New NVCOG Study Outreach to Include Five Workshop Opportunities and Online Survey

For Immediate Release:
February 26, 2018

Contact: Mark Nielsen Naugatuck Valley Council of Governments
203-757-0535
mnielsen@nvcogct.org

New NVCOG Study Outreach to Include Five Workshop Opportunities and Online Survey Study to Determine Effective Transportation Opportunities

Naugatuck Valley residents will have the opportunity to provide input to a major transportation planning study being conducted by the Naugatuck Valley Council of Governments (NVCOG) in March and early April 2018 via charrettes and an online survey. The study is assessing alternative transit modes within the Route 8 / Waterbury branch rail line corridors and developing transit-supportive land use plans in and around rail stations and transit hubs located between Naugatuck and Shelton.

The study team comprised of several consulting firms, incorporated information and data on the existing conditions within the corridor into an initial round of charrette presentations in November and December 2017. The five follow up charrettes will give stakeholders, local officials and residents the opportunity to provide feedback on preliminary study recommendations. The Study Team will be presenting preliminary “model” concepts based on the input from the first round of Charrettes. Each charrette will focus on that community’s transit hub. All events are from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.

Schedule:
• Thursday, March 15 – Derby, Derby City Hall, 1 Elizabeth St, Derby, CT
• Tuesday, March 20 – Ansonia, Ansonia City Hall, 253 Main Street, Ansonia
• Thursday, March 22 – Naugatuck, Naugatuck, Town Hall 229 Church St, Naugatuck
• Monday, March 26 – Shelton, R.D. Scinto Auditorium, 3 Corporate Drive, Shelton
• Wednesday, April 4 – Beacon Falls/Seymour, Seymour Town Hall, 1 1st St

“Direct input from the communities is crucial at this point in the study,” said Mark Nielsen, NVCOG Assistant Director. “The vision of local residents and officials will play a major role in the recommendations for how areas around transit hubs are developed and how they will look in the future.”

Public input provided at these events will also be integrated into study recommendations that will be provided to the state Department of Transportation, with a goal of incorporating improvements in the corridor into the department’s capital plan. In addition, they will be provided to area municipalities and the region’s state legislative delegation. Working toward developing a strategy and plan for implementing preferred options, the study is scheduled to be completed in late 2018.

A project website has been developed and is live at: http://rt8corridorstudy.com. Interested persons can contact the study team through the “Contact Us” page which lists several ways the public can contact the Team to offer comment or ask questions. An email address has also been established to contact the Team: rt8corridorstudy@nvcog.org.

Also, Naugatuck Valley residents who cannot attend any of the presentations are encouraged to provide study input via a brief online visual preference survey, which can be found here: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/Route8visualpreferencesurvey

New Study Exploring Naugatuck River Greenway Route from Thomaston to Torrington

For Immediate Release: 
Contacts: Aaron Budris, Naugatuck Valley Council of Governments 

203-757-0535
abudris@nvcogct.org

                                    New Study Exploring Naugatuck River Greenway Route from Thomaston to Torrington

A yearlong study evaluating routing options for the Naugatuck River Greenway (NRG) between Thomaston and Torrington is now underway. The study, being conducted by BSC Group of Glastonbury, CT will inventory potential routes and rank them with stakeholder and public input with the goal of selecting a final preferred route with broad consensus. BSC will also provide phasing recommendations and construction cost estimates of the preferred route to help municipalities plan for future construction and prepare for potential funding opportunities.

The Naugatuck Valley Council of Governments (NVCOG), in partnership with the Northwest Hills Council of Governments (NHCOG) received a Transit Oriented Development and Smart Growth grant from the CT Office of Policy and Management to conduct the study.

The project area spans approximately 10.9 miles of the Valley from Bogue Road in Torrington to a section of trail under design adjacent to the Water Pollution Control facility on Old Waterbury Road in Thomaston. In the coming months, BSC and project partners will inventory potential routes, points of interest, property ownership, environmental constraints, and stakeholder preferences, and utilize that information to narrow down to the most feasible and beneficial potential routes. Public input will be solicited through a project website, surveys and at public meetings, and will inform the decision making process.

A project kickoff meeting was held on January 19th at Thomaston Town Hall. The meeting brought together project stakeholders to discuss the project scope and timeline. Those in attendance included chief elected officials or staff from the municipalities of Torrington, Litchfield and Thomaston along with representatives from the US Army Corps of Engineers, NVCOG, NHCOG, the Naugatuck River Greenway Steering Committee and the Railroad Museum of New England.

The NRG corridor has been officially designated as a greenway by the CT Greenways Council and the CT Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP). The entire greenway trail is identified as a trail of statewide significance in the Connecticut Recreational Trails Plan, and was designated as one of 101 America’s Great Outdoors projects in 2011 by the U. S. Department of the Interior. An Economic Impact Study conducted by NVCOG in 2017 illustrated the potential economic, health and community benefits of constructing the trail.

The overall planned NRG route will follow the river for 44 miles, bringing the trail through parts of Torrington, Litchfield, Harwinton, Thomaston, Watertown, Waterbury, Naugatuck, Beacon Falls, Seymour, Ansonia and Derby. To date, trail sections have been constructed in Torrington, Naugatuck, Beacon Falls, Seymour, Ansonia and Derby.

“This routing study is a key part of moving the Naugatuck River Greenway forward,” said Rob Pinckney, Manager of Transportation Services at BSC Group. “It will ultimately provide options that ensure the greenway meets each community’s long term needs and that the investments made are well-spent and provide the most benefit to residents.”

More information can be found at http://nvcogct.org/content/nrg-thomaston-torrington-routing-study.

NVCOG Publishes Draft Documents for EPA Revolving Loan Fund Remediation at 6 Rubber Ave., Naugatuck

The Borough of Naugatuck has received a $100,000 grant through the Naugatuck Valley Council of Governments (NVCOG) Brownfields Revolving Fund (RLF). The NVCOG RLF is financed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Remediation is proposed at 6 Rubber Avenue parcels A&B in Naugatuck. The Borough intends to remediate the first floor of the former General Datacomm building for use as an open convention space for pop-up events in the Borough.

 

The Licensed Environmental Professional (LEP) engaged for the project, Tim Carr of Nobis Engineering, has developed a draft Analysis of Brownfield Cleanup Alternatives (ABCA) and draft Community Relations Plan (CRP). The draft documents are available for public review and written comment online below:

ABCA

CRP

Parcels A & B have entered the Connecticut Voluntary Remediation Program (VRP) pursuant to CGS 22a-133x. The VRP requires the LEP to characterize the properties to prevailing standards and guidelines and to remediate the properties to the Remediation Standard Regulations (RSCA 22a- 133k-1 to -3).

 

Please contact Max Tanguay-Colucci at mcolucci@nvcogct.org or 203.757.0535 to schedule a time to review documents at the NVCOG office in Waterbury. Written comments may be submitted through Friday, February 9, 2018 via email, via U.S. Postal Service, or via hand delivery to Max Tanguay-Colucci (mcolucci@nvcogct.org), NVCOG, 49 Leavenworth Street, Third Floor, Waterbury, CT06702.

 

The NVCOG is holding a public information meeting to present relevant documents and to gather public input regarding cleanup options. The public meeting is scheduled as follows:

Date:               Thursday, January 25, 2018

Time:                5:30pm

Location:          Naugatuck Town Hall, Hall of Burgesses

229 Church Street

Naugatuck, CT 06770

Mini-Bus Grants Available

Grants to purchase mini-buses for transportation for seniors and individuals with disabilities are available! Applications are available on the CTDOT website at www.ct.gov/dot/5310.

Applications are due to the Connecticut Department of Transportation (DOT.Section5310@ct.gov) and the Naugatuck Valley Council of Governments (bmuller@nvcogct.org by 4:00 pm on Friday, March 2nd, 2018. Late applications will not be considered, per CTDOT policy.

Program Description

The Section 5310 program provides federal funding for capital and operating expenses to improve mobility for seniors and individuals with disabilities by removing barriers to transportation service and expanding transportation mobility options.

Eligibility

Eligible recipients of this competitive program include:

  • Private nonprofit organizations
  • State or local governments
  • Operators of public transportation
  • Taxi companies as contractors through a coordinating eligible entity

Application Process

There are three separate application types; applicants should submit the one htat corresponds to the type of project funding being requested:

  1. Traditional Section 5310 Capital
  2. Nontraditional Section 5310 Capital
  3. Section 5310 Operating

Applications instructions should be read thoroughly and should not be submitted with the application.

The federal share of eligible costs may not exceed 80%, and 50% for operating assistance.

The useful life requirement for replacement vehicles is 4 years or 100,000 miles for a mini-van and 5 years or 150,000 miles for a mini-bus or bus.

All applications must be sent via email only, in one attachment. Organizations for which this requirement causes undue hardship should contact NVCOG or CTDOT to discuss alternatives for submitting the application.

Applications are due to the Connecticut Department of Transportation (DOT.Section5310@ct.gov) and the Naugatuck Valley Council of Governments (bmuller@nvcogct.org by 4:00 pm on Friday, March 2nd, 2018. Late applications will not be considered, per CTDOT policy.

Traditional Section 5310 Capital Application Updates

Traditional applications must publish a Public Notice one time in a major newspaper with the greatest readership in the proposed service area by Friday, February 16, 2018. If you are unsure of your major newspaper, please contact NVCOG.

Traditional applicants must send letters to transportation operators in the region notifying of the Public Notice posting at least one week prior to the publish date.

There are now two separate budget pages in the Traditional Section 5310 Capital application for applicants interested in applying for two vehicles.

MAP Forum Annual Meeting – December 7, 2017 at 1:30 p.m. in Lower Manhattan.

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For security purposes, please RSVP via Eventbrite at www.2017mapforum.eventbrite.com.

The meeting agenda can be found here.

Please note that the meeting also will be available remotely as a webinar using the following link at the time of the meeting:  www.bit.ly/2017MapForum

  • Meeting Number:  318 315726
  • Meeting Password:  NYMTC123

The MAP Forum is a consortium of metropolitan planning organizations (MPOs) in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut and Pennsylvania that have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for the coordination of planning activities in the multi-state metropolitan region.

The MAP Forum complies with the Americans with Disabilities Act and federal Limited English Proficiency guidelines.  If you need special accommodations to participate in this meeting, or translation services, please contact Andrea.Miles-Cole@dot.ny.gov  no later than 72 hours prior to the meeting.

Public Notice – MAP Forum announces November 1, 2017 Meeting of the Multi-State Freight Working Group

PUBLIC NOTICE

The Metropolitan Area Planning (MAP) Forum announces the first meeting of its Multi-State Freight Working Group on November 1, 2017 at 10:00 am in Lower Manhattan. For security purposes, anyone interested in attending in person should RSVP using the following link no later than noon on Tuesday October 31st: www.freightmapforum.eventbrite.com. Please also have a photo ID at the meeting location.

Please note that the meeting also will be available as a webinar if you cannot attend in person. To participate in the webinar, go to https://meetny.webex.com/meetny/j.php?MTID=m3d58752e44dea9bd50e7264115e47cd2 . Meeting Number: 319 707 375; Meeting Password: Nov0117. The teleconference number is 518-549-0500 and use attendee access code 319 707 375.

MULTI-STATE FREIGHT WORKING GROUP

First Meeting; Wednesday November 1, 2017 at 10:00 a.m.

NYMTC office, 25 Beaver Street, 2nd floor

Lower Manhattan

 CLICK HERE FOR THE AGENDA