Katrina Koerting
SHERMAN — The work to stabilize a steep bank near Quaker Brook along Route 37 is several weeks overdue and residents are getting frustrated waiting for the road to reopen.
“We have been cut in half,” said Terri Hahn, president of Timber Trails, a 1,000-acre community surrounding the project.
Hahn said three mufflers have been destroyed on the detour and some of her older residents have been unable to go to doctor appointments. She also said Sherman’s economy has suffered because the southern part of the community can’t get into town.
The section of Route 37 just north of Big Trail near the New Fairfield town line was closed Sept. 6 to repair the washed out road from all of the rain this summer. It was expected to reopen by the end of September, but delays have pushed it back to rush hour on Oct. 19.
One lane of traffic will be open on Oct. 22 and 23 so the crew can replace the guide rail.
“It turned out to be bigger than we anticipated,” said David Neelands, the project engineer with the state Department of Transportation.
The project was delayed because a utility pole had to be moved and the crew had to rent an extra long excavator to reach 40 feet down to the bottom of the slope. Rain also slowed work. The biggest challenge has been the slope itself, which has an incline of about 45 degrees, Neelands said.
“Getting anything to stay in a slope like that is very difficult,” he said.
But residents have concerns about how the project is being handled.
Tim Beatty, a Sherman contractor who has been building and paving roads for 34 years, said the amount of work completed could have been done in a week and in the rain. He contends the road didn’t have to be closed and the work could have been completed with one lane open.
He said he feels those overseeing the project don’t have a sense of urgency.
“When I see what happened there, it makes my blood boil,” Beatty said. “Someone should be held accountable.”
He said the state’s reimbursement practice is flawed and doesn’t encourage the work to end early or on time.
As an emergency project, the state selects a company equipped to handle the work rather than going out to bid. Waters Construction Company, which has offices in Bridgeport and New Milford, was selected because they have the expertise and equipment to handle this type of work, Neelands said.
Though the project isn’t bid, workers are reimbursed the same way with the crew paid for their work and equipment.
Neelands said the crews are following regulations. The project is still within the $245,000 budget.
Sherman First Selectman Don Lowe also questioned the delays.“I’ve been somewhat alarmed at the pace of the work,” he said. “This came to my office as an ‘emergency’ and I began to feel that the project wasn’t being treated with the proper emphasis.”He acknowledged the rain but hoped crews would work overtime. Neelands said the crew is working this Saturday to meet the new deadline.
“I had hoped, since Route 37 is a major artery for not only Sherman residents but for the entire region, that longer work days and weekends would have been put in place,” Lowe said.
About 3,000 cars travel that section of Route 37 daily, according to the DOT.
Many of those cars are still attempting to travel it, even with road closure signs posted and the closure marked in Google maps.
Residents have posted their own signs stating “no outlet” and even one that said “No b.s. the road is really closed.” The state signs, though marking decreasing mileage to the closure, don’t specify the direction, which has caused trucks and cars to get stuck on the dirt roads and dead ends in the area, Beatty and Hahn said.
As Hahn was observing the work Friday, two cars had to turn around and Hahn had to offer a New York driver directions on how to get around.
Neelands said the problems arise because drivers are ignoring the signs or don’t believe them. He said he followed a tractor trailer recently that stopped at the detour sign and still drove down Route 37 instead of Route 39 as directed.
“This happens all day long,” he said.He said the road is closed because it was unsafe to have one lane for the 400 to 500 foot stretch that’s closed. It also would have required installing a traffic signal, which would have increased the project’s cost, or people would have gotten stuck in the middle with lines of traffic backed up in both directions. Closing only one lane instead of the whole road could have also lengthened the project.“I’m sorry it works out this way,” Neelands said.
He added that state projects have more regulations than private ones and so a private contractor might not know the whole extent of the work and why a project is being done a certain way. An example is the approval they needed from the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection for adding stone to the water below the slope. “The emergency declaration gives us some leniency but it’s not a free ticket,” he said.
Southington officials aren’t sure if water projects will prompt rate increase
Jesse Buchanan
SOUTHINGTON — Water Department officials aren’t sure if the imminent start of two projects – totaling $6.4 million – will cause rates to rise.
A new water tank on Mill Street will cost $4.2 million, while drilling a new well on Meriden-Waterbury Turnpike will close $2.2 million.
Paying for those projects may not influence next year’s rates as much as the frequent rain over the past two months, which decreased water usage and hurt revenue.
Bill Casarella, water department superintendent, said it’s a good situation for conservation, but bad for finances.
“It’s been a wet month and a half, two months,” he said. “No one’s using water.”
The cost of the projects will be paid by the Water Department, with help from a state loan with a 2 percent interest rate.
“They’re very, very strict,” Casarella said. “It takes a long time but it’s well worth it with the percentage you get.”
Work on a replacement for well number two could begin in the next few weeks after the contract was recently awarded to D’Amato Construction of Bristol. The project has been planned for five years and should take about a year.
Thomas Murphy, president of the Board of Water Commissioners, said a new well will be dug and used as the primary well with the old one kept as a backup. Wells need to be redug to maintain their productivity.
The department has a schedule to maintain its wells. Well number 7 was redug last year.
“In order to be proactive, you have to plan to redevelop each of the resources in a given period of time,” Murphy said.
The department also plans to replace two aging metal tanks with a single concrete tank on Mill Street. Casarella said that’s a large project broken into three contracts that could go out to bid November. Construction of the new tank could begin in March and the work will take about a year and a half.
Important Steps Coming Up In Plans To Build New Middletown Middle School
Shawn R. Beals
Middletown officials hope to begin construction on the city’s new middle school as soon as the current academic year ends in June.
The planning process is accelerating, with a meeting scheduled for Oct. 25 where project’s architects will present detailed schematic proposals to the building committee.
Voters approved up to $87.35 million in last year’s election to build a new school to replace the obsolete Woodrow Wilson Middle School on Hunting Hill Avenue.
The new school will be built in the open space in front of the existing school, and will hold grades 6 through 8. Once it’s open, it also will replace Keigwin Middle School, which is now a 6th grade school.
The state gave final approval to a 56.43 percent reimbursement rate earlier this year.
“The day school ends, we plan to hit the auditorium with a wrecking ball,” said school board Chairman Christopher Drake. “This project is going to start to feel real very quickly.”Drake, the vice chairman of the building committee, said that, to many people, the planning process has seemed to be a period of inactivity. But soon, project designer TSKP Studio will unveiling its work so far on the school in what will be a major milestone as deadlines approach next year. The board of education got an early look at the design concept on Oct. 9. TSKP Partner Ryszard Szczypek said the plans will continue to be updated until June 2019 using input from residents and the building committee.
Feedback and new ideas will be incorporated until the state grants final approval of the plans, and then the building committee can seek construction bids, Szczypek said.
The new school will be designed to hold up to 919 students in 150,000 square feet. It will be three stories high, with clusters possible for different grade levels, or other configurations educators favor, he said.
A 2019 construction start would mean the school should open for the 2021-22 school year.
“I don’t want to sugar coat it. There are going to be some logistical difficulties involved with having middle school students going to school in a construction zone for two years,” Drake said. “We’re going to hear complaints.”
She said a subcommittee has been designated to focus on security measures, and the building committee also will meet with members of the Clean Energy Task Force as they seek LEED energy efficiency certification.
“To our residents, please come to the meetings, take in the information and if you have any questions and concerns let us know and we’ll address them,” Bartolotta said Friday. “This is just the beginning stage of the design for the project.”
She said TSKP’s presentation on Oct. 25 will be the first chance for people to explore the design. The firm will present proposed elevation views, floor plans and a physical model of the school.
Woodrow Wilson Middle School once was a high school, and its sprawling, disconnected campus is now inadequate for middle-school education as the building has undergone additions and renovations over the years.
The auditorium will be removed as the first step of construction in order to provide access for workers while school remains in session. The pool building connected to the school will remain as a free-standing facility after construction to be used for school or recreation programs.
Contractor Missed Completion Date On Manchester Landfill Work; Stench Persists
Jesse Leavenworth
The contractor installing a gas collection system at the landfill was supposed to finish the work seven weeks ago. Meanwhile, a powerful stench from the dump has continued to plague the western side of town.
Town officials met this week with the contractor, Botticello, Inc., to discuss the slow pace of the work and how to finally get it done, Public Works Director Tim Bockus said Friday.
The contracted completion date was Aug. 23.
“Obviously, it’s not a good situation that it’s taken this long to get the project completed,” Bockus said.
The installation of wells and collection pipes that feed methane and other gases to a burner is meant to quell the recurring stink that has been the subject of complaints and angry social media posts for several years.
Existing gas collection wells in the lower layers of refuse (most of which are to be abandoned when the new system is finished) feed a flare, where methane burns off at about 1,500 degrees. The burn-off neutralizes odors.Much waste has been added to the dump, however, since the old wells were installed in 2001. Instead of being burned off, built-up gas from decomposing material in those added layers has seeped out and spread, town officials have said. Although the dump has not accepted methane-rich residential garbage for many years, wood, drywall and other construction materials also produce gases, including methane and hydrogen sulfide.
To solve the odor problem and keep the dump operating until at least 2025, the board of directors late last year added about $777,000 in town funds to a $780,000 state grant to install the gas collection infrastructure. The system is designed to capture and burn off 90 to 95 percent of landfill gases, officials have said.
The town has a performance bond on the work, but officials would prefer to stick with Botticello rather than calling in another company, Bockus said. The quality of the local company’s work is good, he said — it’s just that the workforce does not appear adequate for the scope of the job. A company representative, who could not be reached for comment Friday, told town officials this week that he would try to get additional help, Bockus said.
“But at some point, if he’s not going to get there, we need to figure out how to get there,” Bockus said.Botticello was the low bidder on the original contract at $1,355,191.53. Through change work orders, that rose to $1,494,989.14, Bockus said. The increase was due mostly to unforeseen subsurface conditions that required redrilling, adjusting or relocating a new well, he said.
The stink has been a subject of complaints for more than three years. Aware of the effect on property values, town leaders had discussed closing the landfill if a remedy could not be found. But the facility also is a boon to residents. Commercial dumping fees fund curbside pickup of trash, recyclables, bulky waste and leaves and other yard waste — services that people in most other towns either pay for or don't receive.
‘Topping-off’ ceremony marks progress on $130 million West Haven High School project
Mark Zaretsky
WEST HAVEN — There were people who said the new West Haven High School building currently under construction would never get built.
But a “topping-off” ceremony this week to celebrate completion of the steel framework for the addition portion of the $130 million construction and renovation project goes a long way toward proving them wrong.
City and state legislative officials got together Thursday — joined by most of the high school senior class’ 364 students — to sign a white-painted I-beam before it was erected, according to a news release.
The installation of the I-beam marked the ceremonial “topping-off” of the project’s new addition.
On Friday, some of the key officials involved took a breath to celebrate the work that’s been done so far
“There’s progress — we’re not just talking about plans on a piece of paper,” Superintendent of Schools Neil Cavallaro said Friday. “There is really going to be a beautiful project for this city, that is happening. It is becoming a reality and I think it’s going to be a good thing for the entire city of West Haven.
Those attending included Board of Education Chairwoman Rosemary Russo, Vice Chairman Robert J. Guthrie, Secretary-Treasurer Susan Walker and members Patrick Leigh, Patricia Libero, Jim Morrissey, Karen Pacelli and Rosa Richardson; Mayor Nancy Rossi; Cavallaro; and City Clerk Deborah Collins
Also, City Council members Aaron Charney, D-3; Mitchell L. Gallignano, D-4; Majority Leader Robbin Watt Hamilton, D-5, and Peter V. Massaro, D-6, and Tracy A. Morrissey, D-8, attended.
Joining in the celebration were West Haven High School Building Committee Chairman Kenneth Carney; Building Committee Clerk Dwight Knowles; state Reps. Dorinda Borer, D-W. Haven, and Charles Ferraro, R-W. Haven; mayoral Executive Assistant Lou Esposito; and officials from the state Department of Administrative Services.
“It’s happening,” said Carney. “We can tell you that 15 percent of the project is now complete. ... I don’t blame people for saying, ‘This is never going to happen.’ It sat dormant for several years.”
But after the topping-off ceremony, Carney said, “My message is that all of these people share in the success of this project.“It took this community and those people to make this happen,” he said.
The rebuilt high school project, which involves both renovation of much of the existing space and new construction, was designed by Antinozzi Associates of Bridgeport to accommodate 1,598 students. The total finished project will total 265,959 square feet, officials have said.
The completed school will offer a cutting-edge media center, advanced STEM — science, technology, engineering and math — classrooms and laboratories, and upgraded public areas for the school and community. The building will be fully air-conditioned and will have lower maintenance and operating costs while also offering enhanced access and security, the release said.
Gilbane Building Co. of Glastonbury is the project’s construction manager, with Amar Shamas serving as the project executive. The Capitol Region Education Council of Hartford, or CREC, is overseeing the construction financing.
Officials said in the release that the construction phase, which began in April, is expected to take about three years to complete, with a projected occupancy of new spaces in fall 2019 through 2021. Site restoration work is expected to continue until spring 2022.
Officials said the project is on schedule and on budget.The project’s construction phase, also known as Phase III, is composed of three major “subphases” to allow the school to offer a full academic curriculum throughout the project, the release said.
The project’s first subphase includes constructing the food services, building services, tech-ed shops, media center, auditorium, music and arts classrooms, and administrative offices to permit the transferal of building uses. That opens other parts of the existing building for renovation or demolition.The second subphase involves renovating the existing eastern three-story building after demolishing the existing cafeteria and media center.The third subphase includes demolishing the existing auditorium and music spaces, renovating the northern wing of academic spaces, and demolishing the existing gym and southern academic building.In addition to Carney and Knowles, the West Haven High Building Committee includes Vice Chairman Jerry Calabritto, Principal Pamela B. Gardner, Gary Perdo, Kenneth DiStasio, Dan Haslegrave, former Board of Education member Mark P. Palmieri and Assistant Principal Dana Paredes.
Getting There: Gubernatorial candidates remain off track on transportation issues
Jim Cameron
Have you been following the race for governor? I have, and I’m deeply disappointed. Almost none of them is talking about transportation.
How can we create jobs, stop people from moving out of state, encourage entrepreneurs or do anything to save our economy when we are in a literal and political gridlock? How much time do you waste in bumper-to-bumper traffic getting to or from work? How many delays have you had on Metro-North, where on-time performance has reached a new low?
Why isn’t this an issue?
As for Bob Stefanowksi, he’s clearly in the “tolls-are-a-tax” camp. But it’s so much easier to know what he’s against than what he supports. He’s been eluding the media except for a couple of debates and has subjected himself to little campaign scrutiny, aside from fund-raising. Ask him about any topic and he’ll remind you that Dan Malloy is the cause of all our problems, and he has the solutions, though he never explains what they are. He pivots from question to sound-bite like a whirling top.
Just who are these guys?
Lamont served as a selectman in Greenwich, but Stefanowski has never held elected office. In fact, Stefanowski wasn’t even a full-time Connecticut resident until last year after splitting his time in London for much of the past decade. He also didn’t vote for 17 years. How can he say he cares about running Connecticut without participating in the process?
Lamont’s greatest political credential is running, over and over again, for everything from the U.S. Senate to governor. Hey, at least he tried.
What Lamont and Stefanowski have in common is that they are multimillionaire businessmen who have plowed much of their fortunes into funding their campaigns. They’re quick to remind you they are businessmen, not politicians.
And therein lies the problem.
Running a state government is not like running a business. You may be governor, but you’re not the CEO of a state. You have to work with a Legislature, not a Board of Directors (whose members you probably hand-picked). Haven’t we learned by the example of the Donald Trump administration’s chaos that it’s folly to assume a businessman can govern?
But there’s another serious candidate we must not forget, though he too is just another businessman with no political track record.
Oz Griebel is running as the no-party candidate and this guy does have transportation experience. He was the first chairman of the Transportation Strategy Board in 2001, and you’ve got him to thank for the new cars on Metro-North.
Sadly, many of the TSB’s ideas were never implemented before Malloy shut it down, but of the “three-businessmen-of-the-apocalypse” who want to be governor, Griebel is hands-down the best on transportation
Supporters Urge ‘Yes’ Vote On Transportation ‘Lockbox’
Christine Stuart
HARTFORD, CT — Leaders from labor, business, and the environment joined legislative leaders from both parties Friday to urge voters to support securing certain revenue for the Special Transportation Fund.
The so-called transportation lockbox, which requires certain revenue to be spent on transportation improvements, will be on the ballot Nov. 6, but supporters worry voters will forget to answer the question.
Connecticut doesn’t have voter referendum or initiative so constitutional ballot questions proposed by the General Assembly are not common. History has shown that there are a large number of voters who will stop voting before they get to the bottom of the ballot. Michael Cacace, who is heading up the Securing Connecticut’s Future initiative with former Lt. Gov. Michael Fedele, said when people vote in a midterm election they don’t often go down the ballot far enough to see the referendum items.
He said in 2014 when there was a referendum about early voting on the ballot there was a 15 percent fall off from those who voted for the top of the ticket and did not vote for the referendum item, which was defeated.
Cacace said they’ve already raised about $50,000 to do some polling and get the word out about the ballot question.
“Without this folks, we’ll keep struggling as the years keep going on and the state will not move forward,” Rep. Antonio Guerrera, D-Rocky Hill, said.The Special Transportation Fund was on the verge of insolvency earlier this year until the state dedicated the new car sales tax and a portion of the state sales tax to the fund, which is used to pay for improvements to roads, bridges, and other transportation infrastructure.
Senate Republican President Len Fasano, R-North Haven, said all these ballot question does is ask whether the money dedicated toward transportation should stay in the transportation fund.
“Now we have to make sure that money stays there,” Fasano said.
Are there ways around it? Sure, but that doesn’t mean the state shouldn’t seek a constitutional amendment to make it tougher for future legislatures to raid, Fasano said.
“Is this perfect? No, but you can’t let the perfect get in the way of the good,” Fasano said.
He said this is not about tolls. He said it’s about making sure money stays in the Special Transportation Fund and “there’s no downside” to that.
Guerrera said this is not a toll issue. Connecticut, which doesn’t have tolls at the moment, would need to pass legislation to allow tolls. But Guerrera said even if that happened the toll revenue would be regulated largely by the federal government, which doesn’t allow the money to be spent on anything other than improvements to the road that was tolled.
Nate Brown, president of the Waterbury Building Trades, said the state doesn’t need other revenue sources, it just needs to stop raiding the Special Transportation Fund every time there’s a budget crisis.
Hartford Mayor Luke Bronin said people may disagree about how money ought to be raised to fund transportation, but none of that is on the ballot.
“The only thing that matters is if you agree money raised to fund transportation should be used to fund transportation then vote yes,” Bronin said.
He said there’s nothing confusing about this issue or what’s at stake.
“It’s about jobs. It’s about transportation,” Bronin said.
But not everyone agrees.
While the legislature agreed to send the question about the lockbox to voters, a number of Republican lawmakers objected because they didn’t believe the language was strong enough.
Fasano said there’s always a way for future legislatures to get their hands on the money, but the constitution prohibits one legislature from binding a future legislature.
During the debate the second time the House had to approve sending the question to voters, House Minority Leader Themis Klarides, R-Derby, said the Democratic definition of a lockbox has a nice lock on the front, but big holes in the back.
“We appreciate the effort, it just doesn’t go far enough,” Klarides said.
She said “good enough isn’t good enough in this situation.”
Klarides had voted in favor of the measure in 2015 before voting against it in 2017.
The legislature had to pass the measure twice to get it on the ballot because it didn’t receive the support of a supermajority the first time.