Jun. 3—Connecticut officials will meet this week to consider approval of more than $856 million for projects that range from complex and costly bridge replacements to installing toilets at state parks.
The decision of whether to fund those capital improvements is up to the State Bond Commission, a 10-member body chaired by Gov. Ned Lamont. The commission will hold its final meeting of the current fiscal year on June 7.
An agenda for the meeting released on Friday included more than $519 million in general obligation bond allocations, as well as nearly $337 in special tax obligation bonds that are mostly used to cover transportation projects such as highway construction and mass transit, according to Office of Policy and Management spokesman Chris Collibee.
The decision to borrow money to fund those projects will also come after Lamont announced this week that two major credit rating agency's — Fitch and Moody's — had raised the state's bonding outlook from stable to positive. Fitch Group is owned by Hearst.
"In meetings with credit rating agencies last week, they were impressed with our ability to control our fixed costs," Office of Policy and Management Secretary Jeffrey Beckham said in a statement. "While this is positive news, we cannot rest on our laurels, and we must continue to improve our state's long-term financial position."
Some of the projects listed among the 62 items of the Bond Commission's agenda include the following:
— $144.2 million for bus and rail projects, station improvements along the Waterbury Branch Line and some of the state's share of the $1 billion Walk Bridge replacement in Norwalk.
— $73.6 million for projects funded through the Community Investment Fund, including the restoration of a historic diner in Hartford and the development of a 12-acre park in New London
— $30 million for renovations and other improvements within the state park system, including upgrades to the boardwalk at Rocky Neck State Park, renovations to the carriage house at Harkness Memorial State Park and the installation of new vault toilets
— $24.5 million for the Department of Transportation's state bridge program
— $15 million to support a program that offers zero-interest to first-time home buyers to cover down payments and closing costs
— $8.1 million to fund roof repairs and other maintenance projects at seven interdistrict magnet schools
— $7 million to repair water damage at Hartford's Connecticut Convention Center and for other renovations at East Hartford's Rentschler Field
— $5 million to finance structural repairs and install a blue-light system at parking garages in downtown Hartford
— $3.2 million for dock improvements at the state's two historic ferry services on the Connecticut River.
— $541,332 to purchase body cameras for police departments in Lebanon, Naugatuck, Stamford, New Britain and Westport
While the commission gets the final word on whether to authorize each of the bonds, the investments themselves were authorized last year as part of a two-year, $7.5 billion bonding package approved by state lawmakers, as well as previous year's bond packages.
Lawmakers passed a similar measure in May that increased bond authorizations for the fiscal year beginning July 1 by about $420 million, according to the CT Mirror.
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