Legislation authorizing a study of gravel mining on watershed land owned by the New Britain Water Company appeared to fail Monday night in the House of Representatives, a victory for an environmentalist, Rep. Mary Mushinsky, D-Wallingford.
But Mushinsky, who has served longer than any other House member, knew better than to celebrate when the leadership failed to announce the vote. The machine stayed open, a few votes flipped and a tally was announced. A bill sought by New Britain and surrounding towns passed, 73 to 70.
“I actually had the votes to kill it, and they held the machine open. And they started flipping people. It was going down,” Mushinsky said.
The near-defeat was a surprise, given that the measure had passed the Senate unanimously with the blessing of major environmental groups, such as the League of Conservation Voters and the Rivers Alliance of Connecticut.
The environmental groups opposed the original legislation, which would have authorized the water company to lease 131 acres of land it owns in Plainville to Tilcon for a stone and gravel quarry, whose excavation eventually would produce a major new reservoir.
They dropped their opposition after the legislation was rewritten to require New Britain to commission an independent study of the project. Two state environmental groups, the Water Planning Council and the Council on Environmental Quality, must approve the party conducting the study.
New Britain would have to hold a public hearing on the report, and the findings would be reported to the legislature’s Environment and Public Health committees.
New Britain Mayor Erin Stewart and officials in nearby towns of Southington and Plainville sought the authorization for leasing the land. Tilcon would close a quarry closer to a residential neighborhood and donate 275 acres of open space.
Mushinsky said she opposed the study as a first step toward a new quarry that she says would degrade watershed that now protects the Shuttle Meadow reservoir. And late Monday night, she nearly convinced a majority of the House to join her.
Neighbors Of Planned Solar Farm Walk Site With Developers
A Minnesota company plans to bring a solar farm to Griswold, and neighbors' initial concerns about the project seemed to have been allayed during an April 20 walk-through of the property.
The project would be located along Route 138 (Voluntown Road) between 1219 and 1249, said Steve Broyer, senior project manager of Ecos Energy of Minneapolis. Ecos, which recently purchased the property through Windham Solar, its Connecticut–based subsidiary, currently has 17 such facilities up and running nationwide, he said.
The property straddles Route 138, with 17.4 acres on the east side of the road and 32.7 on the west. Currently, both segments of the property consist of cornfields and woods. Broyer said that the larger trees would be cut down to stumps and smaller trees removed completely to prevent them growing and shading the solar panels. The stumps will be left in place to save disrupting the site, he said.
The 29.1-acre project will consist of panels mounted at least 18 inches off the ground, containing a total of 10,185 solar modules, built facing south and following the topography. When operational, the project would generate 7 megawatts AC – enough electricity to power 1,400 households, Broyer said. The facility will be fully fenced, with motion sensors and a gated access road for maintenance. The solar panels would be connected to the Eversource grid. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
Proposed Quinnipiac stadium worries Sleeping Giant Park group
HAMDEN >> The prospect of an athletic stadium nearly across the street from Sleeping Giant State Park has raised concerns of the Sleeping Giant Park Association.
Representatives from the association voiced those concerns last week at the start of the public hearing before the Planning and Zoning Commission on Quinnipiac University’s application for the reconstruction of two existing fields and the construction of stadium seating, as well as locker facilities, around the fields.
“We stand in opposition to Quinnipiac’s application to build a stadium complex of significant size and complexity directly across the street and in close proximity to a significant portion of Sleeping Giant State Park,” association outreach coordinator Julie Hulten told the commission.
The university is proposing the facility as part of its efforts to comply with a court order to bring the school in compliance with Title IV regulations regarding equal athletic opportunities for men and women. The plans call for the installation of artificial turf surfaces on the fields and the construction of one 1,500-seat stadium and a second 500-seat stadium. The fields will be used by the men’s and women’s lacrosse teams, as well as the women’s field hockey team. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
New Haven Hill-to-Downtown project could start moving forward
NEW HAVEN >> A proposed mixed-use development in the Hill neighborhood should start moving forward now that a special committee reviewing it has officially reported back to the Board of Alders.
The Hill-to-Downtown Steering Committee Monday submitted its recommendations on affordable housing and a zone change for the 11.6 acres that have been mainly empty lots for decades.
Developer Randy Salvatore hopes to construct some 140 apartments, about 7,000 square feet of retail, 120,000 square feet of research space and 50,000 square feet of offices in the Hill.
The area is generally bound by Church Street South, Amistad Street, the eastern boundary of Amistad Park, Cedar Street, Minor Street, Howard, Washington and Congress avenues and is close to the Yale School of Medicine and private biotech labs.
The zone change would go from BA to BD-3, which allows for a mixed use development.
As expected, excluded from the proposed change is a parcel at 2 Church Street South and one at 35 College St. The City Plan Department had included both to be consistent with adjacent Route 34 property that had already been rezoned. The parcels are not part of Salvatore’s proposal.
Salvatore would pay the city $1.225 million for the former Welch and Prince School, which would both be converted to housing, with the proceeds split three ways. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
Hamden school projects remain in flux amid state funding questions
HAMDEN >> The Legislative Council Monday approved submitting paperwork to the state to qualify for reimbursement for renovation projects at West Woods and Shepherd Glen elementary schools, but what those projects will look like could change.
The School Building Committee has been working off plans to renovate the two buildings “as new,” but because of the state financial crisis, the final reimbursement rate isn’t known, council President James Pascarella said, and it’s possible it may make more financial sense to build new rather than renovate “as new.”
“We have to file the ED 049 and see what they will approve and then how the monies will flow before we can make decisions about the renovations and/or construction as new,” Pascarella said, referring to the state form that districts submit for reimbursement. “We have no idea what to expect. We might get more money from the state if we build new.”
Because of changes to the way the state determines what is reimbursable and how much it will pay, the district doesn’t know what will end up cheaper for the town, Pascarella said. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
Bill Requiring Documentation Of Concrete Foundations Headed For Senate
HARTFORD — A bill requiring the documentation of when a concrete foundation is installed is on its way to the Senate after having passed the House late Friday in a 139-4 vote.
The legislation, introduced by the planning and development committee, would mandate that town building officials document the individual or company that supplied the concrete and the name of the individual or company that installed all concrete foundations installed on or after Oct. 1, 2016.
It also permits the owners of buildings with crumbling concrete foundations to request a revaluation of their home after getting written confirmation from a licensed structural engineer that their foundation is deteriorating. In addition, the bill would require the Department of Consumer Protection to report the possible causes of failing concrete to the General Assembly no later than Jan. 1, 2017.
"It was pretty overwhelming support. There were a few negative votes, but not many," Rep Bill Aman, ranking planning and development committee member, said Monday.Sewage plant upgrade cost increasing
TORRINGTON — The projected cost of the sewage treatment upgrades has increased by $18 million to $70 million because of new design requirements and will require another approval by voters in November or early next year. The city has to design and build taller walls on certain structures at the treatment plant to meet new design requirements that were prompted by a draft executive order from the Environmental Protect Agency. Even though the EPA order is still in draft, its provisions were incorporated into a set of standards used to build new sewage plants that is known as TR-16.
"This is a nightmare," City Councilwoman Anne L. Ruwet said of a second referendum. "Maybe we should have projected more."
Ray Drew, administrator for the Water Pollution Control Authority, said the new design standards weren't in place when the city began designing its upgrades years ago.
The city is looking to upgrade the sewage plant, parts of which haven't been upgraded since 1968, and meet phosphorous and nitrogen limits set by the state and federal governments.
In 2014, voters approved a $52 million sewage project referendum by a vote of 5,887 to 3,822.
The new design requirements will mean the city will have to add two to three feet of walls on structures to go above 100-year flood elevations of 520 feet.
The draft executive order that prompted the new design standards came about after hurricanes Katrina and Sandy, which saw many electrical and treatment facilities under water as a result of the massive storms.
The new design requirements call for all noncritical structures have to be two feet above the 100-year flood level and all critical structures have to be three feet above the 100-year flood level.
The cost of adding the additional feet of barriers from the flood level will cost $2 million and other costs with bringing those new structures to code will cost an additional $3 million. The new walls are part of the additional costs for the project.
The project will be reviewed again by an independent group as the city goes further along in the design process to see if there can be more savings. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
School renovation boosted
WATERBURY — The Board of Education voted 7-3 last week to push ahead with a $42.6 million renovation and expansion of Wendell Cross Elementary School. Supporters bring a range of arguments, not the least of which is the 63-year-old school could use repair. They also advocate for modern classrooms and the expansion of grades through middle school of one of the city's top-performing elementary schools "When you look at all the schools in the city, Wendell Cross is only behind the magnets (schools)," said Jami Dohoney, a banking administrator with a son in the second grade. "For us, we know the momentum our children are gaining at Wendell Cross Elementary."
Dohoney's son is in second grade. She's hopeful he'll be able to remain in the school through eighth grade. Sending him from "nurturing" Wendell Cross to the large Wallace Middle School after fifth grade is "unfathomable," Dohoney said Like four other recent elementary school building projects, the Wendell Cross proposal would make room for students through eighth grade to stay in the neighborhood school. Dohoney is among a group of about a dozen Wendell Cross parents who have organized to lobby for the project. The school board vote essentially gave the thumb's up to consultants and school officials to begin pulling together an application for state aid, which would carry about 78.5 percent of initial costs (not borrowing interest, however). The deadline for that application is June 30, and it still requires the blessing of the Board of Aldermen before it is filed. A hearing date has not yet been set. Board of Education members John E. Theriault, Jason Van Stone and Thomas Van Stone Sr. voted against the project. Jason Van Stone said he would prefer to see a project of three classes (rather than two) per grade. It would cost more, but, Van Stone argues, would make a more substantial dent in overcrowding at other schools. Van Stone and others argue the project doesn't add enough capacity for the cost. "If we are going to spend $42 million and you are really only gaining 125 to 150 seats, I really can't understand that," Jason Van Stone said. He said he appreciated the relatively high marks achieved by the school year after year, but current plans don't make much sense. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE