New Haven Independent

Honored at the Board of Aldermen’s monthly meeting Monday were these cops: Officer Shafiq R.F. Abdussabur, Officer Jason Jackson and Officer Russell Blackwell (left to right above), all of the CTRIBAT youth development program.

“When we got officers that have got a heart in the community, we need to recognize them,” said Dixwell Alderman Drew King, handing them a citation. King commended the program for giving kids alternatives to “gang-banging in the streets.”

Abdussabur is the brains and heart behind the street-smart youth development program that’s done wonders for at-risk teens over the past three years. Click here for more background.

Jackson and Blackwell, two new cops who work in the Hill, said taking 55 kids to go camping in the woods as part of a CTRIBAT summer program certainly posed challenges. But after some time in the woods, Blackwell said the students were “at peace.”

In the end, all 55 participants stayed out of trouble with the law, reported Abdussabur. Now 20 of those same kids will move on to a a video-making workshop led by CTRIBAT in collaboration with Hill Librarian James Wellbourne and local filmmaker Chip Croft. Click here to read more about that. Sonda Whitfield was given a citation for joining the CTRIBAT effort while mourning the loss of her 13 year-old daughter, Jajuana Cole, who died in a summer shooting. Officer Carl Myer was also honored, in absentia.

Also Monday, the city police department announced it is making a $5,000 donation to CTRIBAT.

A New Newhallville?

Building on recent efforts by Habitat for Humanity and Neighborhood Housing Services, the city’s looking to undertake a $3.4 million revitalization project in a bombed-out section of Newhallville.

“We’ve been very successful in [doing rehabilitation] in Fair Haven, the Hill, and Dwight, but Newhallville has been basically limping along,” said Steve Beck, deputy director of administrative services for the city’s Livable Cities Initiative. “A real concerted effort” needs to be made to replenish abandoned houses and vacant lots in Newhallville, he said.

Alders applauded the concept, but at a time when the city is already struggling with budget overruns, the pricey project met scrutiny.

Julie Savin, project manager from LCI, laid out the plan. The city has its eye on seven vacant lots in Newhallville, including on Starr, Thompson, and Newhall Streets. On the vacant land — much of which was abandoned after nearby factory jobs disappeared — the city would build ten units of owner-occupied housing. Seven would be affordable housing for those making less than 80 percent of the Area Median Income, and three homes would be sold at market rate.

Last month, aldermen approved an application for $210,00 to the Federal Home Loan Bank of Boston to support the project. This month, LCI sought — and gained — approval to apply for $675,000 from the Housing Trust Fund of the state Department of Economic and Community Development.

“What happens if there is a deficit?” asked Alderman Jorge Perez during a public information session preceding the full board meeting, questioning if all funding sources would work out.

Savin cited several other sources: A predicted $1.6 million from the federal HOME grant program; $700,000 in existing HOME funds; in-kind contributions of solar panels; and expected proceeds from selling the three homes at market rates.

What if you don’t sell the homes at market rate? asked Perez. Savin said she’d look for other sources of funding in that case. She said she’d give aldermen another chance to look over and approve the project if the DECD grant application is approved.

Aldermanic President Carl Goldfield said he “felt better” hearing that assurance. “People are concerned that there’s going to be some sort of shortfall, and you are going to be coming back to us” for extra funds. “I can assure you that won’t happen.”

After the meeting, Savin noted fundraising is usually done before the project is embarked upon. “All the funding will be in place before we even put the first hole in the ground,” she said.

When the full board met, members voted unanimously to approve application to — but not necessarily acceptance of — the DECD grant.

Also at the meeting, aldermen approved a four-year contract between the Board of Education and the New Haven Adminstrators’ Association, representing 134 school administrators. The contract provides average salary increases of between 3.25 percent and 3.75 percent each year, for a cumulative increase of over $2 million over four years. Employees also agreed to increase their employee contribution to medical costs each year, said Westville Alderman Sergio Rodriguez, newly appointed chair of the aldermanic Finance Committee.

In other developments Monday, Mayor John DeStefano submitted to the board a request for an additional $600,000 to complete the long-delayed demolition of the New Haven Coliseum.