Hawleyville sewer project OK'd
NEWTOWN -- A $2.8 million sewer construction project intended to fuel development of some large commercial properties near the intersection of Route 6 and Route 25 in the town's Hawleyville section was unanimously approved by the
Board of Finance last week. This is a capital project that will include a benefit assessment to prospective users. First Selectman Pat Llodra and
Fred Hurley, public works director, have advocated for money to begin construction this year to generate new commercial enterprises that will help lift the burden for municipal services from taxpayers.
United Rentals, Inc. Looks great in the long run
Equipment rental company
United Rentals has the wind in its sails. As an industry behemoth, the company has been in prime position to benefit from a global economic recovery, and recent earnings show further proof that that is well under way. United Rentals is seeing growth not only in its rental segments but in outright sales as well, suggesting that construction companies and industrials are investing in what should remain an upward-trending macroeconomic environment. While highly susceptible to shifts in said environment, United is looking great today as a globally oriented cash-printing business. CLICK TITLE TO CONTIUNE READING
Fire in Branford Quarry, Evacuation order lifted
BRANFORD — About 800 people were asked to evacuate from the area around the Stony Creek Quarry on Thursday afternoon when a fire broke out in the vicinity of dynamite stored on the property, officials said. There was no explosion, and no one was injured. People in homes and other buildings within a two-mile radius of the quarry, at 99 Quarry Road, were told to evacuate as a precaution. The evacuation order was lifted as of about 5:15 p.m., and people who left were allowed to return home, fire officials said. A rubber blasting mat caught fire in the quarry, said Fire Chief Jack Ahern. The mats are essentially made from recycled tires and often are used in quarries to keep debris contained during blasting, he said. The fire marshal determined that the fire was caused accidentally by workers burning cardboard near the mats, Ahern said. When they arrived at the scene, firefighters initially held back because of the dynamite in the area, but they were able to begin fighting the fire by evening. "We didn't know how close the fire was to the explosives," Ahern said. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE READING
Manchester adds Waddell School to list of expansion options
MANCHESTER — The board of education has an added option now as members consider which elementary schools to expand and which to close. An architect on Thursday night presented a plan to renovate and enlarge Waddell Elementary School to accommodate 530 students. Elementary schools already being considered for similar expansions are Robertson, Verplanck and Washington. Beginning at a Feb. 8 workshop, the school board plans to consider the future of these four schools. Guided by recommendations from the School Modernization and Reinvestment Team Revisited, the board may decide to renovate and expand two schools and close two others. The SMARTR committee met in town hall Thursday to hear the Waddell plan from Randall Luther of Hartford-based Tai Soo Kim Partners Architects. Luther presented two options: a two-story addition to the rear, or east, of the current building, and a two-story addition to the south, toward West Middle Turnpike. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE READING
Hartford seeks proposals to redevelop north end housing complexes
Hartford's housing authority is changing course on how it pursues the long-awaited redevelopment of two rundown public housing complexes in the city's North End.
Instead of pursuing proposals covering both Chester Bowles Park and Westbrook Village, the authority will separate them, beginning with the 61-acre Bowles Park. Proposals for Bowles Park will be sought in about a month and will be due back in late spring. Last summer, the authority sought proposals covering both complexes, which encompass about 130 acres, but drew just five responses. "We realized the original [request for proposal], which was designed to elicit a high number of creative responses, attempted to do too many things at once," Annette Sanderson, the authority's executive director, said, in an email. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE READING
U.S. Energy Secretary plans to review New Endlands natural gas shortage
The head of the
U.S. Department of Energy is calling for a review of New England's natural gas shortage, which has led to higher electricity prices and concerns that the region's electric grid is overly dependent on the fuel. Secretary
Ernest J. Moniz said in a letter to New England senators that the issue of tight natural gas supplies will be one of the first raised in a broad federal review of the country's energy system, which President
Barack Obama requested earlier this month. A stakeholder meeting in the next few months will kick off the review, Moniz said. "As a New Englander myself, I am acutely aware of the constraints that existing infrastructure to and within the New England region present for the transmission of natural gas to customers, industrial facilities, and power plants," Moniz, who is from Massachusetts, wrote in a letter to U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy and others. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE READING