Natural gas likely in New Canaan by 2018\
NEW CANAAN — After 10 years of talk, the first natural gas lines may be in New Canaan by summer 2018.
As conversations between Eversource and town officials continue, it was announced the expected route for a pipeline into town — along Hillcrest Road and Springwater and Adams lanes — has changed.
According to First Selectman Robert Mallozzi III, Eversource is now eyeing Route 106 as the preferred route into town.
“We’re still talking with them. Their first foray into town is just going to be getting into the schools. It’s not until they get here that they’ll do their outreach and figure out how many customers they have,” Mallozzi said.
In time, Mallozzi said Eversource has indicated they hope to spread into New Canaan, beyond the 4.7 miles of pipe that is planned to be laid beginning at the border line with Stamford on Route 106 and across Farm Road, where it will connect with New Canaan High School, Saxe Middle School, South School, Waveny Care Center and the New Canaan YMCA, according to Director of Public Works Tiger Mann. East Elementary School may also be included in that list, though Mann said it was uncertain at this point.
The public buildings along the route have all been equipped with dual fuel-burning furnaces equipped to handle natural gas, Mallozzi said, meaning the town’s contribution to building the infrastructure is complete.
The result could be major savings on energy costs for the town, as well as residents.
“Oil prices have come down, but gas prices remain historically low. There would be significant savings for town buildings and homes,” Mallozzi said, though he said residential homeowners would need to invest in gas-burning furnaces before making the utilities switch.
Discussions between the town and Eversource — at the time Yankee Gas — began roughly 10 years ago, according to Mallozzi and Mann.
“A lot of it had to do with Eversource. They couldn’t find a route. A lot of the hurdles early on had to do with how they were going to come in and actually bring gas to us,” Mann said.
Mallozzi is hopeful that by incorporating large town-owned buildings, Eversource will have plenty of incentive to move into New Canaan.
“By letting them come in here and get larger users, given them the ability to spread out the gas line,” Mallozzi said. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
House Dems say 'budgetary relief' is the price of a new casino
If the Mashantucket Pequot and Mohegan tribes want the House to join the Senate in granting them the right to build a casino off tribal lands, they must pay for the privilege and give Connecticut a measure of "budgetary relief," House Democratic leaders said Wednesday.
"The bill that passed the state Senate cannot pass the House as currently written," said House Majority Leader Matt Ritter, D-Hartford.
The Senate bill imposes a 25-percent tax on gross gaming revenues, but no licensing fee or other upfront payments, a disappointment to House Democrats who were hoping for as much as $100 million in new gambling dollars to help balance the budget for the fiscal year that begins July 1.
House Speaker Joe Aresimowicz, D-Berlin, said a majority of House Democrats support the expansion of casino gambling, but they believe the state should extract a licensing fee from whomever is granted development rights, whether it is the tribes or their competitor, MGM Resorts International.
"We believe in the House that the exclusivity aspect of expanded gambling in the state of Connecticut is worth something," Aresimowicz said. "We believe in the House that expanded gambling in the state of Connecticut is worth something through the bidding process. The Senate didn't think so. We respectfully disagree. We'll work on the bill as it comes down and see what we can do to provide budgetary relief for our residents."
The Senate voted 24-12 early Wednesday for a bill permitting the tribes to jointly develop a commercial casino offI-91 in East Windsor to compete with the MGM casino under construction over the state line in Springfield. The Senate sees the project as blunting the loss of market share and stabilizing gaming revenue now collected by the state.
MGM says the state could do better with an open competition for the rights to a casino in Connecticut, especially if it considers a site in lower Fairfield County that could draw customers from metropolitan New York.
A complication is the agreement the state struck with the tribes in the 1990s: In return for exclusive rights to casino gambling for the tribal casinos, Foxwoods Resort and Mohegan Sun, the tribes pay the state 25 percent of their gross slots revenue, which is expected to generate $260 million for the state.
Gov. Dannel P. Malloy has threatened to veto an open-competition bill or any other measure he sees as costing the state $260 million. A crucial question facing the House: If they opt for an open competition, would the state lose its slots revenue upon passage — or only after a new casino is open and generating revenue for Connecticut? CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
Connecticut Office of Policy and Management backs New Haven in Union Station fight with DOT
NEW HAVEN >> New Haven apparently has an ally in the Office of Policy and Management when it comes to criticism of the garage proposed for Union Station.
New Haven officials, neighborhood groups and cycling advocates have rejected the design of the garage as half a century out of date.They also objected to the lack of first-floor retail, the size of the facility, skimpy accommodations for bicycles and a pedestrian bridge behind the garage that would only be accessible to state Department of Transportation and rail personnel.Bruce Wittchen at OPM reviewed the draft Environmental Impact Evaluation on the garage, which was presented to the public by the DOT in June 2016. Wittchen said the EIE must include “an analysis of the short-term and long-term economic, social and environmental costs and benefits of the proposed action.” He said OPM had asked about the impact on the neighborhood, beyond just “the usual traffic and mobility measure. While it refers to some transportation analysis, Wittchen said it “says little about other neighborhood impacts or about their mitigation.” The OPM official said media reports on the public’s reaction “suggest that significant concerns have not yet been addressed.” Over the years the state DOT has worked on studies with the city on future development of the station itself and the area. The city has also been working to put its Hill to Downtown blueprint of residential and commercial growth in the area into effect.
“There has been substantial private, municipal and state investment and planning in the station area and this environmental review should give such concerns a corresponding level of consideration,” Wittchen wrote about the draft report. He also quoted from two commenters. “I think it was clear to anyone at the meeting that the singular focus for the design of the new garage is to accommodate as many suburban train commuters as possible. There is not a single design element that factors in economic or transportation benefits for the city of New Haven,” one person said. If the garage is not revamped, the commenter said it should not be built at all. “Given concerns raised in meetings, the media and elsewhere, this EIE should thoroughly analyze the potential impacts on current or planned neighborhood functions and justify why the state’s preferred alternative dedicates this space and funding to expand parking,” Wittchen wrote. The OPM official wanted to know whether DOT has also looked into the potential change in parking demand at Union Station from the New Haven-Hartford-Springfield line enchancements as well as the new stations along the Metro-North line. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
Trump Team Eyes Public Asset Sales to Pay for Infrastructure
The Trump administration is eyeing plans to encourage the sale of public assets, such as airports and bridges, to help pay for a $1 trillion overhaul of the nation's aging infrastructure, an administration official said Wednesday.
In his budget proposal, Trump called for spending $200 billion over a decade to spur private, state and local spending on roads, highway stops and more of the country's connective systems that need an expensive overhaul. The real-estate mogul-turned president who has courted the construction industry is now leading an effort to pay for the massive project with some combination of public and private cash. Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao has said over the past few weeks that the plan is being written by a 16-agency task force.
The Washington Post reported Wednesday that Trump advisers are considering enticing state and local governments to sell some of their assets by paying them a bonus for doing so. The proceeds of the sales would then go to infrastructure projects. In some cases, the private buyers could make profits by charging fees.
Department of Transportation officials pointed to a project at St. Louis Lambert International Airport as an example. Last month, Chao announced the airport would become part of a privatization test program paid for in part by grants and using some land to boost parking cargo revenue. The program “is designed to allow airports to generate access to sources of private capital for airport improvement and development,” according to the agency.
Democrats and some activists have criticized the still-being-written policy as a rush to benefit private industry without going through environmental and other vetting.—AP