, 2020 11:17 p.m.

Tom Imperati, a Branford gun shop owner, says the coronavirus pandemic is over-hyped and prompting mass hysteria.

Fritz Blau, chairman of the Stamford Republican Town Committee, believes the pandemic is “overblown” and should be treated more like the annual influenza viruses.

“I don’t see the infection and mortality exceeding any regular flu virus that we have. I’m not saying it doesn’t kill some people, but I think the flu does, too,” Blau says.

Imperati and Blau are among the lingering, and perhaps rising, voices who say the national response to coronavirus is too severe and that the country is almost ready to get back to normal. Even as huge swaths of public life in the United States and much of Europe remain at a standstill — with new restrictions still rolling out — these voices form a debate that’s mostly partisan, fueled by two cable news channels and by President Donald Trump.

Trump on Sunday evening extended the federal social distancing guidelines to April 30, but he has wavered in his support for the extreme measures.

Last week he shocked even some of his own public health officials by publicly hoping that churches would reopen by Easter, April 12, and suggesting that the economy may be ready to reopen soon. “You can destroy a country this way, by closing it down,” he said on a Fox News town hall broadcast from the White House Rose Garden.

National, state and local health officials say the threat is growing and is not near a peak in most places. On Sunday, the death toll stood at 2,400 but the nation’s top infectious disease expert, Dr. Anthony Fauci, said the United States could see 100,000 to 200,000 deaths from COVID-19 — an estimate some have said is way too low.

“Scientific information must guide public policy,” said Bob Lion, a Democratic member of the Stamford Board of Representatives. “We are facing a health crisis that must be our priority.”

The consensus for social distancing, travel restrictions and a shutdown of non-essential businesses in afflicted states is clear. On Saturday, Trump said he was considering ordering a two-week “quarantine” of metro New York City, including part of Connecticut — clarifying that he meant a ban on non-commercial travel in and out of the region.

He later decided to limit the move to a travel advisory from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and he is adding states — including Connecticut, on Sunday — to the federally designated “major disaster declaration” list, which brings more emergency aid.

New shifts in national polls show that overall, people are becoming more scared and uncertain — and they generally support steps to tackle the crisis.

But the partisan argument still simmers, with the state’s rising daily death toll from COVID-19 as a backdrop.

Rather than seeing a traditional issues debate, Connecticut State House Minority Leader Themis Klarides, R-Derby, offered a tempered assessment, saying Trump’s comments about reopening the economy should be seen through the lens of health experts, who have a role that’s different from the president.

“Any of us, as leaders, know it’s a bad situation,” Klarides said Friday. “We know how serious it is, then we have to give people some positivity. I think we would all like the economy back by Easter. I think the president realizes this is not likely. But he’s trying to give people some hope.”

Coronavirus: the ‘cause du jour’

Even before Lamont on Thursday ordered gun stores to open by-appointment-only to limit crowds, Imperati implemented a similar policy at his store, the Hunter’s Shop, on Branford’s West Main Street.

But the fact that state lines and thousands of businesses deemed “essential” remain open is proof to him that things aren’t as bad as officials and public health authorities claim.

“If you’re predicting that it’s that bad, why isn’t everything closed?” he said in a phone interview. “Why aren’t they stopping it in its tracks?”

Blau, the Stamford GOP leader, believes the Democratic mayors and governors around the country are using the coronavirus as cover for their political campaigns.

“I truly believe that they’re doing it to hurt the president, and the country, which is crazy,” he said. “We’ve had three and a half years of Russia, Russia, Russia, impeachment, impeachment, impeachment, all of this crap,” he said. The coronavirus is just the latest “cause du jour” to attack Trump, Blau said. “I wonder this: What if everything is fine in a couple of weeks? What will be next?”

That’s reflected in many quarters of the Republican Party in Connecticut, including the party chairman.

“Everything the Democrats are doing is for the presidential race,” said J.R. Romano, Republican state chairman.

