MIDDLETOWN >> The Riverfront Redevelopment Commission met Tuesday to tweak its final recommendations to the city. Committee members compiled the report from a public survey and the recommendations by consultants from Projects for Public Spaces. The committee voted unanimously to recommend a $15,000 appropriation “to provide for programming and amenities for the riverfront,” as committee Chairman Gerald Daley put it. One of the recommendations of the committee’s report is to get the ball rolling with picnic tables and Adirondack chairs near Harbor Park and to pick up momentum from there. Daley said that Stephen Allison, the city’s arts coordinator, was already working on organizing concerts at the riverfront. Committee members recommended removing language they saw as endorsing a “floating zone,” currently under consideration by the Planning and Zoning Commission, as well as segments proposing a hotel and plans for state land near Silver Street. Joseph Bibisi encouraged the committee to press for a boat launch. “There’s 2,000 registered boaters in Middletown, and they’re watching, and they’re salivating,” said Bibisi. He said they currently were forced to launch from out of town, and to pay to do so. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
Deepwater Wind receives for permit for Block Island wind farm
Deepwater Wind announced Thursday that it has received the first major environmental permit approvals needed to begin deployment of the Block Island wind farm. The Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management issued Water Quality Certificates to the company, deeming the proposed wind farm and transmission system in compliance with state water quality regulations and the federal Clean Water Act, the company said in a news release. The agency also issued a Freshwater Wetland permit for onshore construction activities associated with the project. Jeffrey Grybowski, chief executive officer of Deepwater Wind, called the permits a "major step forward" for the project. Deepwater Wind must next secure an assent from the Rhode Island Coastal Resources Management Council, as well as approvals from the U.S. Department of the Interior's Bureau of Ocean Energy Management and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The company said it expects to secure all remaining permits this spring. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
State orders 2 construction firms to stop work at Amazon warehouse site
Two construction contractors were fined and ordered to stop working on the $50 million Amazon warehouse job in Windsor this week after the state Department of Labor determined that they lacked proper workers' compensation coverage, a state official said. Both firms — a steel erector and a roofer — returned to the job after they had proper documentation on Thursday, three days after the state issued the stop-work orders, said Gary Pechie, director of the department's wage and workplace standards division. Acting on a tip, the division found that Pinnacle Steel of Nolensville, Tenn., did not have workers' compensation for the 20 people it had on the job, and was not registered with the Connecticut Secretary of the State. The firm, a subcontractor to a subcontractor, was fined $12,000, or $300 per worker per day of violations, Pechie said. Its workers on the job earn between $12 and $18 an hour. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
Paving project begins in Rocky Hill
ROCKY HILL – Repaving work began this week on streets designated to be repaired during the first year of a five-year, $10 million road improvement plan. Contractors began cap sealing on Cobey Road and in the Whitewood Drive neighborhood. A multi-staged process which seals cracks and chips then covers the pavement with a protective layer. Cap sealing is one of two methods town engineers say will be used to rehabilitate some seven miles of roadway this construction season. The town's most recent schedule calls for 13 roadways to receive cap sealing this year: Cobey Road, Catherine Drive, Thomas Court, Bella Vista Drive, Boulder Drive, Pebblebrook Drive, Ramblewood Drive, Stone Hill Drive, Vexation Hill Drive, Whitewood Drive, Stockton Lane, Shea Circle, Allison Way. Five local streets are scheduled to have existing asphalt removed by milling machine and be completely repaved. Work on the first of those, heavily traveled Brook Street, is scheduled to start Monday. Other streets re-milled are Gorman, George, Ridge and Ledge roads, according to the schedule. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
New Haven protestors step up their efforts at college street development site
NEW HAVEN >> If this was Robert Greenberg’s last stand against a local developer, it was a memorable one. Flanked by friends on ladders Thursday afternoon, Greenberg and his band of protesters spelled out exactly what they thought needs to happen at the CenterPlan project on College Street: “S-A-V-E O-U-R H-I-S-T-O-R-Y,” their signs said. “You have to have a ladder to see history being destroyed here, so we’re on ladders,” Greenberg said. For weeks, Greenberg has led something of a one-man crusade at the site of a $50 million, mixed-use project on College Street, between Crown and George streets. A citizen historian, Greenberg is convinced there are artifacts at that spot that may date back to the 1600s. Although CenterPlan has refused to allow Greenberg on the premises, citing OSHA safety requirements, the protests prompted Nicholas Bellantoni, the state archaeologist, to visit the site and collect artifacts on at least two occasions. Among the items found so far are bottles dating back to the 1700s and cattle horns that may have been used for buttons or powder horns. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE