Robin Comey

Last week the governor signed into law two important bills on Maternal and Infant Healthcare. Plus, we had a great community conversation at our End-of-Session forum, thank you to all who attended. 

Keep scrolling to read about:

• Friend of Early Childhood Award
• End-of-Session Community Forum
• Around Town
• Main Street Traffic Pattern Shift
• Maternal & Infant Health Laws Signed
• Early Childhood Education Endowment
• WBDC Ignite & Childcare Business Grant Program
• West Nile Alert
• Community Events

I was presented with an award by the CT Early Childhood Alliance. I was recognized as a Friend of Early Childhood by the teachers and students at Branford’s Duck Pond Learning Center. This was a special honor because of all the truly meaningful policies we passed this year. In my opinion early childhood is the best investment you can make. I’m happy to be a fierce advocate for our youngest learners. 

A heartfelt thank you to everyone who came out last week for our End of Session Community Forum. It was a valuable and engaging conversation—an opportunity to hear directly from residents, share updates on our work, and collaborate on how we can better serve our community.

To everyone who attended and participated: your feedback, questions, and perspectives truly make a difference. Your voices help shape our priorities and strengthen our work moving forward. 

Although the legislative session is over there are so many pressing needs in Branford and we need to keep working together to build a community and state where everyone can thrive. 
 

I joined a group of Short Beach neighbors to clean up a recently restored wetlands area. Keeping it free of trash and invasive ivy is important for the long term health of Rockland Pond. 

Sarah and I spent a good amount of time uncovering and pulling out a dumped tire. It was definitely there for quite some time. The property transferred to the Branford Land Trust and maintained by the Short Beach neighborhood volunteers. 

I was excited to make my first stop of the season to the Stony Creek Farmers Market. There was an incredible variety of vendors. I picked up some bread and tea, ate a couple of local Stony Creek oysters, and spoke with many talented artisans. I look forward to revisiting to see how the vendors vary each week. 

Check out the Stony Creek Farmers Market for yourself each Sunday from10:00 A.M. to 2:00 P.M. at Bayview Park in the creek.

Traffic Pattern Shift at Main Street & Montowese Street started tis week to support underground utility relocation work ahead of the Main Street Reconstruction project.

Key Traffic Adjustments:

• Right-turn lane closure on Main Street approaching Montowese Street
• Reduction to a single northbound lane on Montowese Street approaching Main Street
• Temporary relocation of the CT Transit bus stop farther West toward Park Place
• Adjusted traffic signal timings and additional signage to guide drivers
• Enhanced pedestrian safety measures around active work zones

The work at this intersection is expected to take approximately 3-4 weeks. Residents, commuters and business owners should plan for minor delays and use caution while traveling through the area.

Connecticut committed to providing access to maternal health services during the 2025 legislative session with the passage of two key bills.

Both pieces of legislation were signed into law last week by Governor Lamont and affirm Connecticut's dedication to ensuring safe, high-quality care, regardless of race, income, or zip code.

House Bill 7102 (Public Act 25-38):

• Develops a strategy to increase birth centers and birthing hospitals in underserved regions of the state with a high percentage of Medicaid recipients
• Increases Medicaid reimbursement for doulas
• Expands the role of fathers in supporting maternal and infant health

House Bill 7214 (Public Act 25-7):

• Establishes a task force to study perinatal health care, which will provide a report card for birth centers and hospitals providing maternity care
• Requires the Commissioner of Public Health to convene an advisory committee to study the pros and cons of doula-friendly practices in hospitals and make related legislative recommendations

Connecticut is taking a historic step forward for families with a $300 million initial investment in the newly created Early Childhood Education Endowment. This is the start of a revolutionary investment that aims to provide free and affordable, high-quality child care across the state. 

Affordable child care is about supporting our children and parents. This transformative program will help expand access to quality, affordable child care for families across the state.

The endowment will be used to:

• Expand capacity by adding tens of thousands of new child care slots in Connecticut’s state-funded system, allowing more children to enroll in high-quality early learning programs.
• Provide free early childhood education to families enrolled in Early Start CT earning up to $100,000 annually, and ensure that no participating family pays more than 7% of their income for care.

This is just the beginning. In the years ahead, the Endowment will continue to grow through annual contributions from budget surpluses and strategic investments – ensuring that we build a lasting foundation for Connecticut's children and families.

The Women’s Business Development Council (WBDC) has announced the next round of their Ignite and Child Care Business Grant Programs. The Ignite Grant Program is designed to help women-owned businesses grow.

The program offers:

• Grants of up to $10,000 to women-owned businesses in the state of Connecticut who have been in business for 2 or more years and have revenues between $25K and $2 million

Since the start of the program, 424 grants of over $3.9 million have been distributed to women-owned businesses in Connecticut.  The application period for this grant runs from August 5 through September 16.

Click here for more information on Ignite.

The Child Care Business Opportunity Fund, offered in partnership with the Connecticut Office of Early Childhood (OEC), provides grants of up to $25,000 to qualified licensed and aspiring child care businesses.

The program offers:

• Grants targeting different stages of business, from start-ups to those ready to expand

Since this program was launched in 2020, nearly $8.4 million has been awarded to child care businesses in every corner of Connecticut. The application period for Child Care Business grants runs from August 1 through August 31.

Click here for more information on the Child Care Business Opportunity Fund grants

Information sessions for both grant programs are scheduled throughout the application periods. These sessions will help applicants understand the grant requirements and provide an opportunity for those interested to ask questions about the grants. Interested applicants can register for a live information session here. 

The East Shore District Health Department has received confirmation that mosquitoes recently sampled in East Haven carried the West Nile Virus. The mosquitoes were collected on 7/21/25 at the Kenneth Street area of East Haven. 

The warm weather, high humidity, and frequent rainfall that have created ideal conditions that are conducive to the spreading of West Nile Virus infected mosquitos. To this date there have not been any human cases in Connecticut this summer. 

There’s a good deal of summer remaining, and that means that mosquitoes will be with us for several more months, and we need to take the proper precautions to avoid mosquito bites. To read about steps to prevent mosquito bites visit: https://www.esdhd.org/.

The Health District is also advising that people continue eliminating stagnant water in and around their properties.

• Dispose of water holding containers, such as ceramic pots, used tires, tire swings.
• Drill holes in bottoms of recycling containers.
• Clean clogged roof gutters
• Turn over plastic wading pools, wheelbarrows, etc.
• Change water in bird baths on a weekly basis.
• Clean and chlorinate swimming pools that are not being used, including pool covers.
• Use landscaping to eliminate standing water on your property.

Mosquitoes are collected approximately every 10 days. The towns of Branford, East Haven, and North Branford have funded a mosquito larvicide program that includes application of larvicide to mosquito breeding areas, as well as storm water catch basin larvicide treatments.

The East Shore District Health Department locally administers the program that includes mosquito and human surveillance and aggressive elimination of mosquito breeding conditions. For more information, you may call the Health District at (203) 481-4233 or visit its website at www.esdhd.org.

For more information on the latest testing results and locations visit: the CT Mosquito Management Program and the CT Agricultural Experiment Station.