November 21, 2017

CT Construction Digest Tuesday November 21, 2017

Dan Haar: It’s makeup time for FuelCell bids

Lots of people in Danbury, Torrington and all around the FuelCell universe were hopping mad at the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection at this time last year.
Now it’s makeup time — maybe.
Danbury-based FuelCell Energy Inc. was iced out of the state’s huge bid awards for long-term renewable energy contracts in October and November of 2016. Of 29 projects selected, 21 were in solar and eight were in wind power.
How many fuel-cell winners in the state that has invested tens of millions in that industry? Zippo.
The timing couldn’t have been worse, as FuelCell had committed to expand its Torrington factory and hoped to boost its payroll from 600 to 900, with a big aid package from the state. Instead the publicly traded company laid off 97, in part because of the hometown snub.
Give the folks at DEEP credit. They listened. They supported and helped shape a law, pushed by Gov. Dannel P. Malloy and sponsored by the top legislative leaders, giving fuel cell technology a boost. It passed on the last day of the session.
Now the agency has announced it will call for bids in a new round of long-term contracting for the renewables. This time it’s limited to fuel cells, offshore wind and anaerobic digesters that turn biofuels into methane.
Separately, the law allows Eversource and United Illuminating to own up to 30 megawatts of their own fuel cell power. That could lead to more work for the Danbury company, which now has 460 employees.
DEEP hasn’t said what total megawattage it will seek. But geez, with solar and land-based wind out of the running, fuel cell ought to snag some wins in the 2018 bidding.
“It’s not a do-over, it’s a do-again,” said Jennifer Arasimowicz, general counsel at FuelCell Energy.
The company had four small- to midsize projects of its own that didn’t make the cut in 2016 and one huge project, a 63-magawatter that would have reclaimed a hopelessly polluted PCB site in Bristol, with an outside developer. One of those projects, worth 3.7 megawatts in Danbury, moved ahead and is almost done — thanks to financing from the Connecticut Green Bank.
Despite that, it’s almost impossible to develop a fuel cell generation site without a long-term contract because the technology isn’t yet cost-competitive for the grid. Price was the overwhelming factor in last year’s bidding.
Why give a break to fuel cells? The technology creates more local jobs than wind and solar and generates more tax revenue. Fuel cells can sit on tiny, urban brownfield parcels like the 15-megawatt one FuelCell Energy built in Bridgeport. That cuts way down on the cost of transmission and doesn’t eat up farms and forests.
FuelCell’s 40-megawatt Long Island Power Authority plant, just awarded, will save the ratepayers $78 million in transmission costs, Arasimowicz said.
Fuel cell power also serves as a base for the whole grid because it runs 24/7. Wind and solar need backup for obvious reasons. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE

Meriden train station platforms, pedestrian bridge now open

MERIDEN — The new Meriden train station platforms and pedestrian bridge are open, but there’s still work to finish before the station is officially complete.
”Amtrak trains are now pulling up to the new platforms and the (pedestrian bridge) is open to customers,” said John Bernick, assistant rail administrator. “Both platforms opened up to allow for the completion of the track work and the removal of the temporary platform.”
The station opened Friday with little fanfare.
During a walking tour of the station Thursday, City Planner Robert Seale said there is still some sidewalk and landscaping work to be completed at the front of the station on Colony Street.
The station opening and platform use caught some city officials by surprise. We did an opening at the Wallingford train station a week ago and knew the Meriden station was right around the corner,” said Sean Moore, president of the Midstate Chamber of Commerce. “Now it’s real. We have been waiting since 2005, and we’re very excited it’s finally open. That alone will change the flow of downtown Meriden.”
The train tracks have long separated the city’s east side and west side geographically and symbolically, Moore said.
“We have the up and over (pedestrian bridge) to connect both sides of the tracks,” he said. “You can park in the new garage and use the bridge to get to the Meriden Green.”
In that respect, the bridge closes a gap downtown and benefits not just commuters.
A formal ribbon-cutting ceremony for the train station is expected in the near future.\

Erosion problems halt Sprague solar farm construction

SPRAGUE — Angry residents in the area of Potash Hill Road in Sprague say storm water runoff from a nearby solar power site under construction is causing damage to their homes, and the state and town have issued orders putting a halt to the project.
They said the problem dates back to the spring, when clear-cutting of trees on the 100-acre site off Potash Hill Road caused excessive water runoff into their properties, leading to flooded basements and other damage.
“We deserve to know what is happening in our backyards,” resident Cheryl Blanchard said. “The topography has changed, the whole grounds have changed there, so the water is flowing in a completely different way than it ever did before. If it’s raining at night, we sit up at night waiting to see whether our home is going to be flooded.”
Sprague’s Inland Wetlands Commission convened a special meeting Monday to open a show cause hearing regarding the solar farm for violation of wetlands regulations. The town issued a cease and desist order for work there on Nov. 6.
In addition, Fusion Solar Center LLC, the owner of the site, was issued a cease and desist order Nov. 9 by the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection. The project originally was to be completed by the end of the month.
Town Wetland Agent Joseph Theroux performed site inspections on Oct. 26 and 30. Photos he took showed “numerous violations on the project concerning sediment erosion control,” commission chairman Paul Cipriani Jr. said.
Fusion Solar Center attorney Thomas Regan, with Brown Rudnick, said the town has no jurisdiction to issue a cease and desist order on the project. Fusion is, however, fully complying with the DEEP order, Regan said.
“This project is under the exclusive jurisdiction of the Connecticut Siting Council,” he said. “The council issued the approvals, which included the original soil and sediment erosion control plan.”
The DEEP order is issued under a general storm water permit, which is a federally delegated power, he said.
“That does give them the authority beyond the siting council,” Regan said. He went on to say that under the DEEP order, Fusion Solar is not operating “at all” at the site, except for any site stabilization or safety work.
“We are complying with all the conditions in the DEEP order and are in the process of doing that and showing that to DEEP,” he said.
Cipriani continued the hearing to 7 p.m. Dec. 18. The commission hopes to gather more information before closing the hearing, he said. Once closed, the commission has 10 days to render a finding.
When completed, the 20-megawatt solar array is expected to generate enough electricity to power 3,700 homes according to DEPCOM Power Inc., the firm constructing the solar farm.

Killingly’s amended NTE deal looks likely by end of the month

KILLINGLY — Killingly Town Council members are optimistic they can finalize amended benefit agreements with a power plant developer by the end of the month that could net the town approximately $95 million in cash and tax revenue if a proposed plant is eventually built in Dayville.
The Town Council met in executive session Tuesday to discuss a Community Environmental Benefit, or CEBA, and a tax stabilization contract that were put on hold in May after the Connecticut Siting Council denied permit applications from the NTE energy company to construct a 550-megawatt power plant in town.
But because the applications were rejected without prejudice, the company is expected to re-file for the permits early next year. In anticipation of that re-filing, Town Manager Sean Hendricks has been working with NTE representatives on new versions of proposed agreements, ones that take into account some council members’ push for more money and increased protection for the town.
Council Chairman David Griffiths said the council on Tuesday asked Hendricks to look at a few more “minor” changes to the latest agreements in anticipation of voting on them Nov. 30 – just days before new council members take their seats.
“It’s a lot of little things, like language changes,” Griffiths said. “The whole idea is make sure Killingly is getting a fair deal out of this if the plant applications are approved.”
NTE had already agreed to increase its initial $2 million CEBA proposal to $5 million. That “unrestricted” money could be used for a variety of environmentally-oriented projects, including a scholarship fund, for water testing at Alexander’s Lake and to plant trees throughout town.
The council also requested Hendricks revise a tax stabilization agreement with NTE. The draft version of the plan called for the company to pay the town $90 million in taxes over a 20-year period, but that figure rose to $91 million after further negotiations.
The amended tax agreement met council calls for more money paid out in the early years of the contract. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE

SoNo Collection, Norwalk's New Mall, A Retail Anomaly

As retail giants like J.C. Penney, Macy’s and Sears shutter in waves, leaving the malls they anchor struggling to survive, developers of a new enclosed shopping center are betting on the wealth of Fairfield County.
Just off I-95 and a few hundred yards from the bustling South Norwalk district, the SoNo Collection is under construction. Developers and officials hope the mall will draw people from across Fairfield County and towns beyond. The SoNo Collection, scheduled to open in 2019, will be the fourth mall in the state’s largest and wealthiest county. It will feature southern Connecticut’s only Nordstrom and Bloomingdale’s, while providing non-retail experiences with restaurants, sculpture and rooftop gardens and a potential museum. It’s also an anomaly in the shrinking world of enclosed shopping centers. Of the 1,100 or so malls left in the country, up to a quarter may close in the next five years, Time magazine reported in May, citing financial research institute Credit Suisse. Connecticut is not immune. Brass Mill Center in Waterbury, Connecticut Post in Milford and Enfield Square have all lost anchors, with the near-empty Enfield mall even inspiring a town official’s long-shot bid for Amazon’s second North American headquarters.
And in East Hartford, work was suspended on a long-awaited, outdoor outlet center at Rentschler Field after developers lost $10 million in financing.
But SoNo Collection owner GGP says on its website the new 700,000-square-foot mall “will fill a retail void.” It will feature southern Connecticut’s only Nordstrom and Bloomingdale’s while providing non-retail experiences with restaurants, sculpture and rooftop garden and a potential museum.
“Everyone was fairly amazed that a mall was being built,” said David Waldman, a retail developer in neighboring Westport. “That being said, GGP isn’t stupid. They know what they’re doing.”
Ground broke in October on the $525 million project, which includes 70 shops, along with restaurants, a central courtyard and children’s play area.
Under an agreement with the city, GGP will pay only half its property taxes for its first seven years, according to city economic development director Elizabeth Stocker. The mall is also expected to create nearly 2,500 full-time jobs once it opens.
It will join the Stamford Town Center, Trumbull Mall and Danbury Fair Mall in Fairfield County, which boasts a median income of $84,233. Spending power is even greater in the the lower half of the county, known as the Gold Coast. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE

CT allocates $13.6 million for cleaning up brownfields

Connecticut will spend $13.6 million to assess or redevelop brownfield sites in 14 municipalities, marking Connecticut officials’ latest effort to clean up polluted properties and spur economic development, Gov. Dannel P. Malloy announced Monday.
Officials say the newest round of funding will pay to remediate and revitalize 89 acres of blighted properties. Malloy said the investment will clean up neighborhoods, strengthen communities, and draw more economic activity to those locations.
Officials say the state has invested more than $220 million in brownfield redevelopment since 2012.
The governor made the announcement on Homestead Avenue in Hartford, beside two of the 16 properties in the project. Eight are slated for remediation now and eight more are being assessed for future work.
“Quite frankly it’s nearly impossible to attract corporate development to a site that has scars that this one does, and that’s why it’s so very important to have studied the problem, resolved how we could fix the problem and then undertake the actual cleanup,” Malloy said.Tim Sullivan, the deputy commissioner of the Department of Economic and Community Development, said each project is different but the cleanup process usually takes several months.
Sullivan said officials are really interested in bringing private investment to the properties and noted many brownfields are clustered near transit, but it takes time and money to clean up toxic chemicals that have contaminated them.
Hartford Mayor Luke Bronin echoed the desire to attract developers.
“We talked to many developers, many investors who are excited about these sites because they see the power in this location,” Bronin said. “I’m excited about this because it lays the foundation that we will literally be able to build on in the future.”The projects being remediated are:
Bridgeport, 400 Iranistan Avenue: $1.5 million grant to the Bridgeport Housing Authority to redevelop the 15.9-acre Marina Village public housing complex into a new state-of-the-art affordable housing community.  The existing structures will be demolished and replaced with multi-family residential units and community space.
Danbury, 89 Rose Hill Road: $1.3 million grant to demolish and remediate the former 3.7-acre Mallory Hat Factory. A residential facility for women and children in transition is proposed for this site.
East Hartford, 590 Burnside Avenue: $200,000 grant to abate hazardous building materials in a former public housing site on a 1.4-acre parcel.
Hartford, 367, 393 & 424 Homestead Avenue: $1.9 million grant to demolish and remediate three properties, including a former metal foundry manufacturing facility, preparing them for redevelopment.
Meriden, 1 King Place: $2 million grant for abatement and demolition of a portion of a former hospital structure and parking garage on 5.6 acres to prepare it for private mixed-use redevelopment.  The City of Meriden also has been awarded a $2 million loan to complete the required remediation of the site before it is conveyed to the city’s development partner.
New Britain, 24 Dwight Court: $1.5 million grant to remediate a one-acre former coal and oil facility that abuts the CTfastrak station, preparing it for redevelopment.
Plymouth, 142 Main Street – Route 6: $750,000 grant to remediate a 0.5-acre gas station and auto repair facility, preparing it for redevelopment.
Waterbury, 2100 South Main Street: $1 million grant to remediate the 3.4-acre former RISDON manufacturing facility that was the site of a recent major fire. The remediation will address a major public health hazard and prepare the site for redevelopment. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE

Ray Tillman and Fred Carstensen: Project can create economic boon for Connecticut

The Long Island Sound crossing has always been anathema to Connecticut.
“They” — Long Islanders — reap the benefits and “we” — Connecticut residents — pay the traffic congestion and environmental price.
A closer look reveals the opposite: Connecticut will realize very substantial economic benefits; traffic concerns can now be controlled; and various environmental effects can be greatly mitigated.
Connecticut has a mature, well-rounded economy, currently in the doldrums, in clear need of additional markets for the goods and services it produces. Eastern Long Island is an imbalanced seasonal economy that pays a premium to import goods and services from or through Metropolitan New York.
Connecting these two economies with a vehicular crossing will benefit both. Connecticut goods and services suppliers then will be roughly 30 minutes away from this vast new market. The result: increased sales, income, employment and investment. In addition, employers and job seekers will benefit from a larger labor pool and increased job availability.
Eastern Long Island will then itself pay lower prices and have access to Connecticut suppliers, educational and health institutions, and a broad range of retail establishments.
Connecticut’s benefits do not depend on traffic volumes using the crossing, but only on access to this new market. The much-feared recreation-oriented traffic can be readily limited by very high tolls, possibly $25 to $40 per crossing.
Tolls on business and commuter travel, primarily from Connecticut businesses and residents, can be at heavily discounted monthly rates. These rates plus peak period or variable tolls can be readily implemented via electronic toll collection systems.
Revenue from tolls and other sources — possibly including a sales tax in Eastern Long Island — should be sufficient to also upgrade sections of I-95 and other routes handling crossing traffic. A number of Connecticut bridgeheads can be studied to maximize Connecticut benefits and minimize traffic impacts. These could include the Bridgeport, New Haven and New London vicinities.
The crossing itself may resemble the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel configuration. The cost will be substantial, but reasonable revenue sources and financing methods can be identified to make it viable.
Critically, Connecticut has the technical resources to assess fully the economic and fiscal impacts of the crossing.
The University of Connecticut houses the Connecticut Center for Economic Analysis, which has more than two decades of experience in projecting the direct and indirect economic benefits of precisely this kind of infrastructure investment, laying out the impacts on household income, job creation, population, and net new tax revenues.
Such a study would provide the kind of detailed information to frame a constructive discussion of this project, one which would deliver, in all likelihood, very major benefits and value to the now struggling Connecticut economy.
Raymond Tillman, PE, is a former president of the Public Private Partnership Division of the American Road & Transportation Builders Association and Fred Carstensen is director of the Connecticut Center for Economic Analysis at UConn.