01/07/15 Update: At last night’s Old Lyme Board of Selectmen’s meeting, First Selectwoman Bonnie Reemsnyder clarified that the $300,000 grant announced by the state as apparently payable to the Town of Old Lyme is, in fact, funds payable to two private beach associations, Old Lyme Shores and Old Lyme Colony Beach. Reemsnyder reported at the meeting that the associations had, in fact, applied for the grant rather than the Town and the associations, “Will be working [directly] with the state government,” on the Sheffield Brook Outfall Resiliency project. Reemsnyder said she had become aware there was some confusion regarding the grant due to the information presented by the state..
12/30/14: Governor Dannel P. Malloy, alongside Department of Housing (DOH) Commissioner Evonne Klein, has announced $30 million in grants for the restoration and resiliency to existing infrastructure in municipalities impacted by Super Storm Sandy.
Included in the allocation to 21 projects in 11 communities is Old Lyme, which will receive $300,000 for the Sheffield Brook Outfall Resiliency. This project involves designing and constructing a new culvert and outlet to prevent extreme high tides from entering the culvert and damaging upstream structures. The project will control future shoaling at the outlet so the structure can drain.
Other communities receiving grants include Bridgeport, East Haven, Fairfield, Milford, New London, Norwalk, Stamford, Stratford and West Haven. The largest single grant of $4 million will improve stormwater volumes and drainage on New Haven’s Union Avenue.
“The damaging effects of storms along Connecticut’s shoreline are just a reality these communities must face,” said Governor Malloy. “With these grants, however, we can assist these municipalities and their cleanup efforts from the devastation of one of the most severe storms in Connecticut’s history, and help them to establish resiliency plans so they can be better prepared in the years ahead.”
Last year, the state was awarded a second tranche of funds in the amount of $66 million through the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and its Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery (CDBG–DR) program. The CDBG-DR program, administered by the Department of Housing, was established to assist the most impacted and distressed areas recover from Super Storm Sandy.
“Earlier this year, DOH disbursed nearly $32 million in several communities ravaged by recent storms. This second round of federal funding will build on the momentum started in rebuilding infrastructure projects,” said Department of Housing Commissioner Evonne Klein. “It’s also helping these same cities and towns take measures that will diminish the impacts of future storms.”
The primary goal in allocating funding for the rehabilitation and resiliency of infrastructure is to restore a suitable living environment in disaster impacted communities by rehabilitating or reconstructing existing infrastructure and adding resiliency to minimize damage from future storm events.