CT Construction Company Admits Underfunding Retirement Plans, Filing False Tax Returns
NEW HAVEN, Conn. (WTNH) — A North Branford based construction company waived its right to indictment and plead guilty today in New Haven federal court.
A United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut announced that Cherry Hill Construction, Inc. will face sentencing to one count of filing a false tax return, and one count of making a false statement in relation to documents required by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, (ERISA). ERISA is a federal law that sets minimum standards for retirement plans in private industry, including a requirement that plan sponsors provide adequate funding for a plan.
According to court documents and statements made in court Cherry Hill Construction, Inc. provides statewide service in site development, on-site crushing, trucking, demolition, as well as roll-off dumpsters, top soil, aggregates and landscaping. Cherry Hill was awarded and completed prevailing wage construction projects requiring payment of the prevailing wage rate plus the fringe rate. The fringe rate is the cost of benefits to the employee.
When a company is awarded a prevailing wage project, the company must submit certified payrolls that list the hours, prevailing wage rate and fringe they are paying each employee. The company can either pay the employee the fringe directly or open a benefit plan with the fringe payment being deposited into an account for the benefit of that employee. The company is then paid by the federal, state or municipal governments the amount of payroll, including the fringe, after receiving the certified payrolls. The government entity for which the project is being worked pays these funds only because the employer certifies that the prevailing wage and fringe is being paid to an employee directly or being deposited into a benefit plan.
Cherry Hill opened a profit sharing/401(k) plan that was covered under ERISA. In pleading guilty, Cherry Hill admitted that, in 2010 and 2011, it underfunded its retirement plan by approximately $950,000. Cherry Hill further admitted that it filed a corporate tax return for the 2010 tax year that inflated its actual contribution to the plan, which resulted in an increased employee benefit deduction.
Cherry Hill is scheduled to be sentenced by U.S. District Judge Janet Bond Arterton on April 7, 2015, at which time it faces a maximum penalty of 10 years of probation and a $750,000 fine.
Cherry Hill has fully funded its retirement plan and paid $193,000 in back taxes, interest and penalties.
This matter is being investigated by the Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation Division, U.S. Department of Labor – Office of Inspector General, and U.S. Department of Transportation – Office of Inspector General. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Douglas P. Morabito.
UConn study projects big bucks from proposed power plant in Oxford
A University of Connecticut study released Tuesday projects the construction of a new power plant that has been proposed for the town of Oxford would, if built, have an economic benefit of $7.9 billion to the state over the next 25 years. Officials with UConn’s Center for Economic Analysis presented the findings of their 25-page report at the Greater Valley Chamber of Commerce in Shelton. The study was commissioned by Competitive Power Ventures, the Maryland-based company that is seeking to develop a natural gas-fired, 805-megawatt power plant on 26 acres in the Woodruff Hill Industrial Park, near Waterbury-Oxford Airport.
Representatives of Competitive Power Ventures previously have said that construction of the power plant, which could produce enough electricity to run 750,000 homes, would create between 300 and 500 construction jobs during the 2½ years it is expected to build the facility. Once the plant is operational in 2018, there would be as many as 25 full-time jobs that would provide between up to $4 million per year in labor and benefits.But Fred Carstensen, the center’s director, said after the event that the power plant will have a transformative effect on the state’s economy, not just that of Oxford and surrounding towns.
“From the current pessimism of Connecticut’s economic present, this really helps to bend the curve in a different direction,” Carstensen said. Between the time the power plant is scheduled to come online in 2018 and the year 2040, he said expenditures trickling down from the operation of the facility is projected to create the equivalent of 1,800 jobs a year, with the bulk of that impact coming closer to the plant. “We’re not talking full-time positions, although some of the jobs created will be,” Carstensen said. “This plant will have a need for goods and services and some job creation may take the form of businesses adding jobs incrementally.” The power plant will add $250 million in personal income taxes to the state’s coffers over the same period, Carstensen said.
Building the power plant could begin to remake Connecticut’s image of a state where it is difficult to do business, he said. “This represents a significant expansion of in-state power generation, that translates into sustained stimulus that will strengthen Connecticut’s economic health and competitiveness over the long run,” Carstensen said. “Power generation is important. The first selectman of Oxford told me that since this project became public knowledge, he has been contacted about five businesses about moving into town.” CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
Wallingford council approves North Farms firehouse
WALLINGFORD — Members of the Town Council voted unanimously to bond and spend $4.6 million on the purchase of a new firehouse on North Farms Road Tuesday night.
The motion passed easily after the fire department scaled back its original design to fit the project’s estimated budget of about $4.9 million. A first round of bids that opened in August ranged from $6.4 to $8 million.
The second round, after the project changes, yielded a low bid of $3.9 million.
“We changed some of the product,” Fire Chief Richard Heidgerd told councilors. “We didn’t downgrade but are using more common products. It’s still a very nice building.”
Design features such as a rooftop cupola and a 2,000-square -foot front room were eliminated from the revised plans. The station will sit back from road on an 11-acre parcel at 844 N. Farms Road.
Republican Town Councilor Craig Fishbein asked if council members could review the changes; and questioned whether a blinking red stoplight would be installed on Route 68 to aid engines on their way to emergencies. He also asked if there would be signs on the property marking the Number Seven Volunteer Fire Department.
Heidgerd replied that traffic discussions with Police Chief Douglas Dortenzio cautioned him that a blinking red traffic light would not improve safety, because the public is used to seeing the light yellow light and would be less likely to stop.
He reassured Fishbein and other councilors that neighbor concerns about landscaping and other issues were addressed in the new plans. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
Zemba said DEEP originally had recommended a plan to connect the communities to sewers when the WPCA abandoned its plan last year for a local wastewater treatment system. The WPCA had decided that DEEP's requirements would have made the local option too costly. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
Norwich reviews proposals for new police station
Norwich - City officials on Monday heard presentations behind closed doors from each of the three developers who submitted plans for a new city police station in December. All three proposals involve private financing for a building that would be leased to the city - potentially avoiding the need for a referendum to seek voter approval for bonding. One proposal by a partnership of developer NorthStar Ally of Boston and New London County Mutual Insurance Co. would convert the existing 51,000-square-foot insurance company building at 101 High St. into the police station. The partners proposed a 40-year lease to the city, with the insurance company pledging to move to a new location in Norwich. A local partnership of developer Henry Resnikoff and D'Amato Builders of Norwich, called RFP Inc., would build a new three-story police station at 321-355 Main St. at the site of the former YMCA building and two adjacent vacant lots owned by the city. The developers proposed a 25- or 30-year lease, with four 10-year renewal options. The third plan, by the Downes Construction Co. of New Britain, calls for a three-story, 46,250-square-foot police station at the site of the former William A. Buckingham School between Washington and Cedar streets. The building would be three stories facing Washington Street and two stories from the side and rear, built into the steeply sloped property. The group proposed a 30-year lease to the city. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
Uconn study touts economis impact of energy center in Oxford
A state-of-the-art energy center being proposed in southern Connecticut would provide more than $7.9 billion in economic benefits to the state over the next quarter century, according to a study released Tuesday by the University of Connecticut's Center for Economic Analysis.
Uconn study touts economis impact of energy center in Oxford
A state-of-the-art energy center being proposed in southern Connecticut would provide more than $7.9 billion in economic benefits to the state over the next quarter century, according to a study released Tuesday by the University of Connecticut's Center for Economic Analysis.
The study, commissioned by the energy center's developer, Maryland-based Competitive Power Ventures, also cites the creation of 2,300 jobs related to the construction phase of the project and the generation of 1,800 positions statewide in the years following its establishment.
Economist Fred Carstensen, CCEA director, said in a statement that the CPV Towantic Energy Center project proposed for Oxford "delivers dramatic economic benefits, benefits that will reverberate through Connecticut's economy, immediately and for decades to come." The project that significantly increases in-state power generation capacity for 750,000 residents statewide "translates into sustained stimulus that will strengthen Connecticut's economic health and competitiveness over the long run," he added.
Opponents, however, have cited concerns over the project's environmental impact and effect on home prices. They have gathered more than 1,500 signatures in a petition opposing final approval of the natural gas-fired power plant that still needs a go-ahead from the Connecticut Siting Council.
A public hearing on the energy plant proposal will be held at 3 p.m. Thursday in the Oxford High School Auditorium.
"If built, the plant will affect neighborhoods up to 2-3 miles away with vibration, noise, and 30 months of heavy construction traffic," according to an online petition site titled Stop Towantic Power. "Air pollution will directly impact homes within a 10-mile radius." CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
Roundabout proposed for problematic Hebron Avenue
GLASTONBURY — Over the years, some of the proposed solutions to traffic backups along Hebron Avenue have including adding more traffic signals or expanding the road to four lanes. Both of those solutions failed to make it out of the idea stage. On Tuesday, the town council heard about roundabouts — where traffic merges into a circular pattern rather than stop at an intersection — as a potential solution from traffic expert Joe Balskus of Tighe & Bond.
Balskus has worked on a dozen roundabout projects across the state. The council spent $15,000 on the study to determine if a roundabout could work at the problematic intersection of Hebron Avenue and New London Turnpike.
"People in Connecticut can be afraid of change," Balskus said. "Other parts of the country are doing this. Roundabouts work." Balskus said roundabouts follow the "yield-at-entry" rule where approaching vehicles must wait for a gap in the circulating traffic flow before entering the circle. He said traffic in the arteries feeding into the circle is constantly moving, and estimated that delays along Hebron Avenue could be reduced from 30 seconds to 18 seconds. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
White House says it will veto bill to approve pipeline
WASHINGTON (AP) The White House on Jan. 6 threatened to veto the first piece of legislation introduced in the Republican-controlled Senate, a bill approving the much-delayed Keystone XL oil pipeline, in what was expected to be the first of many confrontations over energy and environmental policy.
Hours after supporters of the bipartisan bill, which is sponsored by all 54 Senate Republicans and six Democrats, announced its introduction, the White House said for the first time that President Barack Obama would veto it.
“If this bill passes this Congress, the president wouldn’t sign’’ it, White House spokesman Josh Earnest said, saying legislation shouldn’t undermine the review process under way at the State Department or circumvent a pending lawsuit in Nebraska over its route.
It’s “premature to try to evaluate the project before something as basic as the route of the pipeline has been established,’’ he said.
The two main sponsors, Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., and Sen. John Hoeven, R-N.D., said they had enough votes to overcome a filibuster of the bill but not a presidential veto. Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, in one of his first acts, moved to put it directly on the Senate calendar. The House was expected to vote and pass a bill approving the $5.4 billion project, which was first proposed in 2008, on Jan. 9.
“The President threatening to veto the first bipartisan infrastructure bill of the new Congress must come as a shock to the American people who spoke loudly in November in favor of bipartisan accomplishments,’’ McConnell said.
Hoeven said if the president chooses to veto the bill, he would work to attach it to a broader energy package or must-pass spending bills. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
Economist Fred Carstensen, CCEA director, said in a statement that the CPV Towantic Energy Center project proposed for Oxford "delivers dramatic economic benefits, benefits that will reverberate through Connecticut's economy, immediately and for decades to come." The project that significantly increases in-state power generation capacity for 750,000 residents statewide "translates into sustained stimulus that will strengthen Connecticut's economic health and competitiveness over the long run," he added.
Opponents, however, have cited concerns over the project's environmental impact and effect on home prices. They have gathered more than 1,500 signatures in a petition opposing final approval of the natural gas-fired power plant that still needs a go-ahead from the Connecticut Siting Council.
A public hearing on the energy plant proposal will be held at 3 p.m. Thursday in the Oxford High School Auditorium.
"If built, the plant will affect neighborhoods up to 2-3 miles away with vibration, noise, and 30 months of heavy construction traffic," according to an online petition site titled Stop Towantic Power. "Air pollution will directly impact homes within a 10-mile radius." CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
Roundabout proposed for problematic Hebron Avenue
GLASTONBURY — Over the years, some of the proposed solutions to traffic backups along Hebron Avenue have including adding more traffic signals or expanding the road to four lanes. Both of those solutions failed to make it out of the idea stage. On Tuesday, the town council heard about roundabouts — where traffic merges into a circular pattern rather than stop at an intersection — as a potential solution from traffic expert Joe Balskus of Tighe & Bond.
Balskus has worked on a dozen roundabout projects across the state. The council spent $15,000 on the study to determine if a roundabout could work at the problematic intersection of Hebron Avenue and New London Turnpike.
"People in Connecticut can be afraid of change," Balskus said. "Other parts of the country are doing this. Roundabouts work." Balskus said roundabouts follow the "yield-at-entry" rule where approaching vehicles must wait for a gap in the circulating traffic flow before entering the circle. He said traffic in the arteries feeding into the circle is constantly moving, and estimated that delays along Hebron Avenue could be reduced from 30 seconds to 18 seconds. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
White House says it will veto bill to approve pipeline
WASHINGTON (AP) The White House on Jan. 6 threatened to veto the first piece of legislation introduced in the Republican-controlled Senate, a bill approving the much-delayed Keystone XL oil pipeline, in what was expected to be the first of many confrontations over energy and environmental policy.
Hours after supporters of the bipartisan bill, which is sponsored by all 54 Senate Republicans and six Democrats, announced its introduction, the White House said for the first time that President Barack Obama would veto it.
“If this bill passes this Congress, the president wouldn’t sign’’ it, White House spokesman Josh Earnest said, saying legislation shouldn’t undermine the review process under way at the State Department or circumvent a pending lawsuit in Nebraska over its route.
It’s “premature to try to evaluate the project before something as basic as the route of the pipeline has been established,’’ he said.
The two main sponsors, Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., and Sen. John Hoeven, R-N.D., said they had enough votes to overcome a filibuster of the bill but not a presidential veto. Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, in one of his first acts, moved to put it directly on the Senate calendar. The House was expected to vote and pass a bill approving the $5.4 billion project, which was first proposed in 2008, on Jan. 9.
“The President threatening to veto the first bipartisan infrastructure bill of the new Congress must come as a shock to the American people who spoke loudly in November in favor of bipartisan accomplishments,’’ McConnell said.
Hoeven said if the president chooses to veto the bill, he would work to attach it to a broader energy package or must-pass spending bills. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE