Norwalk commission pushes state Harbor Management Act amendments as Veterans Park marina funding awaits bond allocation

Consultant Jeff Stedman told the Norwalk Harbor Management Commission on Jan. 22 that the Port Authority had approved the Veterans Park Marina application as part of a multi-million-dollar authorization, but the state Bond Commission has not yet allocated the money.

Stedman said the Port Authority approved Norwalk's application in a prior round of grants that totals roughly $10 million in authorizations, but the bond allocation step — necessary for the funds to be released — had not occurred at the time of the meeting. He said the city and port authority staff do not view the delay as an immediate fatal problem but that the Commission and stakeholders would continue to watch the bond process in the spring.

Stedman also discussed a renewed statewide push to amend the Harbor Management Act. A concept bill introduced in the Connecticut legislature was identified in the meeting record as LC02629; Stedman said Representatives Arzino and Baumgartner (Gardner) were sponsors and that several towns are coordinating draft language. The proposed amendments aim to clarify or strengthen harbor-commission authorities and the coordination between municipal commissions and state agencies (DEEP and others), a point commissioners said is important after recent examples where commissions felt excluded from state or utility project reviews.

Stedman said Norwalk city officials, including Mayor Harry Rilling according to the meeting record, had been asked to help coordinate with the local legislative delegation and that other towns (including Greenwich and New London) were active in the effort. He said a public-information presentation about the proposal is being prepared for shellfish and harbor commissions at upcoming gatherings and that the Harbor Management Association volunteers had circulated updated draft language to other towns for comment.

On other items Stedman raised historical-document preservation for the Norwalk River watershed plan, the possibility of naming or creating an interpretive panel at the new Veterans Park marina to honor Tony Mobilia, and the need to review DEEP's written response to Commission questions about the public-hearing process for an Eversource project. He asked commissioners to review that DEEP response and return comments at a subsequent meeting.

Ending — Stedman asked commissioners to consider cosponsorship and outreach to legislative delegations to support LC02629 and to review the DEEP response prior to the Feb. meeting. He also said the Veterans Park project remains under close watch pending bond commission allocation.