September 29, 2014

CT Construction Digest September 29, 2014

Oxford power plant may face another fight

Oxford wants tax revenue. The state needs power. Neighbors want nothing to do with it.
In the works for 15 years, officials say they're pushing ahead with plans for a natural-gas-fired power plant near Oxford airport.  Competitive Power Ventures, a Maryland-based company, will file permits soon to build an 805-megawatt combined-cycle electric generating facility in an Oxford industrial park. There are no Oxford homes nearby, but several just across the town line in Middlebury, where residents and officials have vowed to fight the project. The plant will be fueled by natural gas from the Algonquin Interstate Pipeline, which runs nearby.  And in Shelton, a $40 million United Illuminating Co. substation is under construction in part to serve that community's fast growth over the past decade. With older, less-efficient plants coming offline, company and town officials say the time is right to get the Oxford project moving. `Big fuss'\"The tax benefits will be monumental for the town of Oxford," First Selectman George Temple said. "It won't take up that much space, will mostly be invisible. Ten years from now, everyone will be saying, 'What was the big fuss?' " CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE

Business groups get on board bus-only route idea

HARTFORD >> Business leaders along the route of the $567 million bus-only corridor in central Connecticut are stepping in to pump up support for the massive project. The Newington Chamber of Commerce organized a networking meeting Wednesday morning on a bus built for the new CTfastrak transit system, picking up business representatives along the route there. The aim is to familiarize business owners and representatives with the route, the buses specially ordered for the corridor and how the new mass transit system will work. “Until it’s up and running, I don’t think people know what to expect,” said Gail Whitney, executive director of the Newington Chamber of Commerce. “People are definitely aware of it, hopefully in a positive vein.” CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE

Preston report focuses on town's future

Preston - Nearly two years of work by the town planning staff and the Planning and Zoning Commission along with input from all boards and commissions as well as residents has resulted in a draft Plan of Conservation and Development ready to be reviewed by the public. The report includes sections on economic development, agriculture, town facilities, traffic concerns and statistics and descriptions of town population, trends and problem spots. Maps depict key areas targeted for development, farmland preservation and protection of waterways and open space land. Planning and Zoning Commission Chairman Art Moran said the commission decided to tackle the mandated 10-year plan update in house this time and entrusted much of the work to the two-person staff of Planner Kathy Warzecha and Planning Assistant Kathleen Nichols. "Everybody on the commission worked very hard on this," Moran said, "and everyone on the commission felt (Warzecha and Nichols) did a terrific job on it. All the other boards and commissions in town contributed. It was a very good experience. … It's got a great cover, great pictures and great maps." CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE

CT Transportation spending lags

 A new nationwide study suggest Connecticut might be at greater risk from the federal transportation funding stalemate than its major Northeast neighbors because it relies more heavily on aid from Washington. Although Connecticut has been beefing up what it spends to maintain roads, repair bridges and keep transit systems running, it still lags the national average as well as Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Vermont and Maine, according to the new report from the Pew Charitable Trusts.Pew's study of the country's transportation funding landscape reinforces what other analysts have been reporting in recent years: Money from federal, state and local governments is falling at the same time that the cost of maintaining the country's infrastructure is climbing steeply.
"America has a rough road ahead when it comes to funding our transportation system," said Phil Oliff, a manager at Pew, a Washington, D.C.-based independent, nonprofit that researches policy issues. Pew analysts stayed clear of the partisan battle that heavily influences the Congressional deadlock over transportation investments, but emphasized a core economic factor: The gas tax that once covered most of the federal government's share of keeping the highway system running just doesn't do the job any longer. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE

Improving transportation in CT: A decade of slow going 

It was supposed to transform Connecticut’s aging, overcrowded transportation network.
Five increases in the state’s wholesale fuel tax to be spread across the coming decade won the near-unanimous support of the 2005 legislature and Gov. M. Jodi Rell.  The tax hikes came mostly as planned – the last two were combined into one imposed in July 2013. This year the state expects to rake in 40 percent more at the pumps, in wholesale and retail taxes combined, than it did a decade ago. Connecticut’s transportation network hasn’t made similar progress. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE