Mayor's Community Update Week of January 18, 2016
Ribbon Cutting for new Dollar Tree Store on School Street
On Friday, January 15, I was proud to cut the ribbon on a large Dollar Tree store that just opened on 10 School Street.
This current store has made the move from Charter Oak Mall on Silver Lane to a new location on School Street. With the move, the store received an upgrade from its current 5,000 square-foot store to an expanded 12,000 square-foot store and adds a frozen foods section and grows its housewares, party, wedding, baby and health/beauty offerings. Congratulations to Dollar Tree for moving into their new, bigger store and I wish them the best of luck on School Street!
East Hartford Awarded $200,000 Brownfield Area-Wide Revitalization Grant
I am proud to announce that last week the Town of East Hartford was awarded a $200,000 grant from the state Department of Economic and Community Development to develop a comprehensive implementation plan for addressing environmentally-compromised properties (known as Brownfields) in the Silver Lane Corridor.
East Hartford, which was one of only six municipalities in the state to receive a grant, shared over $1 million worth of grants from DECD. These grants provide an opportunity to move from the site-by-site approach in DECD’s existing brownfield programs to a more comprehensive area-wide approach to arriving at reuse and redevelopment strategies. In East Hartford, the grant will be used for comprehensive planning of the Silver Lane Corridor, while identifying and studying the redevelopment potential of targeted brownfield sites.
This grant award is part of a string of Brownfield grants that the town has received over the past year. In late May 2015, East Hartford received a $200,000 Brownfield grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and was one of four communities in the state of Connecticut and 147 communities across the U.S. to share $54.3 million in EPA investment.
Lunch with the Mayor to Resume in January
With the hectic Holiday Season behind us, I wanted to remind all of our residents that Lunch with the Mayor will be resuming again on Thursday, January 28, from 12-1 in the Welling Conference Room. For all of those who have never been, it is a chance for residents to interact directly with the Mayor in a Question and Answer style forum and get updates from Department Directors. With the New Year upon us, we hope to see all of our regulars and any new faces!
Mayor’s Ball Date Announced
Dust off your dancing shoes and mark your calendar for the 2016 Mayor’s Charity Ball, which is scheduled for March 12 at the Pratt & Whitney Stadium Club at Rentschler Field.
I will once again host the event that draws over 400 attendees and raises significant funds for local charities. In 2014, the Mayor’s Charity Ball raised over $65,000 for local non-profits such as the East Hartford Interfaith Ministries, the East Hartford YMCA, TRACS Regional Animal Shelter, Friends of Center Cemetery, East Hartford Summer Youth Festival, Friends of East Hartford Senior Centers Inc., Believe 208, the Raymond Library Company and other local Charities.
Pratt & Whitney has once again stepped up to be the presenting sponsor for the Charity Ball. The Event is black-tie optional and tickets will be $100 per person. More information on sponsorship opportunities and tickets will be available in the coming month.
Second Installment of Tax Bills due February 1
With Federal Income Tax filing on the horizon, I wanted to take the chance to remind all East Hartford taxpayers that the second installment of July 1, 2015 local tax bills are currently due for real estate, motor vehicle, personal property taxes, and supplemental motor vehicle tax payments. While the second installments were due January 1, taxpayers have until February 1, 2016 to pay before those bills will be subject to a 1.5 percent interest charge per month after that date, with a minimum interest of $2 (Section 12-146 Connecticut General Statutes).
Taxpayers may come in person to pay taxes, pay with a credit card online on our website or can mail their payments from a return envelope or a regular envelope to: Tax Collector, 740 Main Street, East Hartford, CT 06108. All tax bills being paid by mail must also include the appropriate tax bill stub for the period being paid.
For all tax payment questions and questions on tax bills, taxpayers may stop in and visit the Tax Collector’s Department in person in Town Hall, at 740 Main Street, or can reach the department by phone at 860-291-7250. The hours of the Tax Collector’s Office are 8:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m.
Closure of Route 2 West Exit 2W Ramp to the Founders Bridge
As construction on the Rt. 2/I-84 interchange continues, I wanted to encourage all of our residents to be mindful of construction on the Rt.2/I-84 interchange that will impact traffic flow over the next 11 months in East Hartford. According to the state Department of Transportation, on January 18, 2016, there will be a planned closure of the Route 2 Westbound ramp to the Founders Bridge, which is expected to last until November 2016, at the completion of the project.
According to the DOT, the closure, which is part of the $22 million bridge replacement and rehabilitation project and is one aspect of the work on Route2/I-84 which may cause lane closures on Route 2, I-84 and associated ramps nightly, from 10 p.m.-6 p.m., lane closures on adjacent streets and unassociated ramps Monday-Friday, from 9 a.m.-3 p.m. or 6 p.m.-6 a.m. Motorists can expect intermittent ten minute traffic shutdowns on I-84 East near exit 55 and periodic weekend closures of the I-84 East connector from Founders Bridge and the connector of I-84 West to Route 2 East, with detours being implemented in those scenarios.
For the closure of the Route 2 West Exit 2W ramp, the Department of Transportation will be directing all traffic to take Exit 3 to Pitkin Street to Darlin Street to the Route 2 Westbound on-ramp (Founders Bridge).
Additionally, in East Hartford, the onramp to Route 2 East from Governor’s Street has also been shut down until June 30, 2016. For more information on these detours or the Route 2/I-84 interchange project, please visit the Department of Transportation website.
Christmas Tree Collection Over
As we get farther and farther away from the holiday season, please note that the town has stopped picking up Christmas trees as of January 8. If you currently have a Christmas tree on your curb, residents may still bring their trees to the Transfer Station, free of charge.
The normal transfer station schedule is as follows: Monday, Tuesday and Friday from 7:15 a.m. to Noon and 12:30 p.m. to 2:45 p.m. (holidays excluded), and the first and third Saturdays of the month from 8:00 a.m. to 1:45 p.m. (holidays excluded). The transfer station is closed on Wednesday and Thursdays.
East Hartford Police Department Scores 100% on 9-1-1 Calling Statistics
Every year the State of Connecticut Division of Statewide Telecommunications collects quarterly statistics from all of the Public Safety Answering Points across the state. Public Safety Answering Points (PSAPs) are facilities operated on a twenty-four hour basis, which receive 9-1-1 calls and dispatch emergency response services, or transfer or relay 9-1-1 calls to other public safety agencies.
One of the primary areas the report documents is a PSAP’s ability to answer all 911 calls within ten seconds. The statistics collected help to track the efficiency of the PSAP and to determine if 911 calls for help are being answered in a timely manner. The East Hartford Public Safety Communications Division answers over two thousand 911 calls every month. This dedicated group of individuals receives calls for help from our community 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Most quarters, our PSAP answers 99% of our calls within ten seconds. However, for the quarter from July to September 2015, our PSAP answered 100% of our 911 calls for help within ten seconds or less. Along with myself and Chief Scott Sansom, I wanted to spotlight the efforts and congratulate our department for a job well done.
McKirdy and Stellato win 24th Annual Aselton Memorial 5K Road Race
With the 24th Annual Officer Brian A. Aselton Memorial Snow Dash 5K Road Race in the books, it is my pleasure to congratulate the Men’s and Woman’s winners of the 5K, James McKirdy, 34, and Melissa Stellato, 33. Stellato, a resident of Windsor, defending her 2015 title, won her fourth overall title on this course with a time of 18:11. McKirdy, a resident of West Hartford, won his first title on this course in a time of 16:44, five seconds ahead of his challenger.
The annual race, jointly sponsored by the East Hartford Parks and Recreation Department and the East Hartford Police Department took place on Sunday, January 10, 2016 and started and finished at Langford School. Despite periods of heavy rain, a field of 177 runners participated in the race that was run in tribute to Officer Brian A. Aselton. Remarkably, the sun burst through the clouds five minutes before the start and the rain paused until all the runners completed the course, with a temperature reaching a record shattering 58 degrees.
To date, $2,838.00 has been raised from the 2016 Officer Brian Aselton Memorial Snow Dash 5K, with shirts still being sold at the East Hartford Federal Credit Union. In 2015, the race raised a total of $3,100, with $1,550 going to the Brian Aselton Memorial Scholarship Fund and $1,550 going to the EH Police Department Child Safety and Crime Prevention programs.
For more information on the race, or information on the two beneficiaries of the race, please call the Parks and Recreation Department at 860-291-7160.
Family Movie Night on February 6
If you are a family looking for something to do on February 6, come and visit the East Hartford Community Cultural Center, for a free Family Movie Day scheduled for 1:00p.m. That afternoon, there will be a presentation of the movie “Inside Out” with a brief discussion following with Strong Start Participants and parents about Social–Emotional Development. Free popcorn will be provided.