Stamford Planning Board Special Meeting Approves Supplemental Capital Projects – August 8, 2023
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Stamford Planning Board Special Meeting – August 8, 2023
The Stamford Planning Board held a special meeting via Zoom on August 8, 2023, at 12:30 p.m. to review and act on supplemental capital project appropriation requests. The meeting was called so recommendations could be forwarded to the Board of Finance in time for its August 10, 2023 meeting. Present were Chair Teresa Dell, Secretary Jennifer Gozzino, Vice Chair Jay Tepper, and Alternate Stephen Perry (voting as a member). Lou Caslow, head of the Engineering Department, presented the projects. All six appropriation requests and one closeout recommendation were approved unanimously.
Capital Project Closeout and Appropriation Requests
- Capital Project Closeout – Westhill High School Replacement (CP1471): The board approved a partial closeout of $200,775,758.00 in city bond funds. This action preserved $60 million as the city’s 20% match for the overall project.
- Westhill High School Replacement Project (CP1471): The board approved a total request of $241,041,110.00, the state’s recently approved escalation cost for the new high school at 125 Roxbury Road. Total project authorization is now $301,313,888.00, funded 80/20 with $241,051,110.00 in state grant funds and $60,262,778.00 in city bonds. Mr. Caslow explained that the initial all-bond authorization was standard procedure to demonstrate the city’s commitment while the state grant is processed.
- Davenport Ridge Long-Term Facility Plan – Deferred Maintenance/Asset Renewal (CP4000007): The board approved a grant appropriation increase of $770,930.00. This supports roof and bathroom renovation work at Davenport School. The project is funded 60/40 state/local; the increase raises the grant portion from the $2,260,000.00 included in the FY23/24 capital budget.
- EV Infrastructure Grant (#001348): The board approved $860,565.20 for purchasing and installing 20 dual-port Level 2 chargers and two dual-port DC fast chargers at the Stamford Government Center, 888 Washington Boulevard.
- Street Lighting Infrastructure Upgrade (CP0114): The board approved an additional appropriation of $2,000,000.00 to meet U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) grant requirements. The DOE grant award letter dated July 12, 2023, includes $2,000,000.00 in federal funds and a $2,000,000.00 city match, for a total project cost of $4,000,000.00. The additional appropriation shows the city’s commitment prior to the grant award.
- Citywide Dredging (CP0231): The board approved a $3,095,520.00 request for the second phase of dredging at Cove Island Park marina and channel. The channel was substantially filled in by Superstorm Sandy. Phase one, funded by state bonding, was completed the previous winter. This phase involves impacted material requiring off-site disposal, with an 80% state/20% local funding split. Design is complete and the dredging window is October through January 31, but due to limited landfill capacity, the work is anticipated to begin in October 2024.
Other Discussion
- Traffic Circle/Roundabout Near the Board Members’ Area: Vice Chair Jay Tepper raised an off-agenda concern about a proposed traffic circle reported in the newspaper. He called it "a solution looking for a problem," noted there are no backups at the existing traffic light, and expressed concern about safety and the lack of Planning Board involvement. Jennifer Gozzino responded that a study of the corridor exists and that traffic circles can be safer than signals in some situations. Chair Teresa Dell said she would have staff contact city transportation officials and invite them to the August 15 regular meeting to explain the project and its funding authorization.
Key Outcomes
- All six supplemental capital appropriation requests and the closeout recommendation were approved unanimously.
- The recommendations will be forwarded to the Board of Finance for its August 10, 2023 meeting.
- Next Planning Board meetings: August 15, 2023 (regular) and August 29, 2023 (regular and possible public hearing).
- The board will seek information on the traffic circle/roundabout project before any further action is taken.
Meeting Transcript
Hey Lou. Um I let you in. There you go. How do I sorry? I don't know what happened to Lindsay. I think she may have forgotten. Okay, do we see Tony? I do not. Lou, are you going to be hosting all the projects? Are you going to be speaking about them or is Tony supposed to be here? I can certainly talk you through them. And I can do I can do one, two, four, five, and six. Okay. Let me give Tony, I'll give Tony a quick call. Yes, let's see if he's coming. Because all the members of the board that were supposed to be here are here. So we're we're here. Lou, you look real studious. My eyes are getting worse by the day. At least I need my cheaters to read. Thank you for joining at an off time. Yeah, our next meeting isn't until the 15th, and that's too late for the Board of Finance. Right, right. You see me fall over with starvation and I haven't eaten yet. I can't seem to get a hold of anybody in OPM. Okay, then we'll just start it. I'll I'll read the few that we don't have and we'll just go for it. We should be okay. All right. Okay. So welcome to the uh Stanford Planning Board's special meeting. Today is Monday, August 17th of 2023, and our meeting was a twelve thirty PM meeting. Uh we are on a Zoom webinar. Uh all the information for our webinar was on our agenda that was sent to us by Leslie Capp, who is the administrator uh assistant for the Stanford Planning Board. Uh in attendance today is uh Teresa Dell. I am the chair of the board. We have Jennifer Gozzino, who is our secretary, we have Jay Tepper, who is our vice chair, and we have Stephen Perry, who is our alternate and will be working today as a member of the uh actual board for voting. Uh the other members of the board were not able to be with us. They are Michael Totillo, Michael Bocino, and uh um Bill Levin. The first item on our agenda are requests for authorizations for supplemental capital project appropriation requests. And the main reason for this meeting is that the board of finance needs this information for uh August, their August the tenth meeting. So the first item on the agenda is a capital project closeout recommendation. This is pursuant to the City of Stanford code, section eight-two partial closeout, uh the following capital projects will be recommended. So uh for the cash closeout. So the first one is CP 1471. This is the West Hill High School replacement project. The closeout amount is 2007 five thousand seven hundred and fifty-eight dollars. And this was a city bond. So may I have a motion, please to um put these funds back into the uh into the account. Moved by Jay.
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