Stamford Planning Board Regular Meeting and Capital Budget – October 28, 2026

The Stamford Planning Board convened for a regular meeting and capital budget review. Chair Jennifer Gadzeno presided. The board welcomed new alternate member Peter Janoff (nominated by Mayor Simmons), acknowledged Drew McKay's recent promotion from alternate to full member by the Board of Representatives, and noted the absence of Secretary Ravi Supermanian. Board of Representatives member Zachary joined to observe the capital budget presentations. The meeting included two supplemental appropriation votes and department-by-department capital budget presentations for FY 2027-28 and out-year forecasts. The transcript states the meeting occurred Tuesday, October 27th; the date provided for the record is October 28, 2026. The board adjourned at 9:48 PM.

Consent Calendar

• The October 13, 2026 meeting minutes were approved unanimously (motion by Chet Salad, second by Drew McKay).

Supplemental Capital Project Appropriations

• SEMS Vine Road Trailer (CP4000) – $33,913, approved unanimously. Public Safety Director Lou DeRubis and Chief Ed Brown presented the replacement of the Medic 4 trailer on Vine Road, manned 24 hours per day and in severe disrepair. The project began in 2018 but was derailed by COVID; bids exceeded available funding, and a $33,913 donation filled the shortfall to fund the full $287,000 project (new trailer, removal of the old, concrete piers and utility connections). Motion by Jeremy Linder, second by Drew McKay; Ashley Wye voted.
• Stamford Forward Microtransit Program (CP400030) – $2,314,195.34, approved unanimously. Senior Transportation Planner Luke Button presented additional state grant funding to continue the existing service area. Since launching in November 2024, the service has completed about 145,000 rides within Stamford (roughly Bullshead southward), operating Monday-Sunday, 6 a.m.-8 p.m., with a $1.75 fare. Button noted expansion scenarios (Clembrook, Springdale, Long Ridge/High Ridge) would require additional funding, and the city is exploring private corporate contributions. Motion by Drew McKay, second by Chet Salad; Peter Janoff voted.

Public Comments & Testimony

• No formal public testimony was taken. A resident sent photographs to planning board members and district representatives documenting trash and debris (including at an old iron bridge), failed solar lights, and potholes at Cosquiesco Park, and expressed support for investment in the park. The chair forwarded the message to staff as part of the record; Parks and Recreation Director Kevin Murray committed to an on-site follow-up.

Capital Budget Presentations

Office of Public Safety, Health and Welfare – Public Safety Complex

• Lou DeRubis presented Phase 2 of a three-phase project to consolidate Fire Headquarters (Main Street) and Station Five (in a flood zone) into a new city-owned site. The request is approximately $1.469 million toward a $2.5 million architectural and engineering design phase, with $1,031,000 already secured via a federal earmark from Congressman Himes. The facility would add a cybercrime/digital forensics/fusion center, an EMS footprint, a new primary 911 center (the current one is over 50 years old), and a regional emergency operations center.
• The $66 million out-year hard and soft cost estimate was pushed from 2029-30 to 2030-31 to avoid conflicting with school building investments. Board member Chet Salad requested the feasibility study, conceptual designs, and project cost worksheet (costs increased 6% over last year); DeRubis committed to distributing the packet. DeRubis stated he was confident roughly one-third of costs could come from grants and estimated $10-15 million in savings from avoiding major capital work at the two old fire facilities, with the old sites available for other uses.

Operations Short-Term Financing – Fleet and Equipment

• Fleet Manager Jason Thurman presented priority-ranked requests. The fleet account balance is expected to be nearly fully depleted by fiscal year-end.
• Vehicle replacement: a leaf vac truck (one-person operation, reduces CDL and manpower needs); 2-3 HD plow trucks annually to correct a 10-year spending gap; a stormwater vector truck (sole-source vendor; one of two is inoperable); Ford F-250 supervisor trucks with plows and lift gates (rotated to day-to-day operations after 4-5 years); a Freightliner 114SD hook lift for leaf vac containers; and a marina utility body pickup truck ($65,000; current truck is rotted and smoking). Thurman noted repairs to eight Mack trucks cost $250,000-260,000 annually, roughly the cost of a new truck.
• Equipment replacement: OSHA-regulated safety equipment ($7,182; wheel chalks, drip pans, fire extinguishers, triangles, first aid kits); cab heaters for 100 HD plow trucks (the highway fleet logged 9,017 idling hours during snowstorms; heaters run on 0.01 gallons/hour versus 1 gallon/hour); conversion to battery-powered parks equipment (backpack blowers, grass trimmers, hedge trimmers, mowers, battery banks) required by state legislation (chapter 211.3) with about a year left to comply; highway wheel loader bucket replacements; and enclosed leaf vac catch containers.
• Board member Andrew flagged math errors in the spreadsheet (battery banks listed as 6 x $900 = $54,000, corrected to $9,000 per unit; line 22 listed 2 x $44,000 = $132,000, corrected to 3 units), and noted row 15 also appeared incorrect. Ashley Wye confirmed the blowers and trimmers are battery-powered electric, consistent with the city's EV conversion ordinance.
• Fleet management facilities: a hydraulic room tooling package to bring hydraulic repairs in-house (last winter a payment dispute left 14 plow trucks down mid-storm); North Bay tooling to separate heavy truck and equipment mechanics for safety and production; vehicle maintenance equipment; and fuel island upgrades including a centralized DEF (diesel exhaust fluid) dispensing system, replacement of rotted fuel pump dispensers, fire suppression system electrical work, and sensor upgrades. Fuel islands were confirmed as priority 1 over vehicle maintenance equipment.

Special Revenue – Terry Connors Rink and Marina Fund

• Parks and Recreation Director Kevin Murray requested $105,000 for the Terry Connors Ice Rink low-E high-ceiling reflective ceiling system (last replaced in 2011; 15-20 year lifespan). As special revenue, it counts against the bond limit but is repaid by rink operating revenue.
• Murray requested $1 million from the marina fund for CZIC Marina dock replacements (pilings and decking), following the recent Cove Island Marina project. Funded by marina bonds and repaid by marina revenue. Murray cited safety, legality, and permit obligations for the "mandated legal" justification; the chair noted the term is usually reserved for specific external mandates.

Operations Maintenance – Parks

• Cosquiesco Park – $500,000 for design/concept plans for the parking lot, drainage, pedestrian pathways, and park lighting. The park sits on a landfill, requiring DEEP approvals that drive costs (a water main break repair cost up to $75,000 and closed bathrooms for three months). Lighting design will address failed solar lights and upward fixtures that blind boaters entering the harbor; Murray said the engineering department would specify downward LED fixtures. Ashley Wye asked whether lighting would be dark-sky compliant (3,000 Kelvin or less) and less impactful to migrating birds; Murray committed to including those specifications. Trash and debris cleanup would be an operating, not capital, expense.
• Cummings Park – $2.5 million total ($1.25 million bonds + $1.25 million anticipated federal ORLP grant) for basketball court and playground design and completion. The grant is not yet in hand; fallback options include contributions through the Stamford Park Partnership. The grant design funds must be spent down by 2027.
• Seasonal accessible park bathrooms – $5,000 request with a sizable unfunded balance earmarked for the Cove Island Red Brick Building ADA-compliant bathroom facility as part of the "365 bathrooms" program. Future sites include K Park, Courtland Avenue, Barra Park, Cummings Pavilion, and West Beach Pavilion. Murray acknowledged operating cost increases and noted savings from removing portable toilets; the chair encouraged adding out-year forecasts.
• Revolving accounts (expected to be zeroed out by fiscal year-end): park amenities ($75,000; benches, bleachers, signage, picnic tables), park fencing ($100,000), playground rehabilitation ($75,000), and paving and drainage ($100,000; including a new catch basin at Cove Island between Terry Connors and Troy Field).
• Northrop Park – $75,000 request plus $125,000 unfunded (about $200,000) for design/concept plans to relocate the basketball court and playground adjacent to Stark School; the city is applying for a $2 million state grant.
• Rosa Hartman Park (Phase 2) – $150,000 for walking paths connecting to Greenwich's upgraded park side, with landscaping and amenities.
• Baseball/softball field upgrades – $250,000 out-year (FY 2028-29) for Grother Field at Springdale School, followed by a girls' softball field.
• The chair explained the out-year capital forecast process for new members.

Operations – Solid Waste and GIS

• Josie Carpentano (solid waste lead) requested $560,000 for transfer station safety upgrades: replacement of the Holloway scale ($410,000), inbound scale concrete repairs, safety lighting, cameras for DEEP compliance monitoring, two-way speakers so residents need not enter the scale house, and perimeter fence repairs. Current funding will complete a misting system and jersey barriers within the next month.
• 200 Big Belly pedestrian receptacles to replace open toters and metal-framed receptacles. Small openings (less than 12 inches) would prevent commercial dumping that drives up tonnage; embedded software would optimize collection routes and reduce summer overtime. Carpentano cited Philadelphia's 70% reduction in public receptacle tonnage after adopting Big Belly units.
• Waste diversion roll-off containers and a metal-separation magnet to sort glass, clean wood, and construction debris, enabling the city to secure better hauling pricing and pull materials out of the municipal solid waste stream; an RFP for a waste characterization study is underway.
• GIS revitalization – enterprise ESRI platform migration. The current platform is set to sunset at fiscal year-end, creating liability. A three-month citywide needs assessment was completed; funds would cover migration to an online platform and LIDAR scans providing four-dimensional data (topography and buildings). Carpentano said the GIS team would move under Operations administration. Ashley Wye asked about network upgrades; Carpentano said the hosted online model avoids bogging down systems. The full amount is needed in one phase to avoid running unsupported software.

Land Use Bureau

• Ralph Blessing (Land Use Bureau chief) presented:
• Courtland Park comprehensive plan – out-year request to support improvements, including a possible library branch.
• Citywide invasive species plan – $200,000 to continue work from the completed plan covering 32 parks of one acre and larger; work is underway at Cove River Park, Scalzi Park, and K Park, with funds supporting both professional contractors and neighborhood groups.
• Housing growth plan – legally mandated by Public Act 25-01, due June 2029; would build on the city's prior housing plan work (Blessing referenced both 2023 and 2022 at different points) and implement comprehensive plan goals. Scheduling it in the 2027-28 budget would allow completion by 2029.
• East Main Street land use and zoning study – $200,000. Following the Cove neighborhood study, this would create a comprehensive zoning concept for the corridor amid development activity (WWE building conversion, Lafayette apartments, McDonald's site zoning change) and complement a separate transportation department traffic safety project. Blessing confirmed the study is land-use only, not traffic modeling; Ashley Wye and the chair suggested the price seemed high without traffic modeling. Luke Button confirmed the transportation project includes a full traffic study.
• Open space acquisition and flood control – $1 million to begin acquiring frequent-loss properties and converting them to parkland for flood storage. Three flood resiliency studies (coastal resiliency, Toilsome Brook, Springdale) will help identify target properties; a list has not yet been established. Peter Janoff asked about eminent domain; Blessing said it would be a last resort and the process would be collaborative. The chair noted the cost-savings rationale versus culverts and hard infrastructure.
• Historic preservation trust fund – $50,000 to jump-start the fund created with the Board of Representatives but never capitalized; funds would support historic signage and voluntary cultural resources inventory listings. The historic zoning bonus fee, which feeds the fund, may need to be increased.
• Sleepy Hollow Park master plan – Springdale conservation-area park (mostly wetlands) with an active friends group; focus on walking trails and interpretive signage about wetlands and flood protection.
• Overall needs assessment for city fields – additional funding on top of last year's $500,000 request, which the Board of Finance cut to $250,000; the balance sits as unfunded bond authorization and cannot be spent until the full amount is funded. The study would holistically assess city and Board of Education athletic fields, lighting, drainage, bathrooms, and changing demographics (e.g., pickleball demand, aging population).

Operations – Engineering

• City Engineer Lou Castle presented nine FY 2027-28 projects totaling $7.9 million, of which $3.4 million (about 43%) is grant-funded; most grants are anticipated or submitted but not yet confirmed.
• Municipal bridge replacement and rehabilitation – approximately $1.1 million for design of three aging structures: Cascade Road (100 years old), Farms Road (76 years old), and Bridge Street (about 75-76 years old; state inspection found deteriorated girder ends, deck, bearings, and abutments, with one of four lanes closed). Rather than submitting separate applications, design funds are pooled until the state selects which project receives aid; Castle will return for construction funding once awarded. If grants fall through, fallbacks include interim repairs and traffic reductions; the bridges are past their useful life and deteriorating annually.
• Citywide seawall replacement – Cove Island revetment failure along roughly 1,000 feet, exposing utility conduits; design is underway with bidding next summer. Funding was partially received last year.
• John Buccutsi Park Phase 2 – completion of the South End park with baseball fields, tennis/basketball courts, splash pad, protective fencing along private property lines, and soil remediation. Phase 1 (Soundwaters education building, parking, access road aligned with Congress Street, trails) is complete. A National Park Service grant supports the request; design completion is targeted for July, with construction beginning early 2028.
• Citywide storm drains – $600,000 for compound flood modeling plus $450,000 for drainage assessment recommendations and $200,000 for fix-it drainage complaints. The city submitted a roughly $5.9 million US DOT grant. Modeling identified Sterling Farms golf course as a contributor to Old Colony and Minivale flooding; pond dredging and storage options are being evaluated.
• Briarwood and Pheasant Lane – prior year request was zeroed out; steep topography causes runoff impacting four properties and the roadway drainage system. A design is proposed.
• Drainage design completion – $100,000 to finish a design from the ARPA-funded citywide drainage assessment (Holliwell area pipe network to a golf course pond); the project did not clear the state bond commission for construction funding.
• Resiliency and climate adaptation implementation – federal grant funding for backflow preventers on storm lines outfalling to Long Island Sound and a real-time flood sensor network, both priorities from the coastal resiliency study. The coastal flood resiliency plan will be presented to the board in November/December.
• Toilsome Brook – $650,000 state grant request to complete evaluation of the upper watershed riverine flooding and the lower urbanized pipe network; a prior DEEP grant was pulled back at the state bond commission. A public meeting was held the prior week; a website and QR code provide study information.
• Bridge safety repairs and design – a small emergency account for urgent bridge evaluations and repairs.
• Environmental assessments – for soil testing under Connecticut's new release-based soil regulations (replacing the transfer act).
• Out-year requests include Cummings Marina (lost during Hurricane Sandy), Stillwater/Progress Drive, and Leone Park underground detention.

Operations – Facilities

• Facilities Director Scott Butch presented:
• Citywide facilities lifecycle planning and assessment (department priority #1): a 10-year strategic capital plan modeled on the schools' effort; an RFP is currently out. Last year's request was cut by the Board of Finance; the department is seeking the funds again.
• Heating system replacement: end-of-life units replaced with high-efficiency systems; Eversource incentives up to $200,000 remain available. Funds would cover an entire building (potentially South End Fire Department #2) plus reactive replacements; 30 units have been replaced in three years, and a boiler control replacement at Government Center was funded this year.
• Citywide building and energy management systems (BMS): continued Siemens partnership expansions at Government Center, police, central fire, Lathan Wider, Yearwood Center, and potentially the historical society center.
• Government Center renovations: the 1986 building has spaces untouched for 40+ years; funds would add touchless weapons detection/magnetometers, MEP upgrades for first-floor cashiering/permitting and town clerk areas (not designed as office space), and fourth-floor board chambers/multi-purpose space renovation (design funds already in hand).
• Citywide floor replacement: 40-year-old flooring at Government Center, expanding to Old Town Hall and Lathan Wider.
• Buildings and utilities: CCTV installation at outer facilities (highways fleet, Schofields, Hague Town Yard) for safety and liability reduction.

Operations – Transportation

• Transportation Director Thomas Turk presented routine accounts: environmental compliance ($100,000 this year, $50,000 out-years) due to new state permits for five regulated sites (about $15,000 registration fee each); citywide manhole and basin repairs (emergency account, about 200 outstanding issues); street patch and resurfacing ($10 million requested) for the top-200 road list (10 roads currently being paved); citywide sidewalks; utility paving to coordinate curb-to-curb completion with utility trenching (expected spent down); and guardrails (minimum request; hit-and-run damage is a safety priority).
• Luke Button presented traffic engineering accounts:
• Roadway design and reconstruction (CP1281): city design funds prime the pump for roughly $50 million in state infrastructure investment, including pedestrian/cycle upgrades at about 40 signalized intersections, six new signals (CMAC Phase H), McGee Avenue design ($3 million grant), and Lockwood Avenue safety improvements ($6 million state grant; the corridor was the site of a recent fatality and supports a new elementary school). The balance will be spent down.
• Citywide signals (CP56174) – $1 million: $800,000 for Lafayette Street signal replacement, $100,000 for ADA signal upgrades, and $100,000 for communication upgrades. Stamford operates 211 traffic signals (second-largest system in the state); $3 million of the account balance is state grant and private contributions earmarked for specific intersections.
• Vision Zero action plan: Stamford was the first city in the state to adopt Vision Zero (eliminating serious and fatal traffic fatalities by 2032); $800,000 will be spent spring/summer 2027 and $500,000 for spring 2028 on high-injury network projects.
• Bicycle and pedestrian master plan – $250,000 focused on bike facilities; a citywide bike parking plan is being developed in-house.
• ADA transition plan – $750,000 to begin a cycle of pedestrian ramp upgrades once the legally mandated plan is complete (in about a month); the city will use a state contract for ramps.
• Transportation facilities (new project): upgrades at Hague Avenue town yard, including a salt shed past its useful life and WPA-era garages not built for modern equipment. Losing the salt shed would remove about one-third of salt capacity; last winter the city nearly exhausted its supply. Asked to quantify ongoing maintenance costs, Button said facilities staff would provide the numbers.
• CT Transit upgrades: about 3 million bus rides per year on CT Transit; 76% of parcels are within a 10-minute walk of a bus stop. Bus shelter ad revenue now only covers maintenance; capital funds would support shelter replacements (e.g., at Old Town Hall), with the state partnering on shelters along state roads.

Key Outcomes

• Minutes (October 13, 2026): approved unanimously.
• SEMS Vine Road Trailer supplemental appropriation ($33,913): approved unanimously.
• Stamford Forward Microtransit supplemental appropriation ($2,314,195.34): approved unanimously.
• The capital budget presentations were informational; no votes were taken. Departments committed to follow-ups including: distributing the public safety complex feasibility study packet, correcting spreadsheet math errors, adding out-year capital forecasts, quantifying salt shed maintenance costs, and presenting the coastal flood resiliency plan in November/December.
• The next meetings are November 4 (Wednesday, due to Election Day on Tuesday), November 10, and November 17 (capital budget callback) for follow-up questions to presenters.