CT Construction Digest Thursday May 31, 2018

Tomorrows Bond Commission Agenda
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Eversource upgrading gas distribution system in Naugatuck

NAUGATUCK – Eversource is investing $1.1 million to upgrade the gas distribution system in town. The project includes replacing 3,000 feet of existing cast iron and bare steel gas main with newer plastic pipe.
The Naugatuck upgrade project is underway with construction crews working between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. Monday through Friday. Work will be done along Arch Street, Lewis Street, Russell Street, Scott Street, Theresa Street, Nixon Avenue, and Manners Avenue.
Drivers may experience delays due to alternating one-way traffic. Customers may also experience a short disruption to their natural gas service when the new line is being activated and they will be notified in advance by letter, phone, or an in-person visit. This gas line improvement work is expected to be complete by early August.
“These investments allow us to further modernize the gas distribution system, minimizing repairs, and any service interruptions,” Eversource President of Gas Operations Bill Akley said. “Proactively upgrading the system helps to ensure our customers in Connecticut have a better, stronger network for decades to come.”

State Water Planning Council blasts Tilcon proposal

Lisa Backus
NEW BRITAIN – A second state agency has panned the Tilcon proposal to mine protected watershed land, calling the plan a risk to the public drinking supply.

“Much of the area that would be impacted in the proposed expanded area of quarrying is located in the active public drinking water supply watershed of Shuttle Meadow Reservoir,” members of the state Water Planning Council said in a 16-page document sent to New Britain officials Tuesday. “Surficial activities associated with the quarrying operation, including clear-cutting the forest and removing stumps, soil and other natural material could create a significant water quality risk to the reservoir.”
Tilcon is proposing mining 74 acres of protected watershed owned by the city’s Water Department for 40 years and then returning the quarry back to the city as a water storage reservoir. The city would be paid by the company for mining rights – a figure that has not been made public – and Tilcon would donate about 300 acres of open space to Plainville, Southington and New Britain under the deal.
Opponents fear the plan, which requires a change in use for the protected watershed, would imperil protected watersheds throughout the state. The land Tilcon wants to mine includes several vernal pools and acts as a filtered tributary to Shuttle Meadow Reservoir.
“The impact (habitat obliteration) to this important environmental site and risk to our water supply are significant and potentially life threatening, notwithstanding that the report doesn’t substantiate a need or that it would even be a viable reservoir,” said Attorney Paul Zagorsky, a vocal opponent of the plan. “What is most alarming is the WPC’s comments questioning the water quality analysis, specifically that drinking water chemical contaminants that pose a health risk were inadequately referenced, tested or analyzed. This proposal is an environmental disaster putting New Britain’s water supply in danger for which there is absolutely no justification.”
The WPC and the state Council on Environmental Quality were required to review a 500-page environmental report on the impact of the plan created by Lenard Engineering as part of the approval process.
The CEQ stated its concerns about the proposal last week including the fact that Lenard didn’t make the case that the city needed additional water storage and that the way the reservoir would be filled – with storm water runoff – results in high treatment costs.
The WPC in their review of the environmental report issued Tuesday mirrored the same concerns, saying Lenard’s projections for the need for a new water storage reservoir relies on “speculative and undocumented contingencies to both water demand and supply occurring in unison in order to justify the need for a new reservoir.”
But the four-member council made up of representatives from the state Department of Public Health, the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, the state Office of Policy and Management and the state Public Utilities Regulatory Authority went even farther in their criticism of the proposal.
There was “no documentation or other basis” on the reductions to the water supply forecasted in the environmental report to bolster claims that a new reservoir was needed, the WPC concluded, and in fact, the claims were not included in previous water plans developed by Lenard for the city, the WPC concluded.
“The WPC finds that the city’s report does not substantiate the need for the proposed new reservoir or, in fact, that the proposed reservoir would even be a viable public water storage facility,” the members said.
Now that the WPC has provided their review of the plan, the city has 30 days to hold a public hearing on the project. The city must post the review and the review done by the CEQ before the hearing. No hearing date has been set as yet.

Construction Employment Increases in 256 Metro Areas Between April 2017, 2018

Construction employment increased in 256 out of 358 metro areas between April 2017 and April 2018, declined in 63 and was unchanged in 39, according to a new analysis of federal employment data released May 30 by the Associated General Contractors of America. Association officials said that the data showed a continuation of strong labor demand amid shortages of qualified workers.
“Industry demand is still showing strength, as construction employment reached a new high in 54 metro areas,” said Ken Simonson, the association's chief economist. “However, despite these signs, further growth in the industry may increasingly be stymied by a lack of qualified workers.”
Dallas-Plano-Irving, Texas added the most construction jobs during the past year (12,400 jobs, 9 percent), followed by Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, Texas (12,200 jobs, 6 percent); Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, Ariz. (11,000 jobs, 10 percent); Midland, Texas (8,000 jobs, 31 percent) and Las Vegas-Henderson-Paradise, Nevada (7,700 jobs, 13 percent). The largest percentage gains occurred in the Midland, Texas metro area, followed by Merced, Calif. (29 percent, 700 jobs); New Bedford, Mass. (20 percent, 500 jobs); Atlantic City-Hammonton, N.J. (19 percent, 1,000 jobs) and Weirton-Steubenville, W.Va.-Ohio (19 percent, 300 jobs).
The largest job losses from April 2017 to April 2018 were in St. Louis, Mo.-Ill. (minus 3,100 jobs, minus 5 percent), followed by Middlesex-Monmouth-Ocean, N.J. (minus 2,900 jobs, minus 7 percent); Montgomery County-Bucks County-Chester County, Penn. (minus 2,800 jobs, minus 5 percent); Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, Minn.-Wis. (minus 2,400 jobs, minus 3 percent) and Columbia, S.C. (minus 2,200 jobs, minus 11 percent). The largest percentage decreases for the year were in Bloomington, Ill. (minus 16 percent, minus 500 jobs), followed by Bismarck, N.D. (minus 15 percent, minus 800 jobs), Auburn-Opelika, Ala. (minus 14 percent, minus 400 jobs); Battle Creek, Mich. (minus 12 percent, minus 200 jobs); and Columbia, S.C.
Association officials said that despite these widespread employment increases, many contractors report difficulty in finding qualified workers. With the national unemployment rate at a 17-year low and many metro unemployment rates at new record lows for April, finding workers is not expected to get easier in the near future. They added that education and training initiatives are the best way to increase the pool of skilled workers, creating a new generation of carpenters, electricians, and others, while giving Americans access to highly rewarding work.
“The good news is that the strong economy is driving demand for many types of construction projects,” said Stephen E. Sandherr, the association's chief executive officer. “All that economic activity means that there are fewer, qualified, workers available for construction firms to hire to keep pace with demand.”

CT Construction Digest Wednesday May 30, 2018

Bridgeport still hoping for MGM casino

Brian Lockhart
BRIDGEPORT — The news Tuesday that MGM Resorts International is buying the Empire City Casino in Yonkers was no surprise to state Rep. Christopher Rosario.
“I saw this coming a mile away,” said Rosario, D-Bridgeport.
 In this case, a mile is the equivalent of six months ago, when the White Plains-based Westfaironline business news site reported that Empire City was eyeing “strategic partnerships.”
“I tweeted that article as a warning — if the Connecticut General Assembly doesn’t do something about gaming in Bridgeport this is what’s going to happen,” Rosario said.
So what now for MGM’s big push to build a casino, hotel and entertainment complex in Bridgeport?
Uri Clinton, the company’s vice president, is working hard to reassure local supporters that MGM remains committed to the city.
Rosario said Clinton is meeting with him tomorrow. And Clinton also reached out to Mayor Joe Ganim and his legislative liaison, Av Harris, on Monday to give them a heads up about the Empire City deal. “They see potential in this market — and Bridgeport is definitely part of that,” Harris said: “If you look at Bridgeport and Yonkers, the two could work very well together. They’ve got horse racing. They don’t have the coastline or resort capabilities Bridgeport does.”
Rosario agreed, but acknowledged the news will “of course” generate concern that MGM has given up on Bridgeport: “I personally am going to be meeting with Uri and will ask directly how serious he is.”
Rosario and the rest of Bridgeport’s delegation in the state House of Representatives this month successfully got a controversial bill establishing a competitive bidding process for a new Connecticut casino passed. But the legislation died in the state Senate.
“If anything this (Yonkers deal) highlights the fact the legislature should have passed our bill,” said state Rep. Steve Stafstrom, D-Bridgeport. “It would not have authorized construction of a casino. It would have said, ‘Tell us what you’re proposing and why that makes sense’? ... If MGM is interested in submitting, that proposal — in order to be persuasive — would have to set out how it is a Bridgeport casino is viable.”
Rosario said Tuesday’s announcement should incentivize state lawmakers to include the casino legislation in a possible special session on sports betting. He noted MGM’s purchase of Empire City, coupled with the near completion of the entertainment giant’s Springfield, Mass. casino, could lure more competition for a Bridgeport casino.
“Now MGM has a footprint in the Northeast in Springfield and New York state, other companies will want to really buy into Bridgeport,” Rosario said.

Stamford residents find quiet in Mill River Park as construction work continues outside

STAMFORD - When Jorge Chiluisa first came to Stamford to work in 1990, his boss at GE Capital told him and his colleagues not to walk through Mill River Park.
“He said it was dangerous,” Chiluisa said. “We were all young and liked to go downtown to the bars after work, and he wanted us to be safe.” Mill River then was stagnant, with car tires and shopping carts visible in the mud. The park was rundown, a home for drug dealers. “My boss told us to stay on the sidewalk when we were walking to the train, and don’t go in that park,” Chiluisa said.
Twenty-eight years later, Chiluisa, a Milford resident who now works as a finance executive with Siena Lending Group on West Broad Street, makes it a point to walk through the park on his way to and from the train station It goes much farther than that. On nice days Chiluisa takes a break from work and heads across the street to the park.
“I take a half-hour nap,” he said, laying a beach towel on the grass one sunny afternoon last week. “I have a love and a passion for nature, and this park is beautiful. Being here is good for your mental health.”Chiluisa said he appreciates the attention to detail in Mill River, now in the middle of a renovation first planned in the 1920s, when city officials envisioned a New York-style “central park” for downtown. Work didn’t begin, however, until 2009 “I like how they created highlights with the gardens and the pathways and the bird feeders. I like how they used granite and didn’t skimp on materials,” Chiluisa said. “They really thought the design through.” He likes it so much that he introduced himself to the landscaping contractor he saw working in the park a couple of years ago.
“I asked if I could hire her to come and do my house, and she did,” he said.
He’s become a champion of Mill River Park, urging his co-workers to visit. “I say to them, ‘How can you be so close to it and not take advantage?’” Chiluisa said.
Not digging the dirt
It may require an adventurous spirit, because the park is still a work in progress. On the Washington Boulevard side, large mounds of dirt are piled beside a chain-link fence. They’ve been there since work began last year on the Steven & Alexandra Cohen Ice Skating Center and Fountain.
The fountain is set to open July 1, and the ice rink the weekend after Thanksgiving, said Dudley Williams, president and CEO of the Mill River Collaborative, the public-private partnership that was charged 15 years ago with creating a world-class park downtown. “Unless you get out of your car and walk, you won’t see the beauty of the park flying down Washington Boulevard,” Williams said. “So people might think the whole thing is still under construction.”
The city was supposed to remove the mounds by the end of June, but weather and other complications will delay it, Williams said. The deadline now is Aug. 1.
“That will be a big step for us,” he said. “After years of what may have looked like moving dirt around, we are in a period where we are making significant progress in things people can see — the carousel, the fountain, the rink. The park now is a lot more accessible and there’s a lot more activity.” CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE

Priming New London State Pier for growth

The Day Editorial Board           
A couple of weeks ago, our editorial opined, “State and city officials must work closely together to assure this is not an opportunity missed.”
The opportunity at issue is a pending boom in offshore wind projects over the next decade. State Pier in New London has the geographical location to play a role in supplying some of these projects if the state and the city play it smart.
Well, that was fast.
On Tuesday, Gov. Dannel P. Malloy visited New London and flanked by politicians of both political stripes announced that the state will make a $15 million investment to improve its ability to deploy equipment and workers to offshore wind projects. The State Bond Commission is expected to authorize the bonding when it meets Friday.
Malloy won’t be in charge to see the investment carried out. He has about seven months left in office. But this kind of smart investment deserves support regardless of which party the next governor aligns with. This is how the state should use its authority to borrow — investing in infrastructure that can help create jobs, grow the economy, and generate tax revenues that more than cover the investment.
In the spirit of bipartisanship, attending the event with Malloy were state Sen. Paul Formica, R-East Lyme, whose senatorial district includes New London; state Rep. Chris Soto, D-New London; and New London Mayor Michael Passero, a Democrat.
Site plans include demolition work, improving storm water and drainage, providing more robust mooring pilings, and construction of a heavy lift pad, along with other upgrades to assure the pier property can handle massive wind turbine components.
Of note was the characterization by the governor’s office of this as a “first step” in revitalization. While it will be the next administration deciding on additional steps, the point is a correct one; Connecticut officials must remain willing to collaborate with the private sector in realizing the full potential of the New London port.
Which raises another issue, the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection’s pending decision on who gets the winning bids to feed 200-megawatts into the state power grid from offshore wind farms, enough to power about 65,000 homes. Three companies are competing for the project that is expected to begin in the early 2020s and take two to three years to complete.
In making its selection, DEEP needs to look beyond just the lowest power price and consider the potential overall impact of the competing bids on the city, region and state economy.
For example, Deepwater Wind, the company that developed the first offshore wind farm in the United States — the five-turbine Block Island Wind Farm — has committed to make at least $15 million in structural investment in State Pier to prepare the property for helping supply its offshore wind construction. That, of course, would match and significantly augment the state investment announced by Malloy.
Deepwater would also open a downtown New London office; negotiate a Host Community Agreement with funding to support local economic development efforts; and build its crew vessel locally, said Matthew A. Morrissey, vice president of Deepwater Wind in a Tuesday meeting with the editorial board.
In any event, in making its choice DEEP needs to give due consideration to proposals assuring investment in and use of the New London port and investment in the state’s economy.
Connecticut must be proactive in assuring that State Pier can be utilized for multiple uses and is not left with an infrastructure only purposed to support wind-farm construction, which is a finite undertaking. At Tuesday’s news conference, Scott Bates, chairman of the Connecticut Port Authority, was cognizant of this in stating the authority will work to make sure the investments not only support offshore wind development, but also spur the revitalization of the shipping industry and other marine businesses.
This fall the port authority will make another critical decision when it selects who will operate the port. The authority will soon seek proposals and likely issue a decision in the fall, Bates said. Logistec has run operations for the last two decades.
The arrival of wind power could be a great break for New London and the region by enlarging and diversifying our local economy.

Investment in New London key in Deepwater Wind offshore wind pitch

New London — Block Island Wind Farm developer Deepwater Wind says its proposal to inject offshore wind power to the state includes a $15 million investment in the Connecticut Port Authority to help create a manufacturing and deployment hub in the region.
A week after winning Rhode Island's offshore wind bid but losing one in Massachusetts to New Bedford-based Vineyard Wind, Deepwater Wind Vice President Matthew Morrissey said Tuesday in an interview with The Day's Editorial Board that the firm has shifted its strategy to heavily focus on Rhode Island and Connecticut.
As developers compete to deliver thousands of megawatts of offshore wind power to a half-dozen states on the East Coast, Morrissey echoed port, city, environmental and labor leaders who've cited New London's prime location, skilled workforce and lack of height restrictions as assets that could drive jobs and development in the region.
Deepwater Wind's proposed $15 million investment would help "the state and New London punch above its weight in future offshore wind deployment," Morrissey said. "The supply chain at a certain point in Europe will reach an economic threshold where it just makes sense to start manufacturing in the U.S."
Deepwater Wind's proposed port investment matches an influx of $15 million for New London State Pier upgrades announced by Gov. Dannel Malloy on Tuesday. Morrissey on Tuesday said he had heard of potential state investments in the pier, but that he was unaware of the governor's proposal.
If selected, Deepwater Wind plans a host city agreement with New London, which Morrissey described as "a very significant number" to fund economic and workforce development.
"The overall objective is to see industrial development, project after project over several years," he said.
Substation assembly, steel fabrication possible for New London
The Block Island Wind Farm included many parts made in Germany and France barged to Rhode Island for post-fabrication work in the Port of Providence and the Port of Davisville in Quonset, R.I.
Morrissey said Deepwater Wind could assemble the wind farm's substation and perform secondary steel fabrication, such as welding ladders and rails, in New London. Components shipped into New London for assembly or fabrication could end up in wind farms in federal waters off other states.
The company plans to start construction in 2021 and deliver power by 2023. The 25-turbine wind farm would be in federal waters about 15 miles south of Martha's Vineyard. Morrissey said Deepwater Wind is considering newer designs such as 8-, 10- or 12-megawatt turbines compared to Block Island Wind Farm's 6-megawatt turbines.
The wind farm interconnection is planned for the industrial park in Davisville, R.I., where Deepwater Wind also proposes storing wind power in two 50-megawatt hour Tesla Powerpack battery systems "to firm up our delivery during peak periods," Morrissey said.
Deepwater Wind would lease space at the 22-acre State Pier terminal from a yet-to-be-named operator. The Connecticut Port Authority expects to issue a request for proposals to run the port "very soon," according to port board Chairman Scott Bates.
Morrissey said Deepwater Wind wants to partner with the University of Connecticut at Avery Point to let maritime science students participate in the project.
Asked about pricing in potential 20-year contracts with utilities, Morrissey said he could not provide details as Deepwater Wind remained in competition in Connecticut with Vineyard Wind and Bay State Wind.
Morrissey said costs have declined globally due to increased competition and an uptick in projects as states look to ramp up renewable energy production. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE

Glastonbury’s Gemma builds 475MW Ohio energy plant

Joe Cooper
Glastonbury's Gemma Power Systems has completed its construction of a 475-megawatt natural gas power plant in Ohio.
Gemma provided engineering, procurement and construction services for the Middletown, Ohio plant under a contract with an affiliate of NTE Energy. The Middletown Energy Center was certified for commercial operations and was dispatched to the grid last week.
The Ohio plant is a sister project to the Kings Mountain Energy Center.
"NTE Energy was a new customer for us and we appreciate the opportunity and confidence they showed in us," said Gemma CEO William F. Griffin Jr.
Construction crews broke ground at the Ohio plant less than three years ago under a contract valued at $300 million, the company has said.
Meanwhile, the Glastonbury company was also recently hired to oversee the building of a 475-megawatt natural-gas-fired plant in Reidsville, N.C. The project will cost $450 million, Greensboro.com reported last year.
NTE has hired Gemma to oversee three plants, under an engineering, procurement and construction contract.
The other project is located in Kings Mountain, N.C., which is scheduled for completion later this year.
Gemma is owned by Argan Inc., a publicly traded company headquartered in Maryland.

