Month: June 2018

#BRIDGEPORT – Mayor Ganim has been awarded the Outstanding Achievement award for the Mayor’s Initiative for Reentry Affairs at the 2018 City Livability Awards Program during The U.S. Conference of Mayors’ 86^th Annual Meeting in Boston.

This award recognizes mayoral leadership in developing and implementing programs that improve the quality of life in America’s cities, focusing on the leadership, creativity, and innovation demonstrated by the mayors.  This year’s winning cities were selected by former mayors from a pool of over 150 applicants.

“Understanding the challenges and needs of our residents and supporting the overall quality of life in the City of Bridgeport is a priority for me.  We have continued our commitment to the MIRA program and are excited about future partnerships and opportunities that our new Director Eric Christmas will be bridging for re-entering citizens,” said Mayor Ganim.

CEO and Executive Director of the Conference of Mayors, Tom Cochran said, “Our City Livability Awards Program gives us the chance to express our pride in cities’ mayoral leadership in making urban areas cleaner, safer, and more livable.  We are grateful to Waste Management for its many years of support for the City Livability Awards Program, and for the opportunity to showcase the innovation and commitment of mayors and city governments across the country.” 

This is the 39^th year in which cities have competed for the award, which is sponsored by the Conference of Mayors and Waste Management, Inc., the nation’s largest environmental solutions provider.

 

Susan Moulton, Waste Management’s Senior Corporate Director of Public Sector Solutions, presented the City Livability awards during the annual luncheon in Boston, MA.  “Through the City Livability Awards, Waste Management is immensely proud to honor US Mayors who are committed to strengthening our communities and enhancing the lives of their residents across the nation,” said Susan.

Outstanding Achievement Awards were given to five cities with populations of 100,000 or more: Austin (TX), Bridgeport (CT), Forth Worth (TX), Plano (TX), and Tallahassee (FL), and five cities with populations of less than 100,000 — Auburn (WA), Huntington (WV), Lima (OH), Niagara Falls (NY), and Sumter (SC).

(Press Release)

 

#Bridgeport, CT – Mayor Ganim joined the Director of the Office of Planning and Economic Development (OPED) Tom Gill, Director of Planning Lynn Haig, and President of Downtown Special Services District (DSSD) Lauren Coakley Vincent today to break ground on a Main Street bioswale that will bring additional greenery and art to the Downtown area while providing an ecology-friendly rainwater filtration system.

“A bioswale not only alleviates the burden on our city’s sewer system but also adds permanent landscaping to our concrete downtown,” said Mayor Ganim. “This project improves the quality of life in the downtown area by revitalizing our urban cityscape, while making green advances and improving the pedestrian and visitor experience.”

Director of OPED Tom Gill said “OPED has created a standard design for an engineered right-of-way planting. Developed from best practices learned in New York City and New Haven, this new design is less expensive and more reliable than previous bioswales throughout the city. This implementation will have colorful plants and a decorative tile border, adding to the beauty of the downtown streetscape.”

The City of Bridgeport integrated community-engaged design work in the construction of the bioswale to showcase the talent of our local artists and give them opportunities to be engaged in the development of the city.

The design and Main Street implementation have been funded through a $50,000 grant from the Surdna Foundation and developed in partnership with UConn Center for Land Use Education and Research (CLEAR) and Michael Singer Studio. DSSD will serve as project manager and oversee construction and bioswale preservation.

The bioswale will be designed to capture stormwater runoff that currently flows into the street and storm drains.  The bioswale will allow the water runoff to permeate directly into the ground, thereby avoiding the stormwater system and freeing up capacity.

(Press Release)