Town Hall project to finish with $18m budget
Town officials estimate the nearly complete renovation of New Canaan Town Hall is expected to be about $100,000 less than the projected $18 million construction and soft costs budgeted for the work.
The largest contributing factor to the surplus in the bonded money was about $200,000 not spent on new furniture and fixtures in the new building, while demolition costs ran $50,000 less than projected, according to a breakdown of the project costs.
Overall construction costs, originally projected to be $13.1 million, are estimated to be $13.94 million, according to the analysis. The figures were shared with the volunteer Town Hall Building Committee held Monday night.
“We have about $100,000 that we don’t expect to spend,” Assistant Public Works Director Mike Pastore said Tuesday.
The town also saved about $20,000 on construction management and remediation funds to cover costs of phone calls, travel, and other everyday expenses for the construction and architectural firms on the project, according to the breakout.
The project is finished except for minor touches, Pastore said, after more than a year and a half of work. The project, which included $13 million in construction costs, preserves the building's historic elements, including the Main Street facade, as it was in the 1909 design.
The new building, designed by KSQ Architects, includes a new main entrance and about 10,000 square feet of additional space, with the building’s total size being about 35,000 square feet. The building also is handicapped accessible.
The town is now expected to complete the move the final town departments still at other sites into the new facility within three weeks, Pastore said.
Starting August 5, the Office of the First Selectman along with the finance and human resources departments will be moved from the second floor of the New Canaan Police Department at 174 South Ave. into their new space. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
Danbury community health center construction begins
DANBURY — The former site of a school and police station will soon be a downtown health care facility catering to those in need.
Gov. Dannel P. Malloy, Mayor Mark Boughton and others lifted ceremonial shovels Wednesday afternoon to endorse the start of construction on the 36,000-square-foot, four-story Greater Danbury Community Health Center at 120 Main St.
“What we’re doing today — bringing additional services in a one-stop venue — assures a continuum of health care available not just for the wealthy, but for everyone in the community,” Malloy said. “It both enhances community health care and also provides a major economic boost to the city’s downtown.”
Jim Maloney, Connecticut Institute For Communities president and CEO, noted the support Malloy and Boughton have given for the CIF project. Maloney said the governor is highly committed to health care, particularly for those in most need.
“This would not have been possible without Mayor Boughton,” Maloney added. “This property was formally the site of the Danbury police station, before that of Danbury High School and before that Main Street School. This site has long been owned by the city and it is thanks to the mayor’s vision to work with us that’s made this building possible.”
The Community Health Center will house pediatric and adolescent medical and behavioral health services; women’s health services; patient intake, enrollment and insurance assistance; and a phlebotomy suite; full-service pharmacy, and administrative offices for the Health Center and headquarters for CIFC. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
Stamford developer's hotel expansion moves ahead in Danbury
The development of a new boutique hotel for Danbury’s west side is moving forward with the recent sale of property to the developer, RMS Cos., of Stamford.
Plans for the Hotel Zero Degrees, a brand that’s already been successful in Stamford and Norwalk, were recently approved by city land-use boards, including the Environmental Impact Commission, according to city land-use officials.
Hal Kurfehs, vice president of Bethel-based Coldwell Banker Commercial, Scalzo Group, said RMS closed on the property last week. RMS purchased the approximately 9-acre lot from WCI Communities for about $1.2 million, he said. The hotel will be across the street from the Regional Hospice of Western Connecticut.
“The new hotel will provide Danbury with the luxurious facilities that top executives expect and will bring the city to the next level of hospitality,” Kurfehs said.
The hotel, according to its website, offers a combination “of Old World hospitality and modern-day amenities.” Plans call for 111 rooms, a 100-seat restaurant and a 120-seat banquet facility.
The hotel is the latest development here by RMS Cos.’ Randy Salvatore, who has invested more than $100 million in the Danbury area in recent years. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
Residents express support for new Town Hall building
NEWINGTON — While residents expressed both positive and negative feedback regarding the planned Town Hall renovation, a majority of speakers agreed a brand-new facility would be the best way to go.
Dozens came to a public hearing Tuesday night to speak on two plan concepts — one for a new $37 million facility and the second, a $44 million renovation with additions.
Many speakers thanked the building committee for its work over the last nine months before endorsing the top-to-bottom construction plan, which they said was the better option by far.
“I totally support a brand new building — it’s time and we need it,” Mary Udice, a member of the board of parks and recreation, said.
As a parent of a child with special needs, she commended the committee for their consideration of the Newington Transition Academy. The school, which prepares physically and mentally-challenged young adults for life after high school, would have its own entrance off Garfield Street in the plan. Since the current entrance is in the usually full Town Hall parking lot, student pickup and drop-off can become congested.
The Mortensen Community Center would also have its own entrance on the lower level of the campus, adjacent to the police station.
“This way people can enter [the community center] during Town Hall’s off hours on evenings and weekends,” pointed out Chuck Boos, CEO of Kaestle Boos, the project’s architect.
Along with committee Chairman Alan Bongiovanni and construction manager Ed Moriarty of Downes Construction, Boos gave a brief presentation on both plans before Tuesday’s hearing. The trio agreed that a new facility would be the town’s best bet, calling it the cleaner and more economical option. The existing building is around 110,000 square feet, but renovations with additions would bring it to nearly 126,000 square feet. The plan to build new, on the other hand, calls for a smaller, 100,000-square-foot facility. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
Plan for new town center in Avon is presented
AVON — A developer on Tuesday presented plans for a development that could dramatically transform the center of town, filling it with apartments along with more stores and other businesses.
That development would be on 92 acres encompassed by West Main Street, Simsbury Road and Climax Road. Town officials, along with the land's owner, Ensign Bickford Realty Corp., envision a town center that would be a gathering spot in addition to a place where people live, work and shop. The planning and zoning commission approved a conceptual plan for this new center in 2012.
Businesses and stores, including potentially a large retailer that would anchor the development, are a key component of the plan. But officials said on Tuesday that just as important is the public space included in the plan. Those include a new town green and a 15-acre wooded park. Other public gathering spots would be built and Neil Middleton, an architect working on the project, said the goal is to make the development as pedestrian oriented as possible.
Construction would be done by the Rhode Island-based Carpionato Group and on Tuesday its representatives outlined their plans to the commission.
Joe Pierik, a representative of the Carpionato Group, said the plan could take years to fully develop and cost as much as $220 million.
"This is a generational project," Pierik said. "This is not a case of built it, sell it and move on to the next project."
There is already some development on the land and the parcel includes the town hall complex. In a presentation to the commission, Carpionato's representatives said that once work is done there would be more than 1 million square feet of new apartments, offices, stores and businesses. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
Engineers see flaws with tunnel to replace I-84 viaduct
HARTFORD — No decisions have been made yet, but engineers studying ways to replace the I-84 viaduct in Hartford said Wednesday that two options — a tunnel or a newer version of the towering elevated highway — appear increasingly impractical.
The prospect of rebuilding a roughly milelong stretch of I-84 at ground level or in a slightly lowered trench has seemed the most likely choice for many months, and everything that state engineers and consultants said at a public planning session Wednesday evening suggested that's still the case.
There has been sizable public support in Hartford for a Big Dig-style tunnel, mostly because it would eliminate vehicle noise, remove the unsightly viaduct and its many elevated ramps, and open acres of wasted real estate to use for development or parkland.
But the cost projections and construction complexities appear to worsen each time engineers study the idea in greater depth, and Wednesday's figures were the worst of all. Engineers said that a tunnel could cost as much as $12 billion, more than twice the next costliest choice.
They concluded this summer that a tunnel could be constructed in only one spot: Directly under the existing highway. Building either to the north or south would require acquiring pieces of the expensive Capitol Avenue or Farmington Avenue commercial properties alongside the highway, they said. But digging a tunnel beneath the highway would add immense expense because crews would have to strengthen the existing viaduct to keep it safe enough to handle traffic during construction. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
Middletown needs additional $15M to complete pump station
MIDDLETOWN — Voters will likely be asked to approve up to $15 million in additional funding to complete the pump station portion of the project that will link the city with the Mattabassett District in Cromwell.
City officials said initial estimates from engineering firm CDR Maguire were inadequate, and that prices for labor and materials are now estimated far higher than when the firm designed the project.
Voters in 2012 approved $37 million for the pump station, a pipeline to make the connection to the Mattabassett facility and demolition of the city's municipal sewage treatment plant, and the common council approved $3 million more in 2014.
Cost projections for the full project have ballooned to about $50 million, plus $5 million more as an emergency contingency to cover any future funding shortfalls.
The common council will hold a special meeting in mid- to late-August to consider adding a referendum question for additional funding on the November ballot.
"There's no alternative," said council Democratic Majority Leader Thomas Serra. "If we don't do this we can't complete the project."
The pump station will be built on East Main Street at the site of the fire training center. The engineering firm initially estimated the pump station would cost about $24 million, city officials said, but after the city opened the project for construction bids in March only one firm bid, with a $28.9 million price tag.
Water and Sewer Director Guy Russo said the city is planning to seek new bids in the fall so construction can begin in the spring.
Russo said 20 percent of the project costs are eligible for state grants, and the other 80 percent will be paid for with a 2 percent interest, 20-year loan from the state.
Mayor Daniel Drew said the large, built-in contingency in the additional $15 million will avoid having future funding shortages. He said there could still be better news once construction bids are received. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
Legislators resist granting Malloy his transportation lockbox
While Gov. Dannel P. Malloy watched his transportation initiative take another step forward Tuesday, it remained uncertain whether legislators are willing to insulate transportation funds from future budget cuts.
That’s because, according to top legislative leaders, lawmakers also want to safeguard what they see as an equally important initiative to boost municipal aid and mitigate property taxes. And giving one project a fiscal advantage over the other, they said, doesn’t make sense.
After the State Bond Commission approved the first $25 million in financing for “Let’s Go CT,” the initial stage of Gov. Dannel P. Malloy's massive proposed transportation initiative, the governor said he still plans to ask lawmakers to support a constitutional amendment to safeguard transportation funding.
But with another major state deficit projected starting in July 2017, is it fair to insulate transportation from cuts while leaving the new town aid program – and much of the rest of the state budget – on the table?
“I think it is fair,” the governor said. “We’re asking the people of Connecticut to make a massive investment in transportation.”
Malloy unveiled plans in February to start Connecticut down a 30-year path to invest $100 billion in state and federal funds on its highways, bridges, railroads, bus lines, air and sea ports and bike paths.
The bonding for Let’s Go CT includes $795 million in this fiscal year and next combined and another $2 billion for the three fiscal years after that, running through 2019-20. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
New tax and highway tolls discussed at capital
HARTFORD, Conn. (WTNH) — Not only are highway tolls on the table in Connecticut, a completely new tax based on how many miles you drive may be in the cards as well.
So called “mileage fees” and modern electronic highway tolls were on Wednesday’s agenda before the special committee Governor Malloy appointed to figure out how to pay for his $100 billion transportation plan.
“No cash, no toll collectors, no barriers, no toll booths, and no stopping. It’s ‘highway speed’ toll collection,” said Kevin Hoeflich, Vice President and Toll Market Leader for HNTB Corporation, an engineering consultant firm.
Representatives of the highway tolling industry say a new highway tolling system in Connecticut would be mounted high above the roadway and not impede traffic in anyway. The modern systems communicate with a transponder in your car at any speed, and you just pay the bill at the end of the month.
If you don’t have a transponder, the system takes a picture of your license plate and sends you a bill in the mail. If you don’t pay it, you face a fine, and if you don’t pay that, you could lose your license.
The representatives also told the panel that studies in other states show that initially some people will go to other roads to avoid the tolls, but that doesn’t last. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
What's in the 6-year Senate transportation bill
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate is moving toward the likely passage this week of a sweeping, six-year transportation bill, but the House is putting off consideration of the measure until this fall.
With a Friday deadline to prevent a cutoff of highway and transit aid to states, House and Senate Republican leaders say they will also pass an $8 billion short-term bill to shore up the federal Highway Trust Fund through late October. That will give the House about two months after it returns from its August recess to weigh in on a long-term transportation bill.
Business and transportation industry lobby groups are urging their members to ask their congressmen and senators to support the Senate bill. Industry officials said the $350 billion Senate bill isn't ideal — not as much money as they would like and only three of the six years paid for — but they are desperate for at least a few years certainty rather than another short-term patch.
Since 2009, Congress has passed 34 short-term transportation extensions. Five states — Arkansas, Georgia, Tennessee, Utah and Wyoming — have delayed or canceled $1.5 billion in construction projects because they couldn't count on federal aid, the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials said.
Some highlights of the Senate bill: CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE