Power plant may be boon to New Milford economy
NEW MILFORD — The Century Brass mill used to be an important part of New Milford’s economy.
Its workers patronized restaurants, gas stations, grocery stores and other local businesses, and the mill owners contributed to the town’s tax revenues.
Since the mill closed in 1986, the 70-acre site has remained vacant and has been a non-contributor to the local economy.
“Getting it back in service would be significant,” New Milford Mayor David Gronbach said. “It would have a significant social and economic impact.”
A Dallas-based private-equity fund is hoping to put the site back in service and would immediately become one of the town’s highest taxpayers. Panda Power Funds outlined last week its plans to build a 550-megawatt electricity-generating power plant that would be fueled by natural gas. The project, Panda officials said, would bring in 300 to 500 jobs for about 30 months during construction and 25 to 30 full-time jobs going forward.
“Every service business will benefit from the infusion of a couple hundred workers,” Gronbach said. “It’s something New Milford sorely needs.”
About 20 miles down Route 67, construction had begun on an 800-megawatt natural gas-fired power plant in Oxford. The project has faced significant opposition from local residents, but passed a number of approval processes with town officials promising a boost for the local economy.
New Milford’s Economic Development Director Kevin Bielmeier said the multiplier effect of construction workers spending money locally is very much needed in New Milford. He added that Panda would become the biggest contributor to the town’s tax roll, bypassing Kimberly-Clark as New Milford’s highest taxpayer.
“I think it’s unequivocally an economic driver,” Bielmeier said. “I wouldn’t have spent the amount of time I have on this project if I didn’t think it was right for New Milford or a detriment in any way.”
Back on the tax rolls
According to a study done by Impact Data Source, the direct and indirect economic output of the power facility would be $2.3 billion over the first 10 years and $4.8 billion over 30 years. It estimates $100 million in property tax revenue over 30 years.
Panda Power Fund initially presented its plan at last week’s council meeting. It repeated its presentation the following night to the Economic Development Commission. That meeting was open to the public and residents peppered Panda officials for several hours with questions. Most of the concerns were about environmental impacts.
New Milford took over ownership of the property in 1999 after years of the previous owners not paying taxes. Years of remediation followed and last week demolition of the buildings started. Panda would pay $2.8 million for the site, which is $400,000 over the appraised value, Bielmeier said. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
Plans to extend Route 11 pass into history
It is with deep regret that we note the passing of the long-debated, but ultimately unrealized plan to finish Route 11 and provide a better transportation link between this region and the Greater Hartford area.
News of its demise passed almost without notice. On Sept. 28, the Federal Highway Administration issued a statement that it was “rescinding its Notice of Intent (NOI) to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement” for the project. On Oct. 4, the FHA published the notice in the Federal Register, “The Daily Journal of the United States Government.”
The Day picked up the story Oct. 19.
It was a fitting bureaucratic ending. The common sense of completing a highway and improving transportation in the region could never overcome the regulatory impediments that confronted it.
Federal environmental officials were never keen on this project, which had kicked around for a couple of decades. There were concerns about protecting the New England cottontail rabbits. And philosophical objections that new highway construction only encourages more suburban sprawl.
There were efforts to construct a large “greenway” around the planned 9 miles of new highway to serve as a bulkhead against adjoining development and to protect wildlife. Multiple bridges were planned to protect wildlife and sensitive wetlands. The state Department of Transportation expended $12.7 million on studies and preliminary design work.
With each new requirement the price tag rose, to north of $1.5 billion, or about $167 million per mile. Even with the state legislature giving the nod to assessing a toll on the new stretch of highway to help pay for it, the cost became impracticable, crowded out by more pressing and affordable needs.
Perhaps if state and federal officials were willing to push the project forward years ago, when the costs were less, it could have become a reality. Alas, it was not meant to be.
The Connecticut Department of Transportation, with no clear indication the project would ever be funded, stopped working on it. Faced with that, the FHA officially terminated the plans for the environmental impact statement, a necessary step before any such project can proceed.
Route 11, which connects to Route 2 and from there to Hartford, abruptly ends in Salem, Exit 4. Originally intended to run to the shoreline, it stopped there in 1979 for lack of funding.
This newspaper long advocated for completing Route 11 because it would have taken traffic off Route 85 through Waterford, Montville and Salem. That now serves, and will continue to serve, as the primary route for traffic traveling between southeastern Connecticut and the Hartford region. Yet it is poorly suited for the purpose. The undivided roadway has a single lane in both directions and numerous cut-ins for residents and businesses. It has many accidents, often serious. The FHA once estimated extending Route 11 would cut accident rates on Route 85 by more than half. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
O&G Industries
Headquarters: Torrington
Industry: Construction services and products
Year founded: 1923
Founder: Andrew Oneglia
Generation currently running the company: Third, with fourth actively participating
No. of full-time employees: 700-plus
No. of part-time employees: Under 15
Family members currently employed at company: Cousins, third generation: David Oneglia, President; Gregory Oneglia, Vice Chairman of the Board; Raymond Oneglia, Vice Chairman of the Board.
Cousins, fourth generation: Brad Oneglia, Assistant Vice President, Asphalt Division; Christina Rossi, New Business Development; Kara Oneglia, Assistant Vice President, Masonry Division; Matt Oneglia, Business Analyst; Ryan Oneglia, Assistant Vice President, Heavy Civil Division; T.J. Oneglia, Assistant Vice President, Materials Division
Company website: ogind.com
Q&A
How do you instill your family values in your employees?
The lines between family and company have never been distinct at O&G. Now in our third and fourth generations of ownership, each generation has grown up around the business, seeing employees as a very natural extension of our family. Our family and corporate values – hard work, ethical behavior, caring for those around you – come from the top down and are caught rather than taught.
We believe that they can only be passed down to our employees by demonstrating them ourselves. When employees see this, we hope it gives them the desire to want to be part of building more than just a project but the company's history as well as its future.
How do you plan to keep your business going even after your current top executive retires?
Following in the footsteps of the great men who have come before us will always be a challenge. But those same footsteps have shown each succeeding generation the path to success and what must be done to continue this journey we've each started on.
We have taken the foundations they have laid and are continuing to build upon them, maintaining our company's unchangeable core values while adding our own perspective that is informed by the ever-changing world in which we operate. Staying ahead of the curve, innovating and pursuing opportunities that fit our business will be critical in the modern economy. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
Report: 3 of 4 local roads in ‘poor’ or ‘mediocre’ condition
A statewide group of Connecticut cities and towns has found that 73 percent of local roads are in poor-to-mediocre condition, and that 25 percent of bridges and culverts are structurally deficient or obsolete.
The findings, released Friday by the Connecticut Conference of Municipalities, are in a report called “Investing in Connecticut’s Infrastructure: Public Safety and Economic Development Implications for Communities and the State.”
“[L]imited state and local funding for roads and bridges, in combination with a slow recovery from a historic recession, has created a perfect storm for the deterioration of Connecticut local roads and bridges, the CCM said in a prepared statement.
The CCM report is the latest in a series of election season research that highlights key issues for candidates.
Danbury Mayor Mark Boughton is the president of CCM.
Read the report here.