Public opinion sought on revised Town Hall plan
NEWINGTON — Elected officials are anxious to hear residents’ views on a $32.5 million plan to renovate Town Hall, approved by the Town Hall Building Committee last week.
At the Town Council’s meeting Sept. 22, committee chairman Alan Bongiovanni answered questions on the design, which is $3 million cheaper and 10 percent smaller than one presented in July. Residents criticized the last proposal at two public hearings over the summer, urging architect Kaestle Boos and the committee to focus on the town’s “needs, not wants.”
After 10 months of work, committee members voted 5-1 in favor of this latest project. It calls for a new 90,367-square-foot facility that houses town and Board of Education offices, the Mortensen Community Center, Newington Community Television, the Central CT Health District and the Transition Academy. Entrances are handicapped-accessible, and offices are connected by a central corridor on all three levels.
“It’s a logical design,” Bongiovanni said. “Everyone will be able to find their way around it much more easily.”
Construction would take approximately two years to complete, and the $2 million cost to move town and BOE operations to temporary locations would bring the project’s tentative budget to $34.5 million.
Bongiovanni pointed out that construction inflation is expected to rise 4 percent in the next year, which means the longer the project is delayed, the more expensive it will be.
“If something isn’t done soon we’re going to miss out on the lowest bond rates in recent history,” he said. “I’m a taxpayer in this town too, and over the long term, it’s going to be a much larger burden the longer we wait.” CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
Route 113 in Stratford to reopen Friday
STRATFORD — It’s official — Route 113 (Main Street) between Sniffens Lane and Dorne Drive will be reopened for vehicular and pedestrian traffic beginning at 5 p.m. on Friday, the state Department of Transportation had announced.
The realignment of Route 113 will be completed and the shared use path will also be opened.
The DOT says that until Friday, expect daily lane closures between 9 a.m. to 3 p.m to complete miscellaneous items on the project. The regular work schedule for this project is from 7 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. (Monday through Friday).
The road was closed July 27 between Sniffens Lane and Dorne Drive to allow work on Sikorsky Memorial Airport safety improvements. Originally, the road was going to open on Sept. 1, but DOT says there were extensive utility delays for the relocation of the 16-inch water main and 8-inch gas main. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
N.Y. probe may be linked to train station developers
Politically connected real estate developers involved in the stalled half-billion-dollar expansion of the Stamford train station are reportedly the focus of a federal investigation into contracts for major projects in upstate New York.
The offices of both Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara and Connecticut U.S. Attorney Deirdre M. Daly declined comment Tuesday on whether an investigation into LP Ciminelli Construction of Buffalo, N.Y., includes a related real estate venture that was selected by the Connecticut Department of Transportation for the Stamford project, which has stalled in recent months.
Several New York news organizations have reported that investigators are looking into LP Ciminelli Construction, whose owner, Lewis P. Ciminelli, is the brother of Paul Ciminelli, president of the Williamsville, N.Y.-based family real estate company, which often works with the construction company.
Lewis Ciminelli is a major contributor to New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo.
Both brothers have also given tens of thousands of dollars to Connecticut Democrats.
Requests for comment were not returned Tuesday by Ciminelli officials, nor by officials at the JHM Group of Companies of Stamford, which the state Department of Transportation designated to lead the development team called Stamford Manhattan Development Ventures.
The team chosen to replace the Stamford train station’s 30-year-old parking garage and to build 60,000 square feet of retail space, 600,000 square feet of office space and 300 hotel and residential units. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
75th anniversary of Merritt Parkway on Friday in Stratford
STRATFORD —The Merritt Parkway’s 75th anniversary will be celebrated with old cars, speeches, preservation awards and museum tours on Friday afternoon at the Sikorsky Estuary Walk at 88 Ryders Lane.
The event will be held from 1 until 2 and the public is invited to park along Ryders Lane or in the parking lot of the adjacent shopping center, where the Merritt Parkway Museum will be open for the event.
The main speaker will be state Department of Transportation Commissioner James Redeker. Merritt Parkway Conservancy Chairman Peter Malkin will be presenting the Partnership in Preservation Award for the restoration of the 6 service areas, including the volunteer architects who helped retain the character of the historic brick service centers.
The 37.27-mile road, named for U.S. Rep. Schuyler Merritt of Stamford, starts in Greenwich and ends at the Housatonic River, where the younger Wilbur Cross Parkway continues on to link to Interstate-91. The parkway is a National Scenic Byway and is listed in the National Register of Historic Places. Congressman Merritt, who died at age 99 in 1953, served in the U.S. House from 1917 until 1931 and then again from 1933 until 1937.
Work on North Avenue bridge suspended as new problem arises
The problem-plagued reconstruction of the North Avenue bridge has hit another bump in the road.
Work on the span over the Merritt Parkway, where the state’s lagging project threatened to pose a major traffic bottleneck for school buses in late August as the new academic year was about to start, has now been suspended. That’s because contractors have to shore up damage caused by “numerous impacts from over-height vehicles,” a state Department of Transportation spokesman said.
The latest setback to the construction schedule is expected to push back completion at least a month past October, the date that state and town officials agreed on after the initial mid-August date could not be met.
“Due to the numerous impacts from over-height vehicles, the lower portion of the temporary support had to be removed due to damage,” Judd Everhart, the Department of Transportation spokesman, said Wednesday. “The contractor is redesigning the support system to give additional clearance to vehicles.”
“At this time, work has temporarily stopped until this issue is resolved,” he added.
Meanwhile, traffic lights have been installed at either end of the bridge to control traffic — alternating in opposing directions — across the single lane that remains open. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
State regulators approve massive solar project planned for Sprague
SPRAGUE - A planned solar array for Sprague, said to be the largest east of the Mississippi River, clinched approval this week from state regulators reviewing the project.On Tuesday, the Connecticut Siting Council gave signed off on the 97,000-panel solar farm to be constructed on 200 acres between Potash Hill and Westminster roads by Albany, N.Y.-based Coronal Development Services.“I believe it is a strong sign of support for the project and lets us move forward with what we need to do to make it happen,” First Selectman Cathy Osten said.Construction is set to begin early next year, with commissioning and testing to take place by the end of 2016.The $50 million venture will produce 20 megawatts of electricity for Eversource and United Illuminating, which has power purchase agreements.On top of that, the town is expected to generate more than $750,000 in annual tax revenue – filling a gap left by the departure last year of Fusion Paperboard, its largest taxpayer.“It is a good industry with a good revenue stream that helps us out significantly,” Osten said.The next step will be to put together a development and management plan that addresses several ecological issues, including mitigation plans to protect the habitat of two federally or state-designated threatened species: The wood turtle and long-eared bat.Officials said thousands of trees are being removed from the private property as well.“Site development would require the clearing of 134 acres of trees, or the removal of approximately 21,130 trees with a diameter of 6 inches or greater to achieve a 4.6 percent shading loss,” the Siting Council wrote.Dave Gustafson, the town tree warden and a member of its Conservation Commission, said none of the trees that will be taken down are on public land. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
Rentschler Field Outlet Center Plan Approved In East Hartford
EAST HARTFORD — Planning officials Wednesday approved a proposal to create a new outlet shopping center.
The commission reviewed the application for The Outlet Shoppes at Rentschler Field, which would create 10 retail buildings totaling 425,000 square feet, with the potential to expand to 482,000 square feet, with about 1,800 parking spaces.
"Rarely do we have an opportunity to build something that is going to be as transformational as this will be," Horizon CEO Gary Skoien said.
The project will be carried out in two phases. The first, which developers estimate to be a $100 million investment, will consist of 349,000 square feet and 85 retailers. The second will be 71,000 square feet and 15 to 20 retailers.
The plan includes a food pavilion, phone charging stations and a playground for children. All lights on-site will be LED, and all roads built to town standards, even though they are currently private. Architects added that there are plans to include bicycle racks.
Commissioners said they were pleased to see certain design elements pay homage to the town's aerospace heritage, which include a structure resembling an air traffic control tower and the food pavilion, tentatively called The Hangar.
Once completed, the center would generate about $405 million in tax revenue over 20 years, Skoien told the council. The developers say they expect to create 1,208 jobs during construction and 1,628 permanent and seasonal jobs once the center is complete.
Skoien said the company has signed leases with tenants, but he declined to name the businesses. He said the project is out to bid, in order to break ground by October.Horizon projects the shopping center will open in fall 2016 or early 2017. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
Downtown New Haven office building to be converted to apartments, keep retail component
NEW HAVEN >> The classic Washington Building on Church Street will be converted from office space to apartments with a continuation of retail space on the ground floor.
It is the latest conversion to living space downtown along Crown Street, as there are two major apartment construction projects in the area and one major conversion only blocks away.
The four-story building at 35-39 Church St. was originally built in 1900. Attorney James Segaloff, who represents the owner, the Hurley Group, said they plan to bring in a restaurant or retail to the first floor space with 18 apartments on the upper floors.
He said the facade will be restored to meet the secretary of the interior’s standards for historic rehabilitation. Antique air and light skylight domes will be refurnished as part of that renovation.
The basement will be renovated with amenity space for the residents that will feature a fitness room, a party room , as well as bicycle storage.
The site plan was approved at a recent City Plan Commission meeting, while zoning approval to waive open space requirements was obtained a year ago.
Originally built before the 1926 zoning ordinance, the building covers the entire 8,096-square-foot lot. While it has no open space, it is within 1,000 feet of the New Haven Green. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
Consultant says Waterbury needs new schools
WATERBURY — In the past decade the city has spent $309.5 million in a nearly continuous program of school construction to begin updating the school district's long-neglected building stock.
A report recently finished by consultant Milone & MacBroom recommends the city continue that program with two new elementary schools and renovation/expansion projects at Wendell Cross and Kingsbury elementary schools. The total up-front cost is estimated at $172.8 million to $198.9 million.Tonight, the Board of Education will hear more about the report from its consultants and staff. Soon, the board will have to consider if it follows the recommendations.
Board of Education President Charles Stango expects simple discussion, no decisions or votes this week or next."I think we review the report and then make some sort of decision, probably in the School Building Committee as to what do we do next," Stango said.
State school construction aid has carried the bulk of cost for Waterbury's building spree. Milone & MacBroom estimates the city's share of the four recommended projects at $46.2 to $51.9 million. All four schools would add to the city's fleet of pre-kindergarten through eighth grade schools, but wouldn't fully convert the district into this "neighborhood school" model.
The three large middle schools would remain open.The city has built four pre-kindergarten through eighth grade schools, beginning with the reconstruction of Gilmartin Elementary in 2010. City officials approved a fifth school off Ferrone Avenue at a cost of $49.6 million last year. Mayor Neil O'Leary pulled the plug after fierce opposition, which including Alderman Lawrence V. De Pillo's successful push to put funding before voters last November.
At the time, O'Leary said he'd decided to back-burner the project and await results of the study.
Stango said he still supports building a new school for the city's East End, but he couldn't quite commit Wednesday to the entire Milone & MacBroom recommendation, at least not quite yet.
"Only because it's such a massive thing," Stango said.
Stango said he needs an update on the city's outstanding debts and ability to afford more borrowing before committing to additional construction.Milone & MacBroom offered two slightly different versions of its top recommendation. The first would have construction staggered two buildings at a time. Work would begin in 2017. Two completely new schools would open in 2020 and the two renovations would be finished for 2022. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
Power needs driving push for Watertown to Harwinton electric line
LITCHFIELD — Eversource Energy is in the preliminary stages of planning a new electric transmission line from the substation on Frost Bridge Road in Watertown to a substation on Campville Hill Road in Harwinton.The 10.4-mile line would run along an existing right of way through Watertown, Thomaston, Litchfield and Harwinton, Eversource spokesman Frank Poirot said Wednesday.
The project is important to continue delivering reliable power to northwestern Connecticut, Poirot said. He said ISO New England, the operator of the region's power grid, determined that increased power flow to the region is crucial.Poirot said the existing transmission right of way has been operating since the late 1920s or early 1930s.
The company tests the system all the time and computer modeling shows that there could be an issue with the system years from now as demand grows, Poirot said.Electric usage in the area is increasing at normal rates of 1 percent to 1.5 percent per year, Poirot said, and Eversource expects that trend to continue.The current system is reliable, he said."It's operating in a normal fashion, but we can foresee a time when that reliability, it will be challenged," Poirot said.
Eversource is holding two open houses for residents to learn more about the project. Project members will explain details of the proposal, answer questions, and show residents detailed maps of where the line would go, the width of the right of way, and where structures will be placed, Poirot said.
The first open house from 6 to 8 p.m. Sept. 29 is at the Northfield Volunteer Fire Department at 12 Knife Shop Road in Litchfield. The second meeting from 6 to 8 p.m. Sept. 30 will be in the Lena Morton Art Gallery at Thomaston Town Hall at 158 Main St. in Thomaston.
Most of the right of way runs through remote, heavily wooded areas, Poirot said. He said it will cross some public roads, where people may notice construction activity. Although some trees will removed, there should still be a wide tree buffer between the right of way and other land, he said.
Some points of the strip are more than 400 feet wide, Poirot said, while others are as narrow as 250 feet.Eversource is still in the earliest phase of the application process for the project to be approved by the Connecticut Siting Council.He said Eversource will be explaining the project to town officials and interested residents before filing a formal application, possibly in December.It will take the Siting Council about one year to make a decision, Poirot said.
Under a rough schedule, construction would begin in the third quarter of 2017 and be completed by the fourth quarter of 2018, Poirot said.He said the project will have no impact on service to residents or businesses along the way.
Waterbury quarry allowed to resume work on 37-acre site
WATERBURY — A years-long zoning battle over a quarry on Sheffield Street came to an end at a Zoning Commission meeting Wednesday night.
The commission voted 4-2 to approve a special permit for commercial earth-excavation on the 37.4-acre site, which is owned by the Hychko family.
Attorneys for Level Development, the Hychko family's company, and the city have been arguing the case for six years in Waterbury Superior Court. Level Development appealed the Zoning Commission's previous denial of an earth-excavation permit for the site, questioning the city's decision to designate it as a residential zone in 2011.
Wednesday night's decision overturns the earlier denial, allowing Level Development to once again mine and crush rock. Blasting also will occur.
Level Development's application went back to the Zoning Commission this summer as part of an effort to resolve the lawsuit before going to trial, which was scheduled for Oct. 28.
Attorneys for both sides have said approval of the special permit would render the lawsuit moot.
Michael Hychko, who was unable to attend the meeting because he was at his son's military graduation in South Carolina, applauded the commission's decision.
He said it was "a long time coming" and that he plans to move ahead aggressively to make up for eight years that his quarrying operation was at a standstill.
Neighbors on Sheffield Street vehemently opposed the application, saying the street can't handle more truck traffic or blasting. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE