The state Bond Commission will vote Thursday to borrow more than $500 million for infrastructure projects throughout the state, including improvements to state buildings, prisons, deep water ports, roads, colleges, neighborhoods, and schools.
The special meeting of the commission in December is often thought of as a sort of Christmas present for those who receive the funds and more often than not if the item is on the agenda it’s approved by the commission.
It’s also bragging rights for the lawmakers who represent the city or town that receives the money.
There’s $12 million for Middletown to revive its riverfront, $1.2 million to help Hartford rehab an old diner on Farmington Avenue, $6.5 million to help Ansonia redevelop the old Ansonia Copper and Brass site, $10 million to help with the redevelopment of Dixwell Plaza in New Haven into a mixed-use development with 150 new housing units, 20% of which will be affordable, and $8 million to help with housing projects in north Hartford and the Sheldon Charter Oak neighborhoods.
Essentially, the money goes on the state credit card and is added to the amount of debt the state owes.
The state Bond Commission will meet at 10:30 a.m. in Room 1E of the Legislative Office Building.