Skyler Frazer
NEW BRITAIN - Soon-to-be New Britain residents could be moving into their new apartments at Columbus Commons in less than two years.
The city’s Columbus Commons Transit Oriented Development project has undergone a few changes since breaking ground last year, but according to Mayor Erin Stewart, one half of the two-phase project is expected to be completed by this time next year.
On Oct. 17, 2017, the city broke ground on the project at the site of the former police station, 125 Columbus Blvd. Led by New York-based Xenolith Partners and Massachusetts-based Dakota Partners, the $58 million mixed-use development will consist of two L-shaped six-story buildings containing 160 residential mixed-income units and ground-level retail space. Each building - Building A and Building B - will be constructed in separated phases.
While work originally began on the environmental remediation for Building A, after talking with brokers and city officials, developers decided this spring that it would be better to begin Building B first. Crystal Serret, director of marketing and communications at Dakota Partners, said that since Building B will directly face the street, developers want that building completed first.
“The key to this development is the retail space,” Serret said.
Because they shifted plans, the city needed to go back to the Connecticut Department of Economic and Community Development to ask for more Targeted Brownfield Remediation Funding money. The DECD had already awarded the city $2.7 million of such funds to assist with the demolition and environmental cleanup of the site in preparation for the project, but additional funding was needed for the other phase, which was now being done first.
According to Ken Malinowski, director of the New Britain Department of Municipal Development, DECD awarded the city $724,000 in Brownfield funding over the summer to remediate the rest of the site, and fences have recently gone up as the process begins. Environmental remediation and the foundation of the “new” first building is expected to be finished before winter.
“They’re in the ground doing the remediation while simultaneously putting the foundation in,” Malinowski said.
Further, Serret said, Dakota is also hoping to have the building’s frame up before the winter begins. Even with the changes to plans, Serret said, the developer is expecting Building B will be constructed by the end of fall 2019, at which point the building will start being leased out. Dakota expects the building to be fully occupied by summer 2020.
“It’s taken much longer than we would have hoped, but I guess you can expect a project of this magnitude would take some time,” Stewart said last week.
Looking further ahead, Dakota hopes to begin construction on Building A in the second half of 2020.
“Dakota Partners is very excited to be working on this project,” Serret said. “
Meriden City Council approves funding for new tracks, turf fields at Platt, Maloney
Matthew Zabierek
MERIDEN — The City Council voted 9-1 Monday night to approve funding for new tracks and synthetic turf fields at Platt and Maloney high schools, despite pushback from the public over the cost.
The city will need to bond an additional $2.2 million to pay for the work, projected to cost about $4 million in total, and will fund the remaining cost with money left over from the high school renovations projects and anticipated reimbursement from the state, according to finance director Michael Lupkas.
Several residents urged councilors to reject the plan during public comment prior to the vote.
“The city of Meriden is broke,” Tina Manley said. “It’s time to stop the spending until we get back on our feet. Focus on what we need...”
Several school officials and parents spoke in favor of the work, which includes new tracks and replacing the natural grass fields with synthetic turf.
Maloney Athletic Director Bob McKee, also a gym teacher at the school, said the fields pose safety issues for teams and gym students and added that “every school” that travels to Maloney for track meets complains about the conditions. Platt Athletic Director Richard Katz said a turf field will allow teams more time to practice than the grass fields, which cannot be used in wet conditions and are closed from the end of winter until August every year for grass restoration and repair.
The council voted to approve a recommendation by the Finance Committee to increase the bonding for the school renovation projects for the track and athletic field upgrades. With council approval, officials hope to put the project out to bid for construction around March and complete construction later next year.
The council just completed a budget revision process prompted by the city’s first budget referendum in over 20 years. The council cut about $1.5 million from the budget in August after 6,000 voters rejected the original budget.
“Back in July, we had the referendum and 6,000 people told you we didn’t have any money,” said resident Michael Carabetta, who collected signatures for referendum. “...You didn’t listen. You’re not paying attention to anything we’re saying and it’s starting to get frustrating...You continue to do things that are going to raise taxes next year.”
The $2.2 million cost to the city will be paid for through a 20-year bond with a interest rate between 3.5 and 4 percent, according to Lupkas
Councilor Sonya Jelks, who voted in favor of the spending, said she was initially opposed but later realized the city would eventually need to fund the renovations at some point. She prefers doing the work now with the money left over from the high school renovation projects.
We the People People Councilor Joseph Carabetta III also said the city would be “kicking the can down the road” by not completing the project now.
We the People Councilor Bob Williams, the only councilor who voted against the funding, said while he thought the track repairs were necessary, he had reservations about the field upgrades.
The cost to install a synthetic turf field at each school is projected at $360,000.
