CT Construction Digest Friday June 30, 2017

MHA seeking $23M loan for Bristol project

MERIDEN — The Maynard Road Corp. board of commissioners voted Monday to authorize Director Robert Cappelletti to negotiate a $23 million loan to construct senior housing in Bristol.

Cappelletti told board members the project to convert two former grammar schools is eligible for tax credits valued at $14 million, putting the permanent loan value on the project at $9.3 million.

Maynard Road Corp. is the development arm of the Meriden Housing Authority and shares the same executive director and board of commissioners. Maynard Road is in partnership on the Bristol project with Litchfield developer Ted Lazarus, doing business as Bristol Enterprises LLC. Cappelletti is negotiating with Citibank on behalf of Maynard Road Corp. and Bristol Enterprises.

Cappelletti said the MHA has no involvement in the loan and not responsible in the event of a default. Commissioner Lawrence Kendzior, who joined the board last fall, abstained from Monday’s vote. Kendzior is the former Meriden city manager, and questioned Maynard Road’s involvement in Bristol several months ago.

“I think you know how I feel about this,” Kendzior said Monday.

 Resident Commissioner Emely Morales Varona also abstained from Monday’s vote, saying Maynard Road Corp. and the housing authority are carrying enough debt.

But other commissioners, including Chairman Neil Ivers, have defended the Bristol school project as an opportunity for Maynard Road to secure work for its geothermal and solar employees, while earning a profit on the development that can be used to build and manage other city projects.

In March, the state agreed to give Maynard Road a $3.5 million state assistance agreement to ready the two former schools for senior housing.  CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE

 

XL Center Attracts Just One Suitor In Bid For Private Investment

 

HARTFORD — The agency that oversees the operation of the city's XL Center drew just one response after seeking out private investors willing to take on a portion of the $250 million makeover of the aging arena, easing the burden on state taxpayers.

The Capital Region Development Authority said it garnered three inquiries from investor groups and one "expression of interest" from XLR Partners, led by Washington, D.C.-based Savage Funding, a firm that specializes in assembling groups to pursue public-private partnerships.
Michael W. Freimuth, CRDA's executive director, said drawing one response was not unexpected.
"Is it disappointing? No. Would I have liked more? Yes," Freimuth said.  CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE

Stonington to save almost $5 million on elementary school project

Stonington — K-12 School Building Committee Chairman Rob Marseglia had some good news for taxpayers Wednesday night.
He told the Board of Selectmen that updated cost estimates show that the Deans Mill and West Vine Street elementary school renovation and expansion project will cost $4.8 million less than the $67 million in borrowing approved by voters.
There will be $2.8 million in savings at Deans Mill and $2 million at West Vine. The savings will result in the town not only having to borrow less money but not having to pay interest on that money. Work began this month at both schools and is slated for completion in December of 2018.
First Selectmen Rob Simmons commended the committee on its work.
“There’s plenty of work to be done but we’re making a good start here,” he said, adding that residents have confidence in the committee.
In response to questions from the selectmen, Marseglia said that some large flowering trees planted at Deans Mill in memory of some teachers had to be taken down because they were too big to move. But he said the plaques have been saved and will be rededicated with new trees when the project is completed.

In addition, he said the Leslie Buck Memorial Reading Garden at Deans Mill School also will be preserved or relocated at the school.
With the $4.8 million in savings, selectmen agreed to accept a bid to spend $121,000 not originally approved for the project to restore the sensory garden at West Vine Street School. Acknowledging the garden was a want and not a need, Selectman Mike Spellman said there has been significant community involvement in the garden, which is heavily used.
“We’re not just building buildings here but building communities,” he said.
Pointing to the town being the only municipality in the state with more than 1 percent population growth, Spellman said the two new schools are another step the town is taking to preserve its excellent quality of life and make it an attractive place to raise a family and live.

CT Construction Digest Thursday, June 29, 2017

Heavy demo of former RJ building begins

MERIDEN — Heavy demolition of the former Record-Journal building began Wednesday morning with excavators clawing away at the rear portion that once held the newspaper’s mailroom and pressroom.

“I just drove by and saw the tractor,” said Lenny Scenti, who was watching the demolition over the fence on Crown Street. “That’s the mailroom they’re tearing out. That’s part of Meriden history going down the tubes.”

Scenti spent much of his life inside the Record-Journal mailroom, visiting his father, Leonard Scenti, an assistant manager who began working at the newspaper in 1968. He joined the same operation in 1995.
“I’ve been doing papers all my life, I’m still doing papers,” Scenti said.

Scenti joined another former mailroom employee, Bob Kunze, who happened to be walking down Crown Street when he saw pieces of brick and concrete crumbling to the ground. Teachers from the preschool across the street huddled with their students and pointed to the excavators pulling the building apart. Workers from Manafort Brothers of New Britain sprayed water to control dust from the demolition and monitored the fence area.

“The demolition should be completed late August, early September,” said Public Works Director Robert Bass. “There will need to be some lane closures as the work gets closer to either Perkins Street or Crown Street.” CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE

 

Project underway to improve roads near sub base entrance, add bike path

 

Groton — A $5.5 million reconstruction project is underway to improve the roadways near the Naval Submarine Base that, officials say, will resolve significant public safety and traffic management problems.
Plans call for widening both Military Highway and Crystal Lake Road, which intersect near the entrance to the base, realigning the two roads, including a new traffic signal and creating a bike and pedestrian pathway.
The project has been years in the making — more than 30 years, according to Groton Town Manager Mark Oefinger, who said the concept has been kicking around since the early to mid-1980s. With the 1986 opening of the Submarine Force Library & Museum and the Historic Ship Nautilus adjacent to the base, "we took a two-lane road and made it a four-lane road without any significant improvements," he said.
The result is that Crystal Lake Road essentially has become a glorified driveway for the base, he said.
Currently, the two-lane Military Highway lines up with the main exit from the base. An example of why that can be a big problem: In June 2016, a New London man led police on a high-speed chase, which ended with him crashing his car into the base's main gate.
The project also will include the creation of a multi-use pathway for bicyclists and pedestrians along the south side of Crystal Lake Road. The pathway will extend from Crystal Lake Road and follow east along Route 12 until the intersection with South Pleasant Valley Road.
The improvements will provide greater capacity for vehicular traffic and ultimately resolve significant public safety and traffic management problems for the base, officials say.
The reconstruction project, which started in April, is primarily funded by federal monies, with the state and town each contributing 10 percent of total funds. The road improvements are expected to be done by late fall or early winter. The project is expected to shut down during the winter and resume in the spring, when it's anticipated that remaining work like sidewalks and landscaping will be completed.
Bob Ross, executive director of the state's Office of Military Affairs, would like to see Crystal Lake Road be renamed when the project is complete. Crystal Lake, which was located on the base, was filled in many years ago. Ross is proposing the town of Groton form a committee or hold a public competition to rename the road to something like "Submarine Capital Parkway" to reflect that "this is the new gateway to the Silicon Valley of undersea warfare." CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE

Preston PZC approves plan of development changes, clearing way for final Norwich Hospital cleanup

Preston — The Planning and Zoning Commission Tuesday night unanimously approved amendments to the plan of development for the Thames River Design District that includes the former Norwich Hospital property, following a public hearing dominated by attorneys.
The plan approval was the last local step needed to free up a $10 million grant approved by the state Bond Commission Feb. 1 for the final cleanup phase at the property. The amended plan of development will take effect July 15, and the Preston Redevelopment Agency hopes to restart environmental abatement and demolition work on July 17 with demolition contractor Manafort Bros. Inc.
"Manafort is ready to go," PRA Chairman Sean Nugent said late Tuesday.
There are nine blighted buildings remaining on the property, and the PRA will work with tribal planners on the final demolition plan to prepare the property for development expected to start in late 2019.
Town Planner Kathy Warzecha said minor changes to the amendments mostly included clarifications, with the only significant change being to language covering plan review consulting fees the town may charge for future development proposals at the former Norwich Hospital property.

 

Mohegan Gaming & Entertainment — formerly the Mohegan Tribal Gaming Authority — has an agreement with the town to develop a $200 million to $600 million entertainment, recreation and sports resort at the property. Warzecha said if the town needs to hire an outside review consultant, it will submit the proposed cost to MGE before agreeing to the price.
Attorneys for MGE, the PRA and the Planning and Zoning Commission all spoke at the hearing on the technical language in the plan of development.
The PRA previously had secured $15 million in state and federal grants and loans, with $2.4 million in local matching shares to clean and demolish 49 of the 59 structures on the 388-acre property. Town and tribal officials hope to preserve and redevelop the original Administration Building at the center of the main campus.

 

Construction To Begin On $100M Weaver High School Renovation In Hartford

 

Construction is set to begin next month on the $100 million renovation of Weaver High School, a long-awaited project in north Hartford that alumni and neighborhood leaders have pushed as a resurgence of the school's deep traditions.

About $16 million has already been spent on design, demolition and other work in the first phase of an overhaul that will eventually feature three school academies in a four-story, 900-student Weaver campus, said Sal Salafia of ARCADIS/O&G, which administers Hartford's school construction program.

The cost for the high school, expected to be ready by August 2019, mostly falls on state taxpayers. One of the academies is a performing arts magnet school that enrolls city and suburban students under the Sheff v. O'Neill desegregation pact, and so the state has agreed to reimburse up to 95 percent of the Weaver project costs.

With the city of Hartford trying to avoid bankruptcy, that Sheff boost in state money is the only reason why the renovation is proceeding after the project stalled a year ago, school officials said.

And while many Weaver alumni called for a return to the school's roots as a traditional, comprehensive high school — and not dividing it into the smaller, career-oriented academies that arose a decade ago as a school-reform strategy — Weaver advocates say it is now or never to revive their beloved school with the distinctive "bleed green" spirit.

"I've been green for 49 years," said John Lobon, a 1968 Weaver graduate who played on the '67 undefeated Beavers football team. "And I'll be green until I die." CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE

CT Construction Digest Wednesday June 28, 2017

Cheshire council votes against $106 million middle school project

CHESHIRE — The Town Council voted overwhelmingly against a $106.4 million plan for a new middle school Tuesday night.

The council’s five Republicans and two Democrats opposed four motions to let the school district apply for state grants, prepare schematics for the school proposed at Cheshire Park, and send the project to referendum in November. Two Democrats voted in favor of the motions.

Each councilor spoke Tuesday night, slowly making it clear that the Board of Education’s request would fail.

Councilors cited a potential doubling of the town’s debt and the impact on taxpayers, particularly with a $12 million cut in state aid looming in the coming fiscal year.

Sylvia Nichols, a Republican councilor, said the council has a role in vetting projects before putting them before residents.

“When we put a project to referendum, we must anticipate approval by the voters,” she said.

Michael Ecke, a Democrat, described Dodd Middle School as inadequate but said the financial risks were too great to proceed with the project now. He anticipated supplemental tax bills based on state aid cuts.

“I think we just have to wait until the state has settled down,” he said.

Education leaders pushed for a vote by June 30, the state’s deadline for grant applications using the current reimbursement rate. They said that if the application were delayed until the next fiscal year, the town would likely qualify for a lower reimbursement and have to pay more of the construction cost.

If the council had approved the motions, Cheshire would have paid about $70 million of the total project cost with the rest coming from the state.

A new middle school is the first step in a larger plan to rebuild or renovate the town’s educational facilities.

Democrats Patti Flynn-Harris and Peter Talbot supported sending the project to the voters in November.

Flynn-Harris said the town should have made building investments a decade ago. It’s now lagging in economic growth behind towns such as Southington and shouldn’t continue to postpone major work.

She also said that councilors shouldn’t have the final say on the middle schools.

“It’s not just our job as town councilors,” Flynn-Harris said. ”The public has the right, the voters have the right to have their say also.”

Council Vice Chairman Paul Bowman, a Republican, said the council would work toward a solution for Dodd.

“I don’t believe it ends tonight,” he said.

 

It’s the law: Malloy signs 3rd-casino bill

 

Gov. Dannel P. Malloy signed the bill Tuesday that authorizes the Mashantucket Pequot and Mohegan tribes to jointly operate the state’s third casino — and first commercial one — in East Windsor, where it’s hoped it will stem the flow of Connecticut gamblers expected to head next year to MGM Springfield, the $950 million resort casino scheduled to open in Massachusetts.
The signing came nearly three weeks after the state House of Representatives passed the measure, 103-46. The Senate had approved it two weeks before that, 24-12.
“Over the years, our state has maintained a longstanding partnership and compact with the Mohegan and Mashantucket Pequot tribal nations, who employ thousands of Connecticut residents at their casinos,” the governor said in a statement. “Make no mistake about it — the legislation I signed today is about jobs for the residents of Connecticut, and securing those jobs in our state.”
The tribes, citing a gaming expert’s analysis, had maintained that failure to counter the competitive threat posed by MGM Springfield would jeopardize thousands of direct and indirect jobs in and around Foxwoods Resort Casino and Mohegan Sun, their southeastern Connecticut facilities, and across the state.
The new law calls for MMCT Venture, the partnership the tribes formed to pursue the third casino, to pay the state $1 million to cover the initial costs of regulating the facility. Once the casino is operating, the state will receive 25 percent of gross gaming revenue generated by the casino’s video facsimile games, or slots, and 25 percent of gross gaming revenue from its table games. Ten percent of the table-games revenue will be dedicated to tourism promotion.
In addition, MMCT will contribute $300,000 annually to the Connecticut Council on Problem Gambling, and pay regulatory costs incurred by the state Department of Consumer Protection.
Under a deal East Windsor signed earlier with the tribes, the town stands to get about $8.5 million a year in casino revenue, including $3 million to mitigate the casino’s impact on local services and an estimated $5.5 million in property taxes. The tribes also will make a $3 million upfront payment to the town no later than 15 months before the casino opens.

