STAMFORD -- In an announcement that is expected to rankle hundreds of train riders, the state Department of Transportation on Tuesday said it has decided to shut down its aging parking garage at the downtown train station, after pieces of concrete fell from the third to the second-level deck over the weekend.
"Although some will be inconvenienced, we are taking this action to ensure the safety of all customers," DOT Commissioner James Redeker said in a statement released late Monday afternoon.
No personal injuries or damage to vehicles occurred as a result of the falling concrete, the DOT said.
The closure, which was to take effect immediately, is expected to affect more than 1,000 train commuters who use the 727-space garage, both on a regular and intermittent basis. The DOT said it planned to put up signs at the garage Monday night and will have agency staff redirecting drivers Tuesday morning.
Those with daily parking permits will be directed to park at the state's adjacent garage. That facility, which has 1,200 spaces, will have enough space to accommodate commuters with daily permits, a total of 1,375 people, said Judd Everhart, a DOT spokesman.
Non-permit holders will be directed to park at either Gateway, a garage with 750 spaces across the street from the Transportation Center, or the city-owned parking lot at 28 Bell St., which operates a shuttle to and from the Transportation Center.
The DOT said it is asking the garage operators to match the state's parking rates.
H.W. Lochner Inc., an engineering firm, has been hired by the state to assess the safety of each parking level in the garage. Plans regarding the garage's future will be made once the testing is complete. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
Ansonia Mayor's company owes $100k in back taxes
A construction business owned by Ansonia Mayor David Cassetti owes the Internal Revenue Service more than $100,000 in back taxes and faces foreclosure for not making payments to its mortgage lender. Cassetti has owned the business, Birm-1 Construction, since 1986.
The mayor said part of the reason the taxes are not paid is because his former accountant embezzled “hundreds of thousands” of dollars from the company.
Cassetti said he filed a complaint with city police last summer.
On Wednesday, Ansonia Corporation Counsel John Marini released a letter dated Feb. 20 from an Ansonia detective acknowledging police are looking into a larceny complaint from Cassetti.
A copy of the detective’s letter is embedded below: CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
For Fletcher Thompson, suits on top of suits
Bridgeport officials say they’re confident that architectural firm Fletcher Thompson can survive its current troubles. But its legal problem with the federal government is just one of a number of ongoing complaints against the firm for apparently not paying its bills.
- Zurich American Insurance Co. says the firm failed to pay $99,794 it was owed for coverage.
- Landmark Facilities Group, of Norwalk, sued the company over $29,555 it says it was owed.
- The company was ordered to pay $408,245 to Cisco Systems Capital Corp.
- Kamco Supply Corp. of New England claimed it was owed $41,938.
- MGRE Co. says the company provided a report that was “materially deficient” and sued for $10,617.
- McLaren Engineering Group sued over $223,924 it says it was owed.
Demolition begins of former Noank School
Groton – Reid Hildebrand, 37, wanted to peer through the windows of his former elementary school while he still had the chance.
So he stopped at the closed Noank School on Smith Lane a couple of weeks ago, before demolition crews pulled out the windows and erected a fence.
On Monday, crews from Norwich-based Wiese Construction & Environmental Services began demolishing the school, which served generations of families from the same neighborhood.
"I thought we had more time, but apparently not," said Hildebrand, as excavators cleared brick, metal and concrete.
The project will take four to six weeks to complete, said Mel Wiese, owner of Wiese Construction. Workers are taking the school down in sections so they may recycle materials and clean each area before moving to the next, Weiss said.
The crew is also saving some bricks for a task force that plans to turn the 6.3-acre property into a public garden with an orchard, bee hives and individual garden plots.
The Noank School Public Gardens Task Force may also turn the former footprint of the school building into a public park. Task force members have the cupola in which the school bell hung and may ask for the original bell from the Noank Historical Society.
Carolyn Rymash, 65, said a neighbor is also saving some bricks from the school and gave her the idea to do the same. Rymash wants one brick to remember each year she attended – kindergarten through sixth grade. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
Union protest notes violations at Niantic site
East Lyme — More than a half dozen members of a carpenters union protested outside the Seaside Village construction project Monday morning, calling attention to state Department of Labor stop-work orders alleging that three out-of-state contractors had violated labor laws at the Niantic site.
According to the New England Regional Council of Carpenters union and confirmed by the Labor Department, Massachusetts firms WCP Construction, KBF Flooring and D+E Flooring were misclassifying employees as independent contractors. Allegations against the firms, which were working under general contractor Dellbrook Construction of Quincy, Mass., also included failure to pay worker's compensation, said Gary Pechie, director of the Wage and Workplace Standards Division of the Labor Department.
"Responsible, law-abiding contractors are not able to compete with companies that cheat and ultimately put local workers on the sidelines," said union representatives in a press release.
Pechie said WCP Construction, which had 21 workers on site, faces a minimum fine of $10,000. D+E had five workers on site, while KBF — the only company so far that had contacted Pechie to try to come into compliance, he said — had two employees at the Niantic project.
"It's still a chonic problem," Pechie said of the workplace violations. "It's like Whac-a-Mole. It's constant." CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
Roads in South Windsor slated for improvements
SOUTH WINDSOR – Several roads in the Avery Heights neighborhood will get upgrades this summer as the town aims to move forward with a reconstruction project approved at referendum last fall.
Town Engineer Jeffrey Doolittle said the roads in Avery Heights, a neighborhood built in the late 1950s, are among those in most need of repair in town. There are three miles of road in that neighborhood, Doolittle said.
"It's a fair amount of road," he said. "These roads are very old (and) in poor shape."
The town is planning to replace damaged pavement and repair drainage issues on Benedict Drive, Goldmine Road, Good Hill Road, Highview Road, Manor Lane, Peach Tree Lane, Pine Tree Lane, Pond Lane, Raymond Road and Spruce Lane.
Funding for several road reconstruction projects was approved at a bond referendum in November, with a portion of that money allotted for Avery Heights, Doolittle said.
Town officials are hoping to complete the project in three phases over the next three years, with construction slated to start later this summer. Doolittle said there are no cost estimates yet since the design has not been completed.
The town is working with Cheshire-based consulting firm Milone & MacBroom to design plans for the project. Doolittle said the goal is to have those plans finalized by early summer so the project can go out to bid. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
Main street project in Collinsville set to start April 20
CANTON — A long-awaited streetscape improvement project in Collinsville should start on April 20 and is expected to give the neighborhood a new look.
The $500,000 project has been in the works since last spring, when the town hired an architect to prepare plans. New walkways, signs and landscaping are part of the plan. In addition, a patio will be built on a section of the town hall parking lot that can be used for performances or as a place to sit. A $387,000 grant from the state is covering most of the project's cost while the town is picking up the rest.
Some disruption in Collinsville is anticipated. The town has been making business owners and others aware of the work. That includes preparing a brochure describing the project and giving a projected timeline. Robert Bessel, chairman of the town's economic development agency, said 2,000 copies were printed and all the business owners in Collinsville were sent one.
Chief Administrative Officer Robert Skinner said the schedule calls for getting started on April 20. The hope is that the streetscape improvements will be done by mid-June, said George Wallace, the town's projects administrator.
An important component of the project is reconfiguring the parking lot for town hall, and access to the lot will be restricted for a couple of weeks. Wallace said the north side of the lot will be closed June 12-19 while the south side will be closed June 19-24. The entire lot will be closed for paving work June 25 and 26. Officials do not anticipate that the on-street parking in Collinsville will be disrupted, and there is a gravel parking lot by the Canton Historical Museum that will remain open. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
Asbestos removal underway at former Torrington bowling alley
TORRINGTON >> The first steps in the demolition process for the former bowling alley on Main Street has begun. Plans to demolish the blighted building at 518 Main St. were announced last June, but for a number of reasons, the demolition process is just getting started, nearly 12 months later.
Mayor Elinor Carbone said one of the issues the city was faced with was environmentally related. The building is positioned right on the bank of the Naugatuck River and has asbestos. Concern for how to remove the asbestos without contaminating the river has taken contractors and the property owner more time than anticipated, but Carbone said she still considers the process a success story.
Trucks and caution tape were placed outside of the two-story commercial property on Monday indicating that asbestos abatement is underway by Asbestos Management Co. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE