Posted on July 17, 2017
By Luther Turmelle, New Haven Register
The Connecticut Port Authority, the state’s newest quasi-public agency, will relocate from Hartford to the Saybrook Junction complex at the beginning of next month.
First Selectman Carl Fortuna Jr. and members of the Authority’s board of directors announced the move during the agency’s July meeting, which was held at Town Hall. The authority currently is based out of the Department of Economic and Community Development, said Bonnie Reemsnyder, a member of the agency’s board and first selectwoman of Old Lyme.
“We’re moving into an 850-square-foot, second-floor space in Saybrook Junction,” Reemsnyder said. “This is just a great spot for the authority to relocate to because it is not only includes a working harbor but is also located at the mouth of the Connecticut River.”
The authority will seek out larger public meeting spaces in the community for hearings and monthly public meetings, she said.
Saybrook Junction is a mixed-use complex of office and retail space that is located near the town’s Amtrak station. Saybrook Junction is part of the effort to revitalize an area of town that stretches from the train station east along Route 1 to Ferry Point along the Connecticut River.
“It’s really a great thing for the economic development of Old Saybrook,” Fortuna said. “Old Saybrook has nine marinas in town and we just want to be a partner with the authority as they try to revitalize Connecticut’s commercial ports.”
Fortuna said the authority’s focus also includes efforts to bolster recreation activities along Connecticut’s rivers and in its harbors.
“Between the Connecticut River and Long Island Sound, we certainly have the opportunity to grow the recreational aspect of the maritime economy,” he said.
Many of the projects the authority has already authorized are in Shoreline communities such as Essex, Clinton and Westbrook.
The largest of the three is $400,000 for dredging Westbrook’s harbor, which hasn’t been cleared of silt since 2012, according to Joe Salvatore, project manager for the authority. That has made it impossible for larger pleasure boats to access Pilots Point Marina, Salvatore said.
The dredging will remove about 6,000 cubic feet of silt from the harbor next spring using a specialized piece of equipment from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, he said.
Source: New Haven Register
