Stamford shuts down BLT construction for pollution problem
STAMFORD -- The city shut down construction of a residential building in the Harbor Point complex after particles of white Styrofoam insulation dusted the adjacent channel of the west leg of Stamford Harbor, state and local officials confirmed Monday. Robert DeMarco, the city's chief building official, said Monday the worksite at 100 Washington Boulevard was shut down Thursday and would remain so until state environmental officials and DeMarco verified the particles were cleaned up, and that netting, vacuums and other measures to prevent another similar problem were dependable. The foam material is not considered harmful, but needed to be cleaned up thoroughly and quickly, and steps had to be taken to prevent further problems, Dennis Schain, a spokesman for the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, said.
"They cleaned up what was in the water and are going to use some techniques to prevent it happening again," Schain said. "We certainly don't want materials getting into the water when construction takes place." CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
Mystic Seaport planning $10.5M exhibit building
Mystic - Mystic Seaport is seeking permission from the Stonington Planning and Zoning Commission to construct a striking $10.5 million exhibit building at the north end of the museum grounds. Plans call for tearing down the Packard Cabin and North Boat Shed and a section of the G.W. Blunt White Library, which are located around Anchor Circle, the site of the annual carol sing each December. The application states that a large section of the library is unused and it suffers from extensive moisture damage due to a basement that routinely floods. The application states the 14,000-square-foot building is needed because the museum is very limited in its ability to exhibit items from its own vast collection or host traveling exhibits. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
Partnership that wants to develop downtown north releases more detailed site plan
HARTFORD — Centerplan Development Co., part of a partnership hoping to develop Downtown North, moved to buy a key building in the area soon after plans for a minor league ballpark were announced. The pending sale of the Windsor Street building — a long-vacant data-processing center last occupied by Bank of America — became public in late June. Centerplan, based in Middletown, confirmed Monday that it moved to acquire the building as soon as it became clear the city intended to seek broad proposals for the entire Downtown North area, spurred on by a plans for the ballpark. The plans were publicly announced June 4. "As soon as we heard there would be [requests for proposals], we pursued the property," Yves-Georges A. Joseph II, vice president of development at Centerplan, said. "We knew it would be an important part of the assemblage." CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
Malloy touts transportation spending
WETHERSFIELD - For the past three decades, Connecticut governors have touted the amount of money they have spent on transportation. After the Mianus River Bridge collapsed and killed three motorists on Interstate 95 in Cos Cob in 1983, Gov. William A. O'Neill and the legislature passed the largest transportation spending package in state history as officials scrambled to ensure that the roads and bridges were safe. In 2005, Republican Gov. M. Jodi Rell unveiled a seven-year plan that she called the largest transportation package in more than two decades with the purchase of 342 new state-of-the-art Metro-North Commuter Railroad cars and a repair facility in New Haven. The $1.3 billion package was later approved by the legislature. Not to be outdone, then-House Speaker James Amann announced a 10-year plan that was even bigger than Rell's, saying that would be the largest in state history. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
Malloy would support constitutional amendment to protect transit funding
Standing near the Old Main Street bridge in Rocky Hill, Democratic Gov. Dannel P. Malloy declared that he had “no problem” with a constitutional amendment that would prohibit the legislature from raiding the special transportation fund. He said when it comes to funding roads, bridges, and transit he believes his administration is spending more money on transportation “than any other administration.” “You can slice this and dice this on an accounting basis . . . but when everything is said and done, we’re spending more than any other administration,” Malloy said Monday.
Between 2005 and 2014 about $1.3 billion raised by the gross receipts tax — one of the state’s two gasoline taxes — has been spent on non-transportation programs. But Malloy’s administration said that doesn’t tell the whole story since most of that happened during the previous administration.
According to the Malloy administration, the average investment in transportation under former Gov. M. Jodi Rell was $1.097 billion. Under the Malloy administration it’s been $1.265 billion. Rell was in office for six years. Malloy has been in office for three and a half years. However, the Malloy administration has moved money between the special transportation account and the general fund. Malloy argued the amount being spent on transportation is still higher than in the past so the transfers between the special transportation fund and the general fund are negligible. “If there are transfers back and forth for accounting purposes, on a net basis and a gross basis we’re spending more money,” Malloy said Monday. The governor said Monday that his transportation investments are 165 percent greater than the ones approved under Rell in 2010. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE