With little to no statutory requirement to coordinate outside of local boundaries and a history of municipal-centric governance, the 169 autonomous municipalities within the state of Connecticut face many challenges in planning for environmental risk and for procuring grants and federal funding that favors regionalism. Over the last five years, MetroCog has been collaborating with it's member municipalities to emphasize and strengthen a regional perspective. This enables better regional planning required for federal transportation and transit funding, as well as a growing interest in environmental conservation. As the members of our Council well know, the environment does not conform to municipal boundaries. This effort has led to an increased number of grant awards benefiting Connecticut.

1. Regional
Brownfield &
Climate Risk
Mitigation
November 3, 2015
Brian Bidolli
Executive Director
Connecticut Metropolitan Council of
Governments (METROCOG)

2. • Introduction & Context
• Regional Brownfields Partnership
• Climate preparedness workshops
• Tools, process, and outcomes
• East Bridgeport Development Corridor
• Next Steps…
OVERVIEW

3. •169 autonomous municipalities within the state
•Little to no statutory requirement to coordinate outside of
local boundary
•Municipal property taxes comprise large proportion of local
budget
•Difficult to change historical municipal-centric governance
•Environment does not care about political boundaries
PLANNING CHALLENGES
IN CONNECTICUT

4. Emphasis from state and federal agencies on regionally shared
services
Regional planning required for federal transportation and
transit funding, growing interest in conservation.
Increased number of grant programs supporting/favoring
regional applications
MOVING TOWARD REGIONALISM

5. Source: FEMA
SANDY FLOODING,
GREATER BRIDGEPORT REGION

6. INFRASTRUCTURE

9. ©TNC
©TNC
BRIDGEPORTWORKSHOPS
Comprehensive (All Hazards) &
Community Driven
Proactive Planning & Mitigation vs.
Crisis Management
www.coastalresilience.org

10. Objectives
Identify vulnerabilities & strengths – hazard, infrastructure,
societal and ecosystem profiles.
Initiate development of actions for the City, local
organizations, businesses and community groups and the
region.
Identify opportunities to advance actions that reduce risk and
increase resilience.
BRIDGEPORTWORKSHOPS
Giny Fullam

11. • City of Bridgeport: Emergency Management, Planning Economic
Development, Public Facilities, Finance, Health & Social Services,
Utilities, Land Use, Environmental Health, Sustainability, Parks
• Business Community
• Education
• Environmental Consultants
• Federal/State Agencies
• Congressional Representation
©TNC

12. WHAT YOU SAID…
www.coastalresilience.org
BRIDGEPORTWORKSHOPS Vulnerable areas identified by workshop participants

13. BRIDGEPORTWORKSHOPS Results…

14. • Economically,
environmentally and
mobility limited
population
• Proposed Barnum
Station to act as the
gateway to East
Bridgeport (East Side
and East End)
• Connections to
Bridgeport Hospital and
other development
opportunities
EASTBRIDGEPORT
DEVELOPMENTCORRIDOR

15. • Approximately 2/3 of
the parcels within ¼
mile of proposed station
are vacant or
underutilized
• Many of the parcels
require environmental
cleanup before
development
EASTBRIDGEPORT
DEVELOPMENTCORRIDOR

16. • Along with commercial
development there are
proposed environmental
improvements
• Implement
recommendations of
BGREEN 2020
• Repair riparian corridor
and create greenway
• $10 M TIGER Grant
for Barnum Station
EASTBRIDGEPORT
DEVELOPMENTCORRIDOR

17. REGULATORY
CONSIDERATIONS
• Brownfield assessment program primarily
focused on local economic development
• Process could benefit from a conservation
corridor approach, and encourage retreat when
appropriate.
• Incentives could be structured to encourage
mitigation of climate risk through brownfields
redevelopment
• Integration of federal, state, and local programs
can achieve economies of scale and scope.

18. NEXT STEPS
• Regional analysis of brownfields corridors to
rank environmental and economic benefits of
site remediation.
• Prioritization of sites for regional remediation
funding.
• Continue awareness program
• Integration of federal, state, and local programs
can achieve economies of scale and scope.

19. Brian Bidolli
Executive Director
METROCOG
bbidolli@ctmetro.org
203-366-5405
THANK YOU