Senator Chapin Discusses State Funding for Road Improvements [Register Citizen]

Article as it appeared in the Register Citizen on June 13, 2013

State funding doubled for Torrington, Winsted infrastructure repairs
By Esteban L. Hernandez

Torrington and Winsted will be receiving double the state funding to help their infrastructure after a bill passed the state’s legislature on Monday.

A bond measure known as Town Aid Road built into the budget bill will give every town in Connecticut money for repairs. Torrington will receive $473,752; Winsted will receive $302,668; Goshen will receive $275,379; and Colebrook will receive $200,760.

The grants are given annually, over a two-month period in January and July, according to Republican state Sen. Clark Chapin. Gov. Dannel P. Malloy is expected to sign the bill into law within the coming weeks, Chapin said. In all, the State of Connecticut will give $60 million in Town Aid Road for the 2014 and 2015 fiscal year. The total is the same as the current year’s amount of $30 million.

State Rep. Jay Case, R-63, represents Torrington, Winchester, Goshen and parts of Colebrook. He said he pushed for the bill to help the town’s pay for infrastructure repairs.

“All of their town aid money was doubled,” Case said on Wednesday about the towns in his district. “It was in the governor’s budget and it was bonded.”

Case said he did not agree with the way the funds were created, as he wasn’t pleased with the bonding, but he said that he’s glad the towns are receiving money.

“I am happy the towns are getting more money so the towns can go out and work on projects within their infrastructures to make the state of Connecticut a better place to live,” Case said. He said he expects the money to be used in his district to be for drainage and paving projects.

Chapin, who represents the 30th District, which includes Torrington and Winsted, and said Town Aid Road is just one of the municipal grants that towns end up getting from Connecticut.

“How much each town gets depends on a formula,” Chapin said on Thursday. He said that the money is used primarily for paved roads, and that each town receives $1,500 per mile for the first 32 miles. After that, the grant amount is determined based on the ratio of the town population and the ratio of the state’s. It is determined by the General Statues of Connecticut, article 13a-175b.

“I think every town counts on this money, and this year we doubled it,” Chapin said. “It’s unclear to me if that’s an effort to not fund it next year, but it’s certainly a fund towns utilize to the fullest.”

Chapin said that the funds allow town to not only reconstruct and maintain roads, for example, but also help avoid increasing town property taxes.

Charlene LaVoie, spokesperson for the The Emergency Citizens Committee to Repair Our Town in Winsted, said any aid from the state is welcomed. The committee has stressed the importance of repairing the town’s crumbling infrastructure, including the Holabird Avenue Bridge.

“I don’t see it as being a big boom for our infrastructure problem,” LaVoie said. “I see it as we are always glad to have whatever grant that state will give to us. But in the context of what Winsted has to accomplish, it’s a drop in the bucket.”

Winsted resident and president of the Winchester Taxpayers Association David G. LaPointe said it was good that tax dollars will be used to fix bridges and roads that need repair in Winsted.

“Now it is incumbent on the selectmen and the town manager in Winsted to do ‘due diligence’ and see to it that the money is properly spent and accounted for within the budget,” LaPointe said.