Norwich residents to weigh proposed $5 million infrastructure bond
Norwich — Residents will get the chance to comment Monday on a proposed $5 million road and infrastructure improvement bond that is expected to be placed on the November ballot for a referendum.
The City Council will hold a public hearing at the start of its 7:30 p.m. meeting Monday at City Hall on the proposed ordinance. The council is expected to vote on a resolution later in the meeting to forward the bond proposal to voters in a referendum Nov. 7, along with a second ordinance calling for a $3.2 million bond to purchase five firetrucks and other public safety equipment.
Norwich voters have approved similar $5 million road improvement bonds three times in the past 11 years: in 2006, 2009 and 2013.
The current proposed bond would include improvements or new construction of “roads, bridges and bridge structures, sidewalks, piers and wharves, and ... areas throughout the city of Norwich. The specific improvements shall be determined from time to time by the Public Works Director and City Manager,” the ordinance language states.
Public Works Director Ryan Thompson said if approved by voters, the bulk of the money would go for road paving, drainage and other improvements in targeted areas, with some money going for bridge replacement or repairs. A relatively small amount, about $80,000, would be used for sidewalk improvements and some to make city infrastructure compliant with the federal Americans with Disabilities Act.
Specific roads to be targeted include Sholes Avenue, Asylum Street, Old Canterbury Turnpike, West Avenue, Teddy Lane and side streets off Laurel Hill Avenue-Route 12. Roads in Greeneville, Thamesville and East Great Plain areas of the city also would be included.
The city Public Works Department has been working with the state Department of Transportation on design plans for a new Sherman Street bridge over the Yantic River. Thompson said a small amount of the bond money would go toward that project, which is in the preliminary design phase.
Thompson said other grants and funding sources are being used for the Sherman Street bridge, replacement of the deck on the Sunnyside Avenue bridge and replacement of the Pleasant Street bridge, but “bits and pieces” of the bond money could be used for those projects.
Comment threads are monitored for 48 hours after publication and then closed.
