Keep an Eye on These 10 Infrastructure Trends in 2018
Following President Donald Trump's State of the Union address, where he urged Congress to pass a $1.5 trillion infrastructure bill, the Association of Equipment Manufacturers (AEM) reported 10 infrastructure predictions for 2018 through its ConExpo-Con/AGG '365' online newsletter.
The predictions come from a TRC Companies' report that states there are some key trends that have influenced federal and state governments to invest in the nation's aging infrastructure and utilities in order to build a smarter and more balanced grid.
The following trends will affect how the construction industry conducts business and goes to market in the year ahead and beyond, TRC, an engineering, environmental consulting and construction management services firm, said.
Latest plan for $130M West Haven High School project restores 8 classrooms to design
WEST HAVEN — The latest — and according to the state, final — major tweak in the design of the $130 million West Haven High School rebuilding project restores eight of 14 classrooms that previously were cut from the plan to keep within budget, officials said.
It also adds 2,000 square feet to the size of the new cafeteria, increasing its capacity to 533 students so more students will be able to eat lunch at once, reducing the need for early lunch periods.
The changes came out of a recent meeting between city and state officials, the city’s legislative delegation and the project’s architects, contractor and other key players, a representative of the architect told the Board of Education this week.
They are made possible by the fact that bids for the project appear to be coming in low — and will address what school officials say would have been a situation in which the rebuilt school might have been too small from the day it opened, officials said.
Under the plan before the most recent changes, “we were building” a school for a projected 1,450 students, Superintendent of Schools Neil Cavallaro said Tuesday.
The problem is that the most recent projects have jumped to a projected 1,588 students by the second or third year the school would be open, he said. But the rebuilt school would be “above 1,450 from the first day.”
Officials from the state Department of Administrative Service agreed to a proposal to restore eight classrooms under the stipulations that these be the final changes in the plan — something everybody involved supports — and that the price not exceed the currentlyauthorized $130 million, Cavallaro said.
The city, under former Mayor Ed O’Brien, broke ground for the project on Aug. 22, 2017.
Michael LoSasso, principal of architect Antinozzi Associates of Bridgeport, joined by Project Executive Amar Shamas, of construction manager Gilbane Building Co., briefed the Board of Education at its regular meeting Monday nightThe latest plan, which is still being refined with regard to exactly where all the additional classrooms will go, “does add space back to the project,” Cavallaro said at the meeting. But state officials “made it clear that they don’t want any more revisions” or additional costs.“Those eight extra classroom are going to make a huge amount of difference, and I appreciate that,” said school board Chairwoman Rosemary RussoLoSasso said there actually are nine classrooms being added, but additional tweaks are removing one of what previously were two culinary education classes because the school now has just one culinary education teacher.
Rooms for the high school’s auto, wood and metal shop classes remain in the latest plans at the same dimensions they previously were to be, LoSasso said in response to a question from Russo.Shamas said that at this point, most of the project’s major bid packages have been opened, but “we’ve still got a few packages to come in.”“But all the major packages are in,” said Ken Carney, chairman of the West Haven High School Building Committee.The additional classrooms are made possible because, from what officials can tell, bids appear to be a few million dollars lower than expected, he told the board.“We can’t say for sure, but we think we’re about $5 million under budget, and $3.5 million of it is going to go into this,” Carney said.The state’s reimbursement rate for the project is 75.36 percent, with the city paying just less than 25 percent. State officials have worked closely with the city and its team to get the details right.The City Council last year approved a $133.25 million bonding ordinance to finance West Haven’s portion of the cost. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
Bridgeport, New Haven lawmakers seek to open casino process
HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — Bridgeport and New Haven lawmakers are advocating a new competitive process for Connecticut's first casino on non-tribal land despite the General Assembly throwing its support last year behind a proposed tribal casino in East Windsor.
The renewed push comes as the tribal project, being developed by the Mohegans and the Mashantucket Pequots, has been delayed, pending federal approvals. The state and the two tribes are suing the federal government for failing to act."It's the elephant in the room," said Democratic state Rep. Chris Rosario, of Bridgeport. "If the BIA (Bureau of Indian Affairs) approved it, then we'd be working on other opportunities for Bridgeport to get jobs."
Rosario and his colleagues argue that inviting various casino developers, including MGM Resorts and the tribes, to compete to build a commercial casino would be a better deal for Connecticut in terms of jobs, economic development, community benefits and support for local businesses. The coalition plans to submit legislation to be considered in the new session, which begins Wednesday.
MGM has expressed interest in building a gambling and entertainment facility in Bridgeport.
Andrew Doba, a spokesman for the two tribes' business entity, MMCT, said the legislation would repeal legislative approval of the East Windsor casino and benefit Massachusetts and MGM. The tribes have argued they need the new casino to help protect state revenues and jobs at their existing facilities in southeastern Connecticut, Mohegan Sun and Foxwoods Resort Casino, from competition expected from MGM's new casino in Springfield, Massachusetts."Let's call this bill what it is — the MGM Massachusetts Protection Act," Doba said. "A bill that will cost Connecticut $1 billion in revenue and eliminate 4,000 jobs was a bad idea last year and is still a bad idea."
The new legislation directs the Department of Economic and Community Development to issue a request for proposals for a commercial gambling facility. The department would evaluate any submissions from potential developers and select a qualified entity for the General Assembly to consider. No casino license would be issued without legislative action.
Would-be developers would have to meet a list of requirements. They must make a $500 million minimum total investment; generate a minimum of 2,000 direct jobs; provide a $50 million, nonrefundable license fee before construction; provide the state with 25 percent of gross gambling revenue from table games and slot machines; and funnel an additional 10 percent of annual gross gambling revenue from video slots to the state's main public education funding account.
The bill also would require a minimum $8 million fee to mitigate impacts on the local community, such as additional law enforcement expenses.
"This is a real opportunity for us to maximize jobs and revenue," said Rep. Toni Walker, D-New Haven, a co-chairman of the legislature's Appropriations Committee. "It is an opportunity we cannot afford to let go by." CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
Town to spend $5 million to clean up major fuel leak
NEWINGTON, Conn. (AP) — A Connecticut town says it will spend millions to clean up a fuel leak that went unnoticed for a year.
Newington officials said Tuesday about 18,000 gallons of diesel fuel leaked from an underground vault at the Connecticut Board of Education bus garage. The leak was detected Dec. 27 when a resident reported an odor to town officials.Officials say the leak was caused by a breach in the vault's fuel delivery system. Town attorney Ben Ancona says the leak has been contained.
The Town Council has voted to allocate $5 million in emergency funds to remove contaminated soil from the area. More than 6,000 tons of soil has been removed so far.The Department of Energy and Environmental Protection is monitoring the cleanup.
Middletown council OKs Durham water agreement
DURHAM — The Middletown Common Council approved the Durham-Middletown water purchase agreement Monday.
The council voted in favor of a plan to bring clean water from Middletown to 55 properties in the Durham Meadows Superfund site.
“I’m very pleased and eternally grateful,” First Selectman Laura Francis said Tuesday. “We hope to have shovels in the ground by the end of the year.”
The towns entered into a memorandum of understanding in June 2012, which stated Middletown would allow construction of the water main and Durham would purchase the water.
The plan is to install a water tank in Middletown on Cherry Hill, near Talcott Ridge Road. The water main will run down Route 17 into downtown Durham and connect to the existing water main at the Durham center booster station.
The council’s Finance & Government Operations Commission endorsed the plan on Jan. 31 with a recommendation to the council to accept the agreement. Middletown’s Water Pollution Control Authority approved the agreement on Jan. 19 following Planning and Zoning’s approval on Jan. 10.
The plan goes to Durham’s Board of Selectmen for approval on Feb. 12.
Construction is estimated to take two years to complete. Water could start flowing in 2020.
The Environmental Protection Agency will fund 90 percent of the project and the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection will cover the rest as required by the state Superfund contract.
Edward Hathaway, of the EPA New England Region and project manager for Durham Meadows Superfund site, said Tuesday the EPA expects to go out to bid on construction in March or April.
Stonington OKs wetlands permit for first phase of Perkins Farm project
Mystic — The Stonington Inland Wetlands Commission has approved a wetlands permit for the first phase of the 71-acre Perkins Farm project: construction of a four-story, 121-unit apartment building with associated roads and parking.
The wetlands commission’s approval of the permit last Thursday paves the way for developer David Lattizori of Groton to submit an application for site plan approval for the building from the Stonington Planning and Zoning Commission. If Lattizori obtains that approval, he can begin construction.
The wetlands commission attached four stipulations to its approval regarding requirements for inspection of erosion and sedimentation measures before the start of construction, soil testing, an inspection of the embankments for stormwater basins, an as-built drawing for each basin and a drainage calculation for Area 1 to be reviewed by the town engineer. The permit was needed because plans call for disturbing 3.7 acres of upland review area as well as 4,953 square feet of actual wetlands, where 45 cubic yards of gravel would be deposited.
The Planning and Zoning Commission already has approved a master plan to construct a 71-acre medical, academic and residential campus on the former farm located along Jerry Browne Road between Coogan Boulevard and Pequotsepos Road. It would be located across the street from the Stone Ridge retirement community. Plans call for preserving half of the site as open space.
If built as envisioned by Lattizori, the project would become the town’s largest taxpayer, generating an estimated $1.3 million a year in tax revenue and creating several hundred jobs.
North Stonington residents to vote Thursday on school building project
North Stonington — Residents will go to the polls Thursday to revote on a school building project that was approved at referendum nearly two years ago, and for which the town was expected to break ground later this month.
The polls will be open from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. at Town Hall.
The vote originally was expected to take place last week at a town meeting. However, as an unchartered town, North Stonington was required to hold another referendum on the project after receiving two petitions at the end of January.
The $38.5 million school building project, of which taxpayers will be responsible for paying about $21 million due to reimbursement from the state, is intended to improve facilities and address serious maintenance issues in the district's aging buildings — including PCB contamination in the elementary school.
Calls to revote on the divisive project put the town in a position seemingly unprecedented in the history of southeastern Connecticut: potentially canceling a school building project just weeks before breaking ground, and with more than $1 million already spent and nearly 30 contracts awarded. Those contracts are valued at $33.8 million in total.
Those in favor of the project argue it will attract new families and economic development, and is necessary if the town wants to continue to educate children in North Stonington. Meanwhile, those who oppose the project argue the increased tax burden it carries is too great, especially for those on a fixed income.
It is expected that the town will have to include funding equal to 2 mills in the annual budget in each of the next 30 years that the project is bonded to account for the project's cost.
If residents vote to continue the project, things are expected to stay the course with a planned groundbreaking later this month and hopes of completing the project in its entirety by 2020.
If residents vote to halt the project, things are far less clear.
Aside from having to account for the $1.6 million already spent, and likely possessing some degree of financial liability for the remainder of the $33.8 million committed in contracts, the town also will be left staring down some difficult decisions about the future of education in North Stonington.
First Selectman Mike Urgo previously said he would suggest moving toward a piecemeal renovation approach, but when the School Modernization Committee explored that option, it found the approach to be more expensive than the current project. And given the residents' reluctance to embrace the cost of the current project, it seems doubtful they would approve a more expensive method.
Another alternative that some residents call for is closing North Stonington schools altogether and sending students elsewhere. But this, too, carries some trade-offs, including the loss of the town's ability to independently influence the education of its children, longer bus commutes and a likely negative impact on property values and economic development in town. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
DOT Informational Meeting On $65 Million I-84 Upgrades In West Hartford Postponed
Department of Transportation officials will host an informational meeting on Feb. 14 to discuss a proposed $65 million safety and operational improvement project for a section of I-84 in West Hartford, which includes added lanes and two bridge upgrades.
The public informational meeting was scheduled for Wednesday at West Hartford Town Hall but has been postponed to Feb. 14 due to weather forecasts, according to DOT spokesperson Kevin Nursick.
Currently, the project is indefinitely postponed under an order by Gov. Dannel P. Malloy in January. Nursick said in an email that DOT will continue to seek alternative funding for the construction phase if state funding is not available. If funding is available for construction, he said, DOT anticipates work to begin in spring 2019.
The current layout of I-84 is a combined six lanes for eastbound and westbound traffic. A DOT report indicates the section is heavily congested during morning and evening commutes. Between January 2012 and December 2014, there were 202 crashes in that area, including one fatality and 90 injuries. Nearly half of the crashes were rear-end collisions, about 23 percent were crashes into a fixed object, and about 18 percent were sideswipe crashes, or vehicles moving in the same direction, according to DOT data. For I-84 westbound, a fourth 9,500-foot travel lane is proposed from the Exit 42 on-ramp at Park Road and end as an “exit only” lane at exit 39A off-ramp to Route 9 south, according to the DOT. The highway would be widened toward an existing median. Eastbound, an auxiliary lane will be constructed from the Exit 40 on-ramp at New Britain Avenue and end at the Exit 41 off-ramp at South Main Street by widening toward the median.
The bridge over Berkshire Road would be replaced completely, the bridge over Ridgewood Road would be widened and the superstructure would be replaced.
The project was initiated in 2000 with design approval obtained in 2003, according to the DOT. In May 2008, as the project neared the end of the design stage, it was suspended due to funding constraints. The project is currently indefinitely postponed.
Design is about 60 percent complete, Nursick said in an email, and there is enough funding to complete the design phase.
The informational meetingFeb. 14 begins with an open forum at 6:30 p.m. and a formal presentation at 7 p.m. at West Hartford Town Hall, 50 South Main St.
Waterbury aldermen approve adding $3 million to the DPW building budget
WATERBURY – The Board of Aldermen on Monday, unanimously agreed to add $3 million to the budget for a Department of Public Works facility under construction off Huntingdon Avenue.
It’s the second increase in a budget originally approved at $60.4 million in 2010. Last March, the board approved a $25 million increase. This latest approval brings the price tag for the DPW facility and a linked project to $88.4 million.
In 2010, the Board of Aldermen approved $60.4 million to renovate the former Chase Brass and Copper Co. property off Thomaston Avenue, and add a Department of Public Works facility to the site.
The project was to renovate space for industrial tenants in the old Chase complex, and finally give the DPW a home base after many years in rented space.
The plan changed after Mayor Neil O’Leary’s election in 2011. He decided to reserve the Chase property for industrial tenants. The DPW facility would be build using a former MacDermid Inc. chemicals factory off Huntingdon.
City officials expanded the scope of work on the Chase site, and there were unanticipated cost overruns. Project leaders stunned some aldermen by requesting a $29 million increase last year.
Republicans balked and would only give the necessary votes when the increase was pared down to $25 million, trimming several elements from the plan.
In January, city officials once again approached the board seeking more money. The project is going so well, they said, they were confident they could restore the badly needed trimmed items for only $3 million above the $25 million approved 11 months ago.
The board approved the request unanimously Monday.
The restored items include:
* plumbing, electrical, carpentry and paint shops
* a second, large-vehicle maintenance bay
* a 10,000-square-foot storage garage
* An canopy for outside vehicle storage
* An automated vehicle wash bay
* A canopy over fueling stations.
Republicans say they’ve never doubted DPW employees deserve these amenities, but they were only concerned about cost. Given the project seems to be going well, they’re comfortable giving the additional money. Republicans and Democrats both touted the delayed increase.
“I think this board did a good job by making us come back here to revisit this to save the city $1 million in bonding,” said Alderman Roger Sherman, a Republican.
Mayor Neil O’Leary, a Democrat, also praised the delay, praising the board for holding back last March. He attributed the delay to a desire on the board’s part to ensure the project was being managed before granting the request.
“That was a responsible approach and, quite frankly, it saved the city $1 million,” O’Leary said.
Outside Monday’s meeting, Minority Leader Steven Giacomi noted that the delay was strictly the Republican’s idea. Democrats had pushed for the full $29 million increase last year.