CT Construction Digest October 25, 2013

Contractors sued for Southbury bid rigging

SOUTHBURY -- The state is accusing three private contractors who have plowed Southbury's roads for years of engaging in an illegal boycott and colluding to raise their prices ahead of a crippling early season snowstorm in 2011.In a 26-page lawsuit expected to be filed in state Superior Court in Hartford, Attorney General George Jepsen claims executives of the three companies strong-armed town officials into paying them a higher-than-normal rate to clear the roads just hours before a nor'easter struck the state on Oct. 29, 2011, then conspired afterward to rig bids for plow service for the rest of the winter season."This complaint alleges that the defendants put the town in a no-win situation: Agree to our demand to award us the work on our terms or face the likelihood that a significant swath of town roads would be impassable," Jepsen said.Named as defendants in the action, which was brought under Connecticut's anti-trust and unfair trade practices acts, are H.I. Stone & Son Inc., S&S Paving and Stone Construction, all of Southbury, and their heads, Chuck Stone, Kevin Starchak and George Stone Jr., respectively.

Officials celebrate improvement projects at Meriden's City Park

MERIDEN — With construction already underway, by the end of the year City Park should have a skating rink, basketball court, volleyball court and walking paths. On a crisp Tuesday morning, elected officials and community members gathered under the trees at the Bunker Avenue park to celebrate the changes with a groundbreaking ceremony. With leaves rustling under their feet, officials talked about the long process to develop plans and find funding for park improvements. Mayor Michael S. Rohde led the celebration. “This is a great community park,” Rohde said, mentioning that many people present had grown up with the park and remember when there was much more available. It once had a fountain and pond, a bandshell, a pavilion and other courts for recreation. Due to fires, flooding, vandalism and construction of Interstate 691, the park offered less and less as its size was reduced. “We’re bringing it back,” Rohde said. “We’re making it happen. It’s a great spot for neighbors to join together.”State Sen. Dante Bartolomeo asked the crowd if anyone remembered when the conversations about City Park started. With no one piping up, Bartolomeo said it was September 2009. Members of the City Park and Brookside Park Neighborhood Association got involved as well as the Mount Hebron Baptist Church. “It began as a conversation,” Bartolomeo said. “It was a meeting with 10 of us.”

Burns&McDonnell expands Maine operation

Construction and engineering firm Burns & McDonnell, which has its New England campus in Wallingford, is expanding in Maine, it announced.The firm said it will serve northern New England from the new Portland office. Its Maine operation has grown from five employees in 2008 to nearly 80 today.The employee-owned company has more than 170 employees at Leigus Road in Wallingford.

 

Remaining apartments coming to Colt Gateway

 

The remaining apartments planned for the Colt Gateway in Hartford will be under construction soon, Mayor Pedro Segarra is expected to announce this afternoon.A city official familiar with the project said permits for the final 79 of 129 apartments at Colt's former South Armory on Huyshope Avenue — which the city wants to see developed into a mixed-use community — have been issued.The project, which had been stalled, will get $5 million in funding from the city.Commercial tenants in the Gateway include the Capitol Region Education Council and Foley Carrier Service.

East Hartford plans informational meeting on trail plans

EAST HARTFORD — An informational meeting is scheduled Oct. 30 on the third phase of the Hockanum River Linear Park trail.The existing trail extends from the south end of Great River Park, adjacent to the Charter Oak Bridge, to the Walnut Street bridge near Burnside Avenue, according to Town Engineer M. Denise Horan.The third phase now under consideration would connect the trail end near Hillside Street, approximately 1,000 feet east of the trail parking area, with Old Roberts Street, near Roberts Street.Horan said that the project is being designed using money remaining from a 1988 grant from the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, and if it receives adequate community support, the town will be able to access federal funding for its construction.
The third phase would include construction of a stone-dust surface and four bridges over waterways along the 3,700-foot-long trail. There is also a proposal for a seating area with a view over the Hockanum River near Cottage Street, Horan said.From the seating area to Old Roberts Street, the trail would follow an existing path next to the Willow Brook bypass channel and terminate at Old Roberts Street with a paved ramp for emergency access, as well as a paved ramp that complies with the Americans with Disabilities Act.