Norwich — Norwich Public Utilities is gearing up for the next phase of the continuing natural gas line expansion, with several public informational meetings planned during the next three weeks.
NPU officials will reach out to residents in the Old Canterbury Turnpike, Rockwell Street and Cherry Hill neighborhoods —locations selected because of strong interest expressed by customers, proximity to natural gas lines and the ability to coordinate work with the Public Works Department’s paving schedule. Residents living in areas where NPU provides natural gas also will be eligible to sign up for new service. The first meeting will be 5:30 p.m. Wednesday at the NPU headquarters, 16 S. Golden St. Other sessions, also at 5:30 p.m., will be held Tuesday, March 10, at Eastern Savings Bank, 257 Main St., and Thursday, March 12, at CorePlus Credit Union, 202 Salem Turnpike. The deadline for registering with NPU to ensure installation during the 2015 construction season is April 1. Contact Katie Moors at (860) 823-4514 for information. We have a team and a process that has proven to be very effective in converting homes and businesses to natural gas,” NPU General Manager John Bilda said. “Over the past three years, more than 1,700 new customers have joined the NPU natural gas system, allowing each of them to save money by using a more environmentally friendly heating source.” CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
Lawmakers fear proposal for tolls could hurt region
Hartford — A bill proposed by the General Assembly's Transportation Committee to establish electronic tolling at the borders of the state could disproportionately impact border communities such as those in southeastern Connecticut, according to two area Republican legislators who are critical of the proposal. The bill, which goes to a public hearing at 10:30 a.m. Wednesday in Room 1E of the Legislative Office Building, would require the commissioner of transportation to "initiate any actions necessary for the establishment and commencement of operations of electronic tolling at the borders of the state." As part of laying the groundwork for establishing tolls, the bill requires that the commissioner "(enter) into an agreement with the Federal Highway Administration to ensure that any toll operation undertaken by the state will be allowed by the Federal Highway Administration and will not result in any adverse financial impact on the state."
Rep. Aundre Bumgardner, R-Groton, and Sen. Paul Formica, R-East Lyme, said that the tolls would unduly burden residents and people who work in border areas. "I think it's certainly a way to generate revenue, but it's discriminatory against border towns," said Bumgardner. He said tolls would put border residents and workers in the position of funding transportation infrastructure improvements that people who live or work farther from state borders would benefit from without having to pay. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
Demand, not rent, leads to rebirth in Hartford'd industrial market
A few months back, Kim Gajewski went shopping around the Hartford market for a bigger distribution-warehouse than the one her employer, freight-forwarder Pilot Freight Services, currently occupies in Granby.
It didn't take long for Gajewski, a Pilot regional vice president, to find 44,000 square feet in Windsor — nearly triple the size of the company's Granby freight terminal on Kripes Road — in a relatively new building in the New England Tradeport, owned by major Connecticut commercial landlord Griffin Land.
The space is larger than what she and her boss originally had in mind, Gajewski says. But for just a bit more in rent, Pilot leased the newer digs to be in proximity of one of its biggest shippers, online retail giant Amazon.com, which just built a sprawling 1.5 million-square-foot fulfillment center off Day Hill Road. Amazon uses Pilot to ship TV sets, fitness equipment and other bulky merchandise to shoppers in the region.
Amazon's new distribution center won't open until summer, but it's already attracting significant interest from commercial tenants who want, or even need, to locate near it. That's adding momentum to Greater Hartford's industrial real estate market, which has now fully recovered from the Great Recession as employers ranging from light manufacturers to distribution companies add space to sate increasing consumer demand.
Most in demand, brokers and landlords say, are existing industrial properties with mid-size footprints of 35,000- to 45,000 square feet; and bigger, built-to-suit facilities sized six figures or larger.
Industrial brokers say deals like Amazon and Pilot's underscore cravings among investment-oriented landlords, owner occupants and tenants for the Hartford region's industrial space. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE