Jim Shay
BROOKFIELD — The state Department of Transportation wants to replace what it calls a “functionally obsolete” repair facility on Federal Road. DOT’s Office of Engineering is developing plans to build a new repair facility on the site of the existing repair facility at the intersection of routes 7 and 202.
The project involves building a 15,000-square-foot bay area and a 6,000-square-foot office area, and will include operational sections for vehicle repair, a materials storage stockroom, private office areas and supporting office spaces.The existing repair facility will be converted to cold storage, DOT said in a news release.Other improvements will include removal of a cold storage building, motor fuel island and underground tanks, installation of motor fuel above-ground storage tanks, motor fuel island, new pavement where necessary, site drainage system improvements and connection to utilities.The final design plans are expected to be finished in September.
“If there is adequate interest, an informational meeting will be conducted. At this time, it is not anticipated that a formal public hearing will be necessary,” DOT said in a release.
Anyone interested in receiving information on this project may do so by contacting Mr. Michael J. Strong, project manager at 860-594-3306 or by email at michael.strong@ct.gov. Please refer to the Brookfield repair facility.
Connecticut Water honored for community service, construction safety
CLINTON — The Connecticut Construction Industry Association has awarded its prestigious Community Service and Safety awards to Connecticut Water.
The award recognizes the company’s emergency potable water program for private well owners, according to a press release. Through the program, Connecticut Water and its employees make potable water available free of charge to private well owners when there are extended power outages in affected nearby communities. Most private well owners have no water when they have no power, the release said.We are proud to be recognized by CCIA for our emergency potable water program, but I am even more proud of our people who saw the need to create this program in the aftermath of Hurricane Irene in 2011. Since then, we have provided this service during extended power outages across the state, most recently this spring in the communities of Southbury and Oxford,” Craig Patla, Connecticut Water’s vice president of service delivery said in a prepared statement.
“Our program provides life-sustaining clean drinking water for private well owners, their families, pets and livestock, as well as for sanitation and hygiene needs,” he added.Connecticut Water’s critical facilities are all equipped with backup generators, and their customers have very rarely had their water service interrupted when the company experienced by power outages, Patla said.
“Getting a community service award takes an extra effort on behalf of a business to really get out there in their community and make a difference. We think the potable water system that Connecticut Water has set up is just a perfect example of what everybody should be doing to contribute to their communities and well-being of everyone around them,” said Donald Schubert, company president.The association also recognized Connecticut Water with its Safety Recognition Award for the 15th consecutive year, the release said. Companies recognized have demonstrated solid construction safety and health programs.
The organization evaluated Connecticut Water in 17 safety categories, including management involvement, employee training, safety hazard analysis, noncompliance and correction of violations.
Connecticut Water, Avon Water and Heritage Village Water serve more than 350,000 people in 59 towns in Connecticut. For information, visit ctwater.com.
Stonington approves phases two and three for Perkins Farm
Joe Wojtas
Mystic — The Stonington Planning and Zoning Commission on Monday approved phases two and three of the Perkins Farm development, which is projected to become the most expensive project in the town’s history.
The commission approved plans by developer David Lattizori for 50 townhouse condominiums and a 47,625-square-foot, three-story medical office building that will be built by Hartford Healthcare.
The commission had previously approved a 121-unit apartment complex, which is now under construction on the 70-acre site off Jerry Browne Road across from the StoneRidge retirement community.
The project's master plan calls for a total of 100,000 square feet of medical and research space in phase three and Lattizori has said that another medical building is a possibility for the site. Phase three is expected to create hundreds of permanent, well-paying jobs.
Lattizori’s family had tried for almost 20 years to develop the site for a mix of commercial and residential use but those projects were successfully opposed by residents. In 2011, the commission approved a 36-lot subdivision of single-family homes for the site.
Lattizori said he was a week away from selling the site and its approval in 2015 when a retired doctor, who lives at StoneRidge, suggested the idea of a project with a geriatric health component. Lattizori then began meeting with a committee of StoneRidge residents to discuss the project with them and gain their support.
Lattizori then put together plans for the current project which has been met with widespread support in part because it preserves more than half the site for open space.
Earlier this year, residents approved $1.3 million in tax breaks over seven years for phase one, which Lattizori said would help offset some of the large infrastructure and other upfront costs he has expended over the past several years and pave the way for the second and third phases.
Wallingford PZC rejects plan for warehouses
Luther Turmelle
WALLINGFORD — The town’s Planning and Zoning Commission voted 4-1 Monday night to reject a proposal by the owner of the former Bristol-Myers Squibb corporate campus on Research Parkway to demolish the buildings there and replace them with pair of giant warehouses. Armand Menard was the only PZC member to vote in favor of the plan put forward by Massachusetts-based Calare Properties.
Calare, which bought the property in February 2018, had proposed building two warehouses with 1.1 million square feet of space between them.“I’m basing my vote on our regulations, the staff and our engineers,” Menard said prior to the vote. “They are the (ones) who know more about this than I do.”
The vote came following a lengthy discussion by the four PZC member who eventually voted against it: Jeffrey Kohan, Steven Allinson, Rocco Matarazzo and James Fitzsimmons.
Fitzsimmons said he felt Calare made a mistake by submitting its applications to both the PZC and the Inland Wetlands and Watercourses Commission at the same time. Last month, homeowners near the former Bristol-Myers Squibb property sued the wetlands commission for approving the plan for the warehouses.“We just ran out of time,” Fitzsimmons said. “We had to vote tonight.”
A standing room only audience of several hundred residents packed Town Hall for the meeting. Following the vote, they cheered wildly at the outcome, with many people hugging and embracing.Residents had rallied outside Town Hall prior to the meeting in opposition to the proposal. Many of them brought their signs into the meeting.
Resident Jen Frechette said following the vote that she spent $30 on fliers encouraging other residents to come to the hearings throughout fall into December.
“I told my husband it’s the best money I ever spent,” the Valley View Drive resident said. “I’m still in shock that this actually happened.”
Richard L’Heureux, who lives on Coventry Court, called the vote to reject the plan “a major victory for the residents of Wallingford.”
“Our roads really can’t handle the level of traffic that would have resulted if this plan had been approved,” L’Heureux said. “Thank goodness it’s not going to happen, at least for now anyway.”
Dennis A. Ceneviva, a Meriden-based attorney representing Calare, was not immediately available for comment after the meeting on whether his clients would appeal the PZC’s ruling or submit a new and different application.
Company officials claimed they tried marketing the corporate campus as a research facility to potential clients, but couldn’t find tenants for 915,000-square-foot building.Calare officials repeatedly have said they didn’t have tenants for the proposed warehouse space, but residents said they were skeptical of that claim.Oxford commission unanimously approves site plan for new middle school
DIRK PERREFORT
OXFORD — The Planning and Zoning Commission Tuesday unanimously approved the site plan for the new Oxford middle school.
The approval moves the $44.9 million school building project forward. The school, which will be constructed along Great Oak Road, will replace the aging Oxford Center School. The project has already been approved by both the Board of Selectmen and the town’s wetlands board.
Planning and Zoning Chairman Jeff Luff said the approval included about nine conditions, including that no substitute materials be used on the project without prior approval by the commission. All erosion controls must be in place during the construction process, and the approval expires in five years.
Officials hope to start construction on the project this summer, with the goal of having the school occupied by students by the fall of 2020. The project was the subject of a hearing before the Planning and Zoning Commission in December.
The new school will be located near Quaker Farms Elementary School and the former Great Oak Middle School, which will revert to an elementary school. Officials hope the project will create a campus like setting for the schools.
Great Oak Middle School Principal Anthony T. Hibbert will be principal of the new grades six to eight school. Great Oak School will house students in grades three to five, and Quaker Farms School will house grades kindergarten to second.
While the project is slated to cost $44.9 million, town officials expect that at least 30 percent of that cost will be reimbursed by the state.
Members of the Board of Selectmen recently voted to hire Construction Solutions Group of West Hartford to manage the project for $451,000.
Meanwhile, the commission tabled a hearing on the controversial project to construct an additional 197 units at the Timberlake Apartments at Oxford Green under the state’s affordable housing laws until next month.
Luff said the applicant for the project, Timberlake Investment Partners, has yet to submit a traffic study that was requested by the board during a hearing on the proposal last month.
“There is really no reason to move forward at this point without it,” he said.