The casino is to be built off Exit 45 of Interstate 91 on a site now occupied by a vacant Showcase Cinemas building.
Revenue the state receives from the casino will provide annual grants of $750,000 to each of six towns surrounding East Windsor — East Hartford, Ellington, Enfield, Hartford, South Windsor and Windsor Locks.
“With a stroke of the pen, we are that much closer to turning our proposal for an entertainment and gaming facility in East Windsor into reality,” Kevin Brown, the Mohegan chairman, said in a statement. “We’re excited about the future, and tremendously thankful for the leadership of the governor and the many legislators from both parties who rallied to protect jobs in our state that would otherwise have been lost.” CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE

CT Construction Digest Tuesday June 27, 2017

Arguments continue over future status of Connecticut’s Millstone nuclear power plant

Even though Connecticut’s 2017 legislative session ended weeks ago, the battle over whether the Millstone Nuclear Power Station should be allowed to compete in a state renewable energy procurement program rages on.
The latest skirmish occurred Monday with Stop The Millstone Payout, a coalition of consumer advocacy and environmental groups as well as rival power plant operators, releasing a letter they claim shows that the Waterford-based nuclear plant can’t shut down before May 2021. But Dominion Energy and a spokeswoman for ISO-New England have a different interpretation of what the letter means.
The June 23 letter from Vamsi Chadalavada, chief operating officer for regional electric grid operator ISO-New England, to Thomas Wohlfarth, Dominion Energy’s senior vice president for regulatory affairs, says in part that Millstone is obligated to supply power for the regional grid through May 31, 2021. Chadalavada’s letter to Wohlfarth was in response to a letter sent by the Dominion Energy executive to ISO-NE saying the company is doing a “strategic assessment” of Millstone’s ability to continue operating.Matt Fossen, a spokesman for the Stop The Millstone Payout, said the letter makes it clear that Dominion Energy has no intention of shutting down the nuclear plant before May 2021. “Even if it did fall on hard times, Millstone would be able to seek financial relief through the existing process as managed by the ISO-New England, instead of demanding a special legislative payout from Connecticut ratepayers based on unsupported threats of closure” Fossen said in a statement.
Dominion Energy has never said specifically that it intends to shut down Millstone and Ken Holt, a spokesman for the company called Fossen’s interpretation of Chadalavada’s letter “a very narrow reading of what was written.”“Yes, we have an obligation to operate until that date in 2021, but as letter makes clear, we also have the ability to transfer that obligation,” Holt said. “The letter also says that ISO-New England has said it does not have the authority to prevent a resource from being retired.” Ellen Foley, a spokeswoman for the Holyoke, Massachusetts-base regional grid operator, said the way ISO-NE’s operations are structured, “Dominion, or any resource owner, can trade out of its obligations to provide capacity for the relevant commitment periods.” ‘(It can be done) either in reconfiguration auctions or directly with another company through a bilateral agreement that can cover the obligation.” If Dominion were to pursue either option, Foley said “it would trigger an ISO New England reliability review to ensure such an arrangement does not result in the violation of any reliability standards.” CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE

New Haven’s Ralph Walker Skating Rink to undergo renovation

NEW HAVEN >> The Ralph Walker Skating Rink is on its way to an extended life.
The popular rink, located off State Street and on the southern end of Blake Field — a 10-acre city park in the East Rock neighborhood — will undergo repairs to expand it and improve the parking conditions. City Engineer Giovanni Zinn said they have already awarded a contract to do some reinforced steel work at the facility as part of the estimated $2.5 million project that is being covered with city funds. The structural drawings have been completed and plans are underway for demolition of a portion of the existing facility and a paint job for all the interior steel. The project will extend the structure to allow for a regulation-size rink. Zinn said they will likely put out seven bid packages to cover all the work, which includes a pile-supported foundation, glazing, a new roof, a 200-foot by 85-foot ice surface, as well as replacement of the rink’s mechanical equipment, grading and paving of the parking area and construction of a stormwater bio-retention area. ZInn said the ice floor and the mechanical equipment are responsible for about half the project’s cost. The complicated undertaking is expected to take through the end of spring 2018.
The engineer said they were aiming to open by next winter, but they ran into an issue with a moisture barrier under the existing ice floor that has PCBs and asbestos in it. He said it represents a little extra cost, but many they view it as a “hiccup” that is taking several months to rectify, rather than the two weeks they had anticipated.As for parking, there will be 97 spaces with a two-way driveway off State Street. Skaters were disappointed that New Haven found it necessary to shut it down this past winter. A new floor and compressors, which create the temperature to keep the surface frozen, have been in need of repairs for a long time as they were part of the original equipment when the rink was built in 1958. The bathroom was also out of order. A petition that surfaced on the issue, reflected the multiple users, from CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE

U.S. Roadway Traffic Continues Rising to New Record Highs, Adding Pressure on Infrastructure

Motor vehicle traffic on U.S. roads increased 1.5 percent in year-over-year comparisons or by an additional 15.2 billion miles driven in the first four months of 2017. That's following a record year for traffic volume in 2016, the Federal Highway Administration reported.
Previously, the FHWA had reported that vehicle miles driven increased 2.8 percent in all of 2016 to more than 3.2 trillion miles. While the rate of increase so far this year has slowed, the growth means more cars and trucks are vying for space on rural and urban roads than a year ago, increasing the wear and tear on pavement and other infrastructure.
The FHWA published the new data in its latest monthly "Travel Volume Trends" report, which covers preliminary traffic information through April.
It said motorists logged 271.7 billion vehicle miles on U.S. roads in April, up 1.2 percent or 3.3 billion miles from the same month in 2016.
The data showing heavier roadway traffic levels comes as the transportation industry awaits details on the infrastructure investment plan President Trump has promised.

     He has said he wants to leverage $200 billion in federal funding over 10 years into a total of $1 trillion invested in various types of public and private infrastructure projects. However, it is not clear how much of the funding would go to transportation projects, or how the administration wants to pay for it.

On June 22 Vice President Pence reiterated the underlying commitment, telling the Associated Builders and Contractors that "this president and our administration will not rest or relent until America has the best roads, the best bridges, the best airports and the best infrastructure in the world once again. So get ready to get busy."
State departments of transportation and other industry groups are also waiting for the USDOT to issue $850 million in 2017 Fastlane grants for highway freight corridors and other significant projects, and $500 million in TIGER grants that can be used for an array of transportation projects. It has not yet taken applications for the TIGER grants.
If the USDOT pushes out Fastlane grant funds soon, state agencies can start some projects that await funding during the current construction.
Meanwhile, more state governments are taking action to boost their own project funding, including legislation passed this month in West Virginia to increase motor fuel taxes, vehicles sales taxes and registration fees to increase revenue that can support new projects. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE

Proposed Tax Abatement For East Hartford Retail Project On Hold

A public hearing scheduled for Tuesday on proposed tax breaks for the planned Rentschler Field retail development has been postponed, town officials said Monday.
"Outstanding issues" between United Technologies Corp. and the developer, The Horizon Group, "will prevent this abatement from moving forward tomorrow evening," Mayor Marcia Leclerc said.

The town council was to hear comments and possibly vote on the proposal benefiting The Outlet Shoppes at Rentschler Field. Currently scheduled for completion next year, the shopping center is to be the first retail development on the 650-acre Rentschler Field since Cabela's, the outdoor sports and lifestyle store, opened in 2007. Horizon was to lease about 50 acres for the project from Pratt & Whitney, part of UTC.

Representatives of the company and developer could not be reached for comment. Leclerc said town officials have not been part of negotiations. The development is to provide work for many construction trades and about 1,000 full- and part-time jobs at the stores and restaurants."I remain hopeful that these two parties will find a path forward for the benefit of our community and our residents," the mayor said.
The $100 million initial phase of the project is to include at least 290,000 square feet of retail space. UTC had set expectations, or milestones, for Horizon to meet, town council Chairman Rich Kehoe said, but he did not know what the sticking points might be. Nevertheless, Kehoe said, "I expect in some way, shape or form there will be development on that site."
The mayor wrote in a recent memo to Kehoe that the developer "has represented that the project is not viable without additional tax relief and other benefits." CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE

Eastern Portion Of Hebron Avenue In Glastonbury To Close For Roundabout Construction

With one spoke of the roundabout nearly completed, workers will now focus on the eastern portion of Hebron Avenue beginning next week.
The work will lead to the closure of Hebron Avenue from the junction of the roundabout at New London Turnpike to Concord Street possibly by as early as Wednesday. The section of road will be closed for about four weeks. Work is wrapping up along the first spoke of New London Turnpike from Welles Street to Hebron Avenue. Sidewalks, a brick paver crosswalk and paving were finished last week.

