In the fiscal year that ended June 30, the state paid hundreds of Connecticut workers a total of $6.5 million owed them by their employers. So between July 1 of last year and June 30 of this year, Connecticut employers cheated workers out of $6.5 million in wages. And that's just the amount the state knows about. The money was recovered from unscrupulous employers by the Department of Labor's Wage & Workplace Standards Division, which investigates workers' complaints. A significant portion of the complaints -- nearly 2,800 of them, accounting for $3 million -- were from workers reporting that they were not paid at all. Another $1.2 million was distributed to workers who were not paid minimum wage or overtime as required by law. And more than $2 million was distributed to construction workers who were paid less than the state's prevailing wage for government projects. The Wage & Workplace Standards Division gets about 4,000 complaints a year, said the director, Gary Pechie. Most are from workers in the construction industry, service industries such as hotels and restaurants, and the transportation industry employing taxi, limo and tractor-trailer drivers, Pechie said. "I don't think people understand how tremendously workplaces have changed since the recession," Pechie said. "There's a lot of shenanigans going on." After the recession hit hard in 2008, many workers lost jobs, had their hours or pay cut, and relinquished raises, bonuses and promotions. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
Costco deal signed
NEW BRITAIN — The four-year Costco saga came to an end Tuesday. Mayor Erin Stewart signed a contract allowing the warehouse club store off Hartford Road to break ground today on the Stanley Golf Course. The project had wriggled its way through three mayoral administrations, suffered setbacks and overcame a determined opposition from local environmentalists. “It’s been complicated throughout,” said Stewart. “But, I’m glad the worst is over. I’m thrilled Costco stuck around through all of this.” John Healey, Mayor Stewart’s chief of staff, told the Herald he had heard Costco had been talking to other towns about a store. Many of them were offering incentives to entice companies “If we have the ability to do something that doesn’t take any money out of the taxpayer’s pocket in order to ensure we would get Costco here and shovels in the ground by the end of summer, that’s something the mayor felt she had to do,” Healey said. “Failing that, we risked losing the project altogether.” CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
Voters will decide if new police station gets built
BERLIN — The question of whether $21 million should be bonded for the construction of a new police station on the site of the old Kensington Furniture building was set by the Town Council Tuesday, and will now be sent to the Office of the Secretary of the State for final approval to be placed on the November ballot. But the unanimous decision came with some fireworks. Deputy Mayor William Rasmussen Jr., an Independent who runs on the Democratic ticket, said the Republican councilmen’s no vote last month on whether or not to move the project forward translated into the exact opposite of what they have claimed is their ultimate goal — to put the decision in the hands of the public. “The no vote by the Republicans was a block of the opportunity to petition and to send this project to referendum. Everyone needs to understand that the no vote was a vote to block the opportunity for people to petition,” he said. “Had there been one more no vote, the discussion, the opportunity for people to hear more about this project would have ended. Had there been a fourth no vote, we wouldn’t even be talking about this project anymore.” CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
Southington PZC ok's 31-unit plan
SOUTHINGTON — A 31-unit, multifamily residential development on Liberty Street was unanimously approved by the Planning and Zoning Commission during its meeting Tuesday night.
The development, at 82-84 Liberty St., would feature seven townhouses and a 24-apartment senior housing complex. Anthony Denorfia, a local attorney and developer proposing the development, had said at a commission meeting in April the project could bring more foot traffic downtown and help local businesses, revitalizing part of the Center Street area that has some vacant storefronts. The application was in front of the commission in April for a special permit use, because the project that had been approved last year was expanded. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
MERIDEN — The water filling the channel at the Hub construction site is groundwater and runoff surface water, not water from the three brooks that will eventually be diverted into the completed channel. LaRosa Construction employees updated city officials on the Hub construction project at an on-site meeting Tuesday morning. The project consists of building a public park on the former commercial site downtown between State and Pratt streets to help with flood control. Three brooks in underground culverts will be diverted into a single, uncovered channel running north to south through the site. According to Bob Bass, director of public works, the meeting was positive.
“Everything is moving along just as it should,” Bass said. Site superintendent Peter Haber said 60 percent of the channel has been rough cut and is filled with about 3 feet of water. The water is not from the brooks but groundwater and runoff caused by rain. Although Haber said rain has caused more water to fill the channel than expected, he did not foresee it as an obstacle moving forward.
The section of the channel toward the south end is about 80 feet wide, while another section toward the middle of the site is narrower. Haber said the width of the channel will vary throughout the site.
“It gets skinny, it gets wide,” Haber said. “The channel does all kinds of swirly things.” CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
Centerplan submitted one of two proposals to develop Downtown North into a retail-residential-commercial development. On Thursday, Segarra will present Centerplan's $350 million proposal to the city council, which must approve the deal. "The ballpark has proven to be the catalyst that was needed to drive private investment and development of the Downtown North property," Segarra said in a written statement. " We have a developer who's committed to investing over $350 million to create a vibrant mixed-use neighborhood that will better utilize long vacant and underperforming land and reconnect Hartford's downtown with North Hartford. The new ballpark will be paid for by private investment and revenues generated by the entire Downtown North development and will be a source of pride for neighbors and all City residents." CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
Demolition of the former Seymour Lunmber Co. hits a snag
SEYMOUR >> The much anticipated demolition of the former Seymour Lumber & Supply Co., which has remained a vacant eyesore downtown for the past six years, has hit a snag that will further delay the buildings’ long overdue meeting with the wrecking ball. First Selectmen Kurt Miller informed the Board of Selectmen during its meeting Tuesday that the demolition contractors hired to do the job don’t have the necessary hours required by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, or OSHA, to do the work. I was shocked to learn of this,” Miller said. The town initially anticipated demolition would get underway in April, but several delays with paperwork pushed back the project. Then, town officials said in early July they expected demolition to begin in late July or early August. On Tuesday, however, Miller said while all the permits are in place and “all ducks are in a row,” he learned that the demolition contractors who property owner Tom Tkacz brought onboard lacked the necessary 32 hours of OSHA training required to do the job. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
Labor shortage causing construction firms to turn down work
Construction employment expanded in 223 metro areas, declined in 72 and was stagnant in 44 between July 2013 and July 2014, according to a new analysis of federal employment data released Aug. 27 by the Associated General Contractors of America. As employment grows, 25 percent of firms report labor shortages are forcing them to turn down work according to a new survey conducted by SmartBrief, an industry leader in curated business news and custom content, in partnership with the association. “Many construction firms looking to expand their payrolls are finding a surprisingly tight labor market,” said Ken Simonson, the association's chief economist. “These expanding labor shortages threaten to impact construction schedules as firms struggle to find enough qualified workers.” Dallas-Plano-Irving, Texas, added the largest number of construction jobs in the past year (9,400 jobs, 8 percent), followed by Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown, Texas (8,900 jobs, 5 percent) and Philadelphia, Pa. (8,500 jobs, 12 percent). The largest percentage gains occurred in Lake Charles, La. (27 percent, 2,900 jobs), Crestview-Fort Walton Beach-Destin, Fla. (26 percent, 1,000 jobs) and Monroe, Mich. (23 percent, 500 jobs). CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE