SOUTHINGTON — Pleasant Street was closed for several hours Thursday as crews connected water pipes to a main in the street for the new Calendar House senior center under construction.
During the day, Pleasant Street was closed completely or down to one lane to allow buses and school traffic to DePaolo Middle School. Southington High School is farther north on the same road.
Area residents and DePaolo families were notified of the closure by the town’s Everbridge notification system, which is managed by the Police Department.Catherine Sheldrick, with the school district’s operations department, said bus routes and transportation were not affected by the shutdown.
Paul Champagne, a town councilor and Calendar House building committee member, said the Everbridge system has been used before to alert residents to road work and closures.
“It lets us get (information) out to the masses very quickly,” he said.
The foundation for the new senior center has been poured and crews are working to hook up sewer and water pipes.
In 2015, residents voted to spend $9.4 million on a new, expanded senior center. The State Bond Commission also approved a $5 million grant for construction. Town officials said the new building will have twice the space. The existing building will be used until the new building is completed in May 2018. Once that’s done, the old building will come down and the parking lot will be expanded.
Crews digging the foundation discovered a buried shed that had to be tested for asbestos before being removed, Champagne said. That cost about $5,000. However, workers also found a new, intact drain line from the former pavilion to Hobart Street. Champagne said that saves money and the inconvenience of connecting a drainage line. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
The Port Authority met Thursday and approved 18 grant applications for projects in Groton, Stonington, Waterford and Norwich that will be forwarded to the state Bond Commission for funding approval.
With the vote, Port Authority Chairman Scott Bates said the authority officially launched its small harbor program meant to give attention, improvements and spur economic development in waterfront communities not considered among the state's major ports.
The largest local application approved was for $730,000 to design and build a new dock at the Submarine Force Library & Museum, location of the Nautilus. The dock would enable the museum to be part of the Thames River Heritage Park and would give a landing point for the heritage park's summer water shuttle that makes stops at attractions on both banks of the Thames River.
"For about 10 years, people have been trying to tie the (Submarine Force Library & Museum) park to the waterfront," Bates said after the meeting.
New London Mayor Michael Passero, a member of the Thames River Heritage Park board, also welcomed the Nautilus dock grant approval Thursday. He said the dock there was designed some 15 years ago — long before the water taxi started last summer — and has been a "big priority" for the heritage park board.
"That will benefit tourism in the entire region," Passero said.
While most construction projects would require at least a 20 percent local matching share, projects on federal property — including the Naval Submarine Base — would not need to provide a matching share. The federal government would maintain the dock once it is installed, Bates said.
Groton City also was approved for $54,400 for planning, design and permitting for a new Thames Street dock and Waterford would receive a $35,000 grant also for planning, design and permitting for a $300,000 mooring/dock project at Mago Point.
Stonington would receive two grants, one for $255,000 for design and permitting for improvements at the south pier of Town Dock that houses the commercial fishing fleet and one for $135,000 to study and design the reconstruction of the 1837 breakwater that protects Stonington Harbor. The breakwater now is submerged at high tide and "not doing the job it was designed for," Bates said.
New London’s Howard Street site of proposed residential developments
New London — A grassy patch of land at one of the city’s busiest intersections that has remained vacant for several decades is in line for a major housing development.
Parcel J, at the corner of Bank and Howard streets, is the site of a proposed 90-unit apartment complex, with an estimated value of between $12 million and $15 million. The City Council this week approved the terms of a development agreement with A.R. Building Co. that is waiting to be signed later this month by Mayor Michael Passero.
Coupled with a $40 million condominium complex planned for the same stretch of Howard Street, Passero said it is “potentially transformational to the downtown,” with an infusion of people and taxes. He said A.R. Building Co. already has a proven track record in the city as it works to complete a $14 million apartment complex on Mansfield Road, the largest market-rate development in recent memory.
Preliminary plans from A.R. Building Co. call for a four-story building on about 2.5 acres with plans to use a portion of the adjoining parking lot at Shaw’s Cove 6.
Parcel J is a remnant of the Shaw's Cove Urban Renewal Plan that was approved by the city in 1973. Proposals for the property have come and gone through the years but a recent surge in the local residential real estate market has city officials confident that the newest development proposal will succeed where others have failed.
The site is within walking distance of General Dynamics Electric Boat’s engineering facility on Pequot Avenue and to the downtown’s commercial district.
A.R. Building Co., in the latest iteration of a plan negotiated by the Renaissance City Development Association, has removed a retail component from the conceptual design and scaled back the number of efficiencies while increasing the number of one- and two-bedroom units. The entire plan will be the subject of a design review by representatives of the RCDA, City Council and Office of Development and Planning, RCDA Executive Director Peter Davis said.
While the design review is not regulatory, Davis said the development is on a highly visible corner and the city would like to ensure design elements are coordinated with its surroundings.
A.R. Building Co. has agreed to pay $650,000 to the city for the land and could go before the Planning and Zoning Commission with its plans by fall, said attorney William Sweeney, who represents the developer.
Davis said the RCDA also is getting close to coming to a development agreement with the developers of Shipway 221, a $40 million condominium complex on Howard Street with the potential to become the first new construction in the Fort Trumbull Municipal Development area. It is located on about 5.4 acres known as parcels 5C-1 and 5C-2.
The manager for the project is Anthony Silvestri, with financing from the Tagliatela family, who have funded both the City Flats initiative and Harbour Towers project.
Both projects are located within the city’s Enterprise Zone, which means seven years of partial tax abatements, including the first two years in which only the value of the land is taxable. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
Casino Backers Hope Construction Will Start in Fall
Construction of a casino in East Windsor could begin by early fall and certainly by the end of the year leaders of the tribes that run the state's two casinos said Thursday.
Kevin Brown, chairman of the Mohegan Tribal Council, said the timetable would become clearer soon, once designs are completed and final regulatory approvals are secured, noting that the punch list that remains could be resolved "in a matter of weeks, multiple weeks."
"We're off and running," Brown said. The Mohegans and Mashantucket Pequots, the operators of Mohegan Sun and Foxwoods Resort Casino respectively, joined in a partnership to establish a casino in north central Connecticut.
Brown's comments came a day after the state legislature approved the first expansion of casino gambling in Connecticut off a Native American reservation, one of the most controversial issues in this year's regular session of the General Assembly. Gov. Dannel P. Malloy is expected to sign the legislation. The project faces an ongoing court fight, however.
The partnership of the tribes — MMCT Venture — already faces opposition in court over the expansion from MGM and possibly others, including the Schaghticoke Tribal Nation, may follow.
Court action cannot stop construction unless there is an court-imposed injunction. And the tribes maintained their intention to begin construction even under the cloud of court action.
"We're fully committed to this project, and we've always anticipated that there would be some form of legal action in addition to the current one," Butler said. Brown and Butler declined to speculate on what would happen if the casino was built and the courts ultimately ruled against the tribes.
The casino is aimed at diluting the competitive impact of a $950 million casino and entertainment complex in Springfield being built by MGM Resorts International. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
West Haven mayor, challenger spar over high school demolition, construction
WEST HAVEN >> Democratic mayoral challenger Nancy Rossi said she has “serious concerns” about the West Haven High School renovation project’s financing and demolition schedule — and in particular, about the city’s plans to begin demolition of the existing shop wing this summer, before bids are awarded on the project’s construction.
Rossi, the former City Council Finance Committee chairwoman, said she worries that construction bids could come in higher than expected and leave the city in a position where it has to continue — even if the situation is unfavorable — because it will have already begun to knock down parts of the existing school.But Mayor Ed O’Brien said the city is protected against any cost overruns by its contract with construction manager Gilbane Building Co. and is doing the right thing to move the project forward.Gilbane took over for former construction manager Turner Construction to work with architect Antinozzi Associates of Bridgeport and owner’s representative Capitol Region Education Council, or C.R.E.C., on the “renovate as new” project when the city and state agreed to resume the project after it previously had been put on hold. Details on what impact the proposed $133 million in bonding for the project might have on the city’s debt service are expected to be discussed when the bonding authorization comes before the City Council at a meeting at 7 p.m. Monday in the Council chamber on the third floor of City Hall. “Mayor Ed O’Brien has stated publicly that the demolition of the G-wing, which houses the shop classes, is scheduled to begin this summer, before the project is formally put out to bid,” Rossi wrote in a news release. “The City Council will consider a bonding ordinance on Monday, June 12, which will authorize $133 million for the project.” Approximately 72 percent of the cost will be reimbursed by the state, Rossi said. “The problem is that the high school renovation project has not been advertised for a formal bid, and this administration is going to start tearing down the existing building, Rossi said. “It is like gutting your kitchen before you get prices from a contractor to renovate it. It is irresponsible, and doesn’t make any sense. “What will happen if the bids come in at $150 million?” she asked. “We are already living a financial nightmare.” O’Brien said that according to Gilbane’s contract with the city, the company is liable if there are overruns. “Gilbane is construction manager,” he said. “They guarantee that that’s the price and they’re on the hook for anything” in excess of that. Rossi also raised questions about what the city is getting for its money after two years of delays — and how what it’s getting has changed as time has gone on. “The high school project cost was $124 million two years ago, and Mayor O’Brien stalled the project so he could appoint his own building committee — and now here we are with a project that will cost the taxpayers $9 million more, and will have 14 fewer classrooms,” Rossi said. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
Amazon plans $255 million fulfillment center at Pratt & Whitney site in North Haven
NORTH HAVEN >> Online retailer Amazon is planning to build an 855,000-square-foot fulfillment center on the former Pratt & Whitney site in North Haven, Gov. Dannel P. Malloy announced Thursday, a move that will add 1,800 jobs.
Just hours after Malloy’s announcement, the town’s Board of Selectmen approved a pair of resolutions authorizing local financial incentives for the $255 million project. The board unanimously approved a seven-year phase-in of local taxes for the Amazon project; and a reduction in building permit fees with 2 in favor, none against and one abstention. Construction of the fulfillment center, which will make widespread use of the latest in warehousing robotics, is expected to start within a week, according to First Selectman Mike Freda. Construction of the facility is expected to take between 12 months and 18 months, Freda said.
“This is the culmination of a very complex and detailed negotiation that began two years ago,” he said. “This required the cooperation of not only several state agencies, but various town departments, as well. The new facility will add to Amazon’s presence in Connecticut. The company recently opened a fulfillment center in Windsor and also has a sorting center in Wallingford. With the addition of the North Haven facility, Amazon will increase its Connecticut workforce to 3,800.
“This is a significant win for our state’s taxpayers and our economy,” Malloy said in a statement. “Amazon’s $255 million investment to expand operations in Connecticut is proof positive that when we work with companies and bring our collective ingenuity to bear, we deliver on creating jobs for the hardworking residents of our state.” Freda said seasonal hiring increases by Amazon, during peak demand periods for the retailer, could increase the roughly 1,800 jobs that the company has told state and municipal officials would be generated. John Stafstrom Jr., a Bridgeport-based attorney who represented Amazon on its Windsor project and on its latest deal, told selectmen that the employment impact from the North Haven complex “could be a significantly larger number of jobs” than what is currently being projected, Amazon’s North Haven fulfillment center will be located at 415 Washington Ave. The 168-acre property had been home to a Pratt & Whitney plant and has been vacant for more than 15 years.“Five years after announcing our first fulfillment center in Connecticut, we’re excited to open a new, state-of-the-art fulfillment center in North Haven, creating more than 1,500 full-time jobs that offer wages 30 percent higher than traditional retail roles and include comprehensive benefits on day one, bonuses and stock awards,” Akash Chauhan, Amazon’s vice president of North America operations, said in a statement. “We’ve found an abundance of talent in Connecticut’s workforce, and we are so happy to have this opportunity to expand in the state to serve customers.” CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE