Masselli Unveils Plans for New Community Health Center Building

(Architectural rendering of proposed Community Health Center headquarters.)


At the Economic Development Committee meeting Monday, Community Health Center CEO Mark Masselli unveiled plans to build a new headquarters for dental, medical and mental health services offices on what is now a parking lot on the corner of Main and Grand Streets. The parking lot is a city-owned lot adjacent to Eli Canon's.

This is the first of three meetings at which Masselli will appear this week, seeking quick approval for a plan that's been in the works for three years to take advantage of potential funding through federal stimulus dollars available in the state. CHC will also seek approval this week from the city Design and Review committee, and will appear before the Planning and Zoning Commission to schedule a public hearing.

According to Masselli, the three story LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certified building will be have 40,000 square feet and will include office space for staff, and treatment area for patients, consolidating offices currently spread over several Main Street buildings. If the plan is approved, CHC will return several Main Street store front offices to retail space along the North end of Main Street.

"We've spent a lot of time, energy and focus getting prepared," Masselli told the EDC. "We really thought, 'How do we stimulate this neighborhood."

CHC has options on two Grand Street homes it will demolish to create parking for the project. The new parking area will reduce capacity from 54 to 29 spaces, but Masselli insisted that extra parking would be located next to the old trolley barn just North of Eli Canon's. The new parking will remain a city lot.

Masselli has met with many of the neighboring businesses to gain support for the plan, and while he has made an effort, he had not yet connected with the owners of Eli Canon's whose patrons utilize the current parking lot.

"We need to be good neighbors, and we're seeking their support," Masselli insisted. "We want to be sure they're happy."

While most members of the Committee were enthusiastic in their support of the plan, committeem member and town Councilman David Bauer was put off by the haste at which the plan surfaced and required approval.

"This is the politics of urgency, when we're told we don't even have a month to issue a proper RFP," Bauer said. "The date set is way too abrupt. Too aggressive."

City planner Bill Warner explained that the haste was necessary in order for the city to capture stimulus money.

"This is something I think the governor will find exciting," Warner said. "Another signature building for Main Street."

The committee voted to send the offer for the site to a legal RFP (request for proposal), with a requirement that the RFP would close in time for the Planning and Zoning Board to consider approval in April.

(Grand Street homes considered for demolition for new municipal parking lot adjacent to planned CHC headquarters.)




"We want to be pouring concrete in June," Masselli said before the committee voted approval on RFP issuance.

In other business, the EDC voted to move recommendation of the formation of a city parking authority to review by the Finance and Government committee, the Personnel Committee and the Common Council.

The committe also passed approval for easements for the Algonquin pipeline which will provide natural gas in a pipeline largely located beneath River Road to the Kleen Energy plant.

The EDC also voted to study legal ordinances developed by the town of Berlin to prevent the opening of businesses which deal in sexually explicit materials within city limits, and craft similar ordinances for Middletown.

And in a discussion of shovel-ready projects, the committee voted to draft a letter to be distributed to state legislators urging adoption of a series of eight projects recommended by Mayor Sebastian Giuliano.

Economic Development Committee to discuss shovel ready projects

Monday's meeting of the Economic Development Committee will consider shovel ready projects for Middletown. This discussion occurs as the state is poised to receive nearly $3 billion through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, signed by President Obama on February 17th. On Friday, governor Rell said that these funds will "strengthen the state's economy, create dependable jobs, and invest in efforts that will help the state grow and prosper."

In their meeting materials, EDC members received a copy of Mayor Giuliano's December 29th letter to Governor Rell, with its list of shovel ready projects in Middletown. However, as reported in The Eye, this is not the only list of projects for stimulus dollars, the U.S. Conference of Mayors also has a list of Middletown projects. On Friday, Governor Rell announced a state website that would track the projects throughout the state that are being considered for stimulus package dollars. The three lists contain only two items in common, the reconstruction of the Melilli Plaza parking lot (between the central part of Main Street and the River), and the North End Homeowners Project, which Giuliano also described as including a “Health Renewal” component.

Finally, the Middletown Press reported (February 17th) that $2.2 million of stimulus package dollars would be used for reconstruction and drainage improvements to the intersection of Randolph and Old Saybook Roads. This project was submitted by the Midstate Regional Planning Agency, which works with the state Department of Transportation and municpalities.

In an interview in February, Giuliano told The Middletown Eye that it was not clear how specific projects would be chosen for funding by the stimulus package, "I don't think anyone really knows how this thing's going to work." He also expressed his frustration that the Federal dollars would be filtered through State agencies instead of going directly to munipalities, “If it goes through them, they're going to skim all kinds of administrative fees off the top."

In the same interview with the Middletown Eye, I asked Mayor Giuliano about the process by which the various lists had been assembled. He told me that his list had resulted from

 suggestions by department directors at City Hall. He did not seem sure how the list from the Conference of Mayors was prepared, but it was submitted by the City’s lobbyist in Washington. He said that all of the projects on that list had been discussed in Middletown at various points in the past few years.

The North End Homeowners and Health Renewal Project is by far the most expensive project on Rell’s list, at $10 million. The next most expensive project on this list, at $5.6 million, is described as a renovation of Middlesex Hospital; this project did not appear on either of the other two lists.

At its meeting on Monday, the Economic Development Committee will also hear details of a

 proposal by Mark Masselli to expand the Community Health Center onto land currently owned by the City. Detailed designs have been made for a new facility on the corner of Grand and Main Street, in the space currently used as a CHC parking lot, adjacent to Eli Cannon’s Tap Room. The EDC must approve the sale of any city-owned land.  

On Wednesday, the Preservation and Design Review Board will hold a hearing on the Community Health Center's proposal.  The Planning and zoning department has over a dozen different documents relating to the CHC proposal available on its website.  

A new list of stimulus package projects

There seem to be dramatic changes in what projects are being considered for Federal Stimulus package dollars in Middletown. In December, Mayor Giuliano sent a letter to Governor Rell with a list of projects that Middletown wished to see funded (letter here), this included 8 projects, ranging from a Public Safety storage facility to a Coginchaug River Protection Project.


Now that the stimulus package is winding through Congress towards the President, on through the various Federal agencies, and hopefully eventually to Middletown, a variety of web sites have been set up to monitor the projects being discussed. One of the most useful is the Stimulus Watch web site, which uses a list of projects provided by the United State Conference of Mayors.


According to the US Conference of Mayors, there are 7 projects being considered for Middletown. Surprisingly, very few of those 7 are from the list that was sent by the Mayor to Governor Rell, and there are several new projects that have not been discussed in any depth in recent years, including the "completion" of two 24/7 lighted turf soccer fields and the straightening of Country Club Road (it is not clear if this is the two curves immediately west of East Street, or the two curves between Moody School and Smith Park).

The US Conference of Mayors represents the 1200 cities with a population of 30,000 or more. According to their web site, one of the primary roles of The U.S. Conference of Mayors is to make sure federal policy supports the cities. Their full report, entitled MAINSTREET ECONOMIC RECOVERY, is available.

Thanks to the Middletown Press for pointing to the Stimulus Watch web site.

Giuliano letter to Rell about Shovel-ready Projects

Click on the image to read the correspondence between Mayor Sebastian Giuliano and Governor Rell.

Shovel-ready followup

A few weeks ago, we solicited ideas for potential "shovel-ready" projects which could potentially lure federal dollars, and jobs to town.

We got some interesting responses, which were featured in the "comments" section of the original post, but we'd like to give them the attention of a full post, and provide some additional information from Middletown's department of planning and development.

From Vijay Pinch:

One question that's been bothering me lately is the current state of the DOT plan to transform Route 9 along the waterfront area (from the Route 17 - Route 9 "connector" [a.k.a. Acheson Way] to the Arrigoni Bridge). Given all the changes that have been (and presumably will be) occurring at the DOT, and the greater attention to mass transit at the state capitol, it seems likely that the DOT plan for Route 9 that evolved over the past ten years is badly out of date. Will the proposed reconstruction undermine the potential to create mass transit connections between Middletown and the major rail corridors both west (Amtrak and the proposed "Knowledge Corridor" line) and south (Shoreline East and Amtrak)? Certainly the development of mass transit options was not a high priority in that plan. Can someone provide an update on the current state of the plan? Maybe it's time to go back to the drawing board.

From an anonymous author:

Middletown should get the downtown parking plan settled and executed. The fedral funding has been in place for years and nothing has been done. So why should we expect a sudden burst of new projects when exsisting projects are stalled?

All of the traffic lights on Rt 9 should be eliminated. Energy is wasted and greenhouse gases are emitted from vehicles stuck in traffic.

As far as the state is concerned it is one big traffic jam and all roads that are over capacity need to be expanded. This will eliminate wasteful use of fossil fuels and provide efficent transportation.

From Councilman David Bauer:

I asked the Public Works Director what projects we had that could be offered for possible Federal funding and we do not seem to be on top of this. We need to be at the front of the line on this and I am not sure where we stand.

As far as plans for Rt. 9, we are right up to date by DOT standards. Our stalled "South Cove" development initiative is driving the plans for Rt. 9. I am embarrassed to admit that I do not want to get rid of the traffic lights on Rt. 9 until the DOT gives Middletown what we need for our riverfront development. The price tag for the upgrade is huge and DOT is guaranteed to walk away from this stretch of road after they make the next change - we had better insist that they get it completely right or Middletown is in deep trouble.

From Wesleying's Justin Selva:

- Implement the changes outlined in the Downtown Parking Study
- Bury Route 9 from exit 12 to the Arrigoni Bridge underground, so we can reconnect downtown to the riverfront
- Bring Amtrak service up from the coast and on into Hartford/Worcester/Boston

Wait! Don't wake me up just yet...

And most recently from Bill Warner, Director of the Department of Planning, Conservation and Development:

The CCM list was essentially rejected by the Governor because most projects did not fit her definition of shovel ready. ...the Mayors Office is preparing our list which the Governor formally requested and includes Water and Sewer, Public Works and Planning and Development projects which are at varying levels of shovel ready. Very few meet the Governors definition.

The Governors definition is fully designed, approved, permitted by all levels of government and ready to bid. Now why would a city bring a project to that level if we didn't already have funding for it. There are very few projects that meet that definition that aren't already funded.

Our lobbyist and the US Conference of Mayors is lobbying to get a direct federal to city infusion which would be the best way to do it, via an established structure such as CDBG in my opinion. If not, all this money will get used up at the state level to off set the state deficit.

Apparently, our shovels are not ready yet

Earlier this week we posted here about the need for Middletown to be fully prepared to take advantage of public works grants that will be forthcoming from the Obama administration.

Obama has already indicated that they will be looking for "shovel-ready" projects which will create jobs, move the country toward alternative-energy and transportation, foster sustainability, and help repair a crumbling infrastructure.

We've already had a few suggestions, which we will highlight in a future post, but one response, from Common Council member David Bauer, suggests that Middletown may be left out in the cold.

A report published this month The Connecticut Conference of Municipalities suggests that the state already has just more than 1300 such projects reported by 94 municipalities, with project costs at just $2.6 billion. These are projects which are all ready to go, except for funding.

Unfortunately, Middletown has not listed any projects with the CT Conference of Municipalities, yet.

We urge our town leaders to consider how Middletown can take advantage of the public works dollars that will become available in the early days of the Obama administration.

Shovel-ready projects

As you know, when Barack Obama hits the White House, he plans to initiate a massive public works project which will reinvigorate the economy.

He's already put out the word that he's looking for "shovel-ready" projects.

According to at least one editorial in the Hartford Courant, by Ned Lamont, the state is ill-prepared to accept money for these kinds of projects. While another two editorials suggest that creating alternative transportation solutions is something that would help the state.

Certainly, we shouldn't pour good money after bad into an expansion of an interstate highway system which forms the backbone of a transportation system which is antiquated and wasteful. What's more, at least in this state, it seems likely that such a move would only enrich contractors in a system which seems rigged to perpetuate the livelihood of asphalt-spreaders and roadway contractors who are intimately connected to the state bureaucracy.

In Middletown, there's already a proposal on the table to build a trolley line down Main Street. It fits perfectly the standards which Obama has proposed for an infrastructure project which will have future benefits, help the economy, and free us from the constraints of an fossil-fuel economy.

There have to be other ideas like this that Middletown can address readily. What projects should the mayor, and the Common Council work to make "shovel-ready" immediately. If ever there was a cause for which our political and community leaders should work toward with great haste, this is it.

We'll publish all reasonable suggestions for infrastructure, green, progressive projects Middletown should tackle. Leave your comments.