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A powerful winter storm is winding down in Connecticut as snow, sleet and rain taper off Sunday afternoon.

Hundreds still remain without power as of early Sunday afternoon. Eversource, the state's largest electricity provider, reported about 400 outages as of around 5 p.m. Almost half of those outages were in West Hartford. In Simsbury and Granby, where hundreds of outages were reported earlier in the day, power had been mostly restored by mid-afternoon Sunday.

Eversource spokesperson Jamie Ratliff said the outages appeared to be weather-related, likely due to trees falling on wires.

United Illuminating, which serves the greater Bridgeport and New Haven areas, said there were no outages in its coverage areas.

The season's first winter storm began Saturday night and brought several inches of snow along the coast and up to a foot in northern areas of Connecticut.

READ MORE: Snow totals Sunday morning varied widely in Connecticut

By 11 a.m. Sunday, the National Weather Service reported that Hartford County had the highest reported snowfall. North Granby had 11 inches and West Hartford had 10 inches of snow. Canton had 9.5 inches and Windsor had 8.5 inches, the weather service said. In Tolland County, 6.5 inches was recorded in Staffordville and 6 inches in Tolland, the weather service said.

In Fairfield County, 4.5 inches were measured in Greenwich, 4 inches in Redding, 3.5 inches in Stamford and about 3 inches in New Canaan, Wilton and Norwalk as well as at Sikorsky Airport in Stratford on Sunday morning.

The precipitation tapered off overnight, but redeveloped by mid-morning Sunday.

Gary Lessor, of the Connecticut Weather Center at Western Connecticut State University, said the worst of the storm was over by 11 a.m. and expected the state would only see an additional 1 or 2 inches of snow.

"The steady, heavy stuff is long gone," Lessor said. "There will probably be some scattered, start and stop, and minor accumulations (of snowfall)."

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Periods of rain, snow and sleet were expected along the coast until early afternoon.

Brian Spyros, the Connecticut Airport Authority's public information officer, said about 20 percent of flights were canceled and 3 percent were delayed Sunday at Bradley International Airport in Windsor Locks.

Spyros said travelers should monitor the status of their flights with airlines before heading out, but said most of the affected flights would be in the morning.

Lessor said forecasters are already switching their attentions to a potential storm on Tuesday.

"Rain will start Tuesday afternoon and may briefly start snowing," he said. "Then strong, gusty winds will be present Tuesday evening into the night."

The coastline could see 50 to 60 mph gusts while inland could experience 30 to 45 mph winds on Tuesday, Lessor said.

This is a developing story and will be updated.

DANBURY — The election of Roberto Alves as Danbury’s first Democratic mayor in more than two decades was somewhat of a shock to city residents. Now, Alves hopes to spur economic growth with the appointment of real estate agent and investor Jorge Sousa as the city’s next economic development officer.

The 45-year-old Sousa, who was born in Portugal and has lived in the city for more than 30 years, founded Danbury-based Clearview Realty in 2008. He told CT Examiner on Tuesday that his first priority will be hearing from local business owners.

Sousa, who started the role on Dec. 26, succeeds Shay Nagarsheth. The total budget of the one-person Economic Development Office for 2023-24 is $135,898.

Sousa said he met with seven business owners and developers in his first week, with plans to meet with 10 each subsequent week.

The initial feedback from business leaders, Sousa said, involves parking, traffic, utility costs, and concerns regarding zoning regulations and the permit process.

“I feel, personally, that our zoning regulations have been really tight,” Sousa said. “They haven’t been flexible and, in order to increase our businesses coming in, we have to have some kind of flexibility.”

One example, Sousa said, concerns the zoning rules for downtown Main Street, which states that buildings can’t be more than five stories. Those rules can be looked at, he said.

Sousa also said it’s also essential to streamline the permit process “so we do not hold back smaller projects. We need to analyze each permit separately, but not hold back on something that should be turned around [quickly].”

Sousa noted that longtime Planning & Zoning Director Sharon Calitro is retiring next month and said she put “together a lot of processes. There is nothing that can’t be improved upon.”

Sousa said Calitro’s ultimate successor “should come in with an open mind and not be stuck with what was set up in the past. That person needs to look at today’s times and see what the needs are before we start making any adjustments.”

According to the city, there were 1,359 new business registrations in Danbury in 2021. Statistics for 2022 and 2023 are not yet available.

Alves told CT Examiner that Sousa has the experience to lead the city’s business community into the future.

“Jorge’s experience as a local business owner and developer is an asset not just to City Hall, but to our entire community. His vision for the future of our city aligns with the wants and needs of our community,” he said. “… We’re going to work together to reinvigorate economic growth and attract both businesses and residents to our city. This is a pivotal moment in our city’s economic development strategy, and we’re excited to get to work.”

Sousa said tax breaks and redevelopment incentives help, but that it’s important to listen to business leaders on a regular basis to hear their concerns and ideas.

To that end, Sousa said, the city and his office will be holding a first-ever Business Summit in the first quarter of 2024, with a specific date to be determined.

“The goal of the business summit is really to hear from the business leaders and to hear from their mouths what it is they need, what can we do to make business operations for them better,” he said. “I hope, and believe, that these business leaders will be honest enough to give us what the negative points are.”

In addition to navigating the city’s zoning regulations and permit process, Sousa said parking and traffic are issues of concern for business leaders, especially those downtown.

“I think one of the biggest issues we have so far with the downtown small business owners has been parking,” Sousa said. The city, he said, needs to do a better job promoting the downtown parking garage, located behind Main Street.

Sousa said the parking garage “barely gets used. Even business leaders realize that the garage is sitting there and underutilized. Many people, however, don’t even know that it’s available. I think one of the actions the mayor’s office is going to take is to put signage [for the parking garage] out.”

Sousa said he also supports bringing angle parking back to the downtown area. That plan would require new sidewalks, but he said the change would allow more parking spaces.

Traffic downtown is also a problem, albeit a welcome one, he said.

“Right now, I see a lot of people complaining about traffic, but that’s part of the pain of growing that we have to deal with,” Sousa said, suggesting a solution could be diverting traffic to both sides of Main Street and making road improvements.

The city has seen numerous new businesses over the past several years, including national chains like IHOP, Jersey Mike’s and Laredo Taco; new tenants in the Danbury Fair Mall including Target, Shake Shack and Golf Lounge 18; and the addition of Bruce Bennett Nissan/Infiniti, North American Motor Cars and Mercedes Benz to the city’s west side..

The city also welcomed the development of Encompass Health, a 100,000-square-foot inpatient rehabilitation hospital on the westside that resulted in about 70 full-time jobs.

Sousa said he’s also excited about working with developers to make the 26-acres WestConn Park a reality.

The project, which Sousa said the city hopes to break ground on within two years, will include 10 buildings for mixed-use development for residential, commercial and retail.

“It’s a great project for that area and the town,” he said. “It will also be a big tax revenue for the city.”

Robert Storace is a veteran reporter with stints at New Britain Herald, the New Haven Register, the Connecticut Post, Hartford Business Journal and the Connecticut Law Tribune. Storace covers the State Capitol for CT Examiner. T: 203 437 5950

[email protected]

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As the holiday shopping season hits the homestretch in Connecticut, two malls are cementing their status as state's retail meccas, according to recent data that tracks shoppers based on their mobile device location.

Factoring in both visitors and time spent at the mall by those patrons, Danbury Fair edged Westfarms as the busiest in Connecticut in November, in a CT Insider review of shopping center visitation data tracked by Placer.ai, a location analytics company.

Including the Black Friday weekend, shoppers spent nearly 990,000 hours in the aggregate at Danbury Fair in November, which draws visitors from both western Connecticut and adjoining counties in New York. That compared to about 945,000 combined shopping hours tracked by Placer.ai at Westfarms, which on Friday debuted its newest draw in Jordan's Furniture.

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An external spokesperson for Westfarms told CT Insider the mall anticipates "a solid 2023 shopping season" driven by women’s apparel, home goods, and technology.

The jury is still out on how retailers will fare in the 2023 shopping season, after an extended stretch of record inflation which is finally showing signs of easing. On Thursday, the U.S. Department of Commerce reported declining sales nationally in November for department stores and electronics, furnishings and building supply stores from a year earlier, with apparel shops and sporting goods stores seeing only slight gains. That compared to an 8.3 percent bump for non-store retailers including Amazon.

In Connecticut, Westfarms edged Danbury Fair for the most visitors in November with just over 500,000 in all, but came in behind Danbury Fair for total shopping hours due to an extra five minutes on average spent by visitors to the Danbury mall, as calculated by Placer.ai.

Other retail centers in both West Hartford and Danbury show up high on the Placer.ai data, to include Blue Back Square and Corbin's Corner in the former, and the busy Berkshire Shopping Center on Newtown Road in Danbury anchored by Walmart.

"Telling me they show up high on these lists doesn't surprise me at all — that is basically the West Hartford story," said Chris Conway, CEO of the West Hartford Chamber of Commerce. "Beyond the mall and Blue Back, we've got a vibrant retail and dining environment in our center, but even outside of our center — Bishop's Corner, the Elmwood neighborhood, the Design District, Park Road — just drive around town and you would see the same thing throughout town."

The Connecticut Post Mall was a the third busiest in November, with just over 700,000 visitation hours. The Trumbull Mall and Manchester's Shoppes at Buckland Hills rounded out the top five, each with approaching 600,000 hours spent in their stores and restaurants according to Placer.ai data.

The Connecticut Commons complex just off Interstate 84 in Plainville led all outdoor retail centers in the state for shopping hours in November. While Connecticut Commons has several popular retailers like Dick's Sporting Goods and Kohl's, its aggregate visitation hours could get a boost from the AMC Plainville 20 theater that, with more than triple the screens of Blue Back Square's Cinepolis Luxury Cinemas, has more seating for moviegoers who stay for extended stretches.

Landing lower on the Placer.ai data was Stamford Town Center, but the data does not appear to include visitation numbers for Macy's at the north end of the mall. Assuming the Stamford Macy's drew somewhere between the 70,000 and 140,000 visitors that other locations did in Connecticut, then adding the entirety of the low end of that range would elevate Stamford Town Center's numbers to roughly in line with Blue Back Square, The SoNo Collection in Norwalk and Clinton Crossing Premium Outlets among the top 10 in Connecticut.

Target is even a bigger draw than Macy's for many malls, and Danbury Fair could be in line for another boost when Target completes construction of a new store there in space that once housed Sears. According to data extrapolations by Placer.ai, daily on average during November roughly 240 people jogged onto Interstate 84 for trips to or from Danbury Fair and the nearest Target just over the Bethel line.

Target generated the most visits at both the Connecticut Post Mall and the Trumbull Mall in November, outpacing Macy's at both venues. Macy's was the biggest magnet at both Danbury Fair and Westfarms in November as the holiday shopping season kicked into gear.

"Consumers have been remarkably resilient — yet at the same time, our research indicates that themes like uncertainty, caution, managing my time and budget and focusing on essentials while still finding ways to celebrate, are all top of mind," said Target CEO Brian Cornell, speaking on a conference call in mid-November. "Consumers are still spending, but pressures like higher interest rates, the resumption of student loan repayments, increased credit card debt and reduced savings rates, have left them with less discretionary income, forcing them to make trade-offs in their family budgets."

Back in West Hartford, Conway said the eyeball test for last month's "Holiday Stroll" in West Hartford suggested that locally, shoppers are out in force for the holidays.

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"Anecdotally we believe that that was the biggest attendance in the 36-year history of the event — we estimated that about 10,000 people came," Conway said. "I saw more people in the stores, and not just going for the free hot chocolate or candy canes."

The City’s FY 2023-2024 Proposed Budget lowers the mill rate (tax rate) by 4.89 mills to a historic 23.33 mills, and fully funds the Board of Education budget request of $150 million dollars. The FY 2023-2024 Proposed Budget focuses on building our new transformational education system, supporting our public safety by continuing to add additional staff and infrastructure, fully funding the capital plan as submitted by the planning commission, and takes a strategic approach to our entire city government. The total general fund expenditure plan for FY 2023-2024, including the Board of Education, is$295,750,000.

This represents an increase o$18.25 million over the current year adopted budget of $277,000,000. Spending by the Board of Education (excluding capital) will increase by $9 million. Net revenue from all sources other than current property taxes total $52,019,775 leaving a net balance expected to be collected from local taxes of $243,730,225. Based upon the taxable grand list of $10.45 billion, the Mill Rate will be lowered a historic 23.33 mill rate (tax rate).

Mayor Dean Esposito’s Full Remarks on the Proposed FY 2023-2024 Budget “I am pleased to present my proposed Budget for the fiscal year commencing July 1, 2023, and ending on June 30, 2024. The City’s FY 2023-2024 Proposed Budget boldly addresses the needs of our entire City, and prepares Danbury for generations to come with a focus on the education of our children and the vital services our City provides for our residents. The City of Danbury has been recognized as a municipality focused on efficient and effective government for decades, and we will continue that tradition with this budget. The challenges of the post Covid-19 world continue to affect us, and by working together, we have created a City infrastructure that is ready and able to be resilient and nimble as issues arise.

Continuing Danbury’s Legacy as the Premier Place to Live, Work and Raise a Family in Connecticut23.33 Mill Rate

This historic reduction in our mill rate, the lowest of any large city in our state, will solidify Danbury’s legacy as the premier place to live, work and raise a family in Connecticut. It will help ease the tax burden on our residents due to record property value gains resulting from the recent 2022 revaluation. Danbury residents will even have a lower rate than all the surrounding towns and communities.

We are able to deliver this incredible rate even as we continue to battle record-high national inflation and persistent supply chain issues caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. Our focus remains on the central principles in the City’s Mission Statement to maintain this delicate balance: To ensure a superior quality of life for [our] citizens by providing the most cost-effective municipal services while preserving the cultural, historical, and natural resources of the City.

This past year, we have pulled together as a community and brought forth a message of optimism and determination. I want to again thank all of the residents of the City of Danbury for your support, input and belief in our mission. As Mayor, I am proud and honored to present the Proposed Budget for the Fiscal Year commencing July 1, 2023, and ending on June 30th, 2023.

Budget Considerations

The financial challenges related to inflation, supply chain delays, rising rent and mortgages, childcare needs, etc. have been overwhelming. Danbury taxpayers, both residential and business owners, are struggling just to pay their heating and grocery bills. The City used ARPA (American Rescue Plan Act) funds to “respond, restore, and prepare” in a variety of ways that continue to help us recover from the global pandemic and build a more resilient City government for years to come. The broad purpose of ARPA funds is to enhance the safety and well-being for the City of Danbury.

Our public-school system is set to launch an innovative career pathway-oriented curriculum that will be transformative for our students, and the City will invest the necessary funding to rise to the occasion.In addition, this budget prioritizes Public Safety, Public Health, Education, and Infrastructure. We took a holistic approach at all departments, authorities, and city entities to do our best to fully provide the funding needed.

Collaborating to Overcome Challenges

In my first budget presented last year, we worked together to make strategic and bold investments to address long-term needs of the City, and we will continue to create and support new initiatives to enhance Danbury’s position as a premier city to work, live and raise a family.

Together, we have done an outstanding job rising to the occasion, and we have a real opportunity to continue Danbury’s legacy by taking a holistic approach to addressing our budget and budget priorities.

It is important now more than ever before to remove any silos and to WORK TOGETHER to find the best possible solutions for our residents as we deal with funding challenges. I know we can continue to provide the kind of city services that make our Danbury Community uniquely great and affordable.

To strengthen our funding effort, I am creating an Office of Federal, State and Local Grant Opportunities. This office will be vital to ensuring Danbury has the resources it needs to seek, apply and receive vital funding that would otherwise be left undiscovered. I want to find every penny I can for the City of Danbury.

Commitment to Transformational Education of All Students

After working collaboratively with Danbury Superintendent Kevin Walston and the Danbury Board of Education, I am proposing to fully fund the Board of Education budget request of $150 million.

During my entire tenure as Mayor, my focus has been on education and with the creation of the Academies of Danbury quickly approaching, I believe we need to give the Superintendent the necessary tools he and our children need to succeed. Danbury will fundamentally transform education for our children by creating a wall-to-wall district-wide career pathways curriculum which will set the model for the rest of the State of Connecticut to follow in the future. I look forward to continuing to work with the Danbury Board of Education to make the Academies of Danbury the best it can be for generations to come.

A Continued Focus on Infrastructure

The tremendous work of our City employees has enabled us to focus on the infrastructure of our great City. We are committed to continuing our downtown revitalization efforts, repairing sidewalks and roads, and focusing on the exciting future of our rail and public transportation systems. This past year, we completed the Plan of Conservation and Development with extensive collaboration and input from City residents, businesses and stakeholders, elected officials, and City staff.

That outreach included hundreds of conversations at events throughout the City, an in-person workshop, a virtual workshop, focus group meetings, interviews, and an online survey. In total, the planning process received input from over one thousand stakeholders. This is the roadmap for our future, and there are significant investments in this budget to make it a reality.

A Model for Public Safety and Public Health

During our budget process, I worked extensively with our Emergency Management, Police Department, Fire Department, and our Health Department to make necessary investments to keep our community safe. With this budget, we will continue to be one of the safest communities in the country and will always support the men and women who protect us.

The Creation of the Office of Federal, State and Local Grant Opportunities

Over the last several years during the Covid-19 Pandemic, the City of Danbury saw an influx of federal funds including the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) The City has strategically allocated ARPA funds to projects and initiatives that will benefit the community for years to come. Our priority was to not create any fiscal cliffs with these funds. This influx of federal funds led to my administration's newly announced initiative of the Office of Federal, State and Local Grant Opportunities which will provide a funding mechanism for our departments, nonprofits and businesses.

Conclusion

This proposed budget was created with the input of Department heads, City employees, constituents, and elected officials to determine the future direction of our City. It creates a road map by investing in our infrastructure, public safety, and education system. It also demonstrates a fiscally responsible budget that works to ease the burden on residents that is felt during a property revaluation. This budget limited the amount of discretionary city operating budget increases, but prepares Danbury for the future via strategic investments.

The major budget drivers continue to be from outside factors including supply chain, inflation, and lack of state funding for unfunded programs, and requirements for the municipality. We will continue to face our challenges head on.

This budget fully funds the Superintendent and Board of Education’s $150 million request, positioning the Academies of Danbury and the Danbury Public School district for success now and into the future for generations to come. The future goal-oriented Office of Federal, State and Local Grant Opportunities will discover funding sources that will be vital for our city.

Our focus remains on the central principles in the City’s Mission Statement to maintain this delicate balance: To ensure a superior quality of life for [our] citizens by providing the most cost-effective municipal services while preserving the cultural, historical, and natural resources of the City.

I want to again thank all of the residents of the City of Danbury for your support, input and belief in our mission. As Mayor, I am proud and honored to present the Proposed Budget for the Fiscal Year commencing July 1, 2023, and ending on June 30th, 2024.”

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DANBURY — The city’s first “food farmacy” has officially opened to help provide people with certain health conditions access to nutritious food.

The Food Farmacy of Greater Danbury at the Connecticut Institute for Communities on Main Street is the result of a collaborative effort between United Way, Nuvance Health, Connecticut Institute for Communities, Community Action Agency of Western CT and UConn Extension that came to fruition with the support of a $1.05 million congressionally directed spending grant.

“Access to healthy and nutritious food should not be a privileged reserve for some — it should be a right shared equitably among all people,” Dr. Brenda Ayers of Nuvance Health said in a statement. “Today, with the Food as Medicine program and the Food Farmacy of Greater Danbury, we have the opportunity to provide equitable access to those most vulnerable and most in need.”

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Unlike other food pantries, the Food Farmacy of Greater Danbury will be more like a grocery store.

“It’ll have the look and feel of a small grocery store, with aisles, refrigeration and fresh foods that are well-balanced with a lot of produce — healthier food options,” Ashley Gaudiano, vice president of resources development and marketing at the United Way of Western Connecticut, told Hearst Connecticut Media earlier this year.

The Food Farmacy of Greater Danbury won’t be open to everyone — only those with prescriptions from physicians and health care providers that can be “filled” at the site.

Participants will also have access to additional fresh produce benefits through United Way’s Produce Benefits program — which includes weekly funding for participants to use on fresh produce at participating retailers — and services like monthly consultations with a dietitian, regular healthy meal preparation classes and support from a community impact worker.

There’s also a dedicated physician and data analyst monitoring program impacts on patient outcomes, according to United Way.

“We firmly believe that a thriving community’s foundation lies in the health and well-being of its residents,” United Way of Coastal and Western Connecticut president and CEO Isabel Almeida said. “We firmly believe that the Food Farmacy of Greater Danbury will play a crucial role in addressing the underlying factors that impact the health of our community members.”

More information about the Food Farmacy of Greater Danbury initiative can be found at unitedwaycwc.org/food-farmacy.