November 30, 2018

CT Construction Digest Friday December 30, 2018

Opponents of proposed Wallingford warehouse complex take their case to Town Council
Luther Turmelle
WALLINGFORD — Residents opposed to two giant warehouses being built on the former Bristol Myers Squibb complex on Research Parkway have upped the ante in their efforts to get development scuttled.
About 50 residents showed up at Tuesday’s Town Council meeting to urge councilors to oppose the project, which is currently before the Town’s Planning and Zoning Commission
The project needs a special permit from the PZC. And while the decision on whether to approve the project solely is the purview of the PZC, opponents urged council members to use what ever personal influence they might have with members of the zoning board.                                 
Many who live in the residential neighborhood east of the proposed warehouse complex say they are troubled that Massachusetts-based Calare Properties, which bought the 180-acre corporate campus in February from Bristol Myers Squibb, isn’t identifying who the tenants are for the two warehouses that are being proposed. Calare’s plan calls for tearing down the 915,000-square-foot pharmaceutical research and development center and replacing it with two warehouses with 1.1 million square feet between them.
“What I find most disturbing ... is that developers have provided no numbers, no specifics,” said Hillary Greene, who lives on Marie Lane.
Jack Arrigoni, who lives on Martin Trail, said he is skeptical of claims by Calare representatives that the company doesn’t know which businesses will occupy the two warehouses.
“For them to claim they don’t know who is going in there is nothing short of obfuscation,” Arrigoni said..
Dennis A. Ceneviva, a Meriden-based attorney representing Calare, told PZC members during a hearing earlier this month that the proposed warehouse complex “is not a tenant-driven project.”
“This is driven by e-commerce, and e-commerce is booming,” Ceneviva said.
James Heilman, who lives on High Hill Road, said the Muddy River flows through the former Bristol Myers Squibb property into Spring Lake and is ultimately part of the watershed of the town’s MacKenzie Reservior. Heilman said that when the company’s corporate complex was built more than three decades ago, construction of the facility had an impact on the watershed.
“It wasn’t that long ago that the town spent a lot of money dredging its water resources,” he said. “The Bristol Myers complex hurt them terribly. Knowing that, you should be rattled by this
Scott Gray, who lives on Oxford Trail next to Spring Lake, said the body of water has never fully recovered from when Bristol Myers was built.
“The upper portion of the lake is only a few inches deep because of all the silt that came from the site,” Gray said. “That complex was built at a significant cost to the environment.”
Ed Bradley, who lives on Hampton Trail, said the proposed warehouse complex might increase runoff from rainwater in the area.“We have a lot of flooding in that area already,” Bradley said.

Newington town manager outlines vision for development around proposed Cedar Street train station

A brewery, a diverse range of restaurants, offices, boutiques, art galleries and even a makers space are just some of the things Newington Town Manager Tanya Lane envisions for the area around the proposed Cedar Street train station.
At Tuesday night’s town council meeting, Lane shared her vision for the proposed Hartford Line stop.
“The DOT has shown us in the most simplistic terms what they would like to see developed. However, I have a bigger vision, one that can be transformative — building a village transit district,” she said.
Lane said she’d like to see Newington develop an attractive area around the station with “a vibe that attracts people to eat, drink and linger.”
“And a brewery. I would love to see a brewery,” she added.
Lane said the area would include apartments, restaurants and shops that would attract residents and CTrail passengers.
“It has enormous potential for our grand list growth,” she said. “This would be a positive for Newington.”
The state Department of Transportation has proposed 565 Cedar St. in Newington as a potential location for a new Hartford Line stop. No formal timeline has been set for the project, but Lane said it would help if the town developed a village transit district zone to show interest in the project.
Lane asked the council on Tuesday to give her permission to draft regulations for the new zone so she could pass it on to the town plan and zoning commission. The council agreed to vote on the issue at its next meeting.
“I think the council needs a say in what is going to happen with the train station,” councilwoman Carol Anest said. “This is a great economic development opportunity to grow our grand list.”Anest said town needs to start planning for the development of the area around the proposed station.
“We do need to have a master plan. We can’t just put in a kiosk and see how it grows,” she said. “The problem going way back in this community is that we don’t have a master plan. … I think it is important to get ahead of this project and figure out a plan for the future.”
Councilwoman Gail Budjreko said she wasn’t sure that planning the development is the best idea.
“I’m not a dreamer, I’m more of a realist,” she said. “We could just see what developed naturally with some direction around it. I’m just not comfortable tonight to say yes this is what we should push for.”Councilman Jim Marocchini said he thought that development was a “fantastic idea.”
“This is the way I see Newington going,” he said.

New Haven planners approve Pirelli hotel conversion amid ‘turf war’
Mary E. O’Leary
NEW HAVEN — Visitors looking to stay in New Haven in the near future could have the choice of bedding down in the famous Marcel Breurer Modernist building on Sargent Drive, but it took a heated discussion Wednesday before a vote was taken to allow conversion to a hotel.
The debate was over jurisdiction and why an assertion from aldermanic leadership that it needed to first deal with the reuse of the building — something that for two months failed to generate a legal review — the City Plan Commission ultimately voted 3 in favor of the new use, one against and one abstaining.Attorney James Segaloff represented the owner of the property, Ikea , the Swedish furniture store, which sought to get all the necessary site plan approvals for the conversion in place so it would be an attractive investment for an interested hotel operator.
Segaloff said they had a high-end hoteliere who wants to run a 165-room hotel in the building, but he could not talk about that at this time. The potential delay in the approval Wednesday had all the hallmarks of the last fight involving a hotel plan before the commission, when an upgrade of the Duncan Hotel stalled over pressure to unionize the staff there that came from persons affiliated with UniteHERE. It eventually was approved.
The application for the reuse of the striking architectural structure, known locally as the Pirelli building, was signed off by the commission staff as having met all the necessary criteria.
The Ikea property was developed as a Planned Development District in 2002 and it has always been assumed that the Pirelli building would be put to a new use. A hotel reuse was among the potential conversions contained in the PDD.
The concrete Breurer tower originally was built as the headquarters for the Pirelli Tire Co., before the site was sold to Ikea.The proposal first was submitted to City Plan in early September, but approval was put off over extensive discussions about storm drainage and parking.
By this point, a vote had to be taken on the plan within about a week, according to zoning law, unless the developer requested a time extension. It would be approved automatically without an extension, if there was no voteAn angry Segaloff told the commission repeatedly over the hour that it should not abdicate its jurisdiction over this detailed site plan approval to alders, but there was concern from some members that it not generate a legal battle.
“The approval of the PDD in 2002 specifically allows for a hotel. .... I don’t get this. It is all very clear. We have been here for two or three months; we have had four or five meetings with site plan review. We have three of our people here — one came in from New York. We are ready to go and it is a clear black-and-white item,” the frustrated attorney said.
Seven leaders of the aldermanic board wrote to Economic Development Administrator Matthew Nemerson Sept. 17 asking that the use change for the Pirelli building be sent to that body.
“As you know the practice is for changes to current uses in a PDD to be communicated to the Board of Alders so that it many get proper consideration,” they wrote. The letter says it was copied to commission Chairman Edward Mattison, but he said he never got it.Segaloff said this turn of events was a complete surprise.Acting City Plan Executive Director Michael Piscitelli, after the meeting, said the letter did go to the corporation counsel’s office, but there was no ruling. “I think there was a lot of anticipation that if we could just get it resolved ... it was sort of a timing thing.” Piscitelli, when asked by Mattison earlier in the meeting, if they could discuss the plan, even if they never took a vote, said they could as a lot of people had come to the meeting.“But it is not something the city is prepared to recommend that you vote on tonight,” Piscitelli said. He said the technical review was done, but “in terms of where the city is as a corporate body, it is going to take a little bit more time to sort that out.”He offered that he did not think it was as big a dispute as “it is being played tonight.”
“I don’t mean to be obtuse here, but the idea that you can’t vote on it. What is the issue that the board is grappling with? Some internal amorphous issue? There is no issue,” Segaloff said. “What is behind this? What is this all about?”
“What is it really about?” another attorney asked from the audience.
Mattison said in other instances, if there was an internal city disagreement, “we want it resolved before we vote on it. We are not going to do it,” he pledged at that point, but admitted he was not sure what the issue was.
Anne Hartjen, senior project manager on the City Plan staff, commented: “I will say, and I will get in trouble for saying this, we would not have brought in a report if we did not feel it had met” the applicable requirements.
“I have heard absolutely no rebuttal” to the principle that the hotel is an acceptable use under the zoning laws, Segaloff’s partner advised the commission. “Your obligations are clearly set forth,” Segaloff said. He added that detailed plans do not go to the alders.
“If you walk away from this on some theory that it has got to go back to the alders to review it, then I think you have really abrogated your rights as a City Plan Commission,” Segaloff said.
Commission member Leslie Radcliff led the commission out of its dilemma by making a motion to approve the plan based on the expertise of the staff versus the unsubstantiated assertion by aldermanic leaders as to their purview over the matter.
Commission members Jonathan Wharton and Mattison, in the end, also voted to approve the plan; Elias Estabrook voted against it and Alder Adam Marchand, D-25, abstained.
Marchand and Estabrook both have connections to UniteHERE. Marchand at the beginning of the discussion said there was no determination whether the application required a major amendment to the PDD and it was “most prudent to keep it tabled.”
Earlier in the evening, Mattison, Radcliff and Wharton voted to allow the discussion on the site plan to occur by voting to take the hotel plan off the table.

OSHA to Increase Awareness of Trenching, Excavation Hazards, Solutions

Working in trenches and excavations can be hazardous, and trench collapses pose great risk to workers. To raise awareness of preventable incidents, compliance assistance specialists with OSHA in the Southeast are conducting outreach to educate employers and employees on the hazards associated with trenching and excavation work.
OSHA area offices in Alabama, Florida, Georgia and Mississippi are reaching out to excavation employers, industry associations, equipment rental organizations, water utility suppliers and national and local plumbing companies to educate them to identify trenching hazards. Compliance assistance specialists will also remind employers of the requirements to implement methods to prevent collapses, such as sloping trench walls, shoring the walls with supports or shielding walls with trench boxes.
"Employees can be seriously or fatally injured in a matter of seconds when a trench collapses," said OSHA Regional Administrator Kurt A. Petermeyer, in Atlanta. "Trench-related injuries are preventable when employees are trained properly and the required protections are in place."
In October 2018, OSHA updated its National Emphasis Program (NEP) on Trenching and Excavation to continue support for compliance assistance and inspection programs that address trenching and excavation operations. The Agency provides a series of compliance assistance resources to help keep workers safe from trenching and excavation hazards, including a "Protect Workers in Trenches" poster, hard hat stickers in English and Spanish, trenching operations QuickCard and updated Trenching and Excavation webpage.
Under the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, employers are responsible for providing safe and healthful workplaces for their employees. OSHA's role is to help ensure these conditions for America's working men and women by setting and enforcing standards, and providing training, education, and assistance.
For more information, visit https://www.osha.gov.

Whittemore Memorial in Naugatuck has bricks issues

NAUGATUCK – The bricks lining the newly-reconstructed Whittemore Memorial Bridge will remain intact through the winter, but likely not much longer than that.
The borough recently completed a $6 million reconstruction of the bridge that spans the Naugatuck River along Maple Street. The project was designed to restore the bridge to how it looked before the Flood of 1955, including laying bricks along the bridge rather than paving the road.
The bridge reopened to two-way traffic again this spring after most of the work was completed. But shortly after both lanes reopened, the bricks along the bridge shifted, creating bumps and depressions along the road.
The issue stems from a drainage problem that officials initially thought was caused by the way the bridge was constructed. However, Mayor N. Warren “Pete” Hess told the Board of Mayor and Burgesses during a recent special meeting that officials now believe the issue stems from the design of the bridge.
Mohawk Northeast, the Plantsville-based construction company that did the work on the bridge, redid the northeast corner of the bridge at no cost to the borough in October
Siefert Associates, LLC, an engineering firm with an office in Naugatuck, inspected the bridge when the project was completed.

“While it was improved we still see some movement in the bricks. Unless there is a whole lot of maintenance committed to the bridge, you are going to keep getting movement in the bricks,” Siefert President Vincent Siefert told the board.
The bridge had gravel and stone under the bricks when it was originally built, which allowed for proper draining. After the Flood of 1955, the bridge was paved.
During the reconstruction project, the bridge was filled with concrete under the bricks to ensure it lasts 100 years, Siefert said.
Doing so made the bridge significantly sturdier, Siefert said, but it also changed the bridge’s permeability.
CHA Consulting, Inc., an engineering consulting firm, designed the bridge. Since concrete was used under the bricks, Siefert said, CHA had to design an innovative drainage system for the bridge.
The consensus of the board was to remove the bricks and pave the bridge.
Public Works Director James Stewart presented the board with four options on how to proceed: putting down typical black asphalt, putting down colored asphalt, stamping the asphalt to look like bricks, or putting a product known as thermoplastic over the asphalt to protect it.
The cost estimates to remove the bricks and pave the bridge range from about $35,000 to approximately $181,000, depending on the option, according to Stewart.
Since the original design did not work as planned, Seifert said CHA Consulting representatives have told him the company is willing to work with the borough on fixing the problem.
Burgess Robert A. Neth felt Naugatuck shouldn’t be saddled with the cost since the design didn’t work.
“As far as I’m concerned, I don’t expect the borough to pay a dime on what we have to do to fix that bridge,” Neth said. “It is a design flaw. Why should we pay for a flaw?”
Hess said that’s the borough’s position and officials are in talks with the company.
A message left with CHA Consulting wasn’t returned.
The board took no action on the options Stewart presented and is expected to make a decision at a later date_
Regardless of what the board chooses to do, the bridge will have bricks through the winter because it’s too cold to lay asphalt this year, Stewart said..

November 29, 2018

CT Construction Digest Thursday November 29, 2018

Two big South End plans go before Stamford Planning Board
Barry Lytton
STAMFORD — Two large-scale South End developments that could further reshape the neighborhood will go before the Planning Board on Tuesday.
The neighborhood’s largest landowner, Building and Land Technology, seeks to change the city’s Master Plan map to allow a more than 20-story tower and neighboring housing block at the site of an old garbage facility, B&S Carting, on Woodland Avenue

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The other development is an omnibus proposal for several special exceptions and approvals needed to change a swath of waterfront properties, some vacant, into a “media village” office campus with a parking garage.
Although separated by several blocks and proposed by different builders, the two proposals mean that some dozen acres of the small neighborhood will be up for discussion as the South End continues a decade-long transformation from abandoned industrial land to offices and housing.
The office campus proposal, 860 Canal St., comes from two development groups who together own three large properties along Stamford Harbor’s east side. It calls for 10 special exceptions to the city’s zoning code that would permit taller buildings and exempt the building from some parking requirements, among other requests.
“The objective of this project is to restore a blighted, vacant waterfront property and enhance it with incredible waterfront access and amenities and superior architectural design,” developer Stamford Media Village wrote in its application.
If approved, the new campus will create more than 450 jobs, some from Wheelhouse Entertainment, the application said. The plan calls for an additional 48,030 square feet of floor space and 249 new parking spaces.
Economic Development Director Thomas Madden lauded the two projects as proof of “the expansion of digital media in Stamford” and the housing needed to support the growing sector.
Last year, when the $7.6 million sale of 860 Canal was reported, the developer said the plans were to renovate the building for multiple tenants and build a production hub.
The plan also calls for some public access to amenities such as a first-floor food hall and landscaped rooftop replete with a pergola — a shaded walkway — and bar.
The old B&S Carting site proposal could prove contentious with some longtime residents denouncing BLT’s slow march from its Harbor Point development into their historic neighborhood.
If the re-mappings are approved, which would change portions of the block between Walter Wheeler Drive and Woodland Avenue into higher-density housing categories, it sets the stages for more BLT applications that are needed to see the large-scale development built.
The plan replaces a “noxious use,” Madden said, and “having the young talent and housing nearby is huge ... you have an ecosystem that allows companies to essentially take their pick.”
The builder, in separate project proposals approved earlier this year, pledged to maintain the Zoning Board’s requirement that 10 percent of all units built on the site be set aside for those making half the area’s median income, but has otherwise not discussed the final plans.
The hearing on Tuesday will be the first time the project comes before city panels, and although the application is rather sparse on information, included renderings portend what could become a lively back-and-forth between the developer and the Zoning Board in the near future.
The renderings call for the facade to be predominantly plastic-foam-like EIFS, which stands for exterior insulation and finish system. Zoning Board members earlier this month bemoaned the perceived overuse of the material in the South End and around downtown.
The height of the tower and size of the development could also rile some residents, who this fall circulated a petition to prohibit the builder from constructing more high rises.
The Planning Board meeting and hearings are slated for 6:30 p.m. in City Hall’s fourth-floor cafeteria.
Correction: An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated the Building and Land Technology development is planned for Woodlawn Avenue.

Brookfield finance board approves Huckleberry Hill school project
Julia Perkins
BROOKFIELD — The finance board unanimously approved Wednesday night the $78.1 million proposal to build a new Huckleberry Hill Elementary School, sending the project to a special town meeting.
The vote brings the town another step closer to holding a referendum in March on the highly anticipated project. The special town meeting will be scheduled for January, but a public hearing will be held before that.
If the town receives the state grant it plans to apply for before the end of June, the new school would cost Brookfield $63.3 million. The school would serve students in pre-kindergarten through fifth grade.
Board members agreed the project is necessary because the existing school, which was built in 1960 and added on to in 1993, is in bad shape.But they debated the possibility of scaling back the price tag on the 138,000-square-foot school to be built on the existing Huckleberry Hill site.
Finance board member Dan Devorsetz said he was worried the town would be unable to manage the project’s additional debt and be forced to cut operating budgets to prevent tax increases.
“I simply fear for the financial flexibility, that this bond offering is going to hamstring us and not let us do literally anything else for a long time,” he said. “When we look at annual budgets and try to get annual budgets passed, they're not going to be cut from the debt service. They're going to be cut from other stuff. Every single other aspect of the town will be impacted.”
Town officials have presented the board with various models showing how the project may affect debt service and taxes.
First Selectman Steve Dunn said these models show the town can handle the extra debt, especially with a plan to pay for more capital items with cash, rather than borrowing.
“That doesn’t hamstring us,” he said.
 If the project is approved, pre-kindergarten through first grade students would move out of the 80-year-old Center Elementary School, saving the town an estimated $400,000 in energy and operations costs.
Fifth-graders would leave the middle school, allowing the district to demolish the old portable classrooms, which would cost $700,000 to replace.Dunn added he is not expecting any major budget increases next fiscal year on the town side.
It would be difficult for the town to reduce the cost of the project because everything in the plan is necessary, finance board member Eileen Koch said. The size of the school is based on state requirements. CLICK HERE TO CONTINUE

Monroe bridge construction to start early next month
Tara O'Neill
MONROE — The state Department of Transportation plans to start construction on the bridge on Route 34 on Dec. 3, weather permitting.The work is to rehabilitate the bridge over Boys Halfway Brook in Monroe.
During the bridge replacement, the contractor will maintain an alternating one-way traffic operation. There will be a traffic light temporarily installed allowing one lane traffic to pass through the construction zone near the Lake Zoar Drive-In.
The bridge was built in 1915 and reconstructed in 1930.The single-span bridge carries Route 34 over Boys Halfway Brook in Monroe. It is about a quarter of a mile west of the Oxford town line.

DOT walks Norwalk through Walk Bridge replacement
 Robert Koch
NORWALK — A Connecticut Department of Transportation engineer laid out to the public Wednesday night a year-by-year timetable for replacement of the Walk Bridge over the Norwalk River.
Despite a lawsuit, the DOT plans to begin replacing the 122-year-old railroad bridge in late 2019 and take four to five years to finish the project.“The first year, you’re really not going to see a lot as far as construction … because it’s mostly in-water work,” said Domenic A. LaRosa, district engineer for DOT Districts 3 and 3A. “You’ll see some of the trestles being built here. You’ll see the relocation of the IMAX (Theater) will be going on at the same time ... some of the staging yards will be built out, relocation of the vessels to the south.”                               
More than 50 people, including many DOT engineers and consultants, attended the public information meeting at the Walk Bridge Program Welcome Center at 20 Marshall St. on Wednesday. An identical afternoon session attracted about 35 people.
The public was invited to visit display stations set up on various aspects of the larger $1.2 billion program, and ask questions of the engineers and consultants. A presentation, including LaRosa’s year-by-year walkthrough, followed at each session.
In year two, construction activity will pick up with removal of the southern two railroad tracks from service. The reduction from four to two tracks along Metro-North Railroad’s New Haven Line will continue eastward to the Fort Point Street Bridge, which will be rebuilt to the west to align with South Smith Street, as well as at the Osborne Street Bridge, which will be rehabilitated, and the East Avenue Bridge, which will be rebuilt. In year three, the DOT will float in, install and open the new Walk Bridge span that will carry the two southern tracks, according to LaRosa.
“The majority of this project, we’ll be able to maintain two tracks at all time,” LaRosa said. But “this will be one of those extended weekend closures where all four tracks will be out of service.
In year four, the DOT will float in, install and complete the north span of the new 240-foot, vertical-lift Walk Bridge and open its two tracks. At the same time, the DOT will build the north halves of the Osborne and East Avenue bridges.
The public information meeting came as the Walk Bridge replacement is 60 percent designed but remains under the shadow of a lawsuit filed early this year by Norwalk Harbor Keeper, a local conservation group that maintains the DOT didn’t adequately consider a smaller, less-expensive fixed bridge.
DOT Commissioner James P. Redeker, who also attended the meeting, said he wouldn’t predict how the lawsuit might affect the project.
“We believe the right course of action is to proceed, as we are, to keep the schedule because schedule implies costs,” Redeker told Hearst Connecticut Media. “Any minute delay costs money, so we want to keep this project on schedule.”
During a question-and-answer period after the presentation, several people weighed in on DOT’s preference for a vertical-lift bridge.
Mark Wilson, who lives at Washington and North Water streets, rejected assertions made by Mayor Harry W. Rilling and the DOT that replacing the existing Walk Bridge with a fixed structure would limit future development north of the bridge. CLICK HERE TO CONTINUE

Garage demolition paves way for development on Middletown’s Connecticut River front

MIDDLETOWN — The demolishment of the downtown parking garage positions the city a step closer to securing interest in prime real estate that would best suit Middletown’s sweeping views of the Connecticut River.The city has replaced nearly three-quarters, or 171, of the 225 spaces lost when the Arcade lot on Court Street was knocked down in May. It was replaced by a temporary gravel surface lot with 90 spaces for permit-only use from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. weekdays on Dingwall Drive. Use is free from 8 p.m. to midnight and all weekend .
An additional 81 spaces with meters were created on Melilli Plaza Drive, Court Street, DeKoven Drive, William Street and Dingwall Drive, according to Middletown Parking Director Geen Thazhampallath.
The lower level of the arcade was closed in December 2013 due to crumbling concrete and other hazards. The entire structure was closed to traffic in early March. The 50-year-old garage had been experiencing damage from crumbling concrete for years and posed a significant safety risk.
That danger was realized once heavy equipment operators began knocking it down, prompting Mayor Dan Drew at the time to say “We were expecting major chunks to have to be ground down, but the structure is falling apart as it’s being demolished,” he said, comparing the concrete to “flaky plaster.”
“It’s a beautiful piece of property. It faces the water, it has tens of thousands of cars going by on Route 9, so I wouldn’t be surprised if you see something really positive happen in that location,” Thazhampallath said.
“It won’t have all the bells and whistles of a full-fledged parking lot, but it will be functional, and our goal is to get as many parking spaces back online as quickly as possible,” Thazhampallath said in April.
The well-lit space includes security cameras. “If you’re coming downtown, we encourage you to go ahead and use that parking lot. It’s free of charge, you don’t have to feed a meter, you don’t have to worry about the amount of time you’re there,” said Thazhampallath, who cautioned motorists about leaving their cars there overnight — which would risk a ticket or tow.
“We feel that we’ve alleviated some of the short-term stress that existed and created a viable way for people to enjoy the downtown and not worry about their parking after 4 p.m. and on the weekend. We did a nice job of squeezing out as many spaces as we could. It’s the perfect use,” Thazhampallath added.
Now, visitors can also take advantage of the private Middle Oak tower on Court Street, as well as other public city lots. “We believe we have effectively weathered this supply/demand issue for the time being,” the director said.
He often hears from those exasperated by Metro Square’s customer parking policy. The owner of that lot has aggressively towed vehicles after people leave their cars and don’t patronize a business in the plaza. However, Thazhampallath said, “It’s a private parking lot. [The owners are] not doing anything wrong.”
In early April, after hearing from many business owners, customers and others looking for a place to park, Larry McHugh, president of the Middlesex County Chamber of Commerce, wrote a column addressing what he termed a “serious” problem at the time. CLICK HERE TO CONTINUE

Middletown’s sewage pump station project 75 percent complete
Cassandra Day
MIDDLETOWN — Work on the East Main Street pump station, which by next summer will connect the city’s sewage to the Mattabassett District wastewater treatment plant in Cromwell, is about 75 percent complete.
The $55 million project, which broke ground in May 2014, is now in its second phase, and construction is estimated to wrap up by July 2019.
Phase 1 involved installing a force main, or pressure pipe, from the area of Connecticut Rental Center, reaching all the way to Cromwell. Phase 2 is building the plant under Route 9 at Hartford Avenue on city land. Sanitary sewage will eventually be pumped from the Patnaude plant to the Mattabassett District, according to Water & Sewer Department Director Joe Fazzino.
The treatment facility processes waste from Middletown, New Britain, Cromwell and Berlin. In early 2013, the city paid $13 million to join the district.
Voters first approved what would have been a $37 million project in 2012. In 2014, the common council approved an additional $3 million. In 2015, voters overwhelmingly passed a ballot question allocating an additional $15 million, bringing the total budget to $55 million.
The district recently spent close to $100 million on renovations. Updating the River Road facility would have been a lot more expensive than $55 million, Fazzino said.
Once work on Phase 2 — construction of the Francis T. Patnaude Inter-municipal Pumping Station — and decommissioning of the current River Road facility takes place, the city will finally be able to take advantage of its sweeping views of the Connecticut River and free up valuable real estate.
Mattabassett Regionalization Building Committee Chairman Phil Pessina is trying to contain his eagerness for what the project’s completion will mean for the riverfront.
He and Planning Conservation and Development Director Joseph Samolis went up on the roof of the River Road facility recently to survey the area from that vantage point.“It’s got a beautiful view of the riverbend and the riverfront. It is a key piece of where the mayor and council want to go with the harbor development. I’m getting really excited about it. I’m trying to hold my excitement down, because our ultimate goal is to get it within — and maybe under — budget,” Pessina said.
“Not only is this a unique and great project for both the Mattabassett District and our city, it opens up the gateway to our riverfront,” he said.
The decommissioning and demolition of the River Road facility will clear the way for Middletown to reclaim valuable riverfront property for leisure, recreation, entertainment and dining opportunities projected to boost local quality of life and even the city’s finances.
Joining the wastewater regionalization project is far less expensive than rehabilitating the city’s 40-year-old sewage treatment plant, Fazzino said. So far, project costs are at $33.73 million.
Presently, Phase 2 of the project is about two months behind schedule. That’s because the city had to go out to bid a second time after the first estimate came in over budget. The general contractor, Walsh Construction, based in Canton, Mass., is doing the work for $26.19 million.
“If the original bid was within budget, we would probably be finishing up right about now,” Fazzino said.
Dale Aldieri, chairman of Middletown’s Water Pollution Control Authority, also sits on the building committee. He is pleased costs are close to the original estimate.Another reason for the two-month delay, he said, was the builder laying the pipe had more difficulties than anticipated. “Underground piping of that sort is very technical, and we were dealing with, on a daily basis, guesstimates along the way. There’s really no exact science as to what’s underground and what you may encounter.”
The station is named for the late common councilman and deputy director of the water department who died in 2012. Patnaude, the city’s longest-serving councilman — took office in 1985 and sat on numerous commissions, including the Water Pollution Control Authority.
The architect’s plans include the installation of two relief panels on the front of the finished building — one for the city seal and the other, a bust of Patnaude that could be comprised of bronze or precast stone, Fazzino said.
What passersby see is only half of the facility’s operations. As is typical, a good portion of the equipment is set underground, including the pumps and pumping apparatus, Aldieri said.
Right now, crews, including electricians, plumbers, laborers and masons, are on site five or more days a week, excavating, installing the foundation and walls for the lower level, pouring concrete for the first-floor elevation slab (which is 30 feet above sea level), laying structural steel for the structures’s framing, and building the brick and concrete outer walls.
The new system will have the same capacity of 26 million gallons a day.
All sewage from downtown, South Farms and other areas presently travels to the River Road facility by a combination of pump stations and gravity sewers. In the Westfield portion of town, waste already flows to the Mattabassett District, Fazzino said.
Pessina hopes some portion of the decommissioning and machinery removal will happen simultaneously as the project approaches completion.For information, visit mattabassettdistrict.org.








                                    

November 28, 2018

CT Construction Digest Wednesday November 28, 2018

Winsted zoning board approves plan to build medical center
Leslie Hutchison
WINSTED — A special permit application for construction of a 28,000-square-foot medical center was unanimously approved Monday night by the Planning and Zoning Commission.
The commission also approved a text change to its zoning regulations to allow for “an emergency department and helipad for a large format medical office building.”The existing regulations didn’t contain wording to allow a “free standing emergency department,” said landscape architect Phil Doyle, of LADA P.C. of Simsbury.
The rest of the site plan application for the project by Winsted Medical Associates LLC was generally the same as approved in 2014.
The new application was submitted to the zoning board after Charlotte Hungerford Hospital and Hartford HealthCare sought to merge their services
The merger required approval by the Office of Health Care Access, which did so in November 2017.
“The affiliation wasn’t a difficult conversation to have,” said Brian Mattiello, regional vice president of strategy and communications for Hartford HealthCare, at the meeting. “We can combine plans.”“Winsted is targeted for growth. Northwest Connecticut is a very important area to co-locate our services,” Mattiello said.Called the Winsted Mediplex by the developers, the medical building will be privately owned by Winsted Medical Associates LLC, which is managed by the Casle Corp. of Avon. The company will lease the space to the medical partnership.
John Cappabianca, of Charlotte Hungerford Hospital, is the vice president of operations for the merged medical services. He said , based on the partnership, that the center will offer cardiac care and primary and specialty care.
“We’ve wanted those services for a number of years; they will interact (for patients’ needs),” Cappabianca said.
 A significant addition to the original medical center plans was a helipad for Lifestar emergency responses.
Commission alternate Peter Marchand, who was seated to make a quorum in the absence of member George Closson, noted that specific fire fighting equipment is required at helipads. Marchand is chief of the Winsted Volunteer Fire Department.
“Lifestar landing requires a fire engine on hand,” he told the applicants. Marchand also noted that a foam suppressant would be needed on site.
Doyle said a shed will be built near the helipad that could contain the required items.“The fire department has control over the whole situation,” Marchand said.
Doyle answered that plans for approved fire fighting equipment will be provided when construction begins.Commission member Barbara Wilkes asked that the requirement for that equipment, to be provided by the applicant, be listed as a condition of the site plan approval.
In a presentation by the medical group to the city’s Architecture Review Committee on Nov. 15, Doyle said the facility will be open 12 hours per day, according to the minutes.
The specific hours, 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., were announced to the zoning commission Monday night.
The commission’s agenda called for a public hearing on the application, but the only speaker was Economic Development Commission Chairman Philip Allen.“I feel this project has enormous potential. We greatly support it,” he said.The medical office building is expected to open in spring 2020.

Brookfield finance board could vote Wednesday on Huckleberry project
Julia Perkins
BROOKFIELD — The Board of Finance is expected to vote Wednesday night on the $78.1 million plan to build a new Huckleberry Hill Elementary School.
A special meeting will be held at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday at the Brookfield High School media center.
The project is expected to cost the town $63.3 million if the town receives the state grant it plans to apply for by the end of June.
Earlier this month, the selectmen approved the proposal for the three-level school to be built on the existing Huckleberry site. The school would serve about 1,130 students in pre-kindergarten through fifth grade.
Currently, pre-kindergarten through first grade goes to Center Elementary School, which would be vacated if the new school is built. Fifth-graders go to Whisconier Middle School, but would attend the new Huckleberry.
If the board approves the project, a special town meeting will be set. Officials hope to hold a referendum in March.
Construction would begin in the fall of 2020, with students moving into the new building in fall of 2022

Developer shares details of vision for 'gateway' project at corner of Hartford's Park and Main
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Two blighted lots at the prominent corner of Park and Main streets — where redevelopment has proven elusive for decades — could be transformed into more than 100 apartments, storefront shops, restaurants, a co-working space and a café.
The plans, which also feature buildings with rooftop decks, have been presented to Hartford’s city council by a partnership of Spinnaker Real Estate Partners and Freeman Cos., the project’s preferred developer.
The partners envision resident amenities that include a media center, game room, internet café with high-speed Wi-Fi, yoga and pilates studio and a pet grooming salon.
Matthew Edvardsen, director of acquisitions and asset management at Spinnaker, said the partnership’s $26 million proposal is still in the early stages, but he is encouraged by discussions with the council and the city’s economic development planners. Spinnaker is based in Norwalk and Freeman is a Hartford company. 
“We believe the project is well positioned to receive a favorable resolution from the city council as well as planning and zoning early next year and have set a goal to officially break ground around mid-2019,” Edvardsen said.
Edvardsen envisions an aggressive construction schedule with the first rentals available by late 2019 or early 2020. To do that, the developers would have sections of the buildings constructed off-site in “prefab” style, while foundations are prepared and other improvements are done at the intersection.
The redevelopment is meant to improve the southern gateway into downtown and create a crucial pedestrian link for a city that has pushed “walkability.” The project envisioned for the corner of Main and Park would, in theory, connect Bushnell Park and the development near it with Colt Park and the Coltsville National Historical Park.
Plans call for a building on each of the two, city-owned lots that straddle Park Street at its intersection with Main. The units — six studios, 72 one-bedrooms and 30 two-bedrooms would be a mix of market-rate and workforce or so-called “affordable” housing. According to the Capital Region Development Authority, the market-rate rents are now estimated to range from $1,200 to $1,700 a month.
One issue not addressed by the plans — at least so far — is how the development would work with the neighboring South Green park, the nearby South Park Inn shelter and the neighborhood’s homeless population.
“There are some concerns,” Edvardsen said. “But we envision working with them and the current environment.”
The renderings are early versions and are expected to morph with facades resembling the three- and four-story structures that now rise above Main Street in the surrounding area.
“This proposal includes a mix of residential and commercial, and that’s exactly what we are hoping for at Park and Main,” Hartford Mayor Luke Bronin said in a statement. “The exact details remain subject to the planning process and public engagement, but Spinnaker’s mix of residential and retail would activate this long-vacant parcel in the right way and benefit the entire community.”
Plans call for 108 rentals, with the majority — 81 — being built on the lot on the north side of the intersection. Both buildings would contain a mix of studio, one- and two-bedroom units.
State taxpayers are poised to have a stake in the project. The State Bond Commission approved an $8.6 million loan for the development. CRDA would administer the loan.
Spinnaker and Freeman Cos. took over the project in August after the city parted ways with the first developer it had chosen, Hartford-based CIL, the former Corporation for Independent Living. The two could not agree on a timetable.
Spinnaker is proposing a much quicker completion than CIL, a schedule favored by the city. CIL did not envision the first rentals being ready until 2022.
This latest redevelopment push comes after a string of failed attempts on the corner. The most notable was “Plaza Mayor” in the 2000s that sought redevelopment on a grand scale with high-rise buildings and a square in the spirit of the well-known Madrid landmark with the same name.

November 27, 2018

CT Construction Digest Tuesday November 27, 2018

Tolls Study Came with Hefty Price Tag

The newest tolling study released by the Connecticut Department of Transportation on November 15 came at a price -- and it wasn't just commuters’ anxiety over paying the state for every highway mile they drive.
According to an email from DOT Principal Attorney Alice Sexton, the tolling report produced by engineering consultant CDM Smith cost taxpayers $2,035,000, roughly equal to $23,391 per page.
That’s approximately half the state’s cost to repair Hartford’s I-84 viaduct located near the Capitol Building, according to the DOT.
Sexton’s email was in response to Sen. Len Suzio, R-Meriden, who had previously filed a Freedom of Information complaint against DOT for refusing to release the study, even after DOT Commissioner James Redeker cited the study’s results before the State Bond Commission in July.
It wasn’t until mid-November on the afternoon of a snowstorm that DOT quietly released the study, which calls for 82 tolling gantries on every Connecticut highway and toll rates ranging from 3.5 to 7.9 cents per mile for passenger cars.
CDM Smith estimates the toll revenue could top $1 billion per year, although construction would cost at least $372 million and the tolls would require $100 million per year in operating costs.
It also proposed tolls on non-interstate highways like Route 8 and Route 15, among others.
This was the second tolling study produced by CDM Smith since 2015. The previous iteration offered a variety of tolling scenarios and pricing, which ranged from 10 to 20 cents per mile with up to 121 tolling gantries.
However, during the 2018 legislative session, pro-toll lawmakers like House Speaker Joe Aresimowicz, D-Berlin, began to walk back those tolling rates, saying they would offer discounts for in-state drivers.
The newest tolling study was “designed to inform a dialogue among our elected leaders and the citizens of Connecticut about the potential for instituting tolls in the state,” Redeker said in a press release.
While DOT’s tolling study cost over $2 million, it is not the only tolling study in the works.
Gov. Dannel Malloy issued an executive order to borrow $10 million to do an environmental impact study on tolling Connecticut’s highways, which is necessary to obtain federal approval to toll interstates.
Governor-elect Ned Lamont reiterated his plan to toll only out-of-state trucks. A similar attempt by Rhode Island to toll only out-of-state trucks currently faces a lawsuit.

OUR VIEW: Truck tolls can't fix all of the state's money woes

Gov.-elect Ned Lamont is hoping to take a page from a neighboring state’s playbook by imposing tolls on trucks in Connecticut.
Rhode Island built toll gantries on Interstate 95 on its border with Connecticut and began charging truckers $3.50 per trip. The tolls went into effect in June.
According to the Providence Journal, “in the month beginning July 11, Rhode Island tolled more than 200,000 truck trips for a total revenue of more than $664,000, quite a haul and more than the state projection.
Rhode Island Gov. Gina Raimondo, a Democrat, launched the program during her first term in office with the intention of using the money for road and bridge improvements.
As expected, the American Trucking Association opposed the tolling of only big rigs and has filed a federal lawsuit. The lawsuit is pending.
Also as expected, Rhode Island residents worried that the state would break its promise to not toll cars.
So far, car tolls haven’t been imposed and numerous road and bridge construction projects are underway in the Ocean State.
No wonder Lamont wants to bring truck tolls to Connecticut. But will truck tolls here be successful?
Like any new government initiative to raise revenue, a truck toll proposal should be met with questions and skepticism Specifically, how much will tolls costs? Where will they be located? How will the state finance building the gantries? Who will oversee the tolls? How will the revenue be spent? And, the biggest question of all: will motorists be tolled too?
According to the Associated Press, Lamont said he would focus on tolling big rigs hoping to rake in $250 million annually. But a DOT study shows tolling all vehicles would net $950 million by 2023, the AP reported.
Whether Connecticut decides to just toll trucks or plans to move ahead to toll everyone, in the end, the result will be the same. The fees to truckers could be passed on to consumers. If drivers also get hit with tolls, the impact is doubled.
Connecticut must maintain its aging infrastructure, but tolls can’t fix all of the state’s financial problems. Only a fiscally responsible governor and General Assembly can guide the state out of its dire financial situation.

November 26, 2018

CT Construction Digest Monday November 26, 2018

Bristol will repave Laurel Street this week

The public works department plans to repave Laurel Street on Nov. 26 and 27.
Workers will take off the deteriorated top layer of pavement and then put down a new surface.
"There may be minor traffic delays during construction, however the road will remain open for mail delivery, emergency vehicles, and local traffic at all times," the public works department said in a statement. Parking may be restricted based on construction needs.
well-intentioned plan to open a grocery store between downtown Hartford and the city’s northern neighborhoods has ignited controversy at a nearby school that stands to lose a field it uses for recess and sports practices.Students and teachers at Capital Preparatory Magnet School on Main Street have lined up against building a full-service supermarket on the grassy field that runs behind the school, a move they say would compromise the safety of students.
“We understand there is a food desert, yes we do, but a supermarket in our backyard?” Reanna O’Bryan, 16, of East Hartford, a junior at the school, said. “What about the safety of our children, and the impact that it is going to have on the school and our kids?”
Read more about it: Hartford grocery store could be built near Keney Memorial Clock Tower
 Megan Butler, who teaches fifth- and sixth-grade math, said teachers are confounded by the plan that would take away outdoor recess options for younger grades and a practice field for high school football.
“To add a public space in our backyard, it terrifies me that anyone could walk in and out of space where children are, just knowing the world today,” Butler said. “Terrify is a strong word, but for me, it’s a scary thought.”
The dispute shows how a well-meaning plan to solve an arduous problem in Hartford — bringing fresh food to residents and encouraging a healthy lifestyle — can cause a rippling of unintended consequences.
The latest proposal for a grocery store in the area follows a string of unsuccessful attempts, and is still in the early stages. No detailed designs have been drawn up. But discussions are ongoing with potential operators and $8.5 million in state financing has been earmarked for the $23 million supermarket.
The city-owned site runs behind Capital Prep, which serves preschool through high school, and the park that surrounds the Keney Memorial Clock Tower. It is one of two locations in the neighborhood under consideration. The other is just south in the Downtown North development, across from Dunkin’ Donuts Park.
The school — and the community — were caught off guard when a rendering of a possible grocery store complex near Capital Prep surfaced in September. A task force of city residents had begun discussing the project, but no location was settled on.
The rendering — needed to secure bond funding in the waning days of Gov. Dannel P. Malloy’s administration — sparked a strong reaction at the school and among some city leaders.
rJo Winch, a city councilwoman, said she intends to introduce a measure that would eliminate the clock tower site as an option, after a flurry of calls from upset school officials and residents.

The city’s school district has not taken a position on the issue. But school officials are reviewing student concerns and analyzing how the project would affect Capital Prep.“I know that even the student voice has lifted the fact that, yes, we acknowledge the food desert,” Superintendent of Schools Leslie Torres-Rodriguez said. “But we also acknowledge that there could be a potential impact on the school — their experience, the operation, and so there is an opportunity for a collective to come to the table and try to understand what the impact is.”
It needs to be ruled out all together, because why would you put any establishment of any kind behind a school?
The Hartford Community Loan Fund, which is leading the push for the supermarket, is now hoping for a fresh start with Capital Prep. The private, not-for-profit organization that focuses on neighborhood revitalization apologized for not bringing the school into discussions earlier.The opposition now presents a thorny problem for the loan fund. The group envisions the supermarket anchoring what it calls the “Healthy Hartford Hub.”
“So, it would be kind of disingenuous of us to eliminate recreation space at the school with this project,” Rex Fowler, the loan fund’s chief executive, said. “That is something we are trying to figure out — how to make sure there would still be recreation space for the students.”
A supermarket of up to 45,000 square feet and structured parking would be the first phase of development. Additional construction could take place across nearby Ely Street if vacant land there is acquired. Those plans call for services that promote health: a clinic, a pharmacy, a wellness studio and a community kitchen. Housing could be included on a second floor.
All told, the project could cost $36 million.
The acre-and-a-half site is attractive because the services could be grouped close together. CLICK HERE TO CONTINUE

Work starts on $54.2 million sewer facility project in Torrington 

Workers from C H Nickerson Co. have begun to perform $54.2 million in upgrades to the Water Pollution Control Authority facility in Torrington. Jim Shannon Republican-American
Workers from C H Nickerson Co. have begun to perform $54.2 million in upgrades to the Water Pollution Control Authority facility in Torrington. Jim Shannon Republican-American
BRUNO MATARAZZO JR.
TORRINGTON – Preliminary work on the city’s wastewater treatment facility has begun.
Crews from C.H. Nickerson of Torrington have been working at the Bogue Road facility since Oct. 29, prepping areas for construction and starting some demolition work, according to Ray Drew, the Water Pollution Control Authority administrator.
The $54.2 million project is expected to take three years.
Parts of the sewer facility haven’t been upgraded since 1968, and don’t meet phosphorous and nitrogen limits set by the state and federal governments. The facility also must be floodproofed due to federal guidelines put in place after Hurricane Sandy in 2012.In total, $71.3 million was appropriated by the city following a 2014 referendum for $51.3 million and a City Council vote last September for an additional $20 million. Other costs for the project include design, legal, financing fees and contingency.
The city will take out a 20-year loan with a 2 percent interest rate for the upgrades. Though the total cost of the project is $71.3 million, not all of it will be bonded. A federal grant is paying for 22 percent, or $15.5 million, of the project.
In Torrington, payments will be split between the sewer users and the city’s general fund. Harwinton and Litchfield also will share in the cost of paying toward the project. The two towns have intermunicipal agreements, although both have expired, with Torrington because some homes in those communities are served by the Torrington sewer system.

November 21, 2018

CT Construction Digest Wednesday November 21, 2018

Larson Talks Tunnel Plans for Hartford


HARTFORD, CT — U.S. Rep. John B. Larson doesn’t have much time to convince Governor-elect Ned Lamont and his yet-to-be-named Transportation Commissioner that tunneling through Hartford is the best path forward.
With a divided Congress in Washington where Democrats control the House and Republicans control the Senate, infrastructure spending is one of the only areas where the two parties might be able to agree. And Larson is situated as a member of the Ways and Means Committee to make sure Connecticut gets the funding for his big idea.
It’s an idea that comes with a big price tag, but Larson believes it would be political malpractice not to ask for what the region needs when Connecticut gets back less money than it gives to the federal government.
Larson told about two dozen residents in the north end Tuesday that his proposal amounts to a sketch on the back of a napkin, but it’s “a concept worthy of pursuit because of the economic development it provides and the ease of transportation.”
“The question is are we going to make the same mistake we made 50 years ago?” Larson said. “Or are we going to focus on the kind of economic change and vitality that will save the levees, recapture the riverfront, and reunite north Hartford, and create economic development?”
He said tunneling through Hartford would allow traffic that doesn’t plan on stopping in Hartford to flow from Roberts Street in East Hartford to Flatbush Avenue in West Hartford on I-84 and from the North Meadows to the South Meadows on I-91.
One of the plans proposed by the Connecticut Department of Transportation under outgoing Gov. Dannel P. Malloy calls for rerouting I-84 through north Hartford and East Hartford. That new route is through a big portion of Hartford and East Hartford’s tax base. The route essentially cuts through the car dealerships in both cities.
State Rep. Joshua Hall, D-Hartford, said that’s concerning.
State Sen. Doug McCrory, D-Hartford, asked what Larson needs to do in order to secure the funding for the tunnel. First, Congress needs to pass an infrastructure bill and fund it.
McCrory said he’s concerned about Larson putting forward the tunnel proposal and the governor putting forward a different, competing proposal.
Larson said there’s nothing to squabble over until there’s an infrastructure bill.
However, Larson said he believes Lamont will be supportive of the tunnel idea. Lamont has not directly addressed the issue, but in accepting Larson’s endorsement during the Democratic primary in July, he agreed that pulling highways out of downtown and the Connecticut Riverfront is a good idea, saying it’s time to stop “bifurcating our cities.”
McCrory asked Larson what he can do to help move the tunnel idea forward.
Larson said he believes Lamont, and whoever he appoints as Transportation Commissioner, will support the tunnel concept.
The Connecticut Department of Transportation has been planning for the replacement of the elevated portion of I-84 for years, but Larson said they need to think bigger.
He said tunneling through Hartford would not disrupt as much of the flow of traffic through the city as shutting down I-84 for two to five years as they tear down the viaduct, which is the elevated portion of the highway near Aetna. Larson said people don’t think about that when they are considering the various proposals.
Larson said tunneling is a “turn-key operation,” which would allow business to continue as a tunnel boring machine cuts a path.
The Connecticut Department of Transportation is focused on the 2.5 miles of highway that needs to be rebuilt or torn down because it is beyond its 50-year lifespan. Transportation Department engineers believe it would be best to lower the interstate, but a final decision isn’t expected until 2020.
The cost of lowering I-84 has been estimated at about $2 billion.
But Larson said there’s other considerations, too.
He said focusing solely on the so-called Aetna viaduct doesn’t help find federal money to replace the levees and reconnect the city with the Connecticut River. Larson said Connecticut is too far down on a list for levee replacement, but including it as part of an infrastructure package makes sense.
“Governor-elect Lamont is grateful to Congressman Larson for his leadership, applauds his big thinking, and supports Larson’s efforts to bring federal infrastructure dollars back to Connecticut,” Lacey Rose, Lamont’s communications director, said. “While the Congressman works to secure federal funding, Lamont will be focused on making critical changes to alleviate traffic, improve our roads and rails, and attract new businesses throughout Connecticut.”
Lamont indicated in one of his last debates that he would replace Transportation Commissioner James Redeker.

New Haven planners approve conversion of office space to apartments

Mary E. O’Leary
NEW HAVEN — Yet more housing is coming downtown, whether it fills empty lots or is converted from office space.
Approvals for those projects took place this week at the same time the state came through with major housing loans for developments already in the pipeline. buildings on a vacant site for 45 residential units: 36 affordable and nine market-rate. Separately, the City Plan Commission this week approved conversion of three floors of office space to 29 apartments at 742-750 and 754 Chapel St. at the corner of State Street by East River Partners.
East River Partners is a New York real estate investor; Joseph Cohen, a New Haven native, is a co-founder.
The project includes a 24,137-square-foot, four-story building and a 5,633-square-foot, 31/2-story building.
The first floors of the buildings are occupied by commercial uses, while the second through fourth floors now have vacant office space. A total of 20,443 square feet of office space will be converted into the apartments.
East River Partners previously had received approval for a six-story, 60-unit apartment building at 294 State St., which for decades has been a parking lot. The new building is around the corner from the 742-750 and 754 Chapel St. buildings bought by the developer.
The new construction will consist of 15 studio apartments; 20 one-bedroom units; 15 two-bedroom; and 10 three-bedroom units.
The City Plan Commission also approved construction of 15 new apartments in a BD zone at 67 Whitney Ave. The proposal is to construct three additional stories to the one-story building currently housing Great Wall restaurant.
The new apartments will consist of efficiency and one-bedroom units.
The state loans are part of $22 million in awards announced Tuesday by the state Department of Housing for affordable housing in Hartford, New Haven and Waterbury. Those funds will create, rehab and preserve 702 units of housing.
In New Haven, this is the latest phase in the replacement of Farnam Courts public housing, where new units have already been constructed at the original site fronting on Grand Avenue, as well as in Fair Haven and Fair Haven Heights. These additional units will be located at the rear of the original site.
Glendower also got a loan of $3.7 million to help with the rehabilitation of three buildings with 201 affordable units for Ruoppolo Manor and Fairmont Heights. It is 100 percent affordable and will serve senior and disabled resident households.
The Hill-to-Downtown development, long planned by Serena Neal-Sanjurjo of the Liveable City Initiative and the Economic Development Administration, got $2.75 million for the development project at 49 Prince St. planned by RMS Downtown South-Hill North Development Co. LLC.
The long-shuttered former Welch Annex School will be converted into 30 affordable units that will serve households with incomes at 25 percent, 50 percent and 60 percent of the area-median income. They will include studio, one-bedroom and two-bedroom units.
Hill-to-Downtown includes other developments planned for the area around Union Station and the replacement of Church Street South.
Since 2011, the department and the Connecticut Housing Finance Authority have created, rehabilitated or committed funding for nearly 25,000 units of housing — approximately 22,000 of which are affordable to low- and moderate-income individuals and families.
It is part of a state investment of nearly $1.5 billion, which has been matched by $2.5 billion from other financial sources, including the private sector, the department said.

Contract for repairs to Kensington Dam is approved

Charles Paullin
BERLIN - The Town Council has approved the contract for repairs to the Kensington Dam.
The contract was awarded to the low bidder, D’Amato Construction Co. Inc., of Bristol, at last week’s meeting. D’Amato’s total cost is not to exceed $1.7 million, even if change orders are necessary.
The town is already approved for bonding for the project and the job is accounted for in the budget, Board of Finance Chairman Sam Lomaglio said.
State-mandated repairs were ordered after an inspection in 2017 found deficiencies. Estimates put the cost of repairs at no more than $1.3 million. Removal of the dam came in at about $100,000 less.
Because of the dam’s historical significance to the town, as well as the potential $10,000 decrease in values of homes near the dam, the council decided to make the repairs, Mayor Mark Kaczynski said before the meeting.
Residents living near the dam, as well as the Berlin Historical Society, also expressed interest in keeping the structure, Kaczynksi added. If the dam was removed, soil around it might need to be removed, too, according to previous council meeting minutes.
In March 2017, when the project was discussed, Town Manager Jack Healy said repairs would take about a year. The last repairs were made 35 years ago, he added. A fish ladder and eel passage will be added, at the urging of the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, Public Works Director Mike Ahern said. The repairs are expected to take about a year, Finance Director Kevin Delaney said.
Other contracts and purchases approved at the meeting were:
nA contract with Earth Contractors, of Kensington, at rates of $200 and $175 per hour, respectively, for a large plow struck and a spare vehicle, with Staxx Construction Services, of Berlin, at $145 per hour for one vehicle, and with Rogan Enterprises, of Berlin, at $160 per hour, for additional vehicles and a loader. The vehicles to be leased contracts help the town plow narrow streets and cul-de-sacs with smaller vehicles the town doesn’t have in its fleet. The operators of the vehicles will be provided by the contractors.
nThe purchase of two new police K-9 vehicles and equipment installation to replace the town’s current ones, for a price not to exceed $35,080.86. The vehicles are expected to be delivered in December, and will use as much equipment from the old ones as possible, Deputy Chief Chris Ciuci said. The town also is working to get a cruiser replaced through the insurance of a person who crashed into a lieutenant’s cruiser while the lieutenant was in it.
nA new fence at the community garden on Orchard Road with Ideal Fence Co., of New Britain, for an amount not to exceed $10,662. Funds will come from Berlin Land Trust grant money received from Eversource and PepsiCo, and the community garden and payment in lieu of open space accounts. Town Councilor Karen Pagliaro said the new chain-link fence has been needed with reports of crops being stolen from the garden and planters not feeling safe with the current, cut up fence. The cost went up about $1,000 from an original bid, Healy said, probably, because of tariffs.
nA contract for the town’s GIS system with New England Geo-System, of Middletown, for $30,000. The system provides efficient and detailed access to the towns GIS maps for town staff and the public, according to Public Works Director Mike Ahern, which saves the town time.

Hundreds help Manafort Brothers turn 100
Karla Santos
NEW BRITAIN - Manafort Brothers Inc. displayed several old and new trucks to kick off its 100th anniversary celebration, which attracted nearly 800 guests Friday at the Aqua Turf Club in Plantsville.
“It’s a very exciting day,” Jim Manafort Jr., president of the company, said. “One hundred years of our family business is a pretty great milestone. Four generations through the process, and another fifth generation is now working in the company also. Today is a day to celebrate a lot of good things that have happened over the past 100 years and we celebrate our employees, our different business relationships that have helped us through the years, our family and friends. We certainly didn’t achieve this milestone on our own. It has been a lot of help along the way, especially through our very dedicated employees.”
On display were some of the company’s original trucks and the modern equipment now used on job sites.
The trucks were there “to get the construction feel to the celebration,” Manafort said.
Among the vehicles on display were a Mack truck tractor from the 1960s, a 2018 Kenworth tractor a Kenworth dump truck, and a high-reach excavator.
Speakers included Gerry Giulietti, who has handled the insurance and bonding aspects of the company for the past 38 years; Lou Pepe, the company and family attorney who has been helping with legal challenges and business transactions; and Marty Tubb, a 41-year employee.
Giulietti praised the business, calling Manafort Brothers one of the best construction companies in America. He added that the management team has a great heart and a great culture, which contributes to the continuous success of the work performed by the team at the construction company.
Manafort said that, since 1919, the company has experienced constant growth through diversification, technology and specialty equipment.
However, the team has had to adapt to changes in the industry and the processes of completing projects throughout the years.
“The economy has a lot to do with how busy we are at times,” Manafort said. “When the economy is slow, there’s less building going on, less municipal work, and those are the things that we depend on. There’s booming times as redevelopment occurs. Over the years we’ve been part of the redevelopment of local towns.”
Manafort also mentioned his gratitude to the New Britain and Plainville communities.
“New Britain and Plainville have been our local backbone,” Manafort added.
Employees, retirees, clients, support groups, family and friends were on hand for Friday’s celebration.
The event included dinner, a band, dancing and a video to “show a path for the next 100 years,” Manafort said.
To learn more about Manafort Brothers, visit its website at www.manafort.com .

Orange wetlands commission approves application for Stew Leonard property

ORANGE — After a public hearing that spanned three meetings and included hours of talking by an attorney, engineers, a soil scientist and one resident in opposition, the Inland Wetlands and Water Courses Commission Tuesday night approved an application for the developer of a business-to-business distribution center to build on property owned by Stew Leonard.
The unanimous vote clears the way for the Town Plan and Zoning Commission to vote on an a temporary special use earth materials removal and filling application at the site by Stew Leonards Orange LLC, for the proposed construction of a 47,178-square-foot distribution facility and a 9,680-square-foot maintenance building.
They also submitted an application for sediment control measures.
The inland wetlands commission hearing was continued for a second time last month because of a bevy of questions raised by town engineer Robert H. Brinton Jr., who finally signed off on the project.

The 41-acre property at 161 Marsh Hill Road captivates residents because supermarket mogul Leonard tried to build a store there for years, stirring fierce debate, and since giving up has tried to sell the property for years to no avail.
The public hearing began Sept. 11.
Nearby Indian River Road resident George Finley, an engineer, has been the lone dissenter, claiming the many trucks at the center would put toxins into the environment.
 “Who and what are going to protect the wetlands and the watercourses?” Finley asked.
 In addition to the distribution center the proposed complex would include a fueling facility, maintenance shop and offices, for a total 63,000 square feet.
 Both Attorney John Knuff and his client, Scannell Properties LLC, have declined to comment on what company will settle there, but they said it’s a nationally known firm located in a nearby town.
The property contains five wetlands totaling 6,780 square feet, two of which are manmade and would be eliminated under the plan. Also living on the property are Eastern box turtles and smooth green snakes, both of which are listed as being of “special concern” in the state and “offered protection” by the Connecticut Endangered Species Act, according to a narrative of the plan filed at Town Hall. They are located in an isolated area of the property.

At the requirement of DEEP, the developers have a plan for those species — a species protection during construction, according to the plan’s narrative. That will include avoiding the area where they are located and educating contractors and subcontractors and monitoring of construction activity by an expert.
Experts representing the developer have said they have a “robust” stormwater treatment plan.
A soil scientist on the team told the commission the plan would not significantly affect the wetlands on the other end of the property.
The property is in a Light Industrial 2 zone. The property price is not listed for the public to see, but at one point Leonard was seeking $14.5 million. He paid $2.2 million for the land in 1996.