A signed detour will be in place for Hebron Avenue traffic as motorists will utilize Sycamore Street — directly across from the Route 2 east offramp to New London Turnpike. All businesses within the Hebron Avenue area will remain open during construction along with vehicular access. Town Manager Richard J. Johnson said he has received good feedback on the roundabout so far.

"There are always conversations going on between the town and contractor. It's a tough location. I've heard nothing but positive comments. We are pretty much on schedule," he said.

Town officials note motorists are still getting used to the roundabout's "yield-at-entry" rule — approaching vehicles must wait for a gap in the circulating traffic flow before entering the circle. Once in the circle, motorists must keep moving at all times. Town councilman Kurt P. Cavanaugh said he's been told by residents that tractor trailers have had no issues going through.

"Some people said, 'I was a little nervous about it. But now that I have seen it in action ...' They think it is a good thing and they think it's going to work out well." CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE

Quarry And Company Tied To Crumbling Concrete Foundations Agree To Stay Idle

The quarry and concrete providers believed by the state to have poured hundreds of failing concrete foundations have agreed not sell or produce concrete for another year.
In May 2016, the Becker Construction Company and the Joseph J. Mottes Company voluntarily reached an agreement with the state to not sell or produce product containing aggregate from Becker's Quarry in Willington. The agreement would have expired on June 30, but is now extended for another year.

Gov. Dannel P. Malloy has said as many as 34,130 homes are at risk for failing foundations. Over 500 homeowners in 23 towns have filed complaints with the state Department of Consumer Protection stating that their concrete foundations are failing.

According to a state report in early January, a mineral known as pyrrhotite was present in the concrete aggregate used for the foundations that are now crumbling, and was partly to blame, as was the amount of water used in installation. Insurance companies have denied homeowners' claims, saying the problem does not qualify for coverage under their definition of collapse, leaving homeowners to bear the burden of a costly foundation replacement. The cost to replace a foundation can be as much as $200,000.
The agreement was signed earlier this month and states that the Joseph J. Mottes Company, which the state said has been closed, cannot sell its product until June 30, 2018.
"In the event that Mottes recommences operations it agrees not to sell any material or product containing aggregate from Becker's Quarry for use in residential concrete foundations within the State of Connecticut and Becker agrees to not sell any material or product containing aggregate from Becker's Quarry for use in residential concrete foundation within the state," the agreement reads. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE

CT Construction Digest Monday June 26, 2017

OSHA to Roll Back Rules on Toxic Mineral at Construction Sites

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration proposed on Friday a rollback of some Obama-era rules to protect workers in the maritime and construction industries from beryllium, a potentially deadly mineral.

Shortly after President Trump’s inauguration, the agency said it might peel away some restrictions, and OSHA’s proposed new rule follows a lobbying campaign by sellers of a waste product known as coal slag, an abrasive used for sandblasting in shipyards and at construction sites.

OSHA’s step is another twist in a four-decades-long effort to lower workers’ exposure to beryllium, an industrial material linked to a debilitating lung ailment called chronic beryllium disease, which is estimated to kill 100 people annually.

“If this proposal to weaken the beryllium rule goes into effect, construction and shipyard workers will die and be permanently disabled,” said Emily Gardner, an advocate for workers’ health and safety at Public Citizen in Washington.

The OSHA proposal released on Friday would require shipyards and construction companies that use coal slag to meet the same new maximum exposure limit as other industries. But it also proposes to exempt the two sectors from several so-called ancillary requirements, like medical monitoring of employees and other specific safety measures.

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OSHA estimates that there are about 11,500 affected workers in the construction and maritime industries, compared with 50,000 workers in other industries covered by the regulation.

In the document, the agency said it was taking the step because further review indicated that the ancillary safety measures provided no additional benefits in the maritime and construction industries, which had adequate additional safeguards already in place, such as the use of protective gear.

The Abrasive Blasting Manufacturers Alliance, an industry group formed by companies that sell coal slag, including the Harsco Corporation, had argued there was no evidence linking its use to beryllium disease. Public records show that the group has spent at least $60,000 to lobby OSHA since January. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE

 

Connecticut Water to begin Shoreline project Monday

 

Construction will begin Monday on a $3 million project to connect two of The Connecticut Water Co.’s Shoreline water systems.
The Clinton-based utility will be installing 2.4 miles of water main between Middlesex Turnpike in Old Saybrook and Viny Hill Drive in Essex, according to Craig Patla, Connecticut Water’s vice president of service delivery. The project is expected to be finished in early November, Patla said Friday.“We have two large water systems in the shoreline that are within a 2.5 mile proximity to each other,” he said. “By connecting these systems, we will be able to move water between these two systems to meet future droughts and peak seasonal demands, increase the amount of water available for fire-fighting, and use our existing water resources more efficiently.” The two water systems collectively serve eight communities and nearly 40,000 people. The eight communities are Chester, Clinton, Deep River, Essex, Guilford, Madison, Old Saybrook and Westbrook.  Connecticut Water officials already have obtained all the regulatory approvals required for this project, Patla said. The main is being installed along Bokum Road, with construction beginning on the Essex end of the project starting Monday. Work crews will be installing the new main on weekdays from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m., weather permitting. The Bokum Road interconnection project is one of 18 that Connecticut Water has underway this summer.
The company has more than 129,000 customers in 79 communities in Connecticut and Maine. In the New Haven area, Connecticut Water serves customers in Beacon Falls, Bethany, Clinton, Deep River Guilford, Killingworth, Madison, Old Saybrook and Westbrook.

Developer looking to renovate former hospital in Meriden also interested in vacant Cook Avenue building

MERIDEN — The developer awaiting City Council approval to renovate the former Meriden-Wallingford Hospital has expressed interest in also rehabilitating the vacant medical office building at 116 Cook Ave.

Chester Burley III, a partner with One King LLC, sent a letter Thursday to city Economic Development Director Juliet Burdelski seeking preferred developer status of 116 Cook Ave. after a tour of the building and grounds Tuesday.

“We believe the property can be redeveloped based upon a smart development plan that highlights a mix of uses at market rates,” Burley wrote. “The redevelopment could be synergistic with the potential tenants that we have in mind for 1 King Place, and we will likely drive economies of scale from our work and presence across the street.” 

A resolution to accept an agreement with One King LLC for the hospital redevelopment is expected to go before the City Council on Tuesday, according to Burdelski. Burley acknowledged challenges with the two derelict buildings, including the need to take 116 Cook Ave. out of the flood plain.

“Trying to finance and insure a building in a flood plain is hugely difficult,” Burley wrote.

One King LLC also wants the city to patch the damaged roof to prevent water damage to the old wooden floors.

“If we are in agreement about the need for the city to address these three items, then One King LLC is interested in being designated as the exclusive preferred developer of 116 Cook Ave.,” Burley wrote.

Earlier this month, POKO Partners pulled out of a project to turn 116 Cook Ave. and the abutting Factory H building into 184 units of market-rate apartments. The development first hit a snag when POKO’s chief executive officer fell ill in January and the city agreed to transfer preferred developer status to Xenolith Partners, a firm led by Poko’s former managing director.

But the partners discovered there were no low-income housing tax credits for the project, and the building was not eligible for historic tax credits. POKO’s financing could not make up the financing gap.

“Now that the Poko/Xenolith deal has fallen through, the One King development team are interested in looking at 116 Cook Ave. as well,” Burdelski said Friday. “We’ll need to take their request to council over the next few weeks. I am in favor of doing both sites simultaneously and with one development team. Both sites could work well together as they once did.”  CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE

 

State Street in Meriden to be paved next week as part of commuter rail project

 

MERIDEN — Lane patterns on State Street will be changing to allow for milling and paving as part of work on the new Meriden train station.

The state Department of Transportation announced work would begin on Friday and last until June 30. Lanes on State Street between East Main and Brook streets will shift from 9-3 p.m. on weekdays. Traffic personnel will be in place and construction signs will be posted.

The work is part of the New Haven-Hartford-Springfield commuter rail line, branded as CTrail Hartford Line, scheduled to begin expanded service next year. The new train station on State Street is expected to be finished this summer.

 

State Transportation Improvement Plan

 

Proposed major Connecticut transportation projects receiving federal funds for fiscal 2018-2021.

Many of these figures are not complete construction costs; they may represent only one phase of a longer project, or only part of the funding for the entire work. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE

Hartford Viaduct Undergoing $40 Million Upgrade Despite Plans To Overhaul Highway

 

As planners weigh options for an overhaul of Hartford's aging viaduct, a $40 million upgrade to the structure is underway.

The state Department of Transportation in April began a series of improvements to the stretch of Interstate 84 in the capital city, starting at the Sisson Avenue exit and ending near Union Station downtown. The project will run through fall 2018.

The work will enhance safety and reinforce the highway, engineers said. It includes steel and joint repairs, bearing replacement, painting of beam ends and parapet extension. The $40 million project is backed by a mix of state and federal funds, with the Federal Highway Administration covering 90 percent. Upgrades are being done on the eastbound and westbound sides simultaneously. Work began in the right lanes and will shift to the left lanes next year, DOT engineer Joseph Sullivan said.
Officials have closed one or two lanes nightly to accommodate the construction. The lanes are typically blocked between 8 p.m. and 6 a.m.
Despite the improvements, engineers said it's unclear how long the structure would last. Steel work and deck repairs were also completed five years ago for about $35 million.
"It's not a big structural problem right now," Sullivan said. "It's structurally deficient in some areas, but they're being repaired."  CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE

Construction can’t come soon enough for residents, business on Ansonia’s Wakelee Avenue

ANSONIA >> Road-weary residents traveling up and down the pothole riddled and uneven Wakelee Avenue for the past year got some encouraging news this week.
Mayor David Cassetti announced he was able to secure some $26,000 from Eversource Energy to pay for a temporary road fix until an approved $5 million “Wake Up Wakelee” road reconstruction project gets underway later this year.
Burns Construction of Stratford has already repaved about a block of Wakelee Avenue from Church Street to just past Mary Street, since Cassetti made the announcement early Thursday.Cassetti said Friday the contractor “shimmed” the road, to make the surface flush, or even, so driving along it won’t be like riding on a rollercoaster. The area from Church to Mary streets was one of worse sections of uneven road, and as of right now, there are no other plans for further repairs until the main reconstruction gets underway, hopefully later this summer or early fall, according to Cassetti Dozens of residents turned out for a public forum last week to hear updates about the overall project, and expressed frustration about the rough road conditions. Eversource last year replaced the main gas lines up and down Wakelee Avenue, a state road, from Division to Franklin streets, in preparation for the reconstruction project coming later this year. Opening up the road, however, and piecing it back together in patchwork fashion, left Wakelee Avenue with an uneven, bumpy, surface, riddled with pot holes and dips that makes driving on it feel like you’re bouncing up and down. Alderwoman Joan Radin, who has owned the 100-year-old Lear Pharmacy at 198 Wakelee Ave. for the past 43 years, said the temporary repair work didn’t come past her store, and the horrible road conditions continue to prevent people from shopping there. Radin said while the quick fix done this week “seemed to make the road a little better,” the bumpy conditions are far from ideal. “They really need to at least go up to Division Street (with the resurfacing),” Radin said.
Wakelee Avenue spills into Division Street which leads right into Derby and Griffin Hospital, which makes Wakelee a very heavily-traveled main artery. There are about 50 businesses located along Wakelee.City officials said once the $5 million makeover is complete, hopefully by late 2018, Wakelee Avenue will be like new and beautiful. The project, in part, includes paving the one-mile stretch from near Division to Franklin streets, installation of new sidewalks, new drainage, new street lamps, curbing, curb ramps, crosswalks, driveway aprons and utility pole relocation. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE

CTDOT to Start Construction of Two Rail Projects in Norwalk in Fall 2017

The Connecticut Department of Transportation (CTDOT) is announcing that two projects to be completed in advance of the Walk Railroad Bridge replacement project will begin in October, not July as originally anticipated. The delay is required to align the planned activities for these projects — the CP243 Interlocking Project and the Danbury Branch Dockyard — with other active projects in the area. These projects are independent of the replacement of the 121-year-old Walk Railroad Bridge over the Norwalk River in Norwalk.
CTDOT will hold a public meeting on the construction details of the projects on a date to be determined in September at Norwalk City Hall. The meeting will begin with an open house session, where attendees will have the chance to speak one-on-one with the Walk Bridge Program staff, followed by a brief presentation on the project scopes and specific information regarding construction. This meeting will occur in place of the anticipated June Public Meeting.
The CP243 Interlocking project is located on the New Haven Line between South Norwalk and Westport. CP refers to the control point, 2 refers to the New Haven Commuter Line and 43 is in reference to the nearest mile post on the rail line, marked from Grand Central Station in New York City. This project includes the construction of a new four-track interlocking which is a powered switch and signal system that allows trains to move from one track to another.
The Danbury Branch Dockyard project will improve and electrify the southern portion of the 24-mi. branch line, from where it splits from the main line to approximately one mile north, to the area commonly referred to as the Dockyard. The Dockyard is where trains are stored and staged when not in use on the mainline, located near Science Road and Interstate I-95. These improvements will allow commuter trains that begin or end in Norwalk to turn, or switch direction.
The Walk Bridge Program is developing mitigation plans to address community concerns during construction of the two advanced rail projects. The plans outline site safety, resource protection, community and construction coordination mitigation and will be implemented during construction.
For more information, visit www.walkbridgect.com.

CT Construction Digest Thursday, June 22, 2017

Safety Culture in Connecticut’s Construction Industry
Health & Safety Director Kyle Zimmer
Fact: Between 2002 and 2012, 19.5% of all workplace deaths were in the construction industry.
Fact: Construction accidents account for over 15% of ALL private industry accidents.
Fact: One in ten construction workers are injured every year, and over the course of a 45 year career, a construction worker has a 1 in 200 chance of dying.
There is an old saying that "death doesn’t impact the dead." At first read, one might not think much about this quote; however, its meaning is really much deeper when you put it in the context of those people who have survived a near death experience or those who have lost a loved one to an untimely death. Construction accidents, whether or not they involve a fatality or an injury, are devastating to our trade, our industry and ultimately our members. Construction accidents cost more than lost wages for the workers who are pushed off the site during the investigation. They cost more than the fines or lost productivity for which the employer may have to pay. They cost more then what the insurance companies or worker’s comp may have to dole out. Construction accidents can potentially cost all of us our faith in our chosen profession or even worse our life or the life of one of our fellow workers.
The first step in re-enforcing Connecticut’s construction industry safety culture is changing our view about the role that we each play in keeping the work site safe. We must each accept that we have a certain amount of control on the work site as well as the ability to make calls to the hall, to the agents or to OSHA when we feel the job site is not safe. Our Local is committed to ensuring that every 478 operating engineer works in an environment that is as free of dangers as possible. We know that construction is a dangerous industry, but if a member reports that there are issues with the equipment (mechanical or personnel), the site (chemical, hazmat or open trenching, etc.) or with other workers, we will investigate immediately and follow up promptly.
But, you must do your part too. After 9-11, the words "if you see something, say something" became the phrase that reminded each of us that we have a collective responsibility to watch out for all of us. Sometimes, you might be on a job site and something that seems "insignificant" might catch your attention and make you hesitate or look back a few times. Don’t just brush it off because things that seem so slight are often the cause of accidents.
Every day, whether or not you have an employer led toolbox talk, you should take the extra steps to perform your own safety inventory. Take your time; become fully aware of your surroundings; and, speak up when you don’t feel safe because your life and the lives of your brothers and sisters in the trades could depend on it. Bob Kunz from Dimeo Construction Company always emphasizes the need for his employees to "be responsible for your personal space" which includes the immediate area where you are working as well as the outer area. This also touches on personal space away from your immediate jobsite since your family, friends, coworkers and employer will also be affected if you are involved in a construction accident.
Accidents are unfortunately a part of the construction industry and, sadly, it seems as though the only time laws get changed or regulations and rules are followed is after an accident. But laws after the fact don’t do much to assist people who were hurt or injured in a construction accident. In addition to being strong advocates for workplace safety on the site, operating engineers must also become advocates for stronger safety laws especially when a new part of the industry is emerging like the expansion of tunneling that goes with pipeline work. In the beginning, as we see in Bob Fitch’s testimonial, most of us realize that new safety laws are a burden, but eventually, the employer, the union and the workers recognize that laws and regulations are created to protect the worker and the general population that travels in or around the construction site or quarry or shop or plant. Promoting safety is everyone’s responsibility and duty.
In his article, Business Manager Craig Metz writes about the L’Ambiance tragedy and the devastating impact that it had on the trades. As a result of that tragedy, lift slab construction was banned in Connecticut, an OSHA satellite office was established in downtown Bridgeport, and, additional safety rules for workers were put in place. One would think legislative and regulatory changes would lower the number of construction accidents; but, they haven’t. Perhaps one of the greatest reasons for the staggering number of construction accidents is the move from a time when the bulk of heavy equipment would be on the only trade on the site to now "fast track" construction where multiple trades are working on the site even before the foundation is finished. Local 478 member Bob Fitch also spoke about "hypertrack" construction where the goal of getting the project finished at warp speed causes workers to move almost robotically through the construction process without stopping to constantly access their surroundings. We all understand that time is money
and that in order to make a profit and sustain their businesses, contractors (often driven by project owners and consumers like drivers stuck in road construction traffic) have to complete projects in a timely manner. But the few minutes or hours that you save not correcting a dangerous situation will be wasted if you have an accident and the site gets shut down for days and weeks.

Eversource agrees to coat Ansonia’s Wakelee Avenue

ANSONIA-Wakelee Avenue drivers will be getting some relief.
Eversource Energy, which dug up portions of the road last summer to install new plastic gas lines, will be resurfacing their patches and applying a top coat perhaps as soon as next week.
But city officials are concerned that Eversource and its contractor Burns Construction might not go as far as needed.
Mitch Gross, an Eversource spokesman confirmed that his company will pay Burns to conduct the work “very quickly.” But he also said it will involve a two block area from Church to Mary Street.
“That’s not enough,” said Joan Radin, a fifth ward alderwoman and owner of the century-old Lear Pharmacy which is located on the street. “The whole area needs to be done. They need to go all the way to Division Street.”
Mayor David Cassetti also believes more than two blocks need to be resurfaced. He is sending Public Works Director Mike D’Alessio to meet with Burns and survey the entire road.
I’m going to try to get them to go all the way,” D’Alessio said.
Last week Cassetti invited Robert Pantalone, Eversource’s manager of gas construction in the central and eastern regions to meet with residents. Pantalone got an earful of complaints.
Laura Lane claimed she and her husband incurred $613.86 in axle repairs and alignments on their two cars in recent weeks. Joe Jaumann, a Bridgeport lawyer, told him about the heave in his driveway created by the installation of new pipes. And others said they avoid that road leaving business like Radin’s Pharmacy, convenience stores and pizza parlors hurting.
Since then Cassetti has met twice with Eversource. The mayor even provided Eversource with a $26,000 quote from an Ansonia contractor to level the surface and quote it with 180 tons of bituminous concrete shim. And that work would have covered the entire section from Jackson to Division Street. “I made it clear they need to repair the road,” Cassetti said. “Wakelee Avenue is the gateway to Ansonia. It takes people from Seymour to Derby.”
Cassetti blamed Eversource’s pipeline contractor for the uneven patchwork.
“They one-shot it,” said the mayor, who previously owned Birm-1 Construction which did a lot of roadwork. “When they dug, backfilled and compacted, they just filled the asphalt up to the top of the road and rolled it so it made it rippled...You’re supposed to put the first course in, compact it and then put a top course in.” He said the city has received numerous complaints. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE

Court rejects MGM lawsuit as company competes with Connecticut tribes

NEW YORK >> MGM Resorts International lost another round Wednesday in a court fight aimed at giving it leverage against Native American tribes in Connecticut as they compete for casino customers.
The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan agreed that a Connecticut judge was right to dismiss MGM’s lawsuit against the state.MGM Resorts claimed it was placed at a competitive disadvantage after Connecticut created a special registration pathway for the state’s two federally recognized tribes to build casinos on non-tribal land.The appeals court called MGM’s fears speculative, noting that the developer of casinos and other commercial gambling enterprises has no specific plans to develop a casino in Connecticut. It also said it agreed with the lower court, which concluded that legislation that helps construction plans by tribes does not prevent other bidders from entering Connecticut’s casino market. In a statement, MGM Resorts legal counsel Uri Clinton said company officials remained “undeterred in our goal of having the opportunity to compete in Connecticut.”
The 2nd Circuit said the dispute might be ripe for court review once the company can show that the harm it alleged was “sufficiently imminent.” Until then, it said, any disadvantage MGM might suffer in future contract negotiations was “purely speculative.”Clinton said that moment may be near after the tribes that run Connecticut’s two casinos won approval from state legislators this month to open a third casino. Democratic Gov. Dannel P. Malloy has said he plans to sign the bill, clearing the way for the state’s first casino on non-tribal land. MGM’s lawsuit had sought to block that legislation, claiming it was unconstitutional.The Mashantucket Pequot and Mohegan tribes, which own the Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun casinos in southeastern Connecticut, are planning to convert a former movie theater complex in East Windsor, Connecticut, into a $300 million casino. The casino would be near a $950 million MGM Resorts casino that’s slated to open late next year in Springfield, Massachusetts.MGM also has expressed interest in building another casino in southwestern Connecticut.In a statement, officials for both tribes said they were pleased with the ruling and looked forward to developing an exciting new casino and contributing to the state’s economy through jobs and tax revenues. 

Connecticut wins early round in casino court fight with MGM 

A federal appeals court Wednesday ruled against MGM Resorts International, the owner of a casino under construction in Springfield, in the first round of what is expected to be a protracted legal fight to stop Connecticut from allowing a competing casino in East Windsor.
The decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit upholds a judge’s dismissal of a lawsuit MGM filed in 2015 after the General Assembly passed a special act formalizing a process for the Mashantucket Pequot and Mohegan tribal nations to seek a town willing to host a casino.
The court accepted Connecticut’s argument that the special act did not bar MGM or anyone else interested in developing a casino from negotiating with municipalities over a potential site, since the 2015 law did not grant the tribes the right to actually build anything. That required passage of a second law.
MGM, the court concluded, had no standing to sue over the 2015 law. In fact, the court noted, MGM’s exclusivity agreement in Massachusetts bars it from developing a casino within 50 miles of Springfield, placing most of Connecticut off limits.
“Because MGM has failed to allege any specific plans to develop a casino in Connecticut, we conclude that any competitive harms imposed by the Act are too speculative to support Article III standing,” the court said.
The bigger question now is whether MGM has legal standing to sue since the Connecticut General Assembly took the second and more decisive step on June 7 of passing a bill granting the tribes the right to jointly develop a casino in East Windsor. The bill awaits Gov. Dannel P. Malloy’s signature.
East Windsor, a community of about 12,000 people between Hartford and Springfield, already has granted local approval for MMCT, a partnership of the state’s two federally recognized tribes, to build a casino just off I-91 on the site of a long-vacant movie multiplex.
In issuing its decision, a three-judge panel of the appellate court chose to ignore the legislative fight waged over what would be Connecticut’s first casino off tribal lands since it heard arguments in the appeal on Nov. 28, 2016.
“Our conclusion does not rule out the possibility that MGM’s alleged harm may at some future point become sufficiently imminent. That possibility, though, is at this time only hypothetical and we therefore need not address it,” the court said.
Uri Clinton, a senior vice president and legal counsel at MGM, minimized the court decision in an emailed statement: “We view today’s ruling as nothing more than a matter of timing and remain undeterred in our goal of having the opportunity to compete in Connecticut.”
“If Gov. Malloy signs into law the recently passed Senate Bill 957 the ‘hypothetical’ immediately becomes reality,” Clinton said. “Senate Bill 957 violates the Equal Protection Clause and the Commerce Clause of the United States Constitution by authorizing two identified tribes — and no one else — to operate Connecticut’s first commercial casino. The Attorney General himself has recognized that MGM’s likelihood of success ‘is not at all insubstantial.’” CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE

Extended-stay hotel approved for downtown New Haven

NEW HAVEN >> A plan for an extended-stay hotel in the middle of downtown easily got approval Wednesday, while the beginning of a separate project to remediate a large contaminated site in Newhallville was slowed for more information. The City Plan Commission approved a 108-room hotel at the corner of Crown and High streets, as well as the additional conversion of a home at 15 High St. into four apartments that developer Randy Salvatore of RMS Companies hopes can get started this summer. The hotel is expected to to be pitched to the many people who come to the city to participate in academic and research projects connected to Yale University and Yale New Haven Hospital.  Salvatore, one of the major developers in New Haven, plans to purchase the property from Mod Equities, which got approval for a similar plan two years ago.
The estimated $8 million hotel is in an area that has seen an almost complete makeover on Crown and now George streets with new apartments filling this section of downtown Salvatore made some internal changes to the Mod Equities plan, adding a restaurant to the ground floor and consolidating the hotel’s meeting space and other amenities, also on the ground floor. The fully furnished hotel rooms with kitchenettes will be on the second through sixth floors. On a separate project, Salvatore said he hopes to hear in a month on the availability of state funds for affordable housing money for 30 percent of the 140 apartments on Gold and Prince streets he is planning to build as part of a $100 million deal with the city. “If everything goes as planned we will be starting in the next 30 days or so. We are getting good feedback from the state. That is the last piece, so we are excited,” Salvatore said. The 140 apartments are on property in the Hill that has been undeveloped for decades until the Salvatore plan was hashed out over a long period of time. He said his company is also now getting conceptual plans together for commercial/residential properties that are part of the Hill project on Washington Avenue, Church Street South and next to St. Anthony’s Church.  Salvatore said his Novella apartments on Chapel and Howe streets are still on the market.“We are talking to some people. Nothing is finalized yet. The good thing for New Haven is there has been a strong demand. That says a lot for New Haven. Strong national demand is what has been coming from all over the place,” Salvatore said.As for the Newhallville project, Double A Development Partners in December bought the contaminated 13 acres in Newhallville that was once the bustling manufacturing site owned by Olin Mathieson Corp. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE

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CT Construction Digest Wednesday June 21, 2017

Moving Forward & Standing Strong
Insight and Perspective on How one Man Survived a Worksite Catastrophe
By 478 Member Bob Fitch

In 1956, the highway coming to Connecticut was the biggest piece of work ever; and, I was fortunate to work with the operating engineers. Then, safety was never discussed. You went to the job, got the job done and went home. There weren’t cabs on the equipment. There weren’t safety guards on anything. Machines weren’t hydraulic, only cable. No one thought about goggles, hard hats, seat belts - they just didn’t exist. With dust conditions, you rode the machine like a cowboy with a handkerchief over your face to breathe or pulled your t-shirt around your face and dug the grit out of your eyes at the end of the day.
There were no concerns about what was broken on a machine, flopping around; you just went to work and that’s what you did. I’m going to go as simple as if there’s no drinking water all day on a job, that’s a safety issue to me or no guard that’s going to keep you from getting your head cut off or losing a hand. There were injuries on a weekly basis. People went home without fingers and crushed feet. Gradually, through the unions’ efforts and when the unions started to get stronger because of population and the work demand, unions were the only organization that could supply qualified trained people so they became a very important entity when it came to worker safety.
In the beginning, management didn’t show much interest or any tendency to care. They were sitting in their office with heat control while we were out there dying. The biggest battle was that in the field. I couldn’t imagine the inside fights that got us workers where we are today. Negotiating was not a business form back in the 1950’s. Instead, whatever management said was it. The working relationship hadn’t developed for both parties. But, eventually, management decided there were too many people getting hurt and too many guys losing income and, as a result, safety slowly became one of managements’ priorities.
In the 1960’s, the union also began health and welfare programs for when guys got hurt. I remember, it was brought up to the membership at a meeting and, I’ll openly admit that the first night it was introduced, I voted against it. I’ll never forget the shot that knocked me right off the chair. It was my father, and he told me I would rue the day that I thought like that, and just a few years later, I understood
what he meant, when I had my own family and the medical expenses that came along with it and the worry of not having a job because I might break ribs or a wrist - which I accomplished running a scraper but went to work anyways.
That’s what you did in those days. You wrapped your hand up yourself to stop the bleeding. I saw guys stuff their cuts with dirt because no first aid kits were available. There was zero safety available. It was so draining because no one had any clue what to do.
It was arduous. Contractors didn’t want the expense and workmen’s comp wasn’t a thing, so there was nothing for the worker to fall back on. For a long time there was no insurance that covered you, so you were in deep trouble if you got injured. Eventually through legislation and the continuous efforts of the unions and all the industries, a movement started that kind of became a package deal.
Still, guys would discuss accidents at coffee break because it was so common. As time progressed and we got into the 1960s, machines started to come out with a cab of sorts, which would result in you getting crushed if it tipped because it wasn’t reinforced, but it kept you out of the weather. Contractors loved it, sure they’ll pay a little extra for a cab because the job wouldn’t be shut down due to the weather, and you wouldn’t freeze. A lot of different issues entered into very simple changes. First, a guard for your legs where everyone was getting hit by the levers and, then, manufacturers made up configurations and came up with ergonomics - big time to design. They started to take the operator into consideration because safety would save the project. The contractors got incentives from the insurance companies if they were safe. Machines became more efficient. Something as simple as having a water wagon on the job was life changing.
Safety helped develop the working relationship between labor and management because it was good for both. They would sit at the table and as long as management saw some benefit to it, it was a go. The unions were pushing for us and since the contractors were benefitting, the pushing for safety was on.
In 1971, OSHA came into effect and it was horrendous. There was no correlation between OSHA and contractors because OSHA was just developing. Contractors didn’t want to have to pay $54 for a safety belt that someone would probably abuse. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE

Groton showing Mystic Education Center property to prospective developers

By Deborah Straszheim   Day staff writer
Groton — Town planning staff have been showing the 77-acre Mystic Education Center property to prospective developers and hope to issue a request for development proposals in the fall.
"We have a lot of interest and the type of development runs the gamut. There isn't just one type," said Paige Bronk, Groton's economic and community development manager. "We have some commercial, some mixed use, some residential. We have a variety of developers that are engaging."
The Office of Planning and Development Services will hold an informational session on Thursday for members of the public interested in the property. The session, from 5:30 p.m. until 7:30 p.m. in the Town Hall Annex, will include 10-minute presentations at 5:45 p.m. and 6:45 p.m.
Engineering and planning consultants from Horsley Witten Group, which has been assessing physical assets of the site at 240 Oral School Road, also will take questions.
"Right now we're marketing the property, we're showing the property, and at the same time, what we're hoping to do Thursday night is get some feedback from people in the community," said Jonathan Reiner, Groton's director of planning and development services.
The town has been advertising the site in the New England Real Estate Journal for several months and has held about 20 showings since the fall.

Of the 77 acres, about half of the land is developable, Reiner said. The remaining land is protected by the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection.
The property could be leased or sold, but is more likely to be sold, Bronk said. The town has not listed an asking price.
"The reason is this is not a real estate transaction," Bronk said. "This is a redevelopment project. So we're more interested in the proposed use, the caliber of the development team, the proposed schedule, their ability to execute — which would include financing — and community benefit," he said.
The education center, formerly called the Mystic Oral School, served as a residential school for the deaf from 1895 until 1980. It was later used by groups including the Groton Recreation Department, Special Olympics, and business and youth sports groups needing practice fields. The property has been vacant since 2011.

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. School Renovation Plan Gets Hartford Board Of Ed Approval

The $68 million revival of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. School is back on track after the city board of education endorsed new plans Tuesday night that will be sent to the state for approval.
After working with the state for weeks on the proposal, Superintendent Leslie Torres-Rodriguez expressed confidence that King, a hulking symbol of educational inequity on a hill in north Hartford, will finally be renovated after years of broken promises.

"When our students come into a building and things are falling apart ... they think that that's all they're worth," board member Juan Hernandez said in the elementary school's auditorium, where spectators sat in broken seats with ripped, faded cushions. The space, frigid on a warm evening, smelled of mildew.

Board member Richard Wareing said King represented the "institutional neglect of our schools." Despite school overhauls and stunning magnet schools in other neighborhoods, the district said the once-grand, Collegiate Gothic building just west of Keney Park has not received a major renovation since it opened in the 1920s, originally as a high school.

City school leaders and parents who have seen rodents scurrying inside have decried the facility conditions as deplorable and unsafe for children. More than 300 students attend the pre-K-to-grade-8 school named after the civil rights hero, and will remain in the Ridgefield Street building for at least another year, according to the CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE

 

Two Downtown Hartford Eyesores To Be Converted To Apartments

 

The conversion of two vacant, decaying office buildings in the heart of downtown into apartments will ramp up next month, giving a lift to a key corner across from the city's signature CityPlace office complex.
The New York firms of Girona Ventures and Wonder Works Construction and Development Corp. will redevelop the buildings at 95-101 and 111 Pearl St. into 258 studios, one- and two-bedroom apartments in a $51 million project.

The redevelopment is part of a four-year wave of apartment conversions in and around downtown adding hundreds of apartments to help boost vibrancy beyond the traditional work week. Key to the development has been taxpayer-backed loans and equity investments.

Last week, Girona and Wonder Works purchased the two neighboring buildings on the corner of Pearl and Trumbull streets, each for $625,000, according to CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE

West Haven mayor, challenger square off over $9M increase to build new high school

WEST HAVEN >> Democratic mayoral challenger Nancy Rossi laid the blame for the escalating cost of the West Haven High School re-construction project at the feet of Mayor Ed O’Brien Tuesday, saying he’s “costing the taxpayers of West Haven more than $9 million because he chose to play politics” with it.
Back in 2014, “We had a project that was going to cost $124 Million with the state of Connecticut reimbursing” all but a $30 million local share, Rossi, who has previously raised questions about the project’s financing and construction schedule, said in a release. “The Mayor, being himself and wanting complete control on the building committee, stalled the project,” said Rossi, one of two candidates challenging O’Brien in the upcoming election. “He appointed new members to the building committee, and said the project was too expensive and that he wanted to create a better and less expensive high school.”But instead, “We now have a project design which includes 14 less classrooms, and a price tag of $133 million, which is $9 million more than the original cost,” Rossi said. This is another example of Mayor O’Brien being in over his head,” she said. “He can’t balance a budget, and now he has cost the taxpayers another $9 million for a completely unnecessary delay.”O’Brien responded Tuesday by saying, “I didn’t put the project on hold. The state suggested we had to put the project on hold. They came down and suggested that we re-think what we were doing.”The decision not to move forward came “after many, many meetings” between the city and the state, he said.The extra cost that Rossi referred to “is asbestos” that the city is removing rather than encapsulating under the latest design, as well as more solid materials instead of lighter-weight materials being used in the front of the school, O’Brien said.“Yeah, there’s escalation, but there’s also a lot of good quality on the other side,” he said. “What I think is important is that we’re building a high school, built to the (projected future) enrollment of our high school, and we’re building it within budget.”In a Oct. 27, 2015, New Haven Register story, “West Haven High School project put on hold,” O’Brien, Finance Director Kevin McNabola, Superintendent of Schools Neil Cavallaro and then-High School Building Committee Chairman Ken Carney announced that the project would be put on hold for a few years while the city got its finances in order.“If we started (the bulk of) the job now, the funding might not be in place ... and we might not be able to access the market” because of the city’s then-current credit rating, deficit and debt level, O’Brien said at the time, adding that the bottom line was, “Don’t spend money that you don’t have.” CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE

OSHA Delays Crane Certification Requirements

According to a recent Federal Register notice, OSHA is seeking to delay by a year its new certification requirements for construction crane operators, which are currently set to go into effect on November 10, 2017. Before it can officially delay the rules, however, OSHA must consult with the Advisory Committee on Construction Safety and Health (ACCSH). On June 20th, ACCSH will hold a telephone conference, open to the public, to discuss the matter and receive public comments.
This would be the third extension of the OSHA crane operator certification requirements. The cranes standard, 29 CFR 1926.1427, originally went into effect in November of 2010, except for provisions related to operator certification, which were delayed until November 2014. In September 2014, OSHA issued a final rule that again extended the effective date of the operator certification requirements by another three years, until November 10, 2017. This latest announcement would delay the requirements until November 10, 2018. Importantly, each of these extensions also extended the requirement that employers ensure that crane operators are competent to operate the equipment safely.
Under these new certification requirements, any person operating a construction crane subject to OSHA’s cranes standard will have to be certified (except for operators of sidebooms or equipment rated at 2,000 pounds or less). Certification testing involves an equipment-specific written examination and a practical test. Operators on civil projects can be certified or qualified by: 1) an accredited third party testing organization; 2) the employer through an audited employer program; or 3) licensing through a state or local government that meets OSHA’s minimum requirements. The employer must pay certification costs. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE