New public works facility high priority in Cromwell
CROMWELL >> Town officials have not abandoned their efforts to find a viable location for a new public works facility. Earlier this month, residents at a town meeting overwhelmingly rejected a proposal to buy a 37-acre parcel of land as the site for the new facility. However, Town Manager Jon B. Sistare said on Tuesday finding a new home for the public works garage is “still a high priority.”
“We’re not done proposing a new facility at some other location,” Sistare said earlier this month.
“We’re looking for a new location and then a new facility,” Sistare said Tuesday.
The town proposed buying a 37-acre site located on the west side of Interstate 91 from the Cromwell Fire District for $340,000. But several residents who attended the town meeting said the site, located off Evergreen Road, was not viable because of water and ledge. Still others complained the price was too steep. But in the wake of the meeting, Sistare said even while residents at the meeting rejected the site, “There seems to have been a consensus that existing facility is not adequate” and needs to be replaced. The present highway garage is located on a 2.2-acre site just south of Pierson Park. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE READING
From Brownfield to Brewery
Plans to transform a brownfield site on the Branford River into the new Stony Creek Brewery are in high gear, with groundbreaking hoped to begin in the next 60 days and the new facility up and running by this summer. The ground-up, mixed-use gathering place and brewery facility design, produced by Branford architect Joe Sepot, was approved by the Planning & Zoning Commission (PZC) following a public hearing on Jan. 16. On Jan. 24, The Sound touched base with brewery manager Manuel Rodriguez for a progress update. While no firm construction start is set as yet, "We'd like to break ground in the next 60 days. It is our intention to be open by summer," Rodriguez told The Sound. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE READING
NPU, nearby towns continue sewer hook up
NORWICH — As Norwich Public Utilities seeks partnerships from surrounding communities to help pay for a $96 million sewer treatment plant upgrade by offering excess capacity to nearby towns, officials said Tuesday any signed agreements would not strip NPU of local oversight.NPU General Manager John Bilda gave an update on the project Tuesday to the Board of Public Utilities Commissioners. He said that regional use of the city’s system will not take away its ability to set rates or make maintenance decisions.“We need to do what is in the best interest of those in the city, who have already paid for the plant,” Bilda said. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE READING
Transportation Commission chides state for pilfering funds
The Connecticut Public Transportation Commission told Gov. Dannel P. Malloy and the legislature to not take any more funds away from transportation projects to pay for other state programming.
In its annual report, the commission said Connecticut needs to preserve the integrity of all money in the Special Transportation Fund. The fund, which is support by the gas tax and other user fees, was raided in the latest state budget to pay for expenditures in the state General Fund. The commission said the STF is needed to keep the state's transportation infrastructure up to date, and that raiding the STF for General Fund purposes undermines the trust of those who pay gas tax, gross receipts tax, fares, and license and permit fees. The commission made five other recommendations to Malloy and the Connecticut General Assembly: develop a better funding mix for the Coastal Link bus service in Norwalk; keep funding for municipal dial-a-ride programs; continue public disclosure on CTfastrak; develop a privately run rail service between Danbury and Pittsfield; and increase marketing for local bus service.
Wethersfield officials make cuts to high school renovation project
WHETHERSFIELD -- Time ran out on the new shot clock proposed for the Wethersfield High School gym Monday night. The timepiece was among items that fell victim to more than $1 million in cuts to the high school reconstruction budget approved by the school building committee.
Other cost savings included less expensive floor and ceiling tiles, fewer windows that open, cheaper roll shade fabric, PVC instead of cast iron piping and interior locker room walls that no longer reach the ceiling. The committee made the changes as the town battles $10.3 million in cost overruns on the project's original $75 million price tag. Officials have blamed the exploding costs on discovery of far more hazardous materials than expected and a stronger economy, which inflated bids. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE READING