Finance Committee chairman Brian Daniels told residents the field costs will be largely offset by the money the city will save on maintenance each year. It currently costs $25,000 annually to maintain the grass fields, more than the $5,000 it will cost to maintain the turf fields annually.
New London looks to update water infrastructure
Greg Smith
New London — The city’s water department is investing $3.8 million into its ongoing effort to update its aging water infrastructure, parts of which date back to the 1800s.
The latest project is the rehabilitation of the nearly 100-year-old dam at the Bogue Brook Reservoir in Montville, one of five reservoirs owned by the city.
The City Council on Monday authorized the mayor to sign a contract with Wiese Construction Inc., the lowest of six bids, to complete what is expected to be a 2-year-project.
The 241-foot-long concrete dam is considered to be in “fair” condition with multiple deficiencies and is classified as a “significant hazard structure” by the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection’s Dam Safety Program.
“Rehabilitation of the existing Bogue Brook Reservoir Dam located off of Chesterfield Road in Montville, Connecticut is intended to address dam safety deficiencies, improve the stability of the dam, mitigate seepage/leakage beneath the dam, upgrade the low-level outlet, and to improve the overall dam safety,” bid documents show.
Director of Public Utilities Joe Lanzafame said there have been no issues with the dam to date and intermittent repair work through the years. The upcoming work will completely replace an Ambursen, otherwise known as a buttress-style dam, with an earthen gravity dam with better fail-safes in place.
“The dams are our assets, what captures our product that we can turn around and provide to our customers,” Lanzafame said. “They need attention.”
It is the third of five dams to be rehabilitated as part of the long-term strategy to shore up major assets of the city, Lanzafame said. The city’s five reservoirs provide water to nearly 60,000 people through a connected system stretching through New London, Waterford and East Lyme.
Work previously was performed at both Barnes Reservoir in Montville and the Beckwith Pond dams on the Montville and Salem border. Work is planned for dams at Fairy Lake in Montville and Lake Konomoc in Waterford, which is New London’s main water source.
In 2016, the city completed $5.9 million in upgrades at Lake Konomac that included a below-ground pump station that draws water from depths of 28 feet and increased the utility’s “safe yield,” the amount of water allowed by the state, from 6.65 million gallons daily to 7 million gallons daily.
The four other reservoirs supply Lake Konomoc with water.
A combination of city bond funds and state grants helped fund the Lake Konomoc project. The Bogue Brook Dam project is funded through the water department’s own enterprise fund, collected through the years from ratepayers to be applied to things like capital projects, Lanzafame said.
On Oct. 17, 2017, the city broke ground on the project at the site of the former police station, 125 Columbus Blvd. Led by New York-based Xenolith Partners and Massachusetts-based Dakota Partners, the $58 million mixed-use development will consist of two L-shaped six-story buildings containing 160 residential mixed-income units and ground-level retail space. Each building - Building A and Building B - will be constructed in separated phases.
While work originally began on the environmental remediation for Building A, after talking with brokers and city officials, developers decided this spring that it would be better to begin Building B first. Crystal Serret, director of marketing and communications at Dakota Partners, said that since Building B will directly face the street, developers want that building completed first.
“The key to this development is the retail space,” Serret said.
Because they shifted plans, the city needed to go back to the Connecticut Department of Economic and Community Development to ask for more Targeted Brownfield Remediation Funding money. The DECD had already awarded the city $2.7 million of such funds to assist with the demolition and environmental cleanup of the site in preparation for the project, but additional funding was needed for the other phase, which was now being done first.
According to Ken Malinowski, director of the New Britain Department of Municipal Development, DECD awarded the city $724,000 in Brownfield funding over the summer to remediate the rest of the site, and fences have recently gone up as the process begins. Environmental remediation and the foundation of the “new” first building is expected to be finished before winter.
“They’re in the ground doing the remediation while simultaneously putting the foundation in,” Malinowski said.
Further, Serret said, Dakota is also hoping to have the building’s frame up before the winter begins. Even with the changes to plans, Serret said, the developer is expecting Building B will be constructed by the end of fall 2019, at which point the building will start being leased out. Dakota expects the building to be fully occupied by summer 2020.
“It’s taken much longer than we would have hoped, but I guess you can expect a project of this magnitude would take some time,” Stewart said last week.
Looking further ahead, Dakota hopes to begin construction on Building A in the second half of 2020.
“Dakota Partners is very excited to be working on this project,” Serret said. “
Meriden City Council approves funding for new tracks, turf fields at Platt, Maloney
Matthew Zabierek
MERIDEN — The City Council voted 9-1 Monday night to approve funding for new tracks and synthetic turf fields at Platt and Maloney high schools, despite pushback from the public over the cost.
The city will need to bond an additional $2.2 million to pay for the work, projected to cost about $4 million in total, and will fund the remaining cost with money left over from the high school renovations projects and anticipated reimbursement from the state, according to finance director Michael Lupkas.
Several residents urged councilors to reject the plan during public comment prior to the vote.
“The city of Meriden is broke,” Tina Manley said. “It’s time to stop the spending until we get back on our feet. Focus on what we need...”
Several school officials and parents spoke in favor of the work, which includes new tracks and replacing the natural grass fields with synthetic turf.
Maloney Athletic Director Bob McKee, also a gym teacher at the school, said the fields pose safety issues for teams and gym students and added that “every school” that travels to Maloney for track meets complains about the conditions. Platt Athletic Director Richard Katz said a turf field will allow teams more time to practice than the grass fields, which cannot be used in wet conditions and are closed from the end of winter until August every year for grass restoration and repair.
The council voted to approve a recommendation by the Finance Committee to increase the bonding for the school renovation projects for the track and athletic field upgrades. With council approval, officials hope to put the project out to bid for construction around March and complete construction later next year.
The council just completed a budget revision process prompted by the city’s first budget referendum in over 20 years. The council cut about $1.5 million from the budget in August after 6,000 voters rejected the original budget.
“Back in July, we had the referendum and 6,000 people told you we didn’t have any money,” said resident Michael Carabetta, who collected signatures for referendum. “...You didn’t listen. You’re not paying attention to anything we’re saying and it’s starting to get frustrating...You continue to do things that are going to raise taxes next year.”
The $2.2 million cost to the city will be paid for through a 20-year bond with a interest rate between 3.5 and 4 percent, according to Lupkas
Councilor Sonya Jelks, who voted in favor of the spending, said she was initially opposed but later realized the city would eventually need to fund the renovations at some point. She prefers doing the work now with the money left over from the high school renovation projects.
We the People People Councilor Joseph Carabetta III also said the city would be “kicking the can down the road” by not completing the project now.
We the People Councilor Bob Williams, the only councilor who voted against the funding, said while he thought the track repairs were necessary, he had reservations about the field upgrades.
The cost to install a synthetic turf field at each school is projected at $360,000.
Finance Committee chairman Brian Daniels told residents the field costs will be largely offset by the money the city will save on maintenance each year. It currently costs $25,000 annually to maintain the grass fields, more than the $5,000 it will cost to maintain the turf fields annually.
New London looks to update water infrastructure
Greg Smith
New London — The city’s water department is investing $3.8 million into its ongoing effort to update its aging water infrastructure, parts of which date back to the 1800s.
The latest project is the rehabilitation of the nearly 100-year-old dam at the Bogue Brook Reservoir in Montville, one of five reservoirs owned by the city.
The City Council on Monday authorized the mayor to sign a contract with Wiese Construction Inc., the lowest of six bids, to complete what is expected to be a 2-year-project.
The 241-foot-long concrete dam is considered to be in “fair” condition with multiple deficiencies and is classified as a “significant hazard structure” by the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection’s Dam Safety Program.
“Rehabilitation of the existing Bogue Brook Reservoir Dam located off of Chesterfield Road in Montville, Connecticut is intended to address dam safety deficiencies, improve the stability of the dam, mitigate seepage/leakage beneath the dam, upgrade the low-level outlet, and to improve the overall dam safety,” bid documents show.
Director of Public Utilities Joe Lanzafame said there have been no issues with the dam to date and intermittent repair work through the years. The upcoming work will completely replace an Ambursen, otherwise known as a buttress-style dam, with an earthen gravity dam with better fail-safes in place.
“The dams are our assets, what captures our product that we can turn around and provide to our customers,” Lanzafame said. “They need attention.”
It is the third of five dams to be rehabilitated as part of the long-term strategy to shore up major assets of the city, Lanzafame said. The city’s five reservoirs provide water to nearly 60,000 people through a connected system stretching through New London, Waterford and East Lyme.
Work previously was performed at both Barnes Reservoir in Montville and the Beckwith Pond dams on the Montville and Salem border. Work is planned for dams at Fairy Lake in Montville and Lake Konomoc in Waterford, which is New London’s main water source.
In 2016, the city completed $5.9 million in upgrades at Lake Konomac that included a below-ground pump station that draws water from depths of 28 feet and increased the utility’s “safe yield,” the amount of water allowed by the state, from 6.65 million gallons daily to 7 million gallons daily.
The four other reservoirs supply Lake Konomoc with water.
A combination of city bond funds and state grants helped fund the Lake Konomoc project. The Bogue Brook Dam project is funded through the water department’s own enterprise fund, collected through the years from ratepayers to be applied to things like capital projects, Lanzafame said.