School projects to get Bond Commission approval
The State Bond Commission on Friday is scheduled to approve $21.5 million in school construction projects throughout Connecticut.
According to the agenda, set by Gov. Dannel P. Malloy, who also is chairman of the 10-member, Democrat-dominated panel, urban schools classified as Alliance Districts by the state Board of Education will get special funding for improvements to windows, doors, heating and cooling systems, athletic fields and other facility upgrades.
Ansonia will receive $1.2 million; Bridgeport, more than $963,000; Danbury, $1.7 million; Derby, $1.2 million; Norwalk, $1.4 million; and Stamford, $255,000.
The commission, which meets monthly in the Legislative Office Building, is scheduled for a 10:30 meeting Friday in which about $342 million in projects is scheduled to be allocated.
Also on the agenda is a $5 million loan to Crescent Crossings 1B LLC, for the second phase of Crescent Crossings, for the replacement of housing units at the former Father Panik Village in Bridgeport. In all, 84 units of mixed-income rental housing is planned in the $34 million development.
The commission has planned for $5.4 million in local bridge funds scheduled for disbersement, including $298,000 for a Weston span over the West Branch of the Saugatuck River along Godfrey Road West; three in Greenwich on Brookridge Drive over East Brothers Brook, on Burying Hill Road over Wilshire Pond Brook, and Dingletown Road over Rockwood Lake, for a total of more than $118,700; and in Stamford, over an unnamed brook along Hunting Ridge Road for $1.5 million, and along Riverbank Road spanning the Mianus River, for $647,767. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
Hartford Turns Up Heat On Ballpark Developer, Moves Toward Filing Claim
HARTFORD — In a decision that could delay construction on Dunkin' Donuts Park indefinitely, the Hartford Stadium Authority on Thursday moved toward putting in a claim with the developer's insurance company to ensure that there is enough money to finish the beleaguered project.
In a 4-0 vote, the stadium authority gave the green light to Sean Fitzpatrick, its executive director, and Howard Rifkin, the city's corporation counsel, to file the claim, known as calling the performance bond. Authority Chairman I. Charles Mathews said the claim would be signed by the end of the day Friday and sent out in a registered letter.
What that would mean for ongoing work on the $63 million minor league baseball stadium was a matter of dispute between the city and the developers, DoNo Hartford LLC and Centerplan Cos.
Jason Rudnick, a principal with DoNo Hartford, said all work would stop once the city formally makes the claim. He said it would be at least six to nine months before the insurer's investigation into the claim would be completed and that construction would be halted for that long.
But Mayor Luke Bronin and Mathews said they have been advised by lawyers that work could continue during the investigation.
"We have not terminated them," Bronin said. "They have an obligation to continue to work."
Mathews said calling the bond now makes more sense than waiting for next Tuesday, when city officials are scheduled to meet with the developers' insurer, Arch Insurance. By calling the bond, Mathews said, the insurer would move quickly to get the project back on track. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
A.H. Harris celebrates 100 years, expansion in New Haven
NEW HAVEN >> If you find yourself needing six, 90-degree angled number 4 rebar, there is a place in New Haven that will custom provide that for you within an hour. Customization and quick service, among other features, are what brings contractors to the A.H. Harris construction supply and distribution company on Wheeler Street, a century-old Connecticut business that has grown exponentially in New Haven in the past five years. Across the country, it has 52 locations from Maine to North Carolina, with a presence in 13 states and some 600 workers.
It’s local facility was a 15,000-square-foot outlet in New Haven, which more than doubled at the new warehouse that is now the hub for its state and western Massachusetts operations.
In terms of employees, the New Haven site now has 22 employees, after having started with two, said Gregg Lanouette, regional vice president of the company. “I don’t know too many companies that have experienced that kind of growth in such a short period of time,” Lanouette said. They are involved with most projects from beginning to end. “We get in early and learn who the players are. That really helps us down the road when it comes time to caulking the joints, kind of the last thing on the project,” said Kim J. Corwin, president and CEO of the company. They mainly supply what is needed for concrete, site work and the repair and restoration of concrete. Corwin said 78 percent of a construction job is labor with 22 percent material cost and they try to help contractors save on both. Creating a rebar form at the warehouse on demand saves money. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
Senate appropriators OK federal funds for Coast Guard museum
Washington – Senate appropriators for the first time on Thursday approved federal funding for efforts to build a Coast Guard museum on New London’s waterfront.
Although the money, $5 million, is a small fraction of the projected $100 million cost of the museum, retired Coast Guard Capt. Wes Pulver, head of the National Coast Guard Museum Association, called it a breakthrough.
“It’s great news because now all or our elements are finally coming together,” he said. The appropriation still must make it through the full Senate and the U.S. House, but approval by the Senate appropriators was a critical step.
Pulver said he is hoping for a total of $30 million in federal funding for the museum. The federal money would be used for initial appraisal, cataloguing and organizing of the existing collection of artifacts.
The state of Connecticut already has committed $20 million to build a pedestrian bridge from downtown New London to the museum, the waterfront and train station.
In addition the city of New London donated land for the museum in 2014.
The rest of the money needed for the project, about $50 million, would come from private donations. Pulver said about $7.5 million of that already has been raised.
The Coast Guard is the only branch of the armed services that does not have a national museum devoted to it, the museum's organizers say.
The $5 million in federal funding for the project was secured by Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn, a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, and was included in the U.S. Department of Homeland Security spending bill. The Coast Guard is under the jurisdiction of the Department of Homeland Security. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
State aid eyed for Waterbury school
WATERBURY — City and school staff are busy putting the finishing touches on an application for state aid to help cover the anticipated $42.6 million cost of converting Wendell Cross Elementary School into a larger building serving pre-kindergarten through eighth grade. The application is due June 30 and two more city votes are required before it's sent. The Board of Education is expected to vote on the education specifications during a June 2 meeting.
The Board of Aldermen are expected to vote on a bundle of measures needed for the state application at a June 20 meeting. That doesn't leave a lot of time to assemble a detailed application before the state deadline. School Personnel Director Robert Brenker said that teams of city and school staff are assembling the application ahead of time with the blessing of Mayor Neil M. O'Leary, should the project gain all needed approvals. On June 20, aldermen will be asked to vote on three measures: to allow the school board to send the application; to assign the building project to the school board's Building Committee and to allow drafting of schematics. Board of Education member John E. Theriault spoke up against the proposal during a review of the education specifications during a school board meeting Thursday. He said the project would do nothing to curb alleged overcrowding in Generali and Chase Elementary Schools. Rather, it would decrease the population at Wallace Middle School, he said. Theriault said the school board would do better to build an entirely new school to replace Wendell Cross elsewhere, then use the emptied building as an overflow site for East End students who are shipped to schools around the city due to crowding at Chase and Generali. Theriault also calculated that the proposed construction project would only add room for 213 additional students, with each spot costing $218,000.
Brenker said the current Wendell Cross building dates back to the 1950s and will require costly repairs whether the project moves ahead or not. The draft "education specifications" presented to the school board Thursday claims Wendell Cross needs: greater technology, more pre-kindergarten space to comply with state demands, space for bilingual education, a larger student capacity and a new library.