Concord, N.H. — Northeasterners who are digging deeper into their pockets to pay for firewood this season can add a new scapegoat to the roster of usual market forces: fracking.
Yep, a timber industry representative in New Hampshire said those hydraulic fracturing well sites in Pennsylvania's Marcellus Shale formation to suck natural gas out of the ground are using construction "mats" made of hardwood logs — think of the corduroy roads seen in sepia-toned photographs from the 1800s — to get heavy equipment over mucky ground, wetlands or soft soils.
That increased demand has crept down the chimney into fireplaces. Prices in parts of New England are averaging $325 a cord and can even push past $400 for a seasoned, delivered load. That's anywhere from $50 to $75 more a cord than last year — or an increase of 18 to 23 percent.
Jasen Stock, executive director of the New Hampshire Timberland Owners Association, said it's not just fracking sites that are hogging the logs. Pipelines and transmission wires — really any large-scale construction project — have in the past three years ramped up the appetite for the perfect mat log: a hardwood trunk, 16 to 20 feet long and 8 to 10 inches in diameter.
As a result, the cost of cordwood on the stump (that is, live trees) went from $10 in 2012 in northern New Hampshire to $15 this year, Stock said.
"If you're putting in a power line or gas line over wetlands or soft soil, they use thousands and thousands of these mats, and they're made of hardwood logs," Stock said. "If you're in the firewood business, that's your sweet spot. That's the log you want." CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
Enfield Voters To Decide Multimillion-Dollar Appropriations In 3 Ballot Questions
ENFIELD — Residents on Tuesday will be asked to approve funding for three multimillion-dollar projects, including energy-efficiency improvements at town buildings and school security enhancements.
The first question asks voters if the town can appropriate $36 million to improve the town's water pollution control facility and sewage collection system, including pump stations, the solids handling system, the odor-control system, clarifier mechanisms and aeration equipment. The town says the current equipment violates state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection standards.
Sewer use fees, which started in 2014, will fund this project, Mayor Scott Kaupin said Wednesday. In 2014, the town switched the way it taxed residents for sewer use, from a property-tax-based approach to a user-based system in which residents pay a rate based on their water consumption.
The second question asks voters if the town can appropriate $11.2 million for an energy-efficiency project that would upgrade heating and ventilation systems, boilers and furnaces, and indoor lighting at multiple town and school buildings, according to supporting documents for the referendum posted on the town's website. The project would also make street lighting improvements. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUEMalloy Reiterates His Call For Transportation Lock Box
Gov. Dannel P. Malloy spent part of his cabinet meeting Wednesday reiterating his call for a constitutional lock box for transportation funds.
Transportation Commissioner James Redeker said underinvestment in transportation over the last few decades has begun to take its toll on Connecticut’s roads and bridges.
He said 35 percent of Connecticut’s bridges are functionally obsolete or structurally deficit and 41 percent of state and local roads are in “poor” condition. Those poor road conditions add $661 per year in operating costs for drivers.
Road conditions and lack of access to transportation also make the state less desirable to businesses.
Department of Economic and Community Development Commissioner Catherine Smith said one of the most important factors businesses consider when they’re relocating is access to transportation. She said it has replaced talent as the number one factor corporations consider in relocation decisions.
Earlier this year, Malloy laid out his 30-year, $100 billion transportation vision and created a panel to figure out how to fund it.
Originally, the panel was supposed to finish its work in October, but it requested an additional two months.
Cameron Staples, who chairs the panel, has said that when the legislature decided to use a half-cent from the state sales tax to shore up the special transportation fund, it changed the timeline. Initially, the panel was planning to have its recommendations in place this fall for a special session, but “because the fund is now solvent for the next few years, it really took pressure off us,” Staples said last month.
He said they are looking at meeting in November to begin putting together their draft report and a final report the first week of December.
Malloy admitted that the sales tax only pays for a portion of his plans and a lock box would go a long way to guaranteeing the funds will be there in the future. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
Milford to add up to 400 parking spaces at train station
MILFORD >> Mayor Ben Blake and members of the business community Wednesday announced the acquisition of four properties near the train station to be used for parking to benefit commuters and downtown businesses.
The city bought the properties totaling 2.2 acres through a $5 million grant from the state.
Blake and business leaders said it was a day to celebrate, as the parking spaces will make downtown more appealing to businesses and commuters, as well as boosting existing businesses. It is estimated that 5,000 commuters use the station each day, Blake said.
“Milford is a vibrant place, a hustling, bustling place,” Blake said. He said the city has had downtown parking challenges and the state grant means local taxes won’t be impacted by the purchase of the properties.
The parcels that will become parking over the next three years include: 44-64 River St., 0 River St., 145 High St. and 0 Railroad Ave.
The plan announced Wednesday calls for 100 new spaces to be constructed in the next three months, with a minimum of 300 additional spaces to be created within the next three years.
A development committee to oversee parking design and an economic improvement strategy for the property will be appointed, Blake said. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE