By Mark Dionne Town Times
At its regular meeting on Wednesday, March 11, the Regional School District 13 Board of Education voted to move forward with a $2,085,000 roof replacement project for Brewster Elementary School and scheduled a public hearing for Wednesday, March 25 at 7 p.m. at Coginchaug Regional High School.
The project has two components and was broken into two separate motions, which both passed unanimously.
The Brewster roof, which is leaking and at the end of its projected life, will be replaced at a cost of $1.3 million.
The BOE also approved adding solar panels to the Brewster roof at a cost of $785,000.
This solar panel project is similar to existing projects at John Lyman Elementary School and Memorial Middle School and not related to the solar farm project recently voted down by the Durham Board of Selectmen.
Responding to a question from Middlefield Board of Finance member Dave Lowry, BOE members said the solar panels had a payback time frame of 18 years, with a 30-year life expectancy.
The project will use bonds, which require a public hearing.
At the Nov. 12, 2014 BOE meeting, Business Manager Ron Melnik told the BOE that all sections of the Brewster roof are older than 20 years, making the project eligible for some state reimbursement.
According to the resolution, the $1.3 million can go towards “design, construction, and implementation of roof replacement and related improvements,” including asbestos and hazardous material disposal.
According to Melnik at the Nov. 12 meeting, tests for hazardous materials have so far come back negative
HARTFORD — Conversion of a long-vacant yet prominent building into apartments could begin in early summer in the Frog Hollow neighborhood now that a key piece of funding has fallen into place.
The State Bond Commission has approved $7 million in taxpayer-funded loans from the Capital Regional Development Authority for a $35 million makeover of the former Hartford Office Supply Co. building at Capitol Avenue and Flower Street. Once construction begins, it would take about 15 months to complete the project, said Roberto Arista, a principal in Dakota Partners of Waltham, Mass., the developer.
The project is expected to add 112 mixed-income rental units and street-level commercial space to the neighborhood.
Arista said the building's location near the state Capitol and in an area where there are state office buildings will help fuel demand.
"We're hoping to capture a lot of those state office workers," Arista said. "It's close to downtown. You can walk across Bushnell Park."
The plans call for 89 market-rate apartments and 23 rentals for low- and moderate-income families. Rents for the one- and two-bedroom apartments will range from $900 to $1,250 a month. Rents for the "affordable" units will be about $100 less a month.
Rents for the market-rate units are about 20 percent lower than the apartments now under construction downtown. Parking will be provided on a lot in the back of the building, but it hasn't been decided if that will be included in the rent, Arista said.
Dakota recently completed the conversion of the former Professional Building at 179 Allyn St. into 63 one-bedroom apartments. Those units began leasing in late February. So far, 12 apartments have been leased and seven more have prospective tenants, Arista said.
The Hartford Office Supply building, vacant since 2005, is in the Frog Hollow Historic District. Its exterior will be renovated to preserve its appearance. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
Shoppes at Avalon Project again approved by commission
LASTONBURY — The Shoppes At Avalon project is ready to get underway after gaining final approval Tuesday from the town plan and zoning commission.
By a 4-2 vote, the commission approved developer John A. Sakon's plan for the 94,640-square-foot retail and restaurant development that had been approved in 2010 and again in 2013 before the permits expired earlier this month.
"It is the exact phase one and phase two plans," Kenith E. Leslie, the town's community development director said Wednesday. "The exact same conditions, maps, everything. Nothing has changed. Where it goes from here, only Mr. Sakon can answer that."
Before the decision Tuesday, the town attorney submitted a ruling noting that since nothing had changed from the original approvals in 2010 and 2013, the commission was obligated to approve the development.
"Many of us who voted in favor found that to be a compelling reason," commission Chairwoman Sharon H. Purtill said Wednesday. "Unless we could find something that had changed significantly about the proposal and nothing had."
Commission members Eric W. Schaefer and alternate Lillian Tanski voted against the proposal.
Sakon has hired Diggs Construction of Hartford, a minority-owned company, to build Avalon. It is intended to feature upscale restaurants and stores similar to West Hartford's Blue Back Square and South Windsor's Evergreen Walk.
Diggs Construction has built Stop & Shops in Wilton and Sturbridge, Mass., as well as done renovations and built additions at Bloomfield High School and Hartford magnet schools. One restaurant already confirmed for Avalon is Cheesecake Factory. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
Committee sends toll bill to legislature; also oks 'lockbox'
HARTFORD — The state took a major step Wednesday toward levying electronic tolls on highways, but motorists won't know for months, or longer, whether they'll actually be charged fees to drive on Connecticut interstates.
After a party-line vote by a key committee, it appears the full General Assembly will now decide whether to establish tolls, what they should cost and where they should be.
Before the legislative session ends in June, lawmakers will be able to scuttle the idea or choose among different ways to levy tolls.
Republicans who tried to kill the measure in committee are expected to fight it on the House floor, while Democrats anticipate a campaign to build support.
"You can't have it both ways. You can't say we have to fix our bridges and roads, we have to do something about traffic congestion — but then shoot down a plan to pay for fixing things," said Rep. Tony Guerrera, co-chairman of the transportation committee and an outspoken advocate for tolls.
Guerrera scored a major victory Wednesday when his committee voted 18-13 to send a tolls proposal to the full legislature.
Republicans opposed the idea, with Rep. Laura Devlin of Fairfield saying, "I cannot support an additional tax on Connecticut residents. We have to stop going the easy way and grabbing into the pockets of our state residents and businesses."
Democrats voted for the bill, saying opponents are being "disingenuous" by admitting the state's transportation infrastructure needs billions of dollars of work but refusing to pay for it. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE