Eversource Energy was hoping to convince the Greenwich public about the need for a new power substation at a Wednesday night’s open house, but project opponents also took the time to plead their case.
The campaign to build a new substation on Railroad Avenue has been a controversial one, with residents objecting to the look of the structure, the potential impact on the neighborhood and possible environmental concerns. Eversource has submitted its plans to the Connecticut Siting Council for review and presented the plans to the public at the open house at Town Hall.
The open house was set after alterations were made to the original plan for the substation. Those plans, which were presented earlier in the year, met with intense negative feedback from residents and business owners, and also from town land-use agencies.
“We want people to know what’s changed,” Eversource spokesman Frank Poirot said Wednesday. “We want residents to know that we heard them and we implemented our changes based on what they told us.”
Tables were set up to outline the changes, which included adding a brick facade as well as windows and a door to the planned substation structure. The structure, which would protect the electrical equipment, would also be moved farther off the sidewalk, allowing for more landscaping options. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
Redding files foreclosure action against old wire mill owners
REDDING — The town recently filed to foreclose against Georgetown Land Development Co., which owes millions of dollars in unpaid taxes connected to the long-delayed redevelopment of the Gilbert and Bennett wire mill.
If the foreclosure isn’t resolved, the town could become the owners of the 55-acre property.
“It’s potentially a very long process,” First Selectwoman Julia Pemberton said. “It’s important to note there are many things that could happen before the town takes it over.”
The foreclosure action, which was filed in state Superior Court in Danbury, lists 14 defendants including Georgetown Land Development Co., JP Industrial Park LLC and the Georgetown Special Taxing District. The taxing district is a local authority created in 2005 that allowed the developers to issue government-backed bonds.
The defendants have until Aug. 4 to respond.
Chris Lynch, a real estate consultant hired by the company in 2011 to help manage the taxing district and move the project forward, said Wednesday he hadn’t yet seen the foreclosure filing. He said the project will go forward. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
Costco completion getting closer
NEW BRITAIN — Costco is on track to open in October at its new Hartford Road location, just south of a Target department store.
The local Costco will become the wholesale club’s sixth store in the state, joining locations in Enfield, Waterbury, Milford, Brookfield and Norwalk. Construction began in September.
“It’s actually moving quite rapidly,” said Tim Stewart, president of the Greater New Britain Chamber of Commerce.
Tom Daly, general manager of the New Britain Costco, said the structural frame has been built and roof panels will be put on soon. Utilities are being connected, and Hartford Road is being widened on both the northbound and southbound sides to accommodate right and left turn lanes, he said.
“It’s phenomenal what they’ve accomplished so far,” said Bill Carroll, the city’s development director.
The walls will be erected within the next few weeks, to be followed by installation of the floors and more interior construction.
“Once we get a roof and some walls, we can start working on some stuff inside,” Daly said.
After the interior is built, workers will start “setting the sales floor,” which includes installing the massive steel racks that will display Costco merchandise. The final phase, in the last few weeks before the store opens, involves paving the parking lot and doing exterior landscaping, he said. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
Construction to start at Wallingford's Lyman Hall complex
WALLINGFORD — Standing on the track at Lyman Hall High School Wednesday morning, Marc Deptula looked at eight shovels standing at the edge of the infield.
“It’s funny that this all started with a request to replace the track as is,” said Deptula, the school district’s building and grounds supervisor.
School and town officials gathered on the track Wednesday for a groundbreaking ceremony to mark the start of work on a new high school athletic complex, a project over three years in the making.
The complex will cost $2.4 million and consist of a larger seven- to eight-lane track, an artificial turf field, and new lighting. It was designed by BCS Group and will be built by Mountain View Landscapes and Lawncare. The life expectancy of the turf field and track is about 20 years.
A pre-construction meeting will be held later this week. Deptula has not received a final construction schedule, but believes work could be finished by Thanksgiving.
“Everything that is worthwhile is worth waiting for,” School Superintendent Salvatore Menzo said in his remarks.
Board of Education member Kathy Castelli was cheerful as she talked with school administrators.
“It’s finally happening” Castelli said enthusiastically to Deptula, as they both laughed. “I love it, really. It’s symbolic.”
Board of Education Chairwoman Roxane McKay said she believes the complex will benefit students and the community at large.
Councilor Robert F. Parisi said he was honored to see the project start.
“As a member of the Class of ’53, I didn’t know if I’d live long enough to see this,” Parisi said, as the crowd laughed. “I’m more happy for the people of East Wallingford. They were quiet, suffered and now they’re rewarded.” CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
A simmering battle between Connecticut casino advocates and MGM Springfield broke out into a border war Wednesday as the MGM president vowed to block construction of a Hartford-area gambling venue.
"We're not going to go peacefully," William Hornbuckle, president of MGM Resorts International, told Bloomberg News, adding that MGM was "contemplating our options."Hornbuckle didn't say what MGM might do, and staff at the Las Vegas company would not elaborate or make him available for an interview.
But lack of detail didn't stop the reaction from south of the border.
Connecticut passed legislation this spring that helped clear the way for a third casino in the north-central part of the state, near Springfield. It would be operated jointly by Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun, whose sprawling gambling complexes in southeastern Connecticut have come under increasing competitive pressure. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
City quarry issue revived
ANDREW LARSON REPUBLICAN-AMERICAN
WATERBURY — New information about a quarry off Sheffield Street that sat dormant for years has brought it back into the spotlight. Blue Stone Quarry, at the end of Sheffield Street off Thomaston Avenue, was rendered useless after a series of decisions by land use boards, attorneys for the owner, Mike Hychko, have argued. Despite the previous denials, on Wednesday, Hychko appeared before the Zoning Board of Appeals asking for several variances. The Zoning Commission will open a hearing on his application for an earth-excavation permit next week. Hychko is seeking the approvals in light of evidence unearthed by his attorney, Dennis M. Buckley, that shows quarrying on the 37.4-acre property predates the city's zoning regulations. In 2009, the Zoning Commission rezoned Hychko's quarry from industrial — where quarrying is a permitted activity — to residential, where it's not. Hychko applied for an earth-excavation permit, claiming it was a legal nonconforming use because the property his family has owned since 1965 was used as a quarry before the city's zoning regulations came into existence. In 2010, the Zoning Commission denied the application because Hychko couldn't prove the quarrying activity predated the city's first zoning regulations, which took effect in 1928. Since then, Hychko has been unable to operate the quarry. He appealed the zone change in 2009, and the case is still pending in Waterbury Superior Court.
"It's like having an orchard and you can't pick the apples," Hychko said.
Recently, Buckley, his new attorney, analyzed an aerial photograph from 1934 and determined a serial number on a piece of excavation equipment on the property indicated it was built in 1919.
Since that discovery, City Planner Jim Sequin determined the quarry is a legal nonconforming use in a residential zone, and therefore eligible for an earth excavation permit.
Hychko started using the site for rock crushing, stockpiling and other activities, but won't do any blasting until the city grants an earth excavation permit.
On Wednesday, he asked the Zoning Board of Appeals for variances that would legitimize his hours of operation and grant waivers to other regulations he said don't conform with industry standards.
He requested variances to operate from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. (where 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. is permitted); to allow 300,000 cubic yards of material to be stockpiled (only 2,5000 cubic yards are allowed); to allow excavation activities, including tree cutting, to take place adjacent to a residential district (where a 100-foot setback is required) and to allow all 37.4 acres to be excavated (opposed to a maximum of 1 acre at a time).
The ZBA continued the hearing to its August meeting, saying it wanted more information from Sequin.
Three neighbors raised concerns about truck traffic and noise, and the impact of blasting on their quality of life.
Steven Colon, president of the Waterville Community Club, said there are 20 houses along Sheffield Street, which provides the only means of egress from the quarry. On some days, the narrow street carries 300 trucks.
"I know this is a business, but you have to give us consideration because this is a residential neighborhood," Colon said.
Hychko said he's willing to work with neighbors and that he's asked police to patrol the street to ensure the trucks aren't speeding and even asked the city to lower the speed limit. He said the blasting will be isolated to two areas for the next five years that aren't near the homes of anyone who complained.
Blasting won't be a daily occurrence — "maybe once a week," he said — and it will occur in quick bursts under highly controlled situations.
Kenneth Faroni, of O&G Industries — which has partnered with Hychko's company, Level Development — said many of the quarries the company owns and operates are near residential neighborhoods.
At the end of the meeting, Richard Swenden, a Sheffield Street resident who spoke against the variances, said he felt better about the project after hearing Hychko explain the scope of the work.
The lawsuit is scheduled for a pretrial conference on Sept. 15. If Hychko's zoning applications are granted, the lawsuit will become moot, Buckley said.