Home Care In Derby, CT

The state has designated the city as Tier 1, the most serious status.

Derby City Hall

DERBY, Connecticut — State officials have placed the city of Derby under the strictest level of review following the disclosure that instead of having a $1 million surplus, it has a $1.9 million deficit, a nearly $3 million difference.

Officials with the Municipal Finance Advisory Commission, said in a letter Wednesday, "The City and the Board of Education were unable to explain the $3 million difference between the City's projection and the audited results.

The MFAC is an eight-member commission responsible for reviewing standards for municipal audit reports and working with any municipality, referred to it by OPM, to improve the fiscal condition of that municipality.

MFAC also noted that Derby's Chief Financial Officer position has been vacant for more than a year and no applications have been received to fill the position.

Officials also said the city has failed to address nine separate audit findings in the June 30, 2022 report that had been repeated over a number of years.

Designating the city as a Tier 1 municipality places Derby under strict state oversight. Conditions include the city's Chief Executive Officer must appear before MFAC to discuss the financial condition and the plans to improve. The city will also have to develop a five-year plan, and implement measures to correct unsound or financial practices.

The most recent municipality to be designated a "Tier 1" city is West Haven.

Related Articles

Doug Stewart is a Senior Digital Content Producer at FOX61 News. He can be reached at [email protected].

Have a story idea or something on your mind you want to share? We want to hear from you! Email us at [email protected]

HERE ARE MORE WAYS TO GET FOX61 NEWS

Download the FOX61 News APP

iTunes: Click here to download

Google Play: Click here to download

Stream Live on ROKU: Add the channel from the ROKU store or by searching FOX61.

Steam Live on FIRE TV: Search ‘FOX61’ and click ‘Get’ to download.

DERBY — Members of the city’s planning and zoning commission on Tuesday unanimously approved a retail marijuana shop for 90 Pershing Drive.

It’s the first facility of its kind to be approved in Ansonia, Derby, Oxford, Seymour, or Shelton.

The address is currently home to Italian Pavilion, a Derby staple.

The plan is to convert the front of the 6,000 square-foot building into a marijuana shop. The rear of the building will be home to a smaller version of the Italian Pavilion. The two businesses will have separate entrances and exits.

The location allows easy access to Route 8 south and will be directly accessible from Route 8 north.

The sale of recreational marijuana became legal on Jan. 10, 2023. Click here for a list and map of licensed retailers.

Between January 2023 and December 2023, recreational adult-use cannabis and medical marijuana sales totaled more than $274 million.

The name of the new Derby shop isn’t known yet, nor when it will open, according to David Salinas, the CEO of Let’s Grow Hartford, LLC in New Haven.

Salinas, a Milford resident, launched Digital Surgeons, a digital marketing agency, in 2007. The company’s clients included Lady Gaga and Barney’s.

Salinas successfully transformed an old bus depot in New Haven into ?“District,” a 9?acre, $25 million campus that is home to 500 startup companies. Click here to learn more.

Salinas told The Valley Indy he sees great potential in both the cannabis industry and the City of Derby.

“We’re not owned by a corporation. I live down the road in Milford. Our goal is to be a local company,” Salinas said.

At retail marijuana outlets in Connecticut, orders are placed online and then picked up at the location. Customers pay in cash.

Salinas said the Derby marijuana store will employ about 30 people total, a mix of full-time and part-time employees. He said the exact number depends on how busy the location gets. Most positions will pay between $18 and $20 per hour.

Salinas submitted a statement of use to the planning commission stating seven employees and a security guard will be on site during the hours of operation, which will be 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. from Monday to Thursday, and from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

Italian Pavilion currently has 94 parking spaces — 20 of those will go toward the marijuana shop, which will be about 3,100 square feet.

Smoking is not allowed on the property, and the security system will be dictated by the state’s Department of Consumer Protection — the agency that created the recreational marijuana rules in Connecticut. It will include both a wired and wireless security system, along with motion, heat and laser sensors. No cannabis product will be left in the store when it is closed, and security cameras will be everywhere. Footage from those cameras will be kept for 30 days in a tamper-proof environment.

Several members of the Derby Planning and Zoning Commission — the group that wrote the rules dictating where such businesses can open in Derby — said Pershing Drive is a perfect location.

Because the use is allowed in Derby zoning, no public hearing was held on the site plan application. The application was listed under ?“new business” and approved the same night it was presented.

The new shop will be tucked away in the southern corner next to Red Raider Plaza, a commercial center home to a gym and several fast food joints. Then there’s a Starbucks, an Aldi’s, along with several other commercial storefronts on separate lots that share parking lots.

Alderwoman Sarah Widomski and commissioner David Kopjanski noted that navigating the parking lot can be challenging. That could get tougher with another 200 to 400 people going to the retail weed shop each day.

Ted Estwan, chairman of the Derby P&Z, noted the city tried to get another access point to the shopping center off Pershing Drive, but the state would not allow it. The set up is sort of stuck as is, commissioners noted, with a Route 8 on off ramp on one side and train tracks on the other.

According to documents submitted to Derby City Hall, Salinas’ shop will lease its space.

Mario Perone, the property owner, wrote a letter to the Derby Planning and Zoning Commission in support of the project.

“David Salinas is a family friend and I have found him to be a person of integrity and dedication,” Perone said. ?“He has a proven track record of being a responsible business owner who respects community values and standards.”

The Pershing Drive shopping center has been redeveloped extensively in the last 15 years. It was previously home to Valley Bowl and Charlton Comics.

A pair of adult use cannabis dispensaries appear due to open this year in the lower Naugatuck Valley.

In Derby, David Salinas said he hopes to open an as-yet unnamed recreational retail shop in space currently occupied by the Italian Pavilion, a venerated Valley eatery in business for more than 50 years.

Salinas told the Derby Planning and Zoning Commission at its Jan. 16 meeting that the restaurant's current 6,000 square feet of space will be divided in two, with the retail cannabis shop occupying space in what is now its dining room. The eatery will still operate out of a smaller space, Salinas said.

The commission approved the application unanimously.

In an interview Thursday, the Milford resident and entrepreneur behind the District co-working space in New Haven said he hopes to start construction "as soon as possible."

"I'd like to be open by summer 2024," Salinas said. "I love that area. I feel that it attracts so many folks from different towns and cities around it. I love the proximity to the highway, the visibility to Route 8."

Other occupants in the shopping center off Exit 16 of Route 8 include a Panera, Popeye's, Starbucks, AT&T store, Aldi, a pharmacy, an urgent care and a smoke shop.

"I think it's a great location," Salinas said, adding that city officials have been very helpful during the process. "I'm surprised nobody tried to do anything prior to us coming in."

Under state law, 3 percent of all the sales, or $30,000 of every $1 million, will go to the cities where dispensaries are located.

Salinas told the commission he hoped to serve 200 to 400 customers per day, but said it's hard to predict how much they'd be spending on average. "It's really market-dependent."

Up Route 8 in Seymour, construction is already underway at a dispensary to be opened at the Seybridge Plaza on New Haven Road.

Efforts to reach a representative of the business, officially named Divine One LLC, which operates dispensaries elsewhere in the state, were unsuccessful.

Brown paper covered the windows of the prospective business Thursday, which was formerly occupied by Trilogy Lounge.

A construction permit was issued for the space Nov. 23, 2023.

Beside the Seymour business, there are no other licenses issued to any adult use cannabis retail businesses in the lower Naugatuck Valley, according to a search of the Department of Consumer Protection website.

Though cannabis shops have long been absent in the lower Valley, the tax benefits to municipalities for such businesses could help to drive economic development, according to Rick Dunne, executive director of the Naugatuck Valley Council of Governments.

"With a vendor located in your community, even if they make deliveries to other towns, Derby gets that tax revenue," Dunne said.

Time will tell whether the Valley becomes any more or less attractive for such businesses, he said, predicting they will eventually be regulated similarly to liquor stores.

"I don't know if it will be a destination," Dunne said, citing a recent court decision that echoed the comparison. "It's really no different than regulating package stores."

MILFORD, Conn., Dec. 5, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Splash Car Wash, headquartered in Milford, Connecticut, today announced the opening of the chain's 61^st car wash, an express site located in Derby, Connecticut. This marks Splash's 38^th express wash and features a 130-foot tunnel outfitted with 19 self-service vacuums. The project was overseen and completed by Glen Sheeley, Splash's Director of Development and Construction.

Splash continues construction on eight additional greenfield washes, two of which are expected to open by year end – one in Shelburne, Vermont and the other Randolph, Massachusetts. During 2023, Splash will have opened seven new express washes, with another three existing sites having been completely refurbished and rebuilt. The remaining six new developments are all located in New York with expected completion dates between late spring and mid-summer 2024. Another five sites are in various stages of entitlement or permitting and should be under construction in the next three months.

"We are excited to see the growth at Splash continue. As we develop more sites within the Northeast region, we know we're bringing more convenience and an unmatched customer experience to our subscription members, while simultaneously providing more opportunities for growth to our team members", stated Mark Curtis, CEO and co-founder of Splash. Splash currently employs over 1,200 employees and has been named Top Workplace for the past nine years.

ABOUT SPLASH CAR WASH, INC

Splash Car Wash was started in 1981 by Mark Curtis and Chris Fisher with a single location in Greenwich, Connecticut. Since that time, Curtis & Fisher, along with their experienced team and partners, have developed over 80 locations, and currently operate carwash tunnels in Connecticut, Vermont, and New York. Many sites include detailing operations, eight locations provide oil change services, and two locations operate laundromats.

Splash has been named "Best Carwash" by numerous publications over 40 times and has been recognized as a "Top Workplace in Connecticut" for the past several years by Hearst Publications. Four General Managers employed by Splash have been recognized as "Most Valuable Carwasher" by Professional Carwash & Detailing Magazine and Auto Laundry News. Splash has been awarded the US Chambers of Commerce prestigious "Blue Chip Enterprise Award" and has been inducted into the Connecticut Business Hall of Fame.

ABOUT PALLADIN CONSUMER RETAIL PARTNERS (PCRP)

Palladin Consumer Retail Partners ("PCRP" or "Palladin") is a Boston-based private investment firm, founded in 1998, that focuses primarily on the retail and consumer products sectors in North America and Europe. Our team has a strong investment and operating track record; the Principals of PCRP have invested in, financed, or managed over 100 public and private retail and consumer products companies. We pride ourselves on working closely with management teams to create value through strategic and operational initiatives. PCRP strives to provide its portfolio companies with the advantages of a strategic partner and the operating flexibility and incentives of a financial investor. Current and former investments include M@C Discount , Southeast Mechanical, Tailwind Concessions, Leapfrog Brands, Decowraps, PB Metro, Splash Car Wash, KT Tape, Nic+Zoe, InMotion Entertainment, J. McLaughlin, Things Remembered, Restoration Hardware, Spencer Gifts, Jamba Juice, Worldlynx, Multi-Flow, and Kwik-Tek

CONTACT:

Mark Curtis[email protected]203-324-5400 ext. 7011

Patricia Donnelly[email protected]617-585-3800

SOURCE Palladin Consumer Retail Partners, LLC

DERBY — Gov. Ned Lamont was on hand Thursday (Nov. 16) to officially open a new fuel cell facility on Roosevelt Drive.

A fuel cell ?“uses the chemical energy of hydrogen or other fuels to cleanly and efficiently produce electricity,” according to the U.S. Department of Energy.

Derby’s new fuel cell converts natural gas into electricity, according to a post on the CBIA website.

The new power generator on Roosevelt Drive (state Route 34) will produce enough juice to power 10,000 homes, according to WSHU public radio. The electricity produced by the 14-megawatt station is purchased by Eversource and United Illuminating. The power produced goes out into the grid. It’s not Derby-exclusive.

The Roosevelt Drive fuel cell is being leased by FuelCell Energy, Inc., based in Danbury. Its components were made in Torrington. Another fuel cell is under construction on Coon Hollow Road, between the Derby Department of Public Works and the city’s dog park.

The Roosevelt Drive facility is now the second largest fuel cell in the state. The largest is in Bridgeport.

Rich Dziekan, the outgoing Derby mayor, has touted the two fuel cell projects in the city as a way to bring much-needed non-residential tax revenue to the community.

The fuel cell is at 200 Roosevelt Drive on privately-owned land, according to documents filed with the state in 2019. FuelCell Energy Inc. is leasing the land from IDA Properties, Inc., part of IDA International, a Roosevelt Drive manufacturer next to the new fuel cell.

Fuel cells are considered a ?“class 1” renewable energy source under state statute. That puts them with wind power projects — ?“clean energy” producers.

The following was taken from a FuelCell Energy Inc. press release on the new facility:

How It Works

Fuel cells electrochemically combine fuel and air to create power without combustion. Other energy generation processes combust methane, emitting nitrogen oxide (NOx), sulfur oxide (SOx), and particulate matter emissions, which can lead to smog, acid rain, and respiratory issues. The electrochemical reaction in fuel cells is virtually free of these harmful emissions.

FuelCell Energy’s platforms help utilities and independent power producers eliminate or reduce emissions while strengthening grid reliability. The fuel cell power plant’s compact design, quiet operation, and clean emissions profile make it easy to site in populated areas.