CT losing construction employees
Construction employment in Connecticut has been on the decline this past year, according to the Arlington, Va.-based Associated General Contractors of America (AGCA).
Connecticut ranked 44th in the country in August with a loss of 1,600 construction jobs, compared with the same month a year earlier, the association said Tuesday. The state ranked 50th in the country when August numbers were compared with July figures, with a drop of 1,600 employees in that time frame.
All told, construction employment rose in 36 states year over year, but between July and August, only 24 states added jobs as firms struggled to find workers, the AGCA reported.
The statistics and rankings are based on an analysis of U.S. Labor Department data.
"The construction market has cooled off in recent months but continues to outperform the overall economy in most states, with solid year-over-year job gains," said Ken Simonson, chief economist for the association. "Despite some slowing in public construction, apartments and manufacturing projects, contractors in many states say they would be hiring more employees if they could find enough qualified workers."
California added the most construction jobs (29,300 jobs, 4 percent) between August 2015 and August 2016.
States that shed more jobs than Connecticut include Alabama, which lost 3,500 workers; and Kansas, which lost 4,700 workers.
Association officials said that even as demand for certain types of construction projects, especially public-sector projects, was slowing, firms in many parts of the country remain more worried about the lack of available workers than the lack of available work.
They urged U.S. Senators to act on a House-passed measure that would boost funding for, and make reforms to, career and technical school programs to encourage and prepare more students to pursue high-paying careers in construction.
Bridge job to be expedited
SOUTHBURY – Town officials want to replace the Oak Tree Road bridge and reopen the road to through traffic. By Southbury paying for the work itself, they hope to avoid the yearlong wait of applying for state funds.
The blockage in the middle of the road is causing headaches for area merchants, so First Selectman Jeffrey A. Manville said the town wants to replace the small bridge as soon as possible.
On Monday night, the Board of Finance unanimously approved a resolution recommending that the Board of Selectmen and a town meeting appropriate up to $200,000 for the project.
“We urge town officials to work with all deliberate speed,” Board of Finance Chairman John A. Michaels said Tuesday. “We are acknowledging it will cost taxpayers $25,000 to $50,000 more, but it gets it done a year sooner and we owe that to support our businesses.”
Michaels said the town plans to bypass state and federal 50/50 funding with he goal of replacing the culvert by Thanksgiving.
Manville said, “I don’t know if state funding is off the table. We need some more definitive numbers, but we are moving forward. The indication at this time is we would probably be doing this on our own.”
Public Works Director John Cottell Jr. estimates the cost of the project could be $150,000 to $175,000. Michaels said Board of Finance member, Dick Hill, suggested approving $200,000 in case the cost goes over that.
Cottell said he is still trying to get hard numbers.
The next step is for the Board of Selectmen to schedule a town meeting vote.
Meanwhile, Cottell said expects the Inland Wetlands Commission to approve a wetlands application for the project at its next meeting in October.
Stuart Sommers Co., a Southbury engineering firm, is working on the specifications for the new culvert. After that, Cottell said one can be ordered from the manufacturer, taking a minimum of 30 days to construct.
“That takes us a little into the cold season,” he said. “Hopefully, Mother Nature cooperates with us, which is always a wildcard.”
A major issue is a 4-to-5-inch gas line owned by Eversource Energy, which Cottell said runs parallel to the bridge deck, though it is not attached. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
Wetlands OKs sewer crossing watershed
TORRINGTON – Raw sewage from Woodridge Lake residential community in Goshen can flow through a public drinking watershed because there will be no adverse impacts to the environment, the city’s inland wetlands commission unanimously decided Tuesday.
The commission voted in favor of Woodridge Lake Sewer District’s plan to send the sewage through a sewer line down Goshen Road (Route 4), where it would connect with the end of the current line on Lovers Lane.
An estimated 110,000 gallons of sewage are expected to pass through the proposed 6 miles of sewer lines, which would cross 4,600 feet of the Allen Dam Reservoir watershed and Parker Brook, which feeds into the reservoir. The massive project for Woodridge Lake seeks to put an end to a decades-long battle between the Woodridge Lake homeowners association and the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection. In 1989, the agency issued a consent order over concerns about the lake association’s disposal field.
The decision was not a surprise to the project’s supporters and opponents who attended the hourlong meeting, especially after Goshen’s inland wetlands commission also voted to the approve the project.
“It’s another step in a long process,” said Alfred Shell, clerk of the Woodridge Lake Sewer District.
Susan Suhanovsky, president of the Torrington Water Co., called the decision “unfortunate.”
“(The commission) didn’t take into consideration that something might happen in the future, whether it’s 50 years or 40 years. Some day, something is going to happen and it is going to affect the water for the residents of Torrington,” Suhanovsky said.
Commission members were limited because case law in the state on similar issues is strict.