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East Hampton business owners: four months of bridge work would be ‘catastrophic’
EAST HAMPTON >> Drivers still recovering from last summer’s traffic blockages at routes 66 and 196 can begin preparing for yet another round of repairs.
The state Department of Transportation is working on plans for a culvert replacement at the Pocotopaug Brook Bridge in 2018. A DOT official came before the Town Council last week to outline the project, which is scheduled to begin in the spring of 2018. “The bridge is structurally deficient,” DOT supervising engineer Andrew Cardinali told the councilors. The bridge was built in 1913 and widened in 1925, he said. “It’s in poor condition because it’s so old.”The state proposes spending $1.5 million to repair the bridge, which will also require relocating several utilities and a storm drainage system. The state originally proposed a four-month-long project that would allow the contractor to widen the bridge and add a sidewalk. However, businesses in the immediate area of the project — in particular American Distilling and Manufacturing Co. — are calling for a shorter duration project that American Distilling CEO Edward Jackowitz said would be “better, quicker and faster.” He is pressing for a seven-day closure of the bridge, something Cardinali said “is possible.” “We’ve done it quite frequently on other projects,” Cardinali said. “If it could be done in a shorter period of time, all the businesses there would be in a lot better shape than they would be versus four months,” Jackowitz said. Noting that American Distilling is the only supplier of witch hazel in the world, Jackowitz said, “We’ve got to do this as quickly as possible.” CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
East Lyme to hold new discussions on school project next month
East Lyme - The Board of Education said Monday that it will begin new discussions in August on a direction for the town's elementary school facilities, after deciding last month not to file by the June 30 deadline for state reimbursement for a plan it had previously developed.
The school board decided June 27 that it would not file for state reimbursement by June 30 for a plan to renovate the Lillie B. Haynes School and provide some refurbishments to Flanders Elementary School. The plan called for the closure of Niantic Center School in the future.
The state's financial uncertainty was one of the factors the board discussed in deciding to hold additional discussions.
At the same meeting, the school board made a motion to add to this month's meeting agenda an item about whether a project to upgrade the town's elementary school facilities should encompass two schools or all three of the town's elementary schools. If the board chose a two-school plan, it was to discuss or decide on which two schools.
The motion was coupled with an approval of an additional kindergarten teacher at Flanders Elementary School, in light of an increase in kindergarten enrollment next year.
Superintendent of Schools Jeffrey Newton recommended Monday that the board not make a decision on the schools, but start anew in August. He said more discussion and input from the community and town boards are warranted. Also, just six members of the 10-member board attended the meeting. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
Old Lyme residents approve construction costs for Hartford Avenue improvements
Old Lyme — Construction to make improvements to Hartford Avenue in Sound View is slated to begin this September, after residents voted to approve the work at a packed town meeting on Monday.
By a majority voice vote, residents at the meeting in the Lyme-Old Lyme Middle School auditorium approved up to $877,000 for the construction costs.
A federal grant, administered through the state Department of Transportation, is expected to cover 80 percent of the expenses. The town would be responsible for $175,400, or less if the bids come in lower, said First Selectwoman Bonnie Reemsnyder.
The project is expected to break ground after Labor Day, she said.
The project calls for renovating Hartford Avenue with 6-foot-wide, handicapped-accessible sidewalks, sign posts, benches, bike racks, parallel parking, and markings on the street to indicate that bikes share the road.
The redesign of the street would mean a loss of 22 street parking spaces.
Rob Pinckney of BSC Group, the firm that designed the project, said the "complete street" project is designed to accommodate pedestrians and bicyclists.
During the planning phase of the project, the Route 156 corridor which connects with Hartford Avenue was evaluated by the town as a bikeway. About 75 percent of the corridor would support bike use, with additional signage, he said. The state DOT is taking the evaluation under consideration, he said.
Before the vote, residents asked questions about or commented on sewers, zoning regulations, the lowering of speed limits, and that Route 156 could be dangerous for bicyclists, among other topics. Some also commented on the need for public restrooms.
Reemsnyder said the town would continue efforts to try to find funding for the Sound View Green and public restrooms, which are not covered under the project's transportation grant. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
State to spend $300,000 on mileage tax study
HARTFORD — A plan to spend $300,000 to study how to charge motorists for miles driven on Connecticut’s highways is fueling accusations that Gov. Dannel P. Malloy is speeding toward a new mileage tax.
The state’s application for federal funding for a multistate pilot program pledges taxpayer money, lays out how a mileage tax would work, demonstrates how tracking devices would transmit driving data to taxing authorities and offers possible per-mile fees.
“The grant application makes it clear that this is no little study,” said Senate Minority Leader Len Fasano, R-North Haven.
“While Democrat lawmakers and the governor’s office have tried to downplay their efforts to implement a proposed mileage tax, the state’s application shows that this is something they are clearly very serious about, and the administration is willing to spend taxpayer dollars to make it happen,” Fasano said.
Gov. Dannel P. Malloy and the state Senate’s majority Democrats deny they plan to pursue a vehicle miles tax; state transportation officials say the pilot is only intended to gain information about a revenue source under discussion in other states.
“Any such proposal would be dead on arrival and would never be brought up for a vote in the Senate, as Sen. Fasano well knows,” said Adam Joseph, a spokesman for the Democratic Senate majority.
“Democrats in the Senate are strongly opposed to any mileage tax,” Joseph said. “Sen. Fasano’s fake hysteria is nothing more than another lame attempt by the Republicans to frighten Connecticut residents.”
Still, the grant application submitted to federal transportation officials by the Interstate 95 coalition on behalf of Connecticut and four other states — New Hampshire, Delaware, Vermont and Pennsylvania — is highly detailed, and seeks $1.5 million in direct funding. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
$7M in bonding on ballot Middlebury selectmen split on plan to pay $2.3M in interest
MIDDLEBURY — First Selectman Edward B. St. John responded to Selectman Michael McCormack's criticism of his proposed capital plan by blaming McCormack for the town's failure to properly maintain its infrastructure. St. John accused McCormack of cutting funds for infrastructure improvements when he was Board of Finance chairman, a charge that McCormack strongly denies.
On Monday, the Board of Selectmen approved sending nearly $7 million in bonding for capital projects to a referendum to be held during the presidential election. McCormack was the lone dissenter when all three resolutions passed, 2 to 1, with Selectman Elaine M.R. Strobel voting with St. John. Asked after the meeting why he voted no, McCormack pointed to the nearly $2.3 million in interest the town would pay over the life of the bonds Rather than bonding, he said funds should be used from declining debt, reserve accounts and the undesignated fund balance.
"Why would you pay interest that you don't have to?" McCormack asked. "It doesn't make any sense to do that." St. John said of McCormack, "why didn't he do that for the six years he chaired the Board of Finance? Those funds were there then. Where was he?" Through blending existing funds with declining debt, St. John said the projects could be done without causing a spike in the budget. His numbers show debt service costs of around $700,000 a year. McCormack, a Democrat, challenged the incumbent Republican in last November's municipal election and lost. When McCormack chaired the finance board, St. John said he "was cutting our infrastructure." "We never cut the public works budget when I was chairman of the Board of Finance," McCormack said. "I was only chairman for five years. Basically, there was $400,000 for infrastructure repairs and we didn't cut it in any meaningful way. So that just isn't true." CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE