(BPT) - Cities large and small rely on public transportation to help workers get to their jobs. And the more efficient the commute, the higher their productivity. Not only do many employees choose where to live and work in relation to ease of transportation, but companies also assess a city’s public transportation system when deciding to expand or relocate.
Case in point: Atlanta’s public transportation system was an important factor for State Farm Insurance deciding to build new offices in the area. Online retail giant Amazon also sought cities with accessible public transit when determining its second headquarters.
How would public transit investment boost the economy?
Short-term benefits
Any local economy would benefit from a large-scale transportation project in terms of thousands of construction jobs, equipment manufacturing jobs, jobs associated with parts and materials suppliers, plus workers spending at nearby businesses during the construction period.
In addition, as APTA president and CEO Paul Skoutelas explained in his recent testimony before Congress, large-scale projects have a ripple effect beyond the project's location.
For example, a project in California “may be receiving vehicles, parts or materials from suppliers in Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia or Wisconsin,” Skoutelas said.
The economic boost due to construction alone can last for months or years.
Long-term benefits
The growing number of workers in the U.S. needs an increasing capacity to get to work every day, and the less time spent on the commute, the more time is spent actually working.
Research findings in the 2014 APTA publication, “Economic Impact of Public Transportation Investment,” describe the increased economic productivity due to investment in urban transportation, especially when those investments are maintained over many years, as estimated in a 20-year scenario: “The impact by the end of the 20-year period would represent a ratio of more than $3.7 billion per year of additional GDP per $1 billion invested annually. This includes $2 billion due to the productivity effect of cost savings in the economy and $1.7 billion supported by a pattern of public transportation investment spending.”
What does that mean in terms of jobs? The study estimates an investment of $1 billion in public transportation would result in approximately 50,731 jobs.
The cost of neglecting public transportation
The country’s aging infrastructure, plus the need for new transit options in growing urban areas, directly affects the local and national economy.
Dorval R. Carter Jr., president of Chicago Transit Authority, oversees a legacy rail system that’s over 100 years old, and faces the challenge of fixing or replacing aging infrastructure. “Parts of our rail system date back to the late 1800s,” Carter observed.
Time lost to commuters when breakdowns or repairs occur adds up to lost productivity.
What is the cost of failing to invest in public transportation? According to “The Economic Cost of Failing to Modernize Public Transportation,” a report by APTA, it costs the U.S. economy $340 billion in lost revenue over a six-year period. This translates to a loss of $180 billion in cumulative Gross National Product and $109 billion in household income.
An urgent national need
APTA is asking Congress to increase funding for public transportation to at least $232 billion, setting priorities for crucial repairs and upgrades, plus new public transit options.
And access to public transportation affects suburban and rural communities as well as cities.
“In Iowa, public transit infrastructure is essential to both urban and rural communities,” stated Elizabeth Presutti, general manager of Des Moines Area Regional Transit Authority. “Transit is critical to employment and economic growth. We need the federal government to provide a reliable source of funding to meet the needs of the future.”
At a time when public transportation ridership is exceeding population growth, it seems more critical than ever to meet this need.
Bridgeport casino, internet gaming proposed in new bill
Emilie Munson
New proposed legislation would vastly expand the gambling monopoly of the state’s two Native American tribes by authorizing them to build a $100 million casino in Bridgeport and operate sports betting at casinos and other locations.
Formerly opponents, lawmakers from Bridgeport, eastern and north central Connecticut have united behind the plan. The bipartisan bill represents the latest step in Bridgeport’s nearly three-decade pursuit of a casino development. It does not yet have the support of Gov. Ned Lamont and faces other obstacles, like the threat of legal action, to passage and implementation.
The bill allows the Mashantucket and Mohegan Pequot tribes, who run Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun casinos, to keep their plans for an East Windsor casino along I-91 — something Lamont hoped the tribes would abandon.
The bill would also authorize internet gaming run by the tribes and internet lottery sales run by the Connecticut Lottery Corporation, as well as sports betting in person and online. It would send millions more in revenue to the state and give new municipal grants of $750,000 to Fairfield, Hartford, New Haven, Norwalk, Stratford, Trumbull and Waterbury.“This is historic and has been a long-anticipated plan that now will be realized because of our joint efforts to place Connecticut back on the map,” said Sen. Dennis Bradley, D-Bridgeport.
Eleven Democrats and Republicans — all either from Bridgeport or the areas near the tribes’ casinos — indicated their support for the legislation Wednesday.
Previously, this group was “at odds,” said Sen. Cathy Osten, D-Sprague, with one side defending the tribes’ existing casinos and the other pushing for a commercial casino in Bridgeport. The acrimony was on display at a public hearing in February when Bridgeport lawmakers and Osten loudly accused each other of trying to steal jobs.
But that’s changed now that the tribes have expressed interest in opening a casino in Bridgeport.
The new coalition of lawmakers hope its bill will be voted on in a special session before 2020. That will be up to the governor and legislative leaders, who have received the bill but were not involved in crafting it.
Best deal?Other lawmakers worry it is not the best deal for the state as whole.
“My initial blush is it’s one-sided,” said Rep. Joe Verrengia, D-West Hartford, who co-chairs the legislative committee that oversees gambling with Bradley. “The proponents of this bill are the same proponents who claimed that the East Windsor casino was a jobs bill. And we haven’t seen that impact. And now it’s the same spin.”
The legislation follows a frenzy of negotiations in the last week of the legislative session between the tribes and Bridgeport’s delegation and mayor to deliver a casino for the Park City. In June and July, lawmakers from Bridgeport, Eastern Connecticut and the East Windsor area continued talks to produce this bill.
Both this bill and draft legislation from negotiations in June highlight the Bridgeport delegation’s dramatic shift away from their previous strategy: supporting an open bidding process to deliver a commercial casino. The shift spurns MGM, which has lobbied for years for the right to build a $675 million proposal on Bridgeport’s waterfront but was stymied by the tribal compact and its defenders.“I think the state of Connecticut should honor its commitment to the tribes,” said Sen. Paul Formica, R-East Lyme. “Is gambling the answer to Connecticut’s economic woes? No. If it creates jobs in Bridgeport, I think we should try to help Bridgeport.”
Osten and other tribe supporters have sharply criticized MGM, saying it has no intention to build in Bridgeport but only wants to fight off the East Windsor casino, which is positioned to blunt the impact of MGM’s $1 billion new Springfield development. The Tribal Winds casino in East Windsor is not yet under construction.
MGM has countered that it intends to build in Bridgeport, although it now owns Empire Casino in Yonkers, N.Y. MGM promised to create 7,000 jobs in Bridgeport. The tribes estimate their facility would produce at least 1,000 construction jobs and lead to 500 permanent jobs at the casino.
Rosario said the new plan represents what is “realistic and achievable.”
“We want to do it right size,” he said.
Encourage developmentProponents hope the tribes’ $100 million investment will encourage a private developer to build a hotel resort nearby — but there is no guarantee of that. Nor does the bill force the state or city to contribute funds to the project, as previous drafts of legislation did.
“What are they going to build for $100 million?” Verrengia asked. “The main attraction to a casino is not gaming activities. The idea of building a $100 million whatever you want to call it raises a red flag.”
Under their proposal, the tribes would pay 25 percent of their slot and table revenue at the Bridgeport casino to the state, resulting in $15 million annually, they estimated.
Additionally, the tribes would pay a tax of 8 percent on sports wagering and 10 percent on online casino gambling. The tribes could conduct retail sports wagering at their four casinos and at four “entertainment zone facilities;” one on-site at the Bridgeport casino, one in Hartford and two in other towns not yet chosen. People could also play e-sports at the entertainment zones. These facilities would create 100 jobs each, the tribes said.
The tribes would each be able to operate a mobile app for sports betting.
Verrengia worried the tax rate on sports wagering and online gambling was not as high as rates in other states. The legislation would also allow the tribes to contribute this new revenue toward their mandatory minimum payment to the state of $160 million annually. Recently, tribal payment to the state based on slot revenue has been roughly $240 million.
“With the new millennials, that slot play is decreasing and really where the jackpot is going forward is the online gaming and in addition to that, sports betting,” Verrengia said. As a result, he said, he worried the tribes would not pay the state much more than they are now.
Other tribes in other states contribute far less in tax revenue to their states, countered Osten.
“When it comes to our state’s gaming industry, we’ve got two simple choices — do nothing and let the increase in competition continue to erode our state’s revenue, or take action and create new jobs and new sources of revenue,” said Rep. Chris Davis, R-Ellington.
The proposal is a “starting point,” said Rosario. It needs approval from the legislature and the governor and the parts amending the compact require sign off from the U.S. Department of Interior.
Rosario and Osten said some provisions of the bill may change before final passage.
The bill hands the exclusive right to conduct sports betting to the tribes, although the Connecticut Lottery Corporation and off-track betting operator Sportech have advocated for a slice of the action. Sportech has indirectly threatened legal action in response to earlier bills that excluded it from sports betting.
“Moving forward, we’ll see what happens with the off-track betting,” said Osten. “I know there is a relationship between the tribes and off-track betting and I’m certain there wll be some movement through that relationship.”
MGM previously filed a lawsuit against the state over approval of a casino by the tribes in East Windsor, withdrew the lawsuit and has said it will file it again. Conversely, if the state supported a bidding process for a commercial casino like MGM wants, the tribes have threatened to withhold their payments to the state.
Formica, Osten and Rosario all agreed that litigation was inevitable, so the state should move forward with their plan.
$3.3 million pension plan scam: How Plainville business owner bilked his employees
JUSTIN MUSZYNSKI
PLAINVILLE - A Plainville business owner has pleaded guilty in federal court to stealing more than $3.3 million from his employees through a scheme involving their pension plans.
Lee Ferguson, 62, of Farmington, pleaded guilty to one count money laundering in Hartford Federal Court on Wednesday.
Officials from the U.S. Attorney’s Office said Ferguson was the owner of Ferguson Electric and Ferguson Mechanical, which are both headquartered in Plainville. These contracting companies provide electrical and mechanical systems for new projects and renovated structures.
According to federal officials, the scheme, which was done from 2013 to 2017, involved deducting between $1.60 to $3.15 per hour from each employee’s fringe benefits package. The deductions were disguised as a “third-party administrator fee” for the more than 300 employees’ pension plans.
Federal officials said Ferguson knew the money was not being used for an administrative fee. The money was sent to TPA of Connecticut, a company that Ferguson established. It was then sent to DJS Associates, a Florida company formed for the “purported purpose” of performing business consulting services, according to federal officials. These services were never performed, and Ferguson instead used the money for personal expenses, according to officials.
The way the money was sent to the Florida-based company was meant to “conceal and disguise” the nature of what it was for, federal court documents said.
“The crime that I pled guilty to today is the result of my actions, and mine alone,” Ferguson said in a statement Wednesday. “I take full and complete responsibility. At no time did anyone else at my former companies participate in or was aware of my actions or motives. I deeply regret any pain that this has caused my former employees and my family.”
In total, just over $3.3 million was stolen from the Plainville employees. Federal court documents indicate that Ferguson could be expected to pay restitution.
According to court documents, the plea deal Ferguson agreed to gives him credit for his “prompt recognition and affirmative acceptance of personal responsibility.” The plea bargain also says an initial assessment estimates that Ferguson will face anywhere between 51 and 63 months in federal prison and a fine between $20,000 and $200,000.
Ferguson is free on $50,000 bond and is scheduled to be sentenced on Oct. 24.
Federal interference has brought Massachusetts wind power to a screeching halt
Who thought we’d miss Ryan Zinke?
President Trump’s former interior secretary, who left office last winter dogged by a pack of ethical questions, got at least one thing right: He supported swift action to develop offshore wind energy in the U.S.
Now his successor, David Bernhardt, is slow-walking a critical federal permit and could bring a Massachusetts project to a screeching halt. Caution is one thing, but Bernhardt ought to resolve his doubts soon, before he delivers a major setback to a nascent industry.
Last year, the state’s major utilities picked Vineyard Wind to develop what would be the nation’s first industrial-scale wind farm. The 84-turbine facility is supposed to start generating electricity by 2022. That’s an ambitious target, but the company says it had been on track to meet that deadline.
Until now. A major problem surfaced earlier this month, when, without warning, the department abandoned a previously announced timetable by failing to finish a required environmental review.
That set off alarm bells in the Commonwealth, where creating an offshore wind industry has been a major economic and climate-mitigation goal. According to the company, if it doesn’t receive the permit in the next three to five weeks, it will be “very challenging to move forward.”
An extra few weeks might not seem like a big deal, but according to the company a delay could wreck its tight construction schedule. For instance, to construct the platforms for offshore wind turbines, the company booked the use of a specialized vessel used by the offshore oil and gas industry. The ship’s time is reserved years in advance, and there are few other American-flagged vessels the company could use instead (federal law requires use of an American ship). If Vineyard Wind misses its window it’ll have to start from scratch.
Apart from logistics, there’s also the discouraging message the Interior Department would be sending if it sabotages Vineyard Wind. Investors need regulatory certainty, not abrupt policy shifts.
The Interior Department provided no explanation for the delay, but has pointed out that it’s not legally required to make a decision until March 2020. The department did not respond to a request for comment from the Globe. Some fishing groups have pressed for more distance between the turbines, but the company says it’s not feasible to change its plans so late.
It’d be ironic for an administration that’s usually intent on dismantling environmental protections and speeding the construction of energy infrastructure to drag out the review of Vineyard Wind. Worse, it’d undermine the goals this administration professes to support. The “men and women who construct wind turbines in American waters in the years to come will continue to set our nation toward clean energy dominance,” Zinke wrote in these pages last year. Hopefully, Bernhardt will agree - and let Vineyard Wind move forward on schedule.
Developers show interest in Norwich portion of former hospital property
Claire Bessette
Norwich — With developers expressing interest in the Norwich portion of the former Norwich Hospital property, the city Redevelopment Agency on Wednesday approved using $45,500 of the city’s federal environmental assessment grant to study three buildings and land for potential contamination.
Amy Vaillancourt, licensed environmental professional for Tighe & Bond Inc., the city’s environmental consultant for the federal brownfield assessment grant, toured the property with owner Carl Castanho on Wednesday morning prior to the noon redevelopment agency meeting to approve the funding.
Vaillancourt told the agency that one developer is interested in the Martin, Pondview and a former employee residence building, and another developer is looking at the Lippitt Building — a large, square, brick building with a central courtyard — for a possible convention center.
The agency approved a three-page scope of services agreement with Tighe & Bond on Wednesday for a limited environmental site assessment, including a review of past reports, collection of soil samples and a “limited structural assessment” of the four buildings. A structural engineer will spend one day at the site and will “highlight the major architectural and structural deficiencies of the buildings,” the proposal stated.
Samples of paint chips and areas of suspected asbestos material will be taken.
“Areas deemed to be unsafe or inaccessible will not be viewed,” the proposal states. No cost estimates for repairs or rehabilitation will be done.
Castanho, who did not attend the redevelopment agency meeting, later said he was pleased with the grant and that city officials are trying to help him get the property developed. He said he could not discuss details “until things are more firm.” But he added that he is very optimistic that development will happen there.
“I’ve been really busy, talking to a lot of developers, a lot of people,” Castanho said Wednesday. “There are a lot of promising things, but I’m not at the point to discuss anything yet. I am excited about the future of this development, more than ever.”
Castanho Development LLC acquired the nearly 50-acre Norwich portion of the former Norwich Hospital property through a mortgage foreclosure in October 2018 against the former Thames River Landing developer, Mark Fields. Thames River Landing, led by Fields, had purchased the property from the state in 2015 for $300,000, financed by Castanho’s company.
No cleanup has been done on the Norwich portion of the campus, and buildings are in various states of decay, overgrown with weeds and brush. The property includes a subdivision of single-family former employees’ homes located off Route 12, also abandoned and overgrown.
In 2005, the city ordered an environmental study by the environmental engineering firm Fuss & O’Neill, which estimated environmental cleanup costs at $1.1 million. Vaillancourt said she did an update of that report in 2009 and will use those reports as a basis for the new assessment.
Preston took ownership of the much larger 393-acre Norwich Hospital campus in 2009, but Norwich decided against taking ownership of the portion on its side of the towns' shared border. Preston has obtained federal and state grants and loans for environmental cleanup and demolition, and is seeking an additional $2 million in state grant money to finish the work before transferring the property to Mohegan Gaming & Entertainment for a proposed major development.
The final hurdle in Preston is coal ash contamination used by the state as roadbed material beneath the former roads that snaked through the property. Vaillancourt said the Norwich portion likely has coal ash contamination along with building material hazards, such as lead paint and asbestos.
Vaillancourt called the $45,500 study “seed money” to assist the owner and potential developers to learn the property cleanup needs.
Norwich city officials also hope the grant approval will encourage other property owners to request similar assessments of their properties.
The city received the $384,000 grant in 2016 — divided into $185,000 for petroleum assessment and $199,000 for hazardous substance assessments — and must spend it by Sept. 30, City Planner Deanna Rhodes said. Including the Norwich Hospital grant, the city has assigned only $142,227 of the total.
Rhodes said the city is seeking a one-year grant extension from the federal Environmental Protection Agency.
The city sent postcards to commercial property owners to alert them of the assessment grants for “abandoned, idle, or underutilized industrial and commercial properties where the reuse, expansion or redevelopment is complicated by real or perceived environmental contamination.”
Interested property owners should contact Rhodes at (860) 823-3766 or drhodes@cityofnorwich.org for more information about the grant program.
Harp, Tweed advocates meet with Lