WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama is pressing Congress to make a long-term commitment to keep highway and transit aid flowing to states, but lawmakers appear headed for a short-term patch to sustain projects through next May. Obama has proposed a $302 billion, four-year transportation spending plan that is paid in part by closing corporate tax loopholes. The White House on Monday said it would support a smaller, $11 billion Republican House bill that finances transportation projects for nine months, but said in a statement that the legislation "does not address the continued need to pass a long-term authorization bill that creates jobs and provides certainty for cities, states and businesses." A conservative group, the Club for Growth, on Monday staked out its opposition to the House measure, saying the plan is paid for with budget gimmicks and urged lawmakers to vote against it. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
To get a better sense of the health of the construction labor market, Meyer plots a Beveridge Curve, which looks at the relationship between the unemployment rate and job openings rate, for construction workers. As you can see by the progression of the dotted red line, the unemployment rate for construction workers has been falling even as job openings have trended higher.
The chart suggests a "less efficient labor market and hence a skill mismatch," and it also shows tightness in the labor market. From Meyer: “The two should be negatively correlated — an increase in job openings means a tighter labor market and, therefore, a lower unemployment rate. The slope is important, but so is the placement of the curve. When the curve shifts out, it suggests a less efficient labor market and, hence, skill mismatch. We construct the curve using data from the JOLTS survey back to 2001, marking the different business cycles by color. The data are clearly noisy, but it shows that the curve has shifted in this expansion. As of May, the rate of job openings has jumped to 2.1% while the unemployment rate among construction workers was at 8.6%. The market for construction workers has tightened.” CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
DOT aims to align operations
The state Department of Transportation will start outsourcing more of its engineering work to private firms as part of a larger strategic shift that aims to better position the agency to carry out Connecticut's long-term infrastructure plans and needs. Using recent changes in state law allowing DOT to hire private contractors to design and build projects, the agency will shift away from doing all its own construction prep work — which left contractors with no risk and little to do but carry out DOT's marching orders — to contracting out management responsibilities to private firms that will take on much larger roles in maintaining and building Connecticut's future transportation infrastructure, said DOT Commissioner James Redeker. This shift is only a small part of a significant overhaul DOT is implementing to become an agency better aligned with the transportation infrastructure needs of the future, Redeker said. Rather than focus mostly on highway and bridge maintenance, DOT is trying become a multi-modal agency with better communication within its divisions and other vital state agencies, particularly the Department of Economic & Community Development and the Department of Energy & Environmental Protection. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
Why Edgewater Hill won E. Hampton neighbors hearts
The Stephen J. Motto family's vision of a commercial-residential anchor on Route 66 on East Hampton's eastern rim began taking shape a decade ago, as they were erecting the first units of their then-nascent Laurel Ridge housing subdivision. The 88-lot, over-55, active-adult community development, after a slow start exacerbated by the recession, is now built out, drawing many of its residents from other parts of the state to this former lakeside-resort town of just under 13,000 residents in Middlesex County. Steve Motto and spouse-business partner Lisa M. Motto are focused on their latest realty venture, Edgewater Hill — a mixed-use development with office-retail space and apartments planned for its first phase. Even with its "A''-list Hartford architect who designed West Hartford's Blue Back Square and a nationally renowned "new urbanism" planning adviser on board, Edgewater Hill stands out most for its embrace in a town where many past development projects were greeted by skeptical neighbors and ultimately smothered in politics. Billed as a "walkable'' village, Edgewater Hill, proponents say, is proof of what can be achieved with patience and open-mindedness between land promoter, local land-use overseers and town residents. It may yet prove a magnet to keep more of East Hampton's high-school and college grads in the town and state, observers say. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
White House says CT roads and bridges are deficient
WASHINGTON — The White House issued a report Monday saying that 41 percent of Connecticut's roads are in poor condition and that more than 9,500 jobs in the state will be lost unless Congress acts quickly to replenish a fund that pays for a lion's share of the state's infrastructure construction and repair. The report is the latest push by the Obama administration to press warring lawmakers on Capitol Hill to pass legislation that would fund the Highway Trust Fund, projected to go broke next month. The report, "It's Time to Rebuild America," included interactive maps with statistics about what the White House says are deficient roads and bridges in every state. The report said that Connecticut has 21,414 miles of roads and that 41 percent of them are in poor shape. It also said that 35 percent of Connecticut's 4,218 bridges are structurally deficient. That doesn't mean that a bridge is unsafe, it only means that the bridge needs upgrades or repairs. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
Yale pulls Branford sailing center expansion plan
BRANFORD >> A slew of zoning questions and concerns from residents and members of the Civic Association of Short Beach prompted officials representing Yale University to send plans to expand the school’s sailing center back to the drawing board. “The best course is to withdraw the present application,” Joseph L. Hammer, a New Haven attorney representing Yale, told CASB members at the conclusion of Monday night’s three-hour public hearing. “We still think the property does present an opportunity to improve the yacht club without expanding the programs and without expanding the number of boats.” The hearing was a continuation of last week’s meeting, which was held at the Orchard House in Short Beach but was shut down by the fire marshal before the public could speak because the room was overcrowded, with residents who could not squeeze inside opting to listen through the open windows. Yale is looking to purchase two properties located across the street from its sailing center, known as the Yale Corinthian Yacht Club. The school intends to combine the two properties, at 158 Clark Ave. and 27 Highland Ave., to construct a larger building that can be used to stow sailboats and house staffers. The only resident who spoke in support of the plan Monday night was Elizabeth Bailey, co-owner of the two properties, which are listed as being owned by the estate of Barbara Davidson. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
Torrington's eyesore's days numbered
TORRINGTON -- One of the last of the hulking former factories along the Naugatuck River downtown could be gone by winter. vacant factory and warehouse that was part of the sprawling Torrington Manufacturing Co. on Franklin Drive, but is known more for its most recent owner Nidec Corp., is slated to be demolished in September, city officials said Monday. The potential for demolition on the brownfield property, which is contiguous to a Franklin Street lot now being turned into public parking by the city, excites Mayor Elinor C. Carbone and Erin Wilson, economic development coordinator, as it could lead to redevelopment along the river. In grants and early plans the mayor and Wilson have called it the Riverfront Recapture Project. Wilson on Monday applied for a $200,000 grant from the state Department of Economic and Community Development to pay for environmental studies to determine the extent of contamination on the 7-acre property. She hopes the owner will work with the city and federal Environmental Protection Agency to seek cleanup grants.
A Nidec spokesman did not return a call Monday. The most recent contamination near the 130,000-square-foot building was discovered in 2012, when heating oil was found to be leaking into the Naugatuck River. A cleanup ensued, and ground wells on the southern end of the property continue to be monitored. Long vacant, the building towers over the Naugatuck River as a daily reminder of urban blight; some of its windows are broken and peeling white paint leaves a patchwork of exposed red brick. A brown tarp flapping over a portion of the roof that caved in last winter can be seen from the East Albert Street bridge. "From everything I hear from our building department and zoning department, it really is just about ready to implode on itself," Carbone said. Fire Marshal Timothy J. Tharau said there is no longer a fire suppression system in the building. Nidec Corp., which moved out in 1990, is finalizing a demolition permit, according to city records. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE