NEW YORK >> The Canadian owner of a company that won nearly $1 billion in contracts to provide steel for the construction of the World Trade Center’s tallest building and a transit center was arrested Thursday on charges he defrauded a program meant to benefit minority- and women-owned businesses. Larry Davis, 63, of Mississauga, Ontario, Canada, was freed on $100,000 bail after surrendering in the afternoon. Davis, president and chief executive officer of DCM Erectors Inc., was charged with wire fraud and conspiring in a scheme to cheat a program that provided contracts to minority- and women-owned businesses. His lawyer, Sam Talkin, said in court that his client “wants to fight these charges.” He added: “He is looking forward to his day in court.” Davis agreed to sign waivers of extradition so he can travel between New York and his home in Canada. Talkin said Davis and his company have known since late 2011 about the investigation. “Now there’s an opportunity to fight back and defend ourselves,” he said in an interview. Assistant U.S. Attorney Carrie H. Cohen told U.S. Magistrate Judge Debra C. Freeman that the government will bring additional charges in an indictment that will accuse Davis of fraud related to other construction projects. Prosecutors said they have already secured guilty pleas from two individuals who assisted Davis in the fraud. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
City workshop to examine future downtown development in Middletown
MIDDLETOWN >> The city council will hold a special meeting Aug. 18 to powwow on the future of construction and development downtown. The Common Council will convene at 6 p.m. to discuss bonding for a new parking garage and to review a market study on development around Metro Square. Parking Director Geen Thazhampallath has projected that the new parking lot would cost in the neighborhood of $24 million, but he anticipates $6.9 million from the federal government to offset that figure. The city has already closed down the lower level of Arcade, prompting some shuffling of available parking spaces throughout the downtown area. While structurally sound, the nearly half-century-old garage is crumbling in places, with seams running through the surface of the top level and concrete mixing with water to drip on vehicles on the lower. The Common Council will consider $95,000 in stopgap repairs to the existing garage Monday in order to keep what’s left of Arcade in working order until its eventual demolition and replacement. The council had approved funding in the previous fiscal year, but as the city had not hired a contractor by the time the year ended, the money reverted to the city’s general fund and the council must appropriate it again.
City directors have said that the future of parking downtown goes hand-in-glove with future planning and development, particularly with the commercial properties in and around Metro Square. The city hired local firm Centerplan Development Company, in conjunction with the Leyland Alliance, to perform a market and feasibility study to help focus the city’s expectations for future development. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
Meriden's Malhoney High School construction moves along
MERIDEN — The enormous three-story, modern classroom wing on Maloney High School’s north side is nearly complete from the exterior, but passersby on Gravel Street can hardly see the progress. Across town at Platt High School, the same cannot be said with progress apparent from all angles.
Students returning to the school in late August will likely be impressed by the new crescent-shaped wing that contains 93,000 square feet of classrooms, which are easier to view from inside the current building. With an up-to-date appearance and covered in glass, the structure offers a stark contrast from the “old” section of the school, constructed in the late 1950s and renovated 40 years ago.
The curtain blocking the new area of the school continues to run through a large section of the old building, but it will be dropped in dramatic fashion in coming months. Students and teachers are expected to move into the new space sometime in November, which will allow for demolition of some of the area blocking the view. Those traveling down Gravel Street will then have a better perspective on the new building. “This is just a stand-alone building until we build a connection,” said Karrie Kratz, project manager from Gilbane Building Co, as she stood in the new building last week. “But we’re getting the lockers in, the flooring in, the finished ceilings...” CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUEPlatt High School manager see light at the end of the tunnel
MERIDEN — With the new school year quickly approaching, construction crews are working on a tight deadline to finish a new wing of Platt High School, though O&G Industries Project Manager David M. Cravanzola said last week that they’re on track to finish in time. “We should turn this over by the second or third week of September,” Cravanzola said, surveying the work from the Torrington-based company’s mobile office on site. Assistant School Superintendent Michael Grove explained that the completion date gives staff about a week to move into the new building before students occupy it. To the average passerby, the deadline might appear to present a daunting task; the new wing was only hooked up to permanent power halfway through July, construction equipment is scattered through the front of the school, and though new masonry and windows adorn the walls facing Coe Avenue, inside, crews work to assemble sets of lockers, hook up wireless Internet connections and do other electrical work. Cravanzola’s confident it will get done, though. He’s added Saturday shifts, and for a few weeks also added a second shift during the day, to complete the nearly 80,000-square-foot first phase. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
Highway bridges safety at issue as DOT disputes critic on state of I-84 spans
MIDDLEBURY — Leon A. Burch, who has worked on countless construction projects and founded Concrete Curb Crafters in Naugatuck, says the bridges that carry Interstate 84 eastbound and westbound over Route 188 are among the worst he's seen. The bridges have spalling on the concrete beams, where material is flaking or cracked, and corrosion on the undercarriages. In some places, the cracks are so deep that the rebar is visible. "We should call the state police right now and they should shut that bridge down," Burch said. While it may appear that the bridges are on their last legs, the state Department of Transportation says they're in good condition for their age and don't pose any risk to the public. "There is nothing here that is a safety concern and there is no imminent threat to the public," said Kevin Nursick, a spokesman for the DOT. "Nothing out of the ordinary at all was detected by our Bridge Inspection Unit." The DOT responded to a complaint last week and reinspected the bridge, but found no new problems since its last major inspection in 2012. Corrosion on the bridge haunches and spalling were identified in the 2012 report. The DOT's latest bridge inspection rated the I-84 eastbound bridge's deck condition "fair," superstructure condition "poor" and substructure condition "fair." The westbound bridge scored slightly higher. It was rated "good" in terms of its deck and substructure condition, and "poor" for its superstructure condition. The bridges were built in 1964 and carry about 33,800 vehicles per day. They're both on the DOT's list of structurally deficient bridges because they received a rating of "poor" in at least one category. But a bridge superstructure that shows signs of wear isn't necessarily cause for concern, the DOT says. The concrete superstructure merely protects the steel substructure, which is responsible for supporting the bridge. The substructures of the bridges over Route 188 — which aren't visible to the naked eye — don't have any serious problems, the DOT said. The DOT is planning to perform routine bridge maintenance work on the bridges. Crews will sand blast the beam ends and repaint them to remove some of the spalling. The project will help extend the lifespan of the bridges, Nursick said. "When we're done with the project, these two bridges will no longer be structurally deficient," Nursick said.
Burch said repairs to the bridges are just Band-Aids, or short-term fixes. He believes they need to be replaced, and fears it may take a tragedy for that to occur. The DOT is adamant that is not the case.
"We will sound the alarm when something is wrong," Nursick said. "We'll be the first people to shut the bridge down if there's a safety threat."