The New Britain Common Council held its regular meeting on Wednesday, June 12, 2024, beginning with public participation at 7:00 PM and the regular session at 7:46 PM. The meeting included recognition of graduating youth leaders, a presentation on the Holmes School renovation project, adoption of several consent agenda items, and passage of resolutions on Juneteenth, Pride Month, Alzheimer's awareness, immigrant heritage, flag day, a speed enforcement grant, and the Downtown District budget. Public comment featured concerns about flooding infrastructure, police interactions, and unmet city promises. The meeting adjourned at 9:03 PM.
Welcome everybody to the June 12th regular meeting of the New Britain Common Council. This is uh public participation, and it is now seven o'clock. Um I see we have names on the list, and anybody who wants to speak will have that opportunity. We just ask that you state your name and address clearly for the record and limit your speaking time to three minutes. Um we will begin tonight with Mr. Frank Chase. Frank Chase, 24 Roxbury Road. Where's the money? Our state legislators report that millions of dollars have flowed to the city of New Britain. Since 2013, the current mayor has prioritized and allocated this money for many other higher profile projects. Now one dollar for the Allen Street project, our most pressing need. Where's the money? Recently, $56 million flowed to the city from ARPA funds. Now one dollar allocated for the Allen Street project, which our current mayor mayor indicates is our most pressing need. Where's the money? Where's the required transparency? The current mayor approved and confirmed with resolutions 36236 and 36258-1, a four million dollar transfer from the general fund to the public works account for the Allen Street Project No. Just weeks before our last election in 2023. These resolutions were used to validate this transfer, but it never happened. We know the $4 million the current mayor promised and allocated for the Allen Street Project No. Is mandated to stay in the general fund for urgent unanticipated expenditures. Where's the money? We, along with the other taxpayers in our neighborhood, have diligently paid our taxes for decades. We are demanding our fair share of money from federal, state, city governments to fund our most pressing need, the Allen Street Project No. We've been waiting patiently for 30 years. As we have detailed for you over the past nine months, with our narratives and articles, the evidence and the facts are revealing. The reality is simple. After 30 years, the OPEG funding shell game continues with shifting project priorities while our tax dollars are lost in the fiscal shuffle. For example, city officials have received an additional four million dollars from the state, which has not been allocated. We want this money for the Allen Street Project number two. Obviously, our skepticism and cynicism is justified based on the current mayor's failed efforts to prioritize and fund the Allen Street Project number two. Yes, the current current mayor has been disingenuous with all of us in Ward 4. Don't get burned by the same flame twice. Thank you. Thank you, Ms. Chase. Our next speaker is Nasra Ali. If I sorry if I didn't pronounce that correctly. Hello, good evening. I'm here today because I'm very uh disappointed. I'm homeless at the moment. And I've been homeless since May 19, 2022 to present. From an illegal eviction, West Hartford probate court. I had to run and come to New Britain because that's how terrified I was. In New Britain here, I was parked in front of the police department for my safety. I was given permission to do so. And the entire time, the entire year. My car was vandalized. I was terrorized. I was threatened.