“What makes me laugh is that President Trump is criticized for trying to give hope,” Romano said Friday. “Democrats are trying to create a narrative that the president is failing the American people. The big story today is the U.S. leads the world in infections. No one is denying it’s a pandemic, but don’t you think China was lying to us about the number of cases?”

Anthony Simonetti, the Shelton Republican chairman, praises Trump, Vice President Mike Pence and other members of their administration for their response, though he’s not personally optimistic that business will be back to normal by Easter.

“Part of the president’s job is to not only lead us to be safe, but he has to be a leader that knows how to bring our economy so that people can go back to their lives as normally as possible,” he said. “And he realizes and recognizes that there has to be a day when this has to begin. And if Easter’s the day, so be it. If it’s the week after Easter, so be it.”

Shelton Mayor Mark Lauretti, another Republican, said his northeastern end of Fairfield County seems to be avoiding the rate of infections seen in the southwestern corner from Greenwich to Westport.

“I think the president’s correct that areas of the country least affected should start putting people back to work,” Lauretti said. “I think by Easter we’ll be able to understand better how it’s trending or not trending. Last year 70,000 people died from influenza, we’re not close to those numbers.”

The CDC’s estimates of U.S. deaths from influenza have ranged from 23,000 to 61,000 per season, with each season covering parts of two years.

‘Arbitrary deadline … is outrageous’

Democrats have lambasted Trump’s uneven response and will continue it through the presidential campaign. The president has shrugged off criticism, and even filed a lawsuit to stop an attack ad, after the Senate did not remove him following his impeachment in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Trump’s popularity is now equal to its height of three years ago, at 49 percent in the latest Gallup Poll. At the same time, a Pew Research Center poll from March 26 illustrates growing fears about the virus and the effects on the economy, with a jump of 20 percentage points over the last two weeks in the number of Americans who agree that the coronavirus is a major threat to public health.

Asked whether Trump has been receptive to warnings and requests for more aid, Gov. Ned Lamont said in a recent news conference that he doubts it.

“Look, in his heart he says ‘I want to do everything I can to get this economy going again,’” Lamont said. “You’re never going to get this economy going again until we get this public-health crisis behind us. So I think it’s wrong to say we can rush people back to work and set artificial dates like he did.”

“It’s just bizarre that President Trump has spent so much time saying everything is great and wonderful,” said Martin M. Looney, D-New Haven, the state Senate president pro-tempore. “I think the federal response has been inadequate at this point, by at least a couple weeks. I think the fact that he can put an arbitrary deadline on something like the plague is outrageous.”

“The president would like you to think that we can set an expiration date on the virus,” says U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy during a news conference with Lamont on Thursday. “That’s not how this works. There’s no country that has turned the corner on COVID-19 by giving up on emergency authority and social distancing. If we all make good decisions together, then this doesn’t have to last for six to 12 months.”

‘Rallying around a president’

Professor Jennifer Dineen, director of the graduate program in survey research at the University of Connecticut, pointed to the different realities part of Trump’s base and the rest of the country are seeing.

“We’re seeing some increased anxiety among the American public,” she said “What his base is still seeing is not quite the same threat level as others.”

The Pew Research poll indicates that 78 percent of Democrats and 52 percent of Republicans say the coronavirus is a major threat to the nation’s health. It reports that 71 percent of the more than 11,000 respondents said shutting most businesses, except grocery stores or pharmacies, is necessary.

Eighty-one percent of Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents support the closures, while 61 percent of Republicans and GOP-leaning unaffiliated voters think it should be required.

Coincidentally, during a week in which Trump gave up on mass campaign rallies and instead held White House news conferences, he’s reached the highest rating in his three years. In the Pew poll it was 45 percent, up from 40 percent in January.

She recalled that after the September 11, 2001 attacks, President George W. Bush received a 25 to 30 percentage point boost in approval that lasted as long as four months. She described Trump’s five-point increase as a “blip.”

“There is a good amount of history of rallying around a president in times of crisis,” Dineen said.