City hires compnay to manage connection to Cromwell plant
MIDDLETOWN >> The city has selected a construction manager to run the pending multimillion dollar build-out linking Middletown to the Mattabassett Sewer District. The Mattabassett Building Committee confirmed the Prime AE Group — formerly Prime Engineering Inc. — to manage contract administration, testing and inspection for the miles upon miles of wastewater infrastructure that would be required to connect the city with the district’s treatment plant in Cromwell.
A special subcommittee had boiled down the applicants to a three-firm shortlist composed of PEI, Kleinfelder and Wright Pierce. Councilman Tom Serra, who sits on the building committee, told the Press that the final price for the management contract will get hammered later, but would likely be in the neighborhood of $2.5 to $3 million. The committee voted by ballot, ranking the three firms following presentations by each, then voted unanimously to confirm Prime. Prime partnered with Cardinal Engineering Associates, which has been handling the city’s combined sewer separation program for a decade already. Proceedings are temporarily on hold after the town of Cromwell voted in September not to ratify Middletown’s joining the Mattabassett District despite Middletown getting the go-ahead from the district’s board of directors. But, said commission co-chair Todd Berch, the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection could easily step in and compel the district’s constituent towns to let Middletown join the club.
Hearing on Route 16 ramp project is next week
WALLINGFORD — A public informational meeting will be held next week regarding safety improvements to the Route 15 northbound exit 65 on-ramp that have been proposed by the state Department of Transportation. “It’s the typical state process,” Town Engineer John Thompson said of the informational meeting, which will be held on Tuesday, Dec. 3 in room 315 of Town Hall at 6:30 p.m. “It’s part of their protocol for advancing any project.”The purpose of the construction project is to enhance safety and reduce congestion at the interchange, said Susan Libatiquie, DOT project manager. Plans call for a more conventional on-ramp aligned parallel to and between Route 15 and Community Lake Park.
Waterford - The 90-year-old Cohanzie School, which sits on 9 acres of land on Dayton Road, has long been viewed as a site for potential redevelopment, despite objections from some who attended the former elementary school. And now, with an environmental cleanup of the site underway, town officials hope a development plan is not far behind. "They're just getting started," town Planning Director Dennis G. Goderre said of consultants from Tighe & Bond of Middletown, whom the town hired to plan the cleanup. "They started with testing for hazardous materials, so they are taking samples and sending them off to a lab so we will have a sense of what types of items are in the building or around the building and to what extent they exist." The consultants began their work at the former school Nov. 22, though initial reports of their findings are not expected to be ready until January, Goderre said. In April, the Representative Town Meeting approved the appropriation of $463,100 for the cleanup and demolition of the school, which has been eyed as a site for redevelopment for a number of years. Cohanzie School was left vacant in 2008 as part of a building project approved at a 2002 referendum that consolidated the town's five elementary schools into three because of declining enrollment and increased operational costs.
Hartford in U.S. Top 20 for October construction job growth
The Greater Hartford metropolitan area ranked No. 19 out of 339 for construction job growth in October, according to a report from the Associated General Contractors of America.
Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford added 20,200 construction jobs in October, a 13 percent jump over October 2012. The Hartford metro area was tops in the state in construction growth for the month. For the entire state, Connecticut added 5,800 construction jobs in October, an 11 percent year-over-year increase. The Connecticut construction industry is just starting to rebound from the economic fallout that started in 2007. While the numbers are increasing year over year, the industry still is waiting for robust growth to drive the jobs back to those pre-recession levels.
Wethersfield contractor charged with not paying workers
WETHERSFIELD – A local contractor faces criminal charges for reportedly failing to pay nearly $8,000 in wages for work done earlier this year at a Danbury motel, police said.
Alan Klavins, owner of Capital Construction Services, was arrested last week on a warrant and charged with failure to pay wages. Seven of Klavins' employees filed complaints with the Department of Labor's Wage and Standards Division last spring alleging he had not paid them, according to an arrest affidavit. The employees are owed for more than 300 hours of work they performed between December 2012 and April at a Holiday Inn in Danbury, the affidavit says.Klavins failed to appear at three Department of Labor hearings on the unpaid wages, the affidavit reads. Klavins finally met with DOL officials on Aug. 27 and agreed to pay the wages by Sept. 3, but failed to do so, court papers say. The department then sought a warrant for his arrest, the affidavit reads.
Klavins was released on $5,000 bond. He is to appear Monday in Superior Court in New Britain.
The arrest affidavit and arresting information do not list his age.