Final e-waste drop-off day of 2019 on Saturday at city garage, 1 Collis St.

WEST HAVEN, Nov. 5, 2019 — For electronic items, including TVs, the final e-waste drop-off day of 2019 is Saturday.

City residents can drop off electronic recyclables — typically anything that contains a circuit board or needs a battery — from 8 a.m.-noon at the highway maintenance garage, 1 Collis St.

Anything that has refrigerant, including air conditioners and dehumidifiers, is not accepted. Those items are considered white goods, and residents are asked to schedule a pickup on their weekly curbside collection day by calling the Highway Department at 203-937-3644 or 203-937-3585.

The city is partnering with Take 2 Inc. of Waterbury, a recycler and collector of universal e-waste devices, to collect residential electronic items on a quarterly basis.

Details at E-waste Drop-off.

The e-waste drop-off is free for residents who have such items as TVs, hand-held video games, computers, monitors, copiers, scanners, microwaves, toaster ovens and other small appliances.

The Veterans Walk of Honor in Bradley Point Park. (City Photo/Michael P. Walsh, File)

Walk of Honor is site of Veterans Day tribute Monday

WEST HAVEN, Nov. 5, 2019 — The city and the West Haven Veterans Council will hold a Veterans Day tribute at 10:45 a.m. Monday on the Veterans Walk of Honor in Bradley Point Park.

All veterans are invited to participate in the annual ceremony, which will feature remarks from Mayor Nancy R. Rossi and Veterans Council President Dave Ricci.

Rossi’s executive assistant, Lou Esposito, will serve as the master of ceremonies.

The event will begin with a presentation of the colors by the West Haven Police Color Guard and a flag-raising by the West Haven Fire Department Honor Guard. It will follow with the national anthem and “God Bless America” by West Haven High School junior Nora E. Mullins and opening and closing prayers by Sean P. Ronan, senior vice commander of Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 9422.

The tribute will also include a bell-ringing at 11 a.m. and taps played by retired West Shore Fire Department Lt. Kevin McKeon.

Veterans Day, formerly Armistice Day, is celebrated on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month, marking the anniversary of the armistice that ended World War I in 1918.

To coincide with the solemn ceremony, the Veterans Council will officially launch the 13th phase of its popular Brick Campaign.

In November 2006, the council began the first of 13 campaigns selling bricks to memorialize veterans on the 100-yard Walk of Honor between the William A. Soderman and Vietnam Veterans memorials.

The bricks, which cost $75, have charcoal lettering for personalized messages.

More than 2,700 bricks have been installed so far, including 51 for the 12th phase, which was dedicated May 25.

Download a Brick Application.

Applications, due March 16, are also available in the mayor’s office at City Hall, 355 Main St. For details, call 203-937-3510.

City honored with Sustainable CT’s Bronze certification

WEST HAVEN, Nov. 5, 2019 — West Haven was among the Connecticut municipalities recognized at the New Britain Museum of American Art on Wednesday for achieving certification as a Sustainable CT community.

The city met high standards in a broad range of sustainability accomplishments to qualify for the prestigious Bronze certification, said Lynn Stoddard, executive director of the Institute for Sustainable Energy at Eastern Connecticut State University, which administers the Sustainable CT program.

Sustainable CT, a statewide initiative that inspires and supports communities in becoming more efficient, resilient and inclusive, announced its 2019 certified communities last week.

“This is really exciting news for the city,” Mayor Nancy R. Rossi said. “I would like to thank the volunteers and city employees who invested their time and hard work as part of the West Haven Sustainability Team. They were key to the success of this effort and on achieving the Bronze certification.”

In its application for Sustainable CT certification, West Haven amassed 390 points in 23 of 56 possible action categories, far exceeding the required 200 points for Bronze certification. Additionally, the city was nominated as a CT Success Story for the in-depth and thorough work done on assessing and addressing climate vulnerability.

“West Haven’s achievement of Bronze certification in only the second year of the Sustainable CT initiative is a credit to the diligence and forward-thinking of many city employees and commission members during financially challenging times,” said Robin Parsons, who leads the West Haven Sustainability Team. “This certification not only grants recognition to those efforts, it provides a foundation for West Haven to become a leader in municipal sustainability in the years to come.”

Certification lasts for three years, with Connecticut’s first cohort of municipalities certified in 2018. Collectively, 47 municipalities — more than 27% of the state’s communities — have earned Sustainable CT certification. Certified communities span every county and include some of Connecticut’s largest cities and smallest towns.

“Congratulations to our 2019 certified Sustainable CT communities,” Stoddard said. “We are inspired by your leadership and eager to share your accomplishments in building efficient, thriving and resilient communities.”

The Sustainable CT program empowers municipalities to create high collective impact for current and future residents and is managed under the leadership of Eastern’s Institute for Sustainable Energy in Willimantic.

Sustainable CT is philanthropically funded, with strong support from its three founding funders: the Emily Hall Tremaine Foundation, the Common Sense Fund and the Smart Seed Fund.

On Dec. 3, the Connecticut Conference of Municipalities will recognize West Haven and the 22 other communities with Bronze certification, as well as the nine communities with Silver certification, at the Sustainable CT 2019 Certified Towns Award Ceremony. The event will take place during CCM’s Annual Convention at Foxwoods Resort Casino in Ledyard.

Collins sworn in to police commission for 3rd term

WEST HAVEN, Nov. 1, 2019 — Mayor Nancy R. Rossi swears in Chairman Raymond V. Collins III to the Board of Police Commissioners for a third five-year term on Thursday at City Hall.

Collins, a former Republican Board of Education member who lives on Apple Tree Terrace in West Shore, first took the oath of office on Sept. 29, 2010, succeeding the late Alex Botte, who served on the police commission from 1966 to 2009. Collins was elected chairman in 2012.

(City Photo/Michael P. Walsh)

Mayor Nancy R. Rossi on Oct. 28 announces a rooftop solar array for the underway reconstruction of West Haven High School that will generate power for the school once it is installed and save the city more than $1 million in electrical costs over 25 years. Joining Rossi for the City Hall news conference are West Haven High School Building Committee Chairman Kenneth Carney, center, and city energy consultant Adam Teff, general manager of Titan Energy of Rocky Hill. (City Photo/Michael P. Walsh)

WHHS solar array will save city $1M in electrical costs

WEST HAVEN, Oct. 30, 2019 — The underway reconstruction of West Haven High School will now include a rooftop solar array that will generate power for the school once it is installed and save the city more than $1 million in electrical costs over 25 years, Mayor Nancy R. Rossi announced during a news conference at City Hall on Oct. 28.

Rossi heralded the news by touting the benefits of solar energy and its positive impact on the environment, saying the roof-mounted array is designed to cut greenhouse gases and will save taxpayers money.

“Solar power is cutting-edge and is attractive to eco-minded students, teachers and those invested in sustainability,” said Rossi, who opened the news conference to “share some positive news.”

“Our attractive new school will be even more attractive to our community with solar-powered mechanicals,” Rossi said. “Environmentally conscious practices and renewable power create an eco-friendly facility that stands out from other high schools.

“I am pleased to say that West Haven High School is gaining a reputation for innovativeness and creativity.”

Rossi was joined at the afternoon announcement by her executive assistant, Lou Esposito; state Reps. Charles J. Ferraro, R-West Haven, and Michael A. DiMassa, D-West Haven; Board of Education Chairwoman Rosemary Russo and member Rosa Richardson; Superintendent of Schools Neil C. Cavallaro; Kenneth Carney, chairman of the West Haven High School Building Committee; and city energy consultant Adam Teff, general manager of Titan Energy of Rocky Hill.

Carney said the solar photovoltaic system will net the city an actual savings of $1.02 million, or just over $40,000 per year, in electrical costs over the 25 years.

Photovoltaic is the conversion of light into electricity using semiconducting materials.

The installer and owner of the array is Greenskies Renewable Energy LLC of Middletown, which will erect the system in March 2020 and maintain it at no cost to the city or Board of Education, Carney said.

Under an agreement with Greenskies negotiated by Titan Energy, West Haven will off-take the energy generated by the array and purchase the electricity it produces at the negotiated per-kilowatt-hour fixed rate of 5.9 cents over 25 years, well below the city’s current rate of 11 cents, Carney said.

West Haven High’s $130 million reconstruction includes the newly completed addition that Rossi toured on Aug. 27 after greeting students, teachers, faculty and staff on the first day of school.

In addition to the future array, Rossi said the school is being constructed with high-efficiency boilers, LED lighting, an insulated envelope, energy-efficient windows, water-saving fixtures, and high-efficiency heating, ventilating and air conditioning equipment.

“All of these energy-efficient components will result in a dramatic reduction in utility costs to operate the new high school,” Rossi said.

Designed by Antinozzi Associates of Bridgeport to accommodate 1,598 students, plans for the reconstructed high school also include renovating the existing building. The total finished project has an area of 265,959 square feet, according to Carney.

Carney said the completed school will offer a cutting-edge media center and advanced STEM classrooms and laboratories for science, technology, engineering and math, as well as upgraded public areas for the school and community. The fully air-conditioned building will have lower maintenance and operating costs and offer enhanced access and security, he said.

Carney said the project’s construction phase, also known as Phase III, is composed of three major “subphases” to allow the school to offer a full academic curriculum throughout the project.

Gilbane Building Co. of Glastonbury is the project’s construction manager, with Amar Shamas serving as the project executive. The Capitol Region Education Council of Hartford, or CREC, is overseeing the construction financing.

Carney said the construction phase, which began in April 2018, is expected to take about three years to complete, with a projected occupancy of new spaces in fall 2019 through 2021. Site restoration work is expected to continue until spring 2022, he said.

Carney confirmed the project is on schedule and $2 million under budget.

The first subphase, completed this fall, included constructing the food services, building services, tech-ed shops, media center, auditorium, music and arts classrooms, and administrative offices.

The second subphase, now underway, calls for renovating the existing eastern three-story building after demolishing the existing cafeteria and media center.

The third subphase includes demolishing the existing auditorium and music spaces, renovating the northern wing of academic spaces, and demolishing the existing gym and southern academic building.