East Lyme school project drawings to be unveiled
East Lyme - An architect will unveil the first design drawings for the proposed elementary school project to a committee on Thursday. Architect Al Jacunski is slated to present the footprint layouts for a new Flanders Elementary School and a renovated Niantic Center School at the Elementary Schools Design Steering Committee's meeting.
The meeting will take place at 4 p.m. at the Central Office conference room.
Board of Education Chairman Tim Hagen also updated the school board Monday that a referendum vote on the elementary school proposal won't happen in time to apply for state funding this year.
The school board had endorsed a plan in December to build a new school at the site of Flanders Elementary, renovate and expand the Niantic Center School and close the Lillie B. Haynes School and return it to the town. The board's vote had allowed the committee to begin planning the project. Hagen said Monday the committee reviewed the steps needed and realized last month that it would be "impossible" to have a referendum on the school project before June 30, 2015, the deadline to submit materials to the state for reimbursement. The proposal requires approval from the Board of Selectmen, Board of Finance and then a 30-day period after those approvals before it can be voted on at referendum. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
'The Haven' mall plan gains proposal for water front amphitheater
WEST HAVEN >> The Haven upscale outlet mall plan’s first phase will include a waterfront amphitheater in addition to the previously proposed 100 high-end outlet stores and six restaurants, Mayor Ed O’Brien said Monday. “This is great news for the residents of West Haven that the developers are adding a public assembly and entertainment component — an amphitheater overlooking New Haven Harbor — to this transformative project,” O’Brien said in a press release.
“Any further elements will only make this development more exciting and more vibrant,” O’Brien said of the proposed $200 million, 347,826-square-foot waterfront project that developers Sheldon Gordon and Ty Miller have proposed for an area along what is now Water Street. O’Brien said he “had a meeting with them (last) Monday and they dropped this on me. It looked like it had a covered stage” and “a raised grass area with steps that went down.” Gordon confirmed that he and Miller, through The Haven Group LLC, are working with O’Brien and Commissioner of Planning and Development Joseph A. Riccio Jr. to tweak their proposal to include the amphitheater. The addition of the amphitheater to The Haven South Municipal Development Plan, which will include a new site plan that will show the amphitheater, is expected to delay the revised document’s completion by a few weeks, said Riccio. The Redevelopment Agency previously received a draft of the MDP — which includes provision to use eminent domain, if necessary — and set an April 23 public hearing date. O’Brien subsequently said the draft was flawed after residents pointed out that it showed apartments; something O’Brien had said wasn’t in the plan. He said a new one would be presented soon. “I believe we’re going to have to delay the public hearing on the MDP” because of the latest changes, O’Brien said Monday. “So the Redevelopment Agency will have to go through that whole thing all over again.” CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
DOT to discuss I-84 widening today
WATERBURY -- Representatives from the Connecticut Department of Transportation will be at the Crosby High School Auditorium, 300 Pierpont Road, at 6 p.m. Tuesday to discuss the schedule for the phase 3 construction plan on Interstate 84 between the Hamilton Avenue bridge and Exit 25 A at the Cheshire line.
Construction equipment is being staged at Harpers Ferry Road in anticipation of the work which, will begin on April 1, and continue for five years.
DOT engineers will be on hand to describe to people how the construction will impact Waterbury and neighboring towns.
More money needed for municipal stadium
WATERBURY -- The city will have to come up with another $437,000 to complete its Municipal Stadium grandstand project, even without the amenities once planned inside the facility.
The city has already bonded $4 million for a project that was to have included bathrooms and locker rooms under the bleachers. After adding in state grants, that left city taxpayers on the hook for $2.5 million. But poor soil conditions led to cost overruns, a shuffle of contractors, project delays and the removal of all the internal amenities once planned for the Watertown Avenue facility.
New bids indicate the city will need another $437,000, on top of that original $4 million bond, just to finish the grandstand itself. It is asking for another $244,000 to design a stand-alone locker room facility. The city's quasi-public development branch, Waterbury Development Corp., predicted last year that it had enough money left in the original $4 million bond to finish the grandstand, but not the stand-alone facility.
But bids to complete the work came in higher than WDC had hoped.
The agency revealed how much higher for the first time Monday as it asked the Board of Aldermen to start the process of adding $800,000 to its original $4 million bond amount. The Board of Aldermen set an April 6 hearing date. WDC doesn't know how much it will cost to do the work it had to cut out of the original grandstand project, including the stand-alone building and a new parking lot, sidewalks and fencing.
The state is kicking in another $966,000 to help fund this work. The scaled-down design and the delays have begun to wear on city officials and residents alike, with several speaking out about the lagging project on talk radio and city meetings. The grandstand project was to have been the third and final phase of a seven-year, $6.7 million renovation of the 85-year-old former dog track. Earlier phases included a new synthetic football stadium turf and lighting.
BREAKDOWN OF MUNICIPAL STADIUM BOND INCREASE
Original Bond: $4 million
City Share of Original Bond: $2.5 million
Requested increase: $800,000
- $436,966 to complete grandstand construction
- $244,000 to design locker room facility, parking lot
- $119,034 owner-controlled contingency