Julia Perkins
BETHEL — The budget for the renovations to Rockwell and Johnson elementary schools has been officially locked in before construction begins — something the town did not do before building the new police station.
The project is under the $65.8 million budget voters approved for both schools in 2017, with Rockwell costing $25.9 million and Johnson costing $39.5 million. A state grant is covering 45 percent of eligible costs of the project.
The Public Site and Building Committee recently approved construction company Rizzo Corporation’s proposal for the guaranteed maximum price of the project. This agreement promises the construction company can complete the project within budget and estimates work will be done by Dec. 1, 2020.
“We're thrilled,” Superintendent Christine Carver said. “It’s just the next step.” Town officials were under fire last year for failing to sign a guaranteed maximum price contract before construction on the new police station began. The town broke ground before some bids for work were locked in, and the station ran almost $889,000 over its $13.5 million budget.
Voters had to approve additional money for the station, which was opened in the fall. School and town officials vowed not to have a similar problem with the school renovation project.
Preliminary work has been ongoing for months, but with the maximum price approval construction is expected to start in the spring. First Selectman Matt Knickerbocker said he plans to sign the contract this week. “There is really absolutely nohing that can take this project over budget because, unlike the police station, all the bids are in hand,” Knickerbocker said.
Since the state is providing a grant for the project, the town is required to sign the price contract before construction begins and hire an owner’s representative who advises the town. This expert is also expected to help keep the project within budget. The town did not hire an owner’s representative for the police station.
The building committee also asked for additional sampling of the earth to help avoid the unforeseen problems that arose during the police station construction, said Josh Adams, chair of the building committee. Costs rose when an old barn and concrete were found buried underground on the site of the station.
“A lot of that (preliminary work) is setting us up to having a very successful project,” Adams said.
The town originally estimated Rockwell would cost $24.7 million, while Johnson would cost $41.1 million. Almost $1.6 million in savings were found for Johnson, but Rockwell went about $1.2 million over budget due to environmental issues in the school.
Money from the Johnson project will be transferred to the Rockwell renovations to keep the overall project within budget. This is allowed because voters approved the overall $65.8 million figure, not how the money would be dispersed to each project.
State to consider proposed Killingly natural gas plant
Benjamin Kail
Killingly — The Connecticut Siting Council recently reopened the door for NTE Energy's proposed natural gas plant, which has been planned since 2016 and could deliver a 650-megawatt boost to the New England electricity grid by 2022.
The Siting Council last week unanimously decided to let NTE seek a required certificate of environmental compatibility and public need for construction, maintenance and operation of the Killingly Energy Center, planned for 180 and 189 Lake Road. The Siting Council had previously denied NTE's initial application for a siting certificate, a must-have before construction begins, based on NTE's failure to demonstrate a public need for the plant.
The state's decision to reopen a path for the plant follows ISO New England's forward capacity auction earlier this month, which guaranteed electricity from New England power generators for 2022-23 and included Killingly Energy Center among the 34,000-plus megawatts required to meet regional electricity demands. NTE had twice failed to secure contracts for the plant in previous ISO New England auctions.
On Monday, NTE Director of Communications Jennifer Logue said the company looked forward "to working with the Connecticut Siting Council to bring this much-needed source of cleaner, highly efficient electric power generation to Connecticut and Southern New England."
In a statement last week, NTE CEO Seth Shortlidge said securing a contract in this year's auction "clearly supports the region's need" for the new natural gas plant, especially "at a time when up to 6,000 megawatts of older, less-efficient power plants across the region are nearing retirement."
Logue said the next steps include a field review, public hearing and initial evidentiary hearing set for April 4 in Killingly Town Hall.
The plant has faced opposition among environmental and conservation groups, who unsuccessfully pushed the Siting Council last week to hold off on the plant's application process until the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission finalizes ISO New England's auction results.
The groups, including Connecticut Fund for the Environment, Sierra Club, Wyndham Land Trust and the citizens group Not Another Power Plant, argue Connecticut and other New England states are moving away from fossil fuel generation and toward renewables such as offshore wind.
They also noted the Killingly Energy Center would be the second power plant on Lake Road in Killingly. The proposed site is adjacent to the 32-acre Dunn Preserve owned and maintained by the Wyndham Land Trust.
In a joint release, the groups applauded the Siting Council for establishing a "full evidentiary process in order to properly consider the need for the facility and its environmental impacts."
"The way forward isn't building more fossil fuel plants in communities already struggling with asthma and air pollution and increasing our over-reliance on fossil fuels," said Katherine Fiedler, legal fellow for CFE. "Instead, it's finding ways to grow solar, wind, and efficiency projects that also improve grid resiliency and generate local job growth."
In addition to the public hearing in April, the Siting Council will accept public comments at www.siting.council@ct.gov until May 4. The Siting Council will make a final decision on NTE's application for a siting certificate by Aug. 13.
NTE expects the $700 million plant to create about 450 construction jobs and 20 permanent full-time jobs. The Department of Energy and Environmental Protection already finalized an air permit for the plant. The Killingly Town Council last year approved a tax-stabilization agreement in which the plant would pay about $100 million over 20 years. As part of a community environmental benefit agreement approved by the Town Council, NTE says it will provide $5 million for scholarships and town projects.
A spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down
New governor's budget strategy part sweet, part sour
Keith M. Phaneuf
Gov. Ned Lamont will give with one hand and take with the other in the budget he proposes Wednesday.
Lamont will naturally stress the giving, as he did during the campaign last fall. But when it comes to taxes and fees, the scales will tip toward the taking — at least for the next two years — as the new governor attempts to wipe out about $3.5 billion in inherited red ink off Connecticut’s books.
For example, Lamont said this weekend he would consider lowering gas taxes and boosting income tax relief for the poor — but only to mitigate the pain of restoring tolls to Connecticut’s highways.
Many lawmakers expect Lamont to propose a repeal of the estate tax, something he called “an enormous giveaway to the very wealthiest” days before the November election. But they also expect him to recommend a statewide property tax on motor vehicles — which would cut taxes for most communities but boost them in affluent towns.
Poor and middle-class taxpayers would benefit from the property tax relief Lamont pledged on the campaign trail. This involves increasing the property tax credit within the state income tax. But his campaign proposal deferred most of that relief until the 2021-22 fiscal year.
In the meantime, though, middle and low-income consumers can expect to face new charges on sugary drinks, plastic bags, vaping products, marijuana, sports betting and alcoholic beverage deposits.
The governor also warned he would cancel some sales tax exemptions, including the partial exemption on digital downloads.
“I can hold the line (but) some of you are going to be disappointed that we’re not cutting a lot more a lot faster on the operating side,” Lamont told Waterbury-area business leaders at a chamber of commerce meeting last Tuesday.How did Lamont, who downplayed tax hikes on the campaign trail, explain his reversal?
He underestimated how difficult it would be to cut the pension and other debt costs that are placing unprecedented pressure on state finances.
“Maybe I thought that this was an iceberg that was a little over the horizon,” Lamont said of costs that consumed 10 percent of the General Fund two decades ago, and now eat up about 30 percent. “As we got into the books and looked at the numbers (we realized) we’ve got to hit it head-on, right now.”
Those debt costs, some of which are projected to continue rising into the early 2030s, “have put us on a razor’s edge in terms of fiscal stability,” Lamont added. “We’re going to have to solve this together.”
According to projections from nonpartisan fiscal analysts, state finances — unless adjusted — will run about $1.5 billion in deficit next fiscal year, and $2 billion in the red in 2020-21.
The Democratic governor was accused repeatedly last fall by his Republican opponent, Madison businessman Bob Stefanowski, of planning major tax and fee hikes.
For example, Lamont insisted during the campaignhe would impose electronic tolling, but only on trucks — an assertion Stefanowski predicted would change if Lamont won.In an op-ed piece released Saturday, the governor conceded truck-only tolls probably won’t raise sufficient revenue to reverse years of inadequate investment in highways, bridge and rail upgrades.
“The truck-only option provides too little revenue, too slowly and too piecemeal to make a meaningful difference,” wrote Lamont, who insists Connecticut must make strategic upgrades to a clogged system to spur economic development. A crucial upgrade, according to Lamont, is to accelerate rail commuting times between Hartford, New Haven, and New York City.
Tolls on trucks are projected to raise between $45 million and $200 million per year, depending on which routes are tolled. Imposing a charge on all vehicles and on all major highways is expected to raise between $800 million and $1 billion annually, depending on the level of discounts provided to Connecticut motorists.
Lamont’s chief of staff, Ryan Drajewicz, told reporters Sunday that the administration’s modified position on tolls “is the start of a discussion, not the end.”
The governor remains open to exploring multiple options, Drajewicz said, provided it is done “in an open, honest and objective way.”
But weren’t the fiscal realities surrounding tolls and Connecticut’s aging transportation system available during the campaign?
Gov. Dannel P. Malloy, Lamont’s predecessor, spent much of his final two years on the job arguing that the existing transportation program — which is supported largely with the state’s two fuel taxes — lacks the resources to do more than basic maintenance.
“There’s a difference between when you are in the heat of the campaign … and in the governor’s office” and confronted by the “full suite of facts,” Drajewicz said. “You’re staring at those numbers in a very hard, real way.”
Democrats, who hold majorities in the House and Senate, were split over tolls during the last two-year term. Republicans largely have been — and remain — unified in their opposition.
Lamont tried to cushion the blow of his support for tolling cars by emphasizing he would insist on major discounts for Connecticut motorists and frequent drivers.But Senate Minority Leader Len Fasano, R-North Haven, called that “a disingenuous attempt to curtail criticism. Currently, residents do not pay any tolls in Connecticut. So you can tout a ‘discount’ all you want, but the truth is families are going to be paying more than they already do today if tolls are installed. …The money has to come from somewhere, and that somewhere is state taxpayers.”
Press Statement
For immediate release
Contact: David Roche, droche@smwlocal40.org, 860-209-4320
Connecticut State Building Trades Council Supports Gov. Ned Lamont’s Statement on Tolls
The Connecticut State Building Trades council (CSBT) made the following statements in response to
Gov. Ned Lamont’s tolling proposal:
David Roche, President of the CT State Building Trades Council:
“Connecticut is the only state on the entire eastern seaboard that doesn’t have some type of
tolling system. With deteriorating infrastructure, we simply don’t have the luxury of relying on
the gas tax alone to fully fund our Special Transportation Fund (STF). In fact,
33.5 percent of Connecticut’s bridges are either structurally deficient or functionally obsolete,
which is well above the national average of 23 percent. Electronic tolling will keep our STF
solvent for generations to come. This will ensure that we can make the investments necessary to
address our infrastructure and transportation needs, while creating a steady pipeline of jobs for
our state’s residents.
The Building Trades represent thousands of skilled construction workers across
Connecticut who are trained and certified to meet our state’s workforce demands. We are ready to go
to work to bring our state’s infrastructure into the 21st century and beyond.”
Keith Brothers, Secretary-Treasurer of the CT State Building Trades Council: “Connecticut voted
overwhelmingly in support of this last fall’s constitutional amendment enforcing the “lockbox” to
ensure that transportation funding only goes to transportation initiatives. The public sent a clear
message that our state’s economic competitiveness is intrinsically tied to our infrastructure.
Electronic tolling on both trucks and passenger vehicles will generate billions of dollars in
revenue to fund our aging infrastructure and meet our transportation demands.
We applaud Gov. Lamont for recognizing that investments in our infrastructure also equate to
investments in our local workforce. Our members are some of the best trained workers in the state.
We’re ready to heed the call and go to work to improve Connecticut.”
# # #
The Connecticut State Building Trades Council (CSBT) represents approximately 30,000 construction
workers across the state. Dave Roche served on then Gov-Elect Lamont’s jobs & economy policy group.
And Keith Brothers served on then Gov-Elect Lamont’s steering committee for his transition team,
and on his transportation policy group.