 Bristol Begins Its Springtime Road Repaving

The city advises motorists that it has begun springtime road repaving, a job that will affect more than two dozen streets.
On the schedule for resurfacing are Lovers Lane, Buff Road, Marion Street, Northmont Road Extension, Pleasant View Avenue, May Street (Pleasant View Avenue to Greystone Avenue), Crestwood Drive, South Street (George Street to Down Street), Prospect Street, Haviland Street, Terry Street, Winthrop Street and Federal Street;

Also Mercier Avenue (Route 6 to Case Street), Warner Street, Glendale Drive (Oehler Drive to Woodcrest Drive), Battle Street (James P. Casey Road to Old Cider Road), Old Cider Mill Road, Neuman Place (Mano Lane to Summer Glen), Summer Glen, Mandy Lane, Boulder Drive, Walter Place, Lorenzo Place, Grand Street, Mano Lane (at Neuman Place intersection)

There may be minor traffic delays during construction, but roads will remain open for mail delivery, emergency vehicles, and local traffic, the city said

Connecticut Dealer Uses New Technology in Old Industry

Northeast Edition
AGC
Ace Equipment Sales Inc. of Willington, Conn., has embraced drone technology in a big way. Information gathered from drones is being used in new plant design, plant remodeling, reclamation projects, stockpile reviews, purchase decisions and permitting applications for customers in New England and New York.
Like other people, Ace Equipment initially used drones for taking interesting photographs and video of equipment, sites and blasts. There is a lot to be gained from aerial photographs and videos. Operators know the value of photographic information when going before a zoning board or other regulatory bodies. Drones also are excellent tools for videotaping crushing and sorting operations to solve problems such as issues with transfer points.
 Ace Equipment has used Autodesk's Inventor Software Environment to design equipment and crushing plants for years. Flying a drone for photographs is just the first step in gathering valuable information to help with crushing plant design and installations.
Finding a way to merge the virtual equipment from their Inventor Software Environment with a 3D point cloud of a specific customer site would be a game changer.
Robert Campbell, Ace Equipment's project manager and designer, figured that information gained from drone photography could be the answer they were looking for.
“Sites are never perfectly flat, perfectly square, and without obstructions,” said Campbell. “When designing a custom crushing and screening plant, the correct work area and site topography are so critical to designing a true to life workable plant.”
Real Magic Happens After Drone Flight
Using a technique known as photogrammetry, the drone's photographs are used to create topographic surveys of job sites. CJ Knight, who is head of sales, said, “Rather than relying on expensive aerial LiDAR or time consuming terrestrial surveys, flying a drone over your site allows us to rapidly and inexpensively build accurate digital elevation models or point clouds.”
Going one step further, Ace Equipment uses a RTK-GPS (Real Time Kinematics–Global Positioning Satellite) Unit. This RTK-GPS unit provides a precisely fixed ground reference station to reduce and remove common positioning errors. Once everything is merged together, the result is a three-dimensional virtual representation of the mine site property where all sorts of information can be generated and utilized
Knight was enthusiastic about how drones help operators.
“We use drones to generate 3D models of construction sites, quarries and structures. These maps help obtain the 'big picture' and assist in strategic decision making. We can model your site and equipment layout for future upgrades or changes. We can even show you the finished project before you start.”
From this information, one can see how the new plant, including stockpiles, haul roads, generators, control booths are going to fit on your site.From there, the software can generate a scaled three-dimensional visual proof of concept of the site. Questions like “Is it going to fit? How much material can I store? What size conveyors? How much site work do I need to do?” can be answered quickly, efficiently and correctly. And customers get to see their plants and study them in a virtual site before making a large investment in plant and site development.
Virtual, Accurate Information with Real World Coordinates
Quarry landscapes are ever-changing so scanning these sites quickly and efficiently gives better, more timely information, for planning, management and reporting purposes. The collected data can be used to plan operations such as the positioning of mining equipment, blast surveying, stockpile inspection and the re-routing of access roads
Quarry owners also are concerned about the quantity of the material being blasted and the stockpile volumes. Most quarries also are required to perform a reclamation of the property after the gravel or stone has been removed. Drone flight photography linked to the proper software can create day of flight information and comparative information from flight to flight for in-house documentation and regulatory reports. The operator can verify how much stone is going out and how much fill is coming in.
In today's world, the thirst for more information is endless. Ace Equipment Sales has taken the next step to create a virtual environment, which can provide that information needed to make better decisions for a more profitable company.

CT Construction Digest Tuesday May 29, 2018

Friday June 1, Bond Commission Agenda
CLICK TITLE FOR AGENDA

Environmental council takes dim view of Tilcon plan

Written by LISA BACKUS
NEW BRITAIN - A state environmental council has concluded that the Tilcon mining proposal would be “adverse” and that a study of the plan doesn’t establish the need for a new reservoir.

Mayor Erin Stewart was forwarded the comments by the state Council on Environmental Quality Friday her aide said. “We are in receipt of CEQ’s comments and look forward to a robust public discussion about the proposal to build a regional water supply for Central Connecticut,” said David Huck, the mayor’s public affairs specialist.
Under the hotly contested proposal, Tilcon is seeking approval to mine 131 acres of protected watershed that acts as a tributary to Shuttle Meadow Reservoir, for 40 years. At the end of the mining, the quarry would be returned to the city as a “storage” reservoir.
A similar plan was quashed by opponents in 2007. In order to get approval to allow Tilcon to mine the protected watershed, the city was required to hire an engineering firm to study the environmental impact of the plan.
The Glastonbury-based Lenard Engineering submitted its study to the CEQ and the state Water Planning Council for review in February. Both agencies are required to submit comments about the study to the city of New Britain.
The CEQ’s comments, forwarded to Stewart in an 11-page report, largely pan the Tilcon proposal. “Needless to say, the project itself is contrary to long-established state policy of not allowing the intrusion of commercial activities onto Class I and Class II reservoir watershed lands as protection of water quality for drinking water sources,” the council said.
Among the major concerns expressed by the CEQ, Lenard failed to make the case that the city needs a “storage” reservoir for future water reserves and the council pointed out that the project would decrease the city’s water supply as the mining proceeds.
“During construction, the (Lenard’s) report projects a reduction of safe yield of 70,000 gallons per day, from a project that is being promoted as a strategy to reduce risk of water shortages,” the CEQ noted.
The agency also pointed out that Lenard failed to include three additional water sources, Patton Brook Well, a property in Burlington acquired for the development of a reservoir,r and nearby Crescent Lake, which is a decommissioned reservoir, in their assessment of what the city can readily use for additional drinking water supplies.
Council members also called into question the method of “flood skimming” from surface storm water runoff to fill the new reservoir, “which is among the dirtiest of water sources and carries the risk of high treatment costs,” they said.
Lenard’s study also failed to indicate mitigation practices that could be used to protect wildlife and plant life in the area and provided “misleading” information by saying additional watershed would be created by the “hole that is being dug in the middle of currently existing watershed land,” the council said.
The city must hold a public hearing on the findings of the CEQ and the WPC.

New East Hampton Town Hall/PD project could begin this fall

By Jeff Mill
EAST HAMPTON — Construction of the new town hall/police station could begin as early as this fall The Town Council was given that assessment this week during a quarterly report on the $18.98 million project. It was delivered by Lisa Motto, customer project manager for the project, as well as co-owner — with her husband — of the 5.4-acre property on which the new facility will be built.
Motto attended the council meeting in the company of Glenn Gollenberg, chairman of the Town Facilities Building Committee, which is overseeing the project.“We hope to break ground in early September,” she told the council. In response to a question from Councilor Josh Piteo about when residents will see iron support beams climbing up into the sky, Motto said, “The goal is the have the foundations done before the end of November.”
That usually marks the end of the construction season. If that timetable can be met, Motto said the support beams could be in place in December. Motto also said the project architects, Armenta Emma, have completed the schematic design for the proposal, and the estimated cost “is still right on budget.” The design development phase of the project has also been completed and is being gone over by “two estimators,” Motto said. “We’re awaiting those estimates to come back.”
According to Business Dictionary, the design development is “a transitional phase of an architect/engineer services in which the design moves from the schematic phase to the contract document phase. “In this phase, the A/E prepares drawings and other presentation documents to crystallize the design concept and describe it in terms of architectural, electrical, mechanical, and structural systems. In addition, the A/E also prepares a statement of the probable project cost,” the site said.
Meanwhile, the revised version of the traffic plan for the project has been submitted to the Office of the State Traffic Authority, Motto said. “We expect to have that approval by mid-July.”
The building committee has also been reviewing “some of the finishes that have been discussed for the building.”
During its most recent meeting, the building committee worked with Rob Adams, interior designer for Amenta Emma. “He had with him carpet samples, possible materials for doors/wainscoting, floor and bathroom wall tile, paint color swatches, laminate samples, and a wall covering (for) an accent wall,” Motto added The committee also reversed itself and approved “a vestibule for the door that leads from the outside into the community room.”
Committee members came to “believe that, especially at night and during the winter, this door will be utilized,” according to the minutes of the committee meeting.

Route 8 resurfacing to begin in Bridgeport, Trumbull

Work to resurface a heavily used stretch of Route 8 in Bridgeport and Trumbull is scheduled to begin Wednesday night. The work. that will be done from 7 a.m. to 5 a.m.. is expected to be finished by the end of June.
The project consists of milling and resurfacing 2.36 miles of Route 8 north in Bridgeport and Trumbull
Motorists can expect lane closures on from .01 mile north of northbound overpass Capitol Ave to .03 mile south of northbound the northound Huntington Turnpike overpass. Traffic control personnel and signing patterns will be used to guide motorists through the work zone.
The milling segment of this will be done from Wednesday, May 30, 2018 through Friday, June 8, 2018.
The resurfacing segment of this project is anticipated to be performed on Sunday, June 17 through Thursday, June 28

Meriden diner demolished to make way for bridge project

Mary Ellen Godin
MERIDEN — An excavator clawed through the former Bradley Eatery Thursday and Friday to make way for rebuilding the Sodom Brook Bridge on West Main Street.
The former diner and a small red building at 367 W. Main St. were recently razed to allow the state Department of Transportation to begin the $6 million project to replace the 88-year-old bridge. Those properties will be landscaped after the work is completed, said DOT spokesman Judd Everhart.
The Bradley Eatery was owned by Mark Hartman, of North Carolina, who sold the 70-year-old building to the state for $103,000. The property at 367 W. Main St. was sold for $38,500. Allison Romano ran the diner from 2008 until it closed in May 2017. She could not be reached for comment Friday.
The state had determined there are weaknesses and holes in the bridge that make it “ structurally deficient.” Plans call for a temporary bridge to be installed while the main bridge is replaced. Construction will likely cause traffic delays and detours along West Main Street for more than a year.
The city has done some prep work to replace a water main that will run on a separate utility bridge along the main structure, said Utilities Director Dennis Waz.
Cisco LLC of New Haven is doing the demolition work and another contractor and subcontractor will rebuild the bridge and do the utility work.
”It is a state structure but our water main is part of the bridge,” Waz said. "This is a state project, so I'm kind of at their mercy as far as when we start."
More than $164,000 was spent on acquiring six surrounding properties through eminent domain, Everhart said.
Construction on the bridge is expected to begin in July and conclude in May 2020, Everhart said in March, lasting "a little over two construction seasons."
"There will be some traffic issues over there," Waz said.
Luis Gonzalez, owner of the King Kutz next door to the former Bradley Diner, said the demolition has been disruptive to business but he was surprised at how quickly workers finished.
“All the stuff was parked in front,” Gonzalez said. “Once (the reconstruction job is) said and done, it should be two years.”

Isolated Middletown Neighborhood Sees Hope In Route 9 Plans

Finally, for the handful of Middletown residents living on Miller and Bridge streets, there’s hope of safer access to their isolated North End enclave.
They live directly under the Arrigoni Bridge, and the only way they’re allowed to get in and out of their neighborhood is from the busy southbound lanes of Route 9.

About 15 homes are boxed in by the highway, a railroad crossing and the vast wetlands on the Cromwell line.

Nestled in the state Department of Transportation’s hugely difficult plan to remove the highway’s peculiar, often dangerous traffic lights is a gold nugget: DOT is planning to permanently reopen the gated railroad crossing connecting their neighborhood to Portland Street behind St. John Church.

The crossing is now considered a “breakout” project, which means the state is actively working on it separately from the larger Route 9 plans.

“We know what we want to do there. It’s pretty straightforward. We want to open up that crossing with full access,” said DOT Project Manager Erik Jarboe. “This is an important project and we’ve commited resources to it.”
He said the project currently has about a two-and-a-half year completion window, mostly because of the coordination DOT needs with the Providence & Worcester railroad and the permits it would need to obtain. The estimated construction budget is $1.5 million.
“It’s pretty straight forward designwise,” Jarboe said. “It’s all of the interactions with the environment and other agencies that will take some time.”

The idea to reopen the railroad crossing has been discussed before, but it barely got any traction. DOT has taken arguably its most serious steps yet toward traffic light removal, and closing off the Route 9 access to Miller Street is a must if those plans go forward

Once the traffic lights are removed, cars will likely never be slowing down enough to make it safe for people to pull out from Miller Street, Jarboe said.
Where most neighborhoods have a stop sign or a light at the end of their street, Miller and Bridge residents have a highway, and they already have to brave the traffic routinely going by at up to 80 mph.
Engineers told residents at public forums that they were alarmed after seeing a school bus waiting to pull out onto Route 9.
Using the railroad crossing at the end of Bridge Street is a change that would allow them to access the North End safely.
Since it’s prohibited to cross the median on Route 9, anyone traveling North on the highway has to go all the way to Cromwell, get off at Exit 18, then get back on the other side and drive South on Route 9 to turn onto Miller Street. Some people still cross the median and the three lanes of highway traffic to get into the neighborhood, but their impatience comes with the risk of a traffic ticket.
The gate at the railroad crossing is open periodically for access by the railroad or public safety agencies, and residents will nearly always choose to use the railroad crossing instead of going onto Route 9.
“I don’t know who opens it, but believe me when it’s open I use it,” said Miller Street resident Betty Clemons. “I won’t go across Route 9. I do not cross the highway.”
Dmitri D’Alessandro, who grew up on Bridge Street and still lives there with his family, said he’s more optimistic that the old railroad crossing will be restored.
“We’ve made multiple efforts via the North End Action Team, and now we’re still making efforts,” D’Alessandro said. “Finally in this last round of DOT plans they at least presented something about the neighborhood. Before, it was completely ignored.”
The Neighborhood
As recently as 15 years ago the city’s official position was that the neighborhood should be totally demolished.
City officials said they didn’t want people living there because of drug activity, blight, poor housing conditions and pollution. Federal funding paid for some people to relocate, but the available money dried up.
There’s no longer support for demolition and relocation, but residents still say their neighborhood’s reputation is unfair.
“We’ve been fighting for 30 years to get a different way out,” said Peter Evans, who has lived with his wife Joyce on Miller Street for more than 40 years.
They’ve enjoyed living there despite the nearby train tracks and the bridge straight above their well-cared-for garden, Evans said.
D’Alessandro, 40, said the city-sponsored demolition made the area increasingly quiet as its density decreased. The remaining residents have built a community with a shared chip on their shoulder from being told by others what it’s like to live in their own neighborhood.
“Nobody ever really came here and looked at the people or the kids,” D’Alessandro said. “The only quality of life that’s bad is you have to drive all over creation just to get in here. The only thing that’s not quiet about my neighborhood is the jake brakes from the trucks. What people don’t understand about this neighborhood is that it’s amazing.” CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE

 

CT Construction Digest Thursday May 24, 2018

Danbury leaders get first glimpse of new high school addition

Zach Murdock
DANBURY — Top public school officials got their first look Wednesday at the massive new addition to Danbury High School.
The 100,000-square-foot wing of the school adds science labs and more than two dozen classrooms to the high school and will be home base for the next freshman class in September.
The three-story complex between the school and athletic fields includes additional locker rooms, space for athletic trainers and a smaller, second gymnasium that can double as an overflow cafeteria. “When the taxpayers see all this, I think they’ll be really proud of what we’ve been able to do here,” school board member Rich Jannelli said.
The project, nearly complete, is still within its expected budget at $53.3 million, officials said. The only outstanding work left to be done is in the new theater space, which will not be finished until the end of July, owing largely to the spate of nor’easters that slammed the state earlier this year.
Even then, however, work simply slowed and did not require many change orders, keeping the complex construction project within its original budget, city Public Works Director Antonio Iadarola said recently.
“Overall, the project has gone incredibly well,” he said. “No major hiccups. The weather was really the only thing that slowed us down on the black-box theater.
“The progress was incredible until those cold spells,” he continued. “That two or three weeks of cold followed by snow after snow after snow — that basically stopped the black box theater from opening up along with the big addition.”
The next freshman class will spend almost three-quarters of its schedule in the new building, which is designed to give the new students their own “freshman academy” to help them acclimate to the high school experience, Principal Dan Donovan said Conspicuously missing from the expansion’s hallways: lockers. “It used to be that you carry around four books to every class, but it’s just not like that anymore,” Donovan said. “With all the technology and Chromebooks (laptop computers), the kids just don’t need them. “It was a cost-savings thing for us not to have them in here, so we just got rid of them,” he continued. “If we could tear them out of the rest of the building we would, because no one uses those either, but that’s expensive, too.”
The expansion also helps alleviate some space constraints in the state’s biggest high school, which has more than 3,100 students this school year. But budget constraints have limited how quickly the addition will fill up.
School leaders included more than $850,000 in the next year’s budget to pay for five new teaching positions, two new special education positions, three new custodians and an additional nurse to help staff the new addition. But that figure is only part of what is needed to staff the added classrooms, and Pascarella intends to add new teaching positions each year for several years to bring the remaining classrooms within the budget.
Crews will continue to install seats, furnishings and stage equipment in the theater for the remainder of the summer, officials said.
If the project is ultimately completed under budget, the unused funds will remain dedicated to work on the school grounds and not return to the city’s general fund, Iadarola said. Any extra cash could go toward much-needed improvements to the school’s outdoor track, he added.

Bethel seeks to minimize disruption during Rockwell, Johnson school renovations

Julia Perkins
BETHEL — The upcoming renovations to Rockwell and Johnson elementary schools will cause minimal disruptions, officials say, although some students will have classes in portables and take gym in regular classrooms.
Superintendent Christine Carver and representatives from Rizzo Construction Corp. outlined for at least 40 parents Tuesday evening the timing and logistics of the $65.8 million project, which will begin in earnest around October and take about two years.
“Johnson and Rockwell schools are your home, your children's home,” said Anthony Rizzo, head of Rizzo Construction. “We, as the contractors, are visitors. Our job is to make sure that it’s business as usual.” For the most part, officials said, that will be the case.
Students will likely hear some construction noise, but crews plan to do the loudest work outside school hours or during weekends and vacations. Workers will also park off-site and deliveries will be timed to avoid recess and drop-off times. The playgrounds will remain accessible and traffic patterns around the schools will not change.
The school year will be adjusted, however, to maximize summer construction time. Next academic year, classes will start Aug. 29 and end June 7, barring any snow days. The following year, school will begin the Tuesday after Labor Day.
“I’m saying a prayer that we do not have weather next year like we did this year,” Carver said.
At points during the renovations, students will need to take “special” classes such as art or music in their regular classroom.
For example, Johnson students will be unable to access the gym for several months during the first year of construction. Instead, physical education will be held outside, in classrooms, in the cafeteria or in the new body and brain lab.
“We just have to think outside the box a little bit,” Johnson Principal Alison Salerno said.
 At Rockwell, crews will set up two portables with 12 rooms each, bathrooms, heat, air conditioning and an intercom system connected to the main building. Johnson will not have portables.
When students return to Rockwell in the winter of 2019, the second floor, including the library, will be vacated and second- and third-graders will move to the portables, set up like their rooms in the main building, Carver said. Kindergarten and first-graders will move to the portables when work begins on the first floor in the fall of 2019.
Parents were unhappy that students in the portables would have to put on their coats and gloves and walk outside to go to lunch or special classes in the main building. But officials assured them that the walkway to the portables will be covered and fenced in for safety. The portables will also have cameras and be locked.
 Parents were also concerned about how construction workers will be vetted. Rizzo said crews will undergo fingerprinting and a yearly background check and will be required to wear badges on site. This is the same process Rizzo implemented for projects at Danbury High School and Sikorsky Aircraf “Our primary concern is the safety of the students that are there, the safety of the faculty and the safety of the parents who are coming in and out of the building,” Rizzo said.
Rockwell and Berry elementary schools now include students up to third grade, but Rockwell third-graders will move into the renovated first floor of Johnson in the fall of 2019. Third-graders from Berry will not move into Johnson until the fall of 2020. Carver urged parents to contact her, the elementary principals or Rizzo with questions.
“If there's anything you’re concerned about with regards to construction, just talk to us,” Carver said. “The earlier we know things, we can nip things in the bud and hopefully address things right away, so it doesn't exacerbate or become a bigger problem.”

Smalley Elementary project finally, officially begins

Skyler Frazer
NEW BRITAIN - It was a long, bumpy ride, but Smalley Elementary School’s extensive renovations are officially underway.

Elected officials, many of whom advocated for the changes, met at the school on Wednesday to break ground on the project, anticipated to be completed by the 2019-20 school year.
In the meantime, Smalley students are being educated at the former Pope John Paul II School.
“Today’s groundbreaking ceremony brings staff and faculty, parents and students closer to the reality of a state-of-the-art school building,” said Principal Elsa Saavedra.
For years, legislators and educators have been pushing for money from the state, and the budget passed in October 2017 included $42 million for the project.
The city will borrow the remaining 20 percent of the project’s $53 million cost. The project will essentially revamp the school, with new parking lots, more classroom space and an updated, modernized look.
The city’s General Assembly delegation, as well as Gov. Dannel Malloy, were big supporters of the project.
“It’s very exciting, particularly for this neighborhood,” said state Sen. Terry Gerratana, D-New Britain. “We started talking about this well over five years ago and I’m so happy to see that today it’s coming to fruition.”
State Rep. Bobby Sanchez, D-New Britain, shared similar sentiments.
“I remember sitting here in this building about five years ago … talking to parents about the building itself,” Sanchez said. “I’m glad that the city of New Britain, the Board of Education, the superintendent and everyone got together and said, ‘Let’s make Smalley happen.’ ”
School Superintendent Nancy Sarra thanked legislators and city officials for their support of the project.
“Everyone put students at the forefront,” Sarra said. “When we all work together, change is possible.”
“It’s incredible how these projects happen and live through administrations, through different councils, through different boards of education,” Mayor Erin Stewart said. “This is a project that’s not just going to transform the education that is given to our Smalley students; it’s going to transform this neighborhood as well,” Stewart said.
Paul Salina, the school district’s chief operations officer, said the project is another important phase in the renovation of city schools, including DiLoreto Elementary and Middle School years ago.
While the project is budgeted at $53 million, Salina said it looks as though it could be less costly.
Kaestle Boos is the contractor and designer for the project and Newfield Construction will handle construction.
“At the present time, we believe the project will come in under that tag at a price close to $45 million,” Salina said.

DOT says fourth lane on Gold Star Bridge could open as early as Thursday

The state Department of Transportation is ahead of schedule and could open the fourth lane on Interstate 95 southbound across the Gold Star Bridge on Thursday morning, rather than Friday morning, project engineer Keith Schoppe said.
DOT has been working to set up by this weekend a new configuration on the bridge that will enable four travel lanes, rather than three, and the re-opening of the Bridge Street on-ramp.
Schoppe said Wednesday afternoon that the barrier has been shifted and the contractor is expected to complete the line striping Wednesday. As long as the contractor can finish the line striping, the fourth lane will open Thursday morning.
The Bridge Street on-ramp still is on schedule to reopen Friday morning, due to the need to turn on the traffic signals at the bottom of the ramp, he said.
The DOT is working on a rehabilitation project on the southbound side of the bridge.

Bristol Hospital begins construction on new ambulatory center

Joe Cooper
Bristol Hospital says it broke ground earlier this month on its new 62,000-square-foot ambulatory care center downtown.
National developer Rendina Healthcare Real Estate is partnering in the development and will own and manage the new facility at the intersection of Main Street and Riverside Avenue. The hospital's new Ambulatory Care Center is expected to open in late 2019.
The center will be occupied by Bristol Hospital's multi-specialty group to provide services including cardiology, endocrinology and diabetes, neurology, orthopedics, rheumatology and urology.
Hospital officials said the new facility will help expand its healthcare services for the Bristol community.

Developer Plans Elaborate Food Market For Hartford's Parkville Neighborhood

A heavy lock seals the front gate and graffiti adorns the west wall at 1400 Park St., but owner Carlos Mouta has grand plans for the run-down property.He envisions two floors of sprawling retail space emblematic of the city it will serve, including a trove of food and beverage vendors offering a taste of Hartford.

“I don’t want to sell Coney Island hot dogs there,” Mouta said. “I want it to be everything representing Hartford.”

For more than a year, plans have inched along for a 20,000-square-foot food market in the building Mouta purchased at the turn of the century in the city’s Parkville section. He is talking with more than 40 vendors in and around Hartford to form the Parkville Market, reminiscent of Manhattan’s Chelsea Market and Brooklyn’s Dekalb Market Hall.
The ground level would include dozens of food stands run by city and suburban companies. A blend of flavors and cultures would be featured, from Mexican cuisine to Vietnamese fare.
Mouta is aiming for a mix of other retail on the second floor — possibly a coffee shop, a wine bar or distillery, and booths selling flowers, stationery and jewelry.
So far, he’s been tight-lipped about the vendors coming on board. But most of them already have a footprint in Hartford, he said.

The market would run seven days a week, 365 days a year.

“People from West Hartford, Wethersfield — they’re going to flock there,” Mouta said. “It’s a destination place, so I’m not concerned about business at all.”
Mouta, a city native who owns more than 20 properties across Hartford, doesn’t yet have a price tag for the venture. He is not seeking public assistance, and plans to fund the project with a bank loan.
He is finalizing blueprints for the market, and awaiting the approval of site plans and variances from the city’s planning and zoning commission. If those are authorized, construction would begin in 30 to 60 days, he said.
Neighboring companies in Parkville, a community brimming with potential that sits along the path of a city-to-suburb busway, have warmed to the proposal. They see it as the latest enterprise to boost momentum in an area that is on the rise.
“It has a lot of promise,” said Barbara Shaw, executive director of the nonprofit Hands on Hartford, whose headquarters are a stone’s throw from 1400 Park St. “We know that, given our experience with other communites that have developed thriving neighbrohoods, when you bring in something that could be a focal point, it can benefit everyone else in the neighborhood.”
Ben Braddock, who owns Hog River Brewery with his wife, Joy, said another “destination” business is needed in Parkville. His taproom, that opened in 2016, draws people from downtown and the suburbs, and a food market could do the same.
“Any business we can get into Parkville that generates foot traffic and gets people down here to see what’s going on, I think that’s wonderful,” Braddock said. “It’s great for the neighborhood.”
Parkville has seen a swell of activity in recent years. Hands on Hartford moved there from its Main Street office, and plans to convert a former boiler plant on Bartholomew Avenue into 30 apartments. A groundbreaking is planned for this fall. CLICK TYITLE TO CONTINUE








 

CT Construction Digest Wednesday May 23, 2018

MDC Digging Tunnel Under Hartford
NBC 30 VIDEO

The Haven developers submit site plan application to West Haven PZC; Simon Property Group also involved

WEST HAVEN — The developers of The Haven luxury outlet mall are moving forward with the 235,000-square-foot development, submitting an application for site plan approval to the city this week — with Indianapolis-based Simon Property Group joining The Haven Group as a partner in the project.
Simon, owner of the Clinton Crossing outlets in Clinton and the Crystal Mall in Waterford, is one of the largest shopping center developers in the world, with projects all over the United States, Europe and Asia that generate billions of dollars in sales, including the Copley Square Mall in Boston and Roosevelt Field on Long Island, N.Y.
The project currently is slated for completion in summer 2020 “and will transform West Haven into a retail and entertainment hub,” the developers said Tuesday in a news release. The plans filed with the Planning and Zoning Commission Monday call for 80 stores and five full-service restaurants “We are looking forward to bringing our extensive experience to this project in partnership with The Haven Group,” Danielle DeVita, executive vice president of Simon, said in the release. “We are also very pleased to be working with the City of West Haven on this one-of-a-kind luxury project.” Ty Miller, the Dallas-based president of the Haven Group LLC, said, “We are very excited to move this project forward after years of behind-the-scenes effort. Today’s submission represents our best proposal yet.”
The Haven Group, originally a partnership led by Miller and the late Sheldon Gordon, who died last September, is affiliated with the family that owns Highland Park Village in Dallas. Mayor Nancy Rossi, who watched the project begin to unfold during the administration of her predecessor, Mayor Ed O’Brien, said she’s pleased to see the application for site plan approval filed and believes The Haven has the capacity to be a major economic boost for West Haven.
“I’m very pleased and very excited that the first step is being taken for this project,” Rossi said.
“I do believe that this will definitely help the City of West Haven,” Rossi said. “It’s going to bring people to our city. Hopefully, people will go out to dinner” or enjoy the city’s shoreline while they’re in town, she said. Rossi also said The Haven has the capacity to spur other development in the fiscally constrained city.
Despite the change in The Haven’s development team, “They said that nothing has changed,” she said. In meetings since Rossi took office in December, “they kept stating that they were going forward with the project ... and I’ve been behind the project since I was on the City Council, so I’m very pleased about that,” Rossi said.
“This is a major step forward for a project of this magnitude, which lies along the eastern gateway to the city right off I-95 along the waterfront, making it a destination location that will complement three-plus miles of beaches,” Rossi said in the release. “This prime site is also minutes from the downtown business district, regional train station, and campuses of the University of New Haven, Yale University West and Veterans Affairs Hospital,” Rossi said. “Since taking office, my staff and I have done everything we can to assist the developers, and we will continue that effort until the project is complete. The Haven had been in the property acquisition stage for the past four years as the developers negotiated with 57 property owners — missing several of its own previous stated completion target dates — leaving many in West Haven questioning whether it would ever move forward and upset about all the boarded-up properties within the project area.
The transfer of the city-owned Bayview Park — which was developed in part with federal funds and consequently needed federal approval to be sold for development — was one of the issues that held up the process, officials have said. There are a total of 57 properties within the 24-acre project area, which is bounded by Main Street, First Avenue and Elm Street. The project includes what is now Water Street, which will be closed and eliminated as The Haven is built.
The Haven Group Executive Vice President Matt Armstrong has called The Haven “America’s first upscale waterfront outlet mall.”Gordon, Miller and O’Brien unveiled the project, a $200 million, “high-end” shopping center to be built in two phases, on June 10, 2014.
 In addition to 80 stores and five restaurants, the project would have a public waterfront promenade with a 200-seat amphitheater.Armstrong said last fall that at that time the developer had spent more than $30 million on the privately financed development, which he has compared to the top 20 percent of the retail stores that constitute Woodbury Common Premium Outlets in Central Valley, New York, about 50 miles north of New York City. Armstrong has said The Haven would be the only direct-waterfront, luxury retail center in the country. It would pay $2 million in annual property tax and create more than $15 million in incremental sales tax for the state, he has said.
The Haven would provide 800 full-time and 400 part-time jobs, plus 800 construction jobs using all Connecticut-based contractors, he has said.

CRDA seeks eminent domain powers to acquire key XL Center block

Greg Bordonaro

The head of the Capital Region Development Authority says he plans to seek the power of eminent domain to take over XL Center's atrium and adjoining retail/office space currently owned by Northland Investment Corp.

CRDA Executive Director Michael Freimuth said he is asking his board of directors for eminent authority Thursday after several failed attempts to purchase the space, known as the "Trumbull Block," from Northland.
If approved, he'd have a six-month window to pursue that legal avenue, Freimuth said.
"The board is going to consider granting the authority to continue negotiating with Northland but have the eminent domain option in place," Freimuth said late Tuesday.
Meantime, Northland Principal Larry Gottesdiener blasted CRDA's attempts to pursue eminent domain. He said CRDA's multiple appraisals have led to inadequate valuations of the property and that Northland isn't interested in selling right now, particularly because there is no funding or plan in place for a long-term renovation of the arena.
"The appraisals are deeply flawed," Gottesdiener said.
Both Gottesdiener and Freimuth declined to disclose terms of any previous negotiations for the property, which fronts Trumbull Street and includes largely vacant retail space, office space and XL Center's atrium.
The complicating factor is that the city, state and Northland each control bits and pieces of the XL Center property and certain utilities and other internal systems are shared. Northland, for example, controls certain elevators and escalators key to the functionality of the XL Center and the nearby parking garage.
CRDA rents from Northland the rights to the use atrium space.
CRDA a few years ago recommended a $250 million overhaul of the XL Center, concluding that the building's functionality and ability to generate revenue are severely limited by its age, obsolete design, mechanical systems, limited footprint and fan amenities and narrow concourses.
But CRDA has been unable to secure that full allotment from the state legislature. State lawmakers, however, did grant CRDA $40 million last year for renovations. That money, which is in addition to the $35 million in renovations completed in 2014, could be used for buying Northland's Trumbull Street property.
Freimuth said that section of the building is crucial to the short-term operations and long-term redevelopment of the arena. The retail space, for example, includes a three-story, 192,000-square-foot parcel that would be needed to expand XL Center's current footprint. A 2015 study conducted by SCI Architects concluded that at least 100,000 square feet of additional space, including room for a second concourse, would be necessary to bring the XL Center up to modern-venue standards.
Freimuth said CRDA's board gave him the authority in February to negotiate purchase of the property. Meantime, CRDA is also seeking bidders to potentially buy the XL Center. An RFP was issued last month and bids are due by late June.
Northland's lawyer received word last week that CRDA may be pursuing eminent domain.
Gottesdiener said the agency is taking an unnecessary step and will simply waste XL Center renovation money on a prolonged legal battle. He said CRDA should treat Northland as a partner and work on future redevelopment plans together.
He called CRDA's attempt at eminent domain an "irrational business decision."

First ‘cohousing’ project in Connecticut comes to Bethany

BETHANY — Ground was broken Tuesday on the state’s first “cohousing” community, an environmentally friendly development of 30 small homes, a large common house and an organic farm on 33 acres where a former dairy farm sat on Meyers Road, off Old Amity Road.
“Rocky Corner,” as the development will be called, has been going through the approval process for years, with some town residents objecting because 13 of the homes will be set aside for those who meet the standard for “affordable housing” under state guidelines — which is much different than low-income housing, officials have had to explain.
The nonprofit developer, made up of future residents rather than a corporation, is Green Haven Inc. — and its President Dick Margulis describes the complex as “a neighborhood built on purpose.” Margulis stressed the only reason he has the title is because he works from home and is available to sign paperwork.
Margulis said there are already 148 cohousing communities built in the United States, 17 under construction, and another 140 in various stages of formation. There are 15 in nearby Massachusetts, but this is the first in Connecticut, he said.
While it may have been a rocky road getting to Tuesday’s ground-breaking — both literally and figuratively — there were no complaints, only kudos, from the engineers, planners and loan providers who were there and from First Selectwoman Derrylyn Gorski and even Connecticut’s commissioner of housing, Evonne Klein.
Klein praised the project, to which the state gave $2.6 million, especially the affordability component of some of the homes. Klein said her office is always looking for “different” housing concepts.
Gorski said this means the town has “official” affordable housing, although it already has housing that’s affordable. Gorski said she’s explained to many people that affordable does not mean low-income.“This allows us to continue our economic diversity,” she said.
Gorski said the project is a great example of “ how people can pull together and get something done.”
Conversation around the project began in 2006.
The years were filled with many meetings of stakeholders and hired experts, including David Berto, a creative housing expert of Housing Enterprises Inc. It was with Berto’s hiring that the project really started moving.
The small houses, beginning at 810 square feet, will have the basic rooms — living room, bedroom(s), kitchen and bathroom — but there will be a 4,500-square-foot common building for endeavors people don’t do all the time, such as throwing a big dinner. The building will have a commercial kitchen and there will be a few shared meals available every week.
He said the grounds will be kid and elderly friendly because parking is one spot, led to by a path.
He said there will be shared meals 2-3 times a week.
There will also be a shared organic farm on the compound, worked by residents, and plots available for residents who want a growing area for enterprise endeavors.
The homes are priced from below $200,000, depending on home size and income level.
A press release from Margulis, a New Haven resident who looks forward to residing with his wife at Rocky Corner, describes it this way: “Cohousing promotes close relationships amongst neighbors with an emphasis on sustainable construction and land use.” CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE

CT Construction Digest Tuesday May 22, 2018

OSHA removes crane capacity restrictions from operator certifications; will require more rigorous employer evaluations

After hearing extensive feedback from the construction industry that rated operating capacity (ROC) is not a suitable indicator of a crane operator’s skill and experience, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration announced today in a proposed rule change that it intends to remove an existing provision from its standard for cranes and derricks in construction that required different levels of operator certification based on a crane’s ROC.
Crane operators will still have to be certified, but, according to the new rule, they won’t be limited to what cranes they can operate by what cranes they have been certified on. From now on, that will all be in the hands of their employers.
With the removal of ROC-based restrictions from its required operator certifications, OSHA says it will instead require employers to thoroughly and continuously ensure the competency of their crane operators through training and evaluation. To that end, the agency will clarify its expectations of employers in regard to these requirements and it will establish minimum requirements for determining operator competency.
Background
The proposed changes to OSHA’s crane operator qualification rules were published today in a 36-page portion of the Federal Register. Issued as a final standard on August 9, 2010, the rule required operators to be certified in one of four ways:

1. A state or local license to operate a crane within a state or local jurisdiction with acceptable requirements
2. A certification issued by an accredited, third-party testing organization.
3. A qualification issued under an audited employer program
4. A qualification issued by the U.S. Military

The issue with rated operating capacities comes with the second of these certification options. This qualification from a third-party allows operators to have a “portable” certification they can take with them between jobs and/or employers. However, as OSHA explains in its proposal, because the operator certification is earned outside the oversight of potential employers, OSHA felt that those employers would want to know exactly what kind of crane a particular operator has been given the OK to work on.
So, in its final rule, OSHA required that third-party certification indicate the equipment types and the rated operating capacities that an operator has been certified to operate. Employers were then only allowed to let an operator operate cranes with ROCs equal to or lower than the ROC of the crane in which they were tested. None of the other three certification options required certification by capacity.
Fallout
After the rule was issued in 2010, OSHA says two accredited testing organizations that did not offer certifications by capacity questioned the need for specifying ROCs in future certifications. In short, they told the agency that meeting this new ROC-based specification would be too costly for them to implement and, more importantly, it would provide no real safety benefit.
“They asserted that employers will still take steps to ensure that certified operators are capable of safely operating the cranes at their worksites, regardless of the rated lifting capacities of those
cranes,” according to OSHA’s proposed changes. “Thus, these testing organizations expressed the view that the certification by capacity requirement is unnecessary.”
What those testing organizations and others in the construction industry were not expecting however, was OSHA’s decision in 2014 to remove temporary requirements from the ruling that employers had a “duty” to ensure that operators are not only certified, but also competent by evaluating their performance.
The proposed changes in detail
In today’s proposed rule change, OSHA is throwing out the ROC-based certification restrictions and reversing its decision on an employer’s duty in ensuring competence. The two changes go hand in hand.
Based on its research and the feedback it has heard from the industry, OSHA has determined that “while certification by type of crane establishes that an operator has a basic level of skill and knowledge about the operation of that type of crane, it is the employer’s evaluation that best ensures the operator has the skill and knowledge necessary to operate a crane in a particular configuration.”
In other words, rather than relying on a machine’s rated operating capacity as a measure of skill delivered through standardized testing, OSHA is placing the onus of determining an operator’s competency squarely on his or her employer
To that end, in addition to hiring certified operators, OSHA’s proposed rule change will require employers to “continue to evaluate the operating competency of potential operators and provide training beyond that which is merely sufficient for those individuals to obtain certifications.”
In effect, the benefits of being an operator with a “portable” certification takes a major hit. While operators may obtain certification and training under different, prior employers, the proposed rule change “would require that every employer evaluate an employee first as an operator-in-training before permitting him or her to operate equipment without oversight.” Under this proposed rule, all operators, regardless of their experience and past certifications, will be handled as a trainee in their first days with a new employer.
In evaluating an operator for sufficient competency, OSHA says an employer would “assess different skills than the existing certification tests,” such as:

• Inspecting the equipment
• Assessing unstable loads
• Hoisting loads of irregular size
• Operation from a barge
• Personnel hoisting
• Rigging the load
• Leveling the crane
• Hoisting in tight spaces
• Making judgments about wind speed and other environmental factors
• Performing multiple crane lifts
• Traveling with or without a load
• Operating near power lines
• Hoisting light loads
• Hoisting blind picks where the operator cannot see the load

Based on what OSHA reports it heard from the majority of construction industry employers, this type of continuous evaluation is what many of them already do. In fact, many contractors told OSHA they look at crane operator certifications as a “learner’s permit” rather than a guarantee of competency. The agency says, “a number of employers…stated that they would not allow a certified operator to use their equipment without first also evaluating the operator to verify competence.”
One other training company took it even further, telling OSHA that “only a fool” would rely on certification alone as an accurate assessment of an operator’s ability.
“The proposed evaluation requirement is a mechanism to help ensure that operators possess the skill to account for the variations within even a single type of crane; without the evaluation requirement there would be no distinction between the competency required to operate the smallest, simplest mobile crane and the largest, most complex mobile crane,” the agency explains in its proposal. “It is our intent with this proposal to avoid a repeat of a tragedy like the Deep South collapse, in which an operator was assigned to a crane of a type for which he was certified, but the controls and operations were substantially different.”
The agency is hoping to gather further feedback from the construction industry on the proposed changes and has requested public comments. Specifically, the agency asks, “Are there more effective ways of ensuring that operators are fully qualified to use cranes for the specific activities that the operator will be required to complete, such as independent third-party evaluations?”
The proposed changes to the crane certification rule follow two delays in the agency’s deadline for compliance. Employers were initially given until November 10, 2014 to comply with the new certification rules.
However in 2013, the agency extended the compliance deadline to 2017. But in November of that year, the agency again pushed back the deadline, this time until November 10, 2018.

Torrington opens re-bidding process for sewer upgrades

TORRINGTON — The city has released documents for the re-bidding process of its $70 million sewer upgrade project.The new bids are due June 19.
The initial bid document was rejected by the state Department of Energy and Environment because the city missed the April 3 filing deadline. George Hicks, DEEP’s supervising sanitary engineer, said the wording of two addenda from the first bid have now been incorporated into the body of the re-bid document. Specifically, he said, the first document contained wording that required companies to bid on specified manufacturing equipment. Now, he said, bidders are allowed to price equipment from other manufacturers.
Hicks said he couldn’t predict whether the re-bid process would attract additional interest from contractors. Only one company, Nickerson Engineering of Torrington, submitted a bid for initial bid document. Hicks that since the amount for the first bid is now public, “some may look at it and know they can’t beat the numbers.”
Interested bidders are encouraged by city officials to attend a pre-bid conference at the plant site, 252 Lower Bogue Road, Harwinton, at 10 a.m. May 30.
Construction on the project is expected to begin in late August. “We have it at the top of our list” for authorization, Hicks said.

New Norwalk Visitor’s Docks reopen

NORWALK — The sun glared off the newly installed aluminum gangway platforms at the new Norwalk Visitor’s Docks on Monday afternoon. “They were installed late Wednesday, so we haven’t been officially opened during the week yet because we haven’t staffed the boating center,” said Ken Hughes, Norwalk’s acting director of recreation and parks. “We’re going to start staffing Thursday, so we’ll be open full time.”
The gangway installation marks one of the final phases of the $1.5 million dock replacement project at the David S. Dunavan Boating Center. While the center was reopened on a weekend basis in early May, full seven-day-week staffing will start Thursday.
From 11 a.m. to noon on Friday, the city of Norwalk and the Connecticut Port Authority will hold a ribbon-cutting ceremony at the new docks. The dock replacement project was paid partly with a $908,250 grant through the port authority’s Small Harbor Improvement Projects Program. The city hired Terry Marine as its general contractor for the project, which installed new pilings and floating docks at the boating center. The project is done save for electrical work and the marine pump-out station, according to Hughes. “The utilities won’t be done 100 percent,” Hughes said of the beginning of weekday staffing at the boating center on Thursday. “But we’re hoping to do a final walk-through June 2 or June 3. The dock replacement project began in January with officials hoping to reopen the boating center fully on May 1. Several late-season snowstorms, however, delayed the delivery of materials.
The new floating docks were built by subcontractor Bellingham Marine at its facilities in Castle Hayne, N.C., and York, Pa., and arrived by truck in sub-assembled sections. The gangways were made by Ravens Marine of Kissimmee, Fla.
The initial dock stretches, running off the new concrete boat-launch ramps, are constructed of treated timber, the offshore portions of concrete. The ramps comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act, according to officials.
Hughes described them as a vast improvement to previous docks, which took a beating from Hurricane Sandy in October 2012.
“The docks actually sit a little higher above the water and the pilings are encased in steel,” Hughes said. “We used all stainless steel fasteners and screws for the decking and dock bumpers. They’re brand-new docks, brand-new concrete, it will be brand-new utilities.”
Hughes said the new docks should last 50-plus years, based upon the manufacturer’s ratings.
The dock replacement marks the second phase and final phase of improvements to the boating center.
 During the winter of 2016-17, under a $2.1 million contract with city, Holzner Construction replaced the deteriorated underwater wooden launch ramps with massive full-width concrete ramps. The project also installed a retaining wall and raised the parking lot at the boating center.

Eversource asked to drop 16 percent gas rate hike

Bill Cummings
HARTFORD — Consumer advocates are demanding Eversource drop a requested 16 percent rate increase for natural gas, noting the electric company is already reaping profits from new federal tax breaks and doesn’t need a costly price hike.
“Eversource is on notice: if they persist in this unconscionable, massive rate increase I will help consumers in opposing it,” said U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn, referring to a rate case before the state Public Utilities Regulatory Authority “Consumers are watching and cannot afford this rate hike,” Blumenthal said. “Eversource has reaped millions in federal tax breaks and has no justifiable reason for yet another sweeping rate hike.”
Eversource is requesting a 15.9 percent hike in natural gas rates over the next three years that would cost consumers $49 million more in the first year.
“The public policy behind the rate request is wrong for ratepayers and wrong for the company over the longer term,” said Tom Swan, director of the Connecticut Citizen Action Group “We call on Eversource to rethink this strategy and do the right thing,” Swan said.
In a statement, Eversource said the overall $86 million rate increase has already been reduced because of the federal tax cuts.“Thanks to the changes in tax law, we’ve reduced our total request by more than $44 million,” said Mitch Gross, an Eversource spokesman. “It’s important to note our request is to further strengthen the natural gas distribution system and continue to provide our customers top-tier reliability.”
Gross said the extra money is earmarked for replacing existing cast iron and bare steel gas main lines with newer plastic pipe, which he said is safer, more durable and better able to handle fluctuations in underground temperatures “These investments minimize repairs and service interruptions so our customers have the energy they need for every moment of their lives,” Gross said.
Eversource’s gas customer base has increased over 9 percent since 2011.
Blumenthal said Connecticut consumers already pay the 10th highest natural gas rates in the nation and said recent rate increases approved by PURA for the Connecticut Natural Gas Co. and the Southern Connecticut Gas Co. were less than a third of Eversource’s request. He said the millions in annual tax breaks handed to Eversource from the massive tax cut recently approved by Congress more than offset the need for another rate increase to improve gas lines.
Chris Phelps, director of the Connecticut Public Interest Research Group, also said the rate hike is unnecessary. “This proposed rate increase is really unconscionable and outrageous,” Phelps said.
“We know as a state and a nation that we have to shift off fossil fuels toward zero carbon energy resources,” Phelps said. “When utilities are trying to invest in new infrastructure and stick consumers with the cost, that’s a burden that will become an albatross around ratepayers and our economy.”

Costs Rise For Final Phase Of Hartford's Front Street

Kenneth R. Gosselin
he final phase of Hartford’s Front Street is on track to be completed in a year, but the nearly $23 million apartment project will cost more than first expected.
The cost of environmental cleanup on the narrow strip of land sandwiched between Arch Street and the Whitehead Highway has risen from $1 million to about $1.5 million, according to the Capital Region Development Authority.

Under the agreement between the state and the Front Street developer, Greenwich-based HB Nitkin Group, the state agreed to pick up the costs of environmental cleanup for the development. The initial $1 million for the fourth phase of Front Street came from an Urban Act state grant.

The cost for the clean-up rose when the level of contamination in certain areas was worse than expected, leading to higher than expected disposal costs.

The higher costs sent CRDA scrambling to find funding. The authority had about $300,000 left from public funds earmarked for the larger Adriaen’s Landing that came under CRDA’s control after it took over responsibility for the project from its predecessor, the Capital City Economic Development Authority. Front Street is part of Adriaen’s Landing as well as the convention center and the Marriott hotel.

The remainder, Freimuth said, will have to be borne by the developer.
Nitkin did not return multiple calls and emails seeking comment.
The fourth phase includes 53 market-rate apartments and nearly 11,000 square feet of retail space. The apartments are a mix of studios, one- and two-bedroom rentals. CRDA also has approved a $5.6 million loan to help finance the construction.
Front Street has unfolded, slowly at first, beginning with the entertainment district in 2010, which sat empty for two years as the state struggled to emerge from a deep recession. Leasing picked up with the signing of a movie theater and Infinity Hall as the anchor tenant.
The leasing of the 121-unit Front Street Lofts, beginning in 2015, moved more quickly and is now nearly fully leased, latest figures from CRDA show. The third phase — the UConn’s new, $140 million downtown campus — opened last fall.

Eversource Under Fire For Gas Rate Hike Request

Stephen Singer
A requested three-year natural gas rate increase of more than 15 percent sought by Eversource drew its first fire Monday as U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal demanded it be scaled back.
The utility said it has already reduced its proposed increase, which will generate $86 million to replace cast iron and bare steel gas mains with newer plastic pipe that is safer, more durable and better able to handle fluctuations in underground temperatures. “These rate increases seem blatantly unjustified and unsupportable by the facts,” Blumenthal said at a news conference at the Capitol. “And they threaten damage not only to those consumers, but to our entire economy, to small businesses as well as individual homeowners.”
Southern Connecticut Gas and Connecticut Natural Gas did similar work while requesting smaller rate increases, he said.
Eversource has not formally submitted its request, but notifed the state Public Utilities Regulatory Authority earlier this month that it will file a rate increase request this summer. It’s seeking an increase of $49 million in the first year, $21 million in the second and $16 million in the third year.
Blumenthal said Eversource should use savings from federal tax reductions to reduce its request.
“We agree with Sen. Blumenthal that our customers should receive the benefits of the new tax law and our filing reflects that,” Eversource spokeswoman Tricia Taskey Modifica said. “In fact, thanks to the changes in tax law, we’ve reduced our total request by more than $44 million.”
In January, the state Office of Consumer Counsel and PURA reached a settlement with Eversource that more than halved an electricity rate increase. Part of the reduction was due to a cut in federal taxes, to 21 percent from 35 percent.

Blumenthal said that if approved, the higher natural gas rates jeopardize Gov. Dannel P. Malloy’s policy to spur lower energy costs for businesses and individuals by spurring construction of natural gas pipelines.

“These natural gas rate increases undercut the state’s energy policy,” he said.
Malloy kicked off his energy policy early in his administration, calling for more natural gas as an alternative to home heating oil, which has been costlier than natural gas. As of last fall, homeowners using natural gas were expected to spend 12 percent, or $69, more to heat their homes last winter than the prior year while home heating oil costs were expected to rise 17 percent or $215 year over year, according to the U.S. Department of Energy.
Chris Phelps of the Connecticut Public Interest Research Group said the rate increase would divert money to polluting fossil fuels at a time when money needs to be spent on clean energy such as solar and wind power.
“We know as a state and as a nation that we have to, over the course of really the next 20 to 25 years, increasingly shift off of dependence on fossil fuels and fossil fuel infrastructure toward zero carbon energy resources,” he said.
Eversource operates and maintains 3,370 miles of natural gas systems in 73 municipalities in Connecticut. Since 2011, the utility has replaced 145 miles of gas pipeline and plans to upgrade an additional 371 miles, it said.