Sen. Welch, Rep. Betts Hear from Taxpayers at Bristol Senior Center [Bristol Press]

Article as it appeared in the Bristol Press on February 22, 2012

By Lluvia Mares
Staff writer

Sen. Jason Welch (left) and Rep. Whit Betts (right) hear from taxpayers during their Feb 22 meeting at the Bristol Senior Center.

BRISTOL — The state legislators got an earful about the New Britain busway and education funding this morning when they met with constituents Wednesday at the Bristol Senior Center.

State Rep. Whit Betts, R-Bristol, and state Sen. Jason Welch, R-Bristol, set up the informal session to discuss issues affecting their districts, which also include Plymouth.

Welch sat with a group of people to discuss one of the biggest issues on people’s minds — the New Britain-Hartford Busway.

“The state is broke, the federal government is broke and they want to spend $600 million on this bus -line,” said Chuck Buffard, Plymouth resident. “It doesn’t make any sense to me.”

The 9.4-mile Busway is expected to open in 2014.

The $567 million dedicated bus-only route has been projected to transport 16,000 passengers a day and the U.S. Department of Transportation estimates it will create 4,000 construction jobs.

Sen. Jason Welch (right) talks with a taxpayer during the Feb 22 meeting at the Bristol Senior Center.

However, Welch, Betts and Sen. Joe Markley, R-Southington have publicly vowed to fight the project in the state Legislature, seeking to divert state and federal funds to what they argue are much-needed road and bridge repairs.

“This Busway is costing about $1,000 an inch. It’s irresponsible and a slap in the face to tax payers who have to pay for this project despite their opposition,” Betts said.

Department of Transportation officials said money designated for the Busway, including state bond funds cannot be diverted to other projects.

The Busway which will run between downtown New Britain and downtown Hartford, will permanently affect approximately 2.1 acres of inland wetlands and 7,108 linear feet of intermittent water courses, and have a temporary impact on approximately a half acre of wetlands. However,

The project includes creating approximately 4.8 acres of wetland and 3.9 acres of wetland restoration.

“This Busway will never generate the amount of money that we are going to put into making it,” said Donald Tilley, Bristol resident. “It’s a waste of good money.”

Another concern among the more than 60 area residents at the session was education, the need to fund special programs and the need to raise caps off the $1.3 billion in available Educational Cost Sharing grants.

“We need to do everything we can for the education of our country’s children,” said Brigit Berube, Bristol resident and mother of two. “These children are our future, and we need to invest in them.”

The ECS has a formula designed to make up for inequities between rich and poor school systems and is used to determine how much each community receives.

The grants are based on the number of students in each town and how they perform, as well as property costs and income in each district.

“For those families with good financial means are able to afford a good education, but what about low-income families,” said Berube, whose neighborhood school, John J. Jennings has been closed.