Sound View project to focus on improvements on Hartford Avenue
Old Lyme — A proposed project to revamp the Sound View beach area will focus on making Hartford Avenue more accessible to pedestrians and bicyclists, according to a presentation Tuesday.
The proposal is to widen sidewalks, install street lamps, add bump-outs to control traffic, and install parallel parking along one side of the street and driving lanes that could be shared with bicycles, said Kurt Prochorena, principal with BSC Group, at the public information meeting.
Upgrades to Hartford Avenue would cost an estimated $751,000, with an estimated $532,000 reimbursement from the state.
But a park area and restrooms at Sound View — initially part of the project's scope — would not be included in the first phase of the project, after costs came in higher than anticipated, according to the presentation.
The restrooms, which are in a flood zone and would need to be flood-resistant, would have cost an estimated $242,000 and the Sound View Green would have cost an estimated $471,000.
The town would still seek grant funding to add those two components later, said First Selectwoman Bonnie Reemsnyder. The town will also look for cost savings for the project.
Reemsnyder said the selectmen are seeking comments from the public by July 14 and will then vote on whether to proceed with the project or stop at this time.
"We feel this is going to be a great first step in making Sound View beautiful for all of us," she said. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
General Assembly gives New London High School the green light
The General Assembly on Monday unanimously approved the annual school construction bonding package, which was amended to authorize more than $98 million for the New London High School construction project.
The roughly $98 million project, which, along with construction of a new middle school, will complete the facilities portion of the city’s plan to become the state’s first all-magnet school district, was not among the school building projects recommended by the state Department of Administrative Services to the General Assembly for funding when the legislative session began because it was not approved at the local level until it passed referendum in November.
“When I learned that our school project was facing possible ineligibility to proceed with the construction plans, I made a commitment to my city to do everything I could to get us back on the priority list,” Rep. Ernest Hewett, D-New London, said in a statement. “I am extremely pleased that I was able to deliver on that commitment and our school project is back on the agenda.”
In November, Hewett secured a commitment from DAS to support the New London project’s inclusion in the final version of the bill. The project was added by inserting “notwithstanding language” as an amendment to the bill, Hewett said.
"This action certainly has cleared the way for the entire magnet school pathway project to move forward on schedule," Mayor Daryl Justin Finizio said. "I am extremely pleased the legislature took this action, I thank our legislative delegation for their support. ... We have the green light and now it is incumbent upon us to finish task we started." CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
Bond OK'd for new school
TORRINGTON — There are no blueprints in place. No land secured. But Oliver Wolcott Technical High School has $153 million to find a site and build a new school.
Language included in a school reconstruction bill gives the school the money it needs for the construction of larger school that can serve more students in most of Litchfield County, as well as Burlington, Avon, Canton, Simsbury and Granby.
Details of the approved bond authorization was not available Tuesday. Neither were state education leaders and state Rep. Michelle L. Cook, who left for vacation Tuesday.
Nivea L. Torres, superintendent of all state technical high school, did not return calls for comment.
"This much-needed grant will permit the school to build a brand-new building for its rapidly increasing student population and will allow many more students to take advantage of the high-quality educational experience offered at Oliver Wolcott Tech," Cook said in a news release.
Torres said in a news release the 16-year-old facility is in dire need of renovation and the existing land is limited.
The school serves about 670 students, according to a 2012 state Department of Education profile but the school would like to serve more, according to Danielle Palladino, a legislative aide House of Representative Democrats.
Palladino said last year the school had to turn away 120 students."Each year, it is turning away students who are qualified. There's literally no classroom space," Palladino said.
Oliver Wolcott principal Robert Axon was not available for comment on Tuesday as he was out of town attending a conference. It is not known where the school will be, however wording in the legislation stipulates that it be in Torrington. City planner Martin Connor said he has not received any plans for the new school but he dismissed speculation that the new school would be built on Technology Drive. Many of the city's manufacturers are on Technology Drive.
Also unknown is what will happen to the existing school once construction of the new Oliver Wolcott is complete.
Union-backed firm picked
WATERBURY — The city housing authority has tapped a national union-supported developer to help it build 60 elderly housing units off West Grove Street.
The approximately $20 million project, which is still in its early financing phases, would face French Street, built on the back of 25 to 30 multifamily units facing out on West Grove.
The plan calls for elderly apartments on the upper floors of a three-story building, and supportive retail, like medical offices, a pharmacy or a market, on the ground-floor level.
"This city is filled with seniors who can't afford to stay in their homes any more, not even with pensions," said board Chairman James Lawlor. "There is a huge demand." But the city housing authority hasn't built new elderly housing for decades, Lawlor said. The average wait for one of the senior citizen apartments is three years, he said. "That may be all the time they have left," Lawlor said. On Tuesday, the board unanimously agreed to name Elderly Housing Development and Operation Corporation of Florida as the developer for the senior housing side of its project.
EHDOC is a not-for-profit organization that builds, and often runs, 51 affordable elderly housing facilities for 5,000 seniors in 15 states, including facilities in Bristol and Stonington.
The group is supported by the AFL-CIO, and its leaders are former state and national union presidents. John Olson, head of the Connecticut AFL-CIO, sits on the board.
Under law, the units would have to be open to anyone who fits the age and income requirements, but in a once thriving factory city, it's likely many would be union retirees, Lawlor said.
"The unions know many of their older members are having a hard time, especially in this economy," Lawlor said. "They don't want to see our retired teachers and machinists out in the cold."
The authority has already begun acquiring the properties on West Grove Street for a $17 million redevelopment of the block, a rundown side street linking Willow and Sperry streets.
It named Omni Development Corp., the Rhode Island group that is redeveloping the former Warner Gardens Co-op on Long Hill, as the developer of some of its multifamily units.
Omni's role in the development would come later, as the West Grove project nears completion. EHDOC could join forces with the housing authority in the next weeks.
The authority is applying for pre-development state funding, state affordable housing grant funding and low-interest housing tax credits to finance the project, as well as private loans.
The state is likely to announce its next round of Department of Housing funding at the end of the summer, according to WHA director Robert V. Cappelletti Jr.