WASHINGTON (AP) — Democrats had hoped the one big policy area they could find common ground with President Donald Trump on was infrastructure, but they don't like what they're hearing from administration officials about the transportation portion of the plan that's still in the works.
Trump has promised to generate $1 trillion in infrastructure spending over 10 years. With two of his other top campaign pledges in trouble — an effort to repeal and replace the Obama administration health care law has failed so far, and without savings to the government from health care changes there may not be enough money to pay for lowering tax rates — infrastructure appeared to be an area ripe for bipartisan compromise.But some Democrats say they worry that Trump's plan will focus on trying to entice more private investment in transportation projects and reduce regulations that require environmental reviews and community consultation on projects rather than providing more government money to repair, replace and expand the nation's transportation network.
Reps. Peter DeFazio of Oregon and Eleanor Holmes Norton of the District of Columbia, two top Democrats on the House transportation committee, sent a letter Wednesday to Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao objecting to comments she made last week about the failure to fix the nation's crumbling transportation system.
"The problem is not money. It's the delays caused by government permitting processes that hold up projects for years, even decades, making them risky investments," Chao said. She reiterated the statement Wednesday in a speech to the American Association of Port Authorities.
Congress has already directed the Transportation Department in bills passed in 2012 and 2015 to take dozens of steps to "streamline" regulations holding up projects. A recent report by the department's inspector general found that work on a majority of the 42 actions required under the 2012 law had been completed, but implementation has been delayed so that the actions can be revised to take into account conflicting or additional requirements of the 2015 law.
"Piling additional streamlining measures on top of each other before they can be implemented — and before we can assess their effectiveness — is not going to solve our infrastructure problems," the lawmakers wrote Chao. "We cannot streamline our way out of a funding shortfall."
A recent report by the Treasury Department identified 40 significant transportation and water projects whose completion has been slowed or is in jeopardy. The report found that "a lack of public funding is by far the most common factor hindering completion of transportation and water infrastructure projects."
Chao, on the other hand, cited a 2015 report by the nonpartisan group Common Good that estimates that delaying road and bridge projects by six years to deal with regulations results in an estimated $427 billion in additional project costs, traffic congestion delays and impact from global warming emissions. The report advocates reducing the permitting process, which can sometimes take up to 10 years, down to two years. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
While some residents have deemed the proposed contract irresponsible, based upon a history of zoning violations and unpaid taxes by The Original Grasso Construction Co., Norwalk Director of Public Works Director Bruce J. Chimento said those issues are outside his realm as an engineer.
“We don’t have a problem with the work and the process by which they do the work,” Chimento said. “Grasso is fine to work with — they do good work. And Deering does work and so does FGB. We have no problem with any of the three bidders.”
After discussion Tuesday evening, the council’s Public Works Committee voted 4-2 to advance to the full council the proposed contract with The Grasso Companies. Members Michael Corsello, Thomas Livingston, Michelle Maggio and Eloisa Melendez voted “yes,” members Richard Bonenfant and Phaedrel Bowman voted “no,” and Chairman John Igneri abstained from the vote.Bonenfant said Wednesday that nothing has changed to sway him to support the contract. He doesn’t distinguish between The Grasso Companies, now operated by Joseph M. Grasso Jr., and The Original Grasso Construction Co., formerly run by Joseph Grasso Sr. The latter company owes the city roughly $270,000 in property taxes and remains in bankruptcy court. Both companies operate from 314 Wilson Ave.
“I didn’t think that they could have it both ways, that they could say, ‘there’s a brand-new company and that they don’t owe taxes and debts from the first company,” Bonenfant said. “Then you can’t say they have a great track record over the years of doing good paving.”
Bidding rules
The Grasso Companies was the low bidder in the city’s effort to hire a paving contractor for 2017. The company offered to perform the work for $3.4 million as compared to $3.5 million by Deering Construction, Inc., $3.7 million by FGB Construction Co., $3.8 million by Laydon Industries and $4.4 million offered by Waters Construction Co., according to the Department of Public Works. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
Over 20 roads to be paved in Berlin
BERLIN — As part of continuing road improvements, over 20 roads will be paved starting this month.
“We try to do five to six miles of roads a year,” said Jack Healy, Temporary Town Manager and Public Works Director. On Tuesday, the Town Council agreed to appropriate $4 million to cover two more years of the town’s road improvement program.
The program covers the planning and construction of paving, curbing and milling, among other improvements.
The paving this year will go from April to October. Healy said there are 5.94 miles of roads to be done, including three leftover from last year.
Some of the roads scheduled include, Kensington Road, Four Rod Road, Worthington Ridge, and over the bridge on Christian Lane.
Residents who live on the roads to be paved are warned to be aware of work trucks, dust, and the flaggers who will be directing traffic.
Healy said the schedule can still fluctuate depending on weather throughout the year. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
The city, which is embroiled in a court battle with Centerplan, on March 30 sought immediate access to a so-called "data center" adjacent to the ballpark. Opening day is scheduled for April 13.
"For the ballpark to be ready for opening day, it is absolutely essential that the city obtain immediate access to its [furniture, fixtures and equipment] property stored in the data center so that the [property] can be installed at the ballpark," city attorneys wrote.
The city said Centerplan will not allow the city access until it selects dates for mediation as the two sides negotiate a permanent arrangement for access. The city also said it cannot set up those dates because city personnel are consumed with work to get the ballpark ready to open.
However, Sean Fitzpatrick, director of the city department of Development Services, said the dispute will not delay opening day.
"Although we can't imagine why Centerplan would deny the city access to its own property stored at the data center, our attorneys will take care of it and nothing about this dispute will keep the ballpark from opening on time — to a sellout crowd — on April 13," Fitzpatrick said.
In an objection to the city's motion, Centerplan attorney Raymond Garcia said Centerplan has a 99-year lease to the data center and is not required to grant access. He also said Centerplan has been requesting those mediation dates since early February. The last time the city was allowed access in March it was advised to remove all property and did not, he added. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
West Haven expected to begin construction on high school this summer
WEST HAVEN >> West Haven High School’s “G Wing,” where shop classes are taught, won’t be demolished this summer after all, Superintendent of Schools Neil Cavallaro and Board of Education Chairman Jim Morrissey said Wednesday.
But work will begin this summer to convert what is now the high school’s auxiliary gymnasium to house the shops while construction on the $130 million project to renovate and rebuild the school is underway, they said.Having received the Board of Education’s approval this week of revised educational specifications and the final Phase 2 plans for the project, construction manager Gilbane Building Co. is now “putting together demolition packages” and other documents necessary to put the project out to bid, said Cavallaro.“It’ll start to look like a construction site this summer,” Cavallaro said. The decision to keep the shop classes in G Wing for a few months longer, probably until next year’s holiday break, followed questions raised by several board members, including Morrissey and Rosemary Russo, at a meeting Monday evening, Cavallaro said. The decision was finalized Wednesday, he said. “We were just concerned about the shops,” said Morrissey. “We were told Monday night that there were going to be problems with the shop classes — that there was going to be a two-month delay without having shop classes at all.” But as a result of the most recent change, “There will be no interruption with the shop classes,” he said. “We’re very pleased with that.”
Morrissey said he was looking forward to getting the project underway. “Gilbane has a history of doing a lot of high school projects” and “they have a reputation for getting things done on time,” he said. “So we look forward to them moving the project along in the near future.” The high school originally was built in 1963, and while it has been updated since then, it no longer is considered adequate for the school system’s needs, something that was made clear in a 2008 New England Association of Schools and Colleges accreditation report. That got the city started on the idea of a new high school, but work on a “renovate as new” project has been delayed a number of times since then, in part because of West Haven’s precarious fiscal condition, which complicates any large-scale bonding. CLCIK TITLE TO CONTINUE