MERIDEN, Conn. (AP) — Unemployed and underemployed Connecticut construction workers are being trained to work on planned gas distribution and transmission pipeline construction projects.
It is part of a massive plan to expand natural gas service to about 280,000 new customers across the state over the next decade. Earlier this year, the General Assembly and Gov. Dannel P. Malloy authorized state regulators to approve a new rate plan to finance the expansion program. A final ruling by the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority is expected to be issued on Nov. 21.
The International Union of Operating Engineers, Local 478, is holding a news conference and training demonstration on Tuesday at the union's training center in Meriden, where 24 workers are being trained. Malloy and other officials are expected to be on hand for the event.
MxCC to break ground in $1.5M project
MIDDLETOWN >> Middlesex Community College is hosting a ground-breaking ceremony to celebrate the start of construction of a new $1.55 million cafeteria. The 3,413-square-foot expansion includes a larger cafeteria and an attached, covered outdoor deck that will overlook campus that creates a new space for students and can serve as a stage for outdoor events. When complete, the cafeteria will be able to hold an additional 80 to 100 students. The ceremony will take place Nov. 25 at 9 a.m. in celebration of the new Founders Hall at 100 Training Hill Road. President of the college Anna Wasescha, President of the Board of Regents for Higher Education Dr. Gregory Gray, state and local officials, the project engineer, construction contractors, project administrators, students, faculty and staff are planning to be in attendance. The finished construction, which is projected for August 2014, will result in the addition of a 2,027-square-foot interior space, renovation of 678 square feet of existing space, and the addition of a 1,386-square-foot exterior covered space.
59-lot subdivision goes to hearing in Glastonbury
GLASTONBURY ——
The plan and zoning commission will hold a public hearing Tuesday on one of the largest subdivisions to be proposed in town in years. Developer Jack Oliveri and Highmeadow Investment Properties LLC have proposed building 59 houses on the site of a 108-acre former sand and gravel operation off Hebron Avenue. The Penwood Crossing development would be extended into the property with a new road, Brayton Road, linking with Hebron Avenue. "It's not the 132-lot or 108-lot developments that were going in during the 1970s, 80s and 90s," Community Development Director Kenith E. Leslie said, "but definitely the largest we've reviewed over the past five or six years."
Leslie said the development within the former MacClain Construction site "went dormant" soon after the real estate market collapsed in 2007. At that time, the developer had secured wetlands approval for the project, but never went before the commission. Leslie said no decision is expected Tuesday and the hearing will be continued to the commission's December meeting. "There is a lot of material to go over," Leslie said.
Second Hartford project secures financing
Developers converting a former office building near Hartford's Union Station into apartments completed the purchase of the building Monday and now have all financing in place.
The $14.9 million conversion of 179 Allyn St. — also known as The Professional Building — into 63 one-bedroom units is expected to get underway in early December, according to the developer, Dakota Partners. "We're looking at 10 months, and we hope to beat that," said Roberto Arista, a Dakota principal.Dakota purchased the 1880s, six-story building for $1.5 million in a foreclosure auction, Arista said. The apartments will average about 750 square feet and rents will range between $925 and $1,025 a month, not including parking. The units will be 80 percent market rate and 20 percent "affordable," or with rents based on area income. The Nv Nightclub and the Black Bear Saloon are expected to remain tenants on the ground floor. The financing package includes $6.5 million from the Connecticut Region Development Authority's $60 million fund for promoting housing in downtown Hartford. The CRDA's funds are split between a $3.25 million equity investment and a $3.25 million loan.
Report: CT needs $836M to catch up on state college renovations
The four Connecticut State Universities and the state's 12 community colleges need an infusion of $836 million to complete necessary renovations and eliminate a growing backlog of construction projects.“There is a significant backlog,” said Jim Kadamus, a consultant with Guilford-based Sightlines, told members of the Board of Regents for Higher Education last week. The board hired the company to assess the system’s construction needs. The state has spent about $123 million a year to finance construction projects at the 16-campus public college system over the last several years. But only one-third of that funding has gone to keep up existing buildings and roads; the priority has been on new construction to handle overcrowding. “You are adding to the backlog,” Kadamus said during a 45-minute presentation to the Regents’ Finance Committee. “There is a relatively low investment [for construction] on an annual basis.” According to the Sightlines report, college systems across the country are deferring needed construction projects. Gary Holloway, a member of the finance panel, said he's trying to determine how the board can take action. But with the regents system already struggling fiscally and students recently protesting tuition increases, officials from Sightlines suggest teaming up with the state to fund these projects, an idea the Malloy administration was noncommittal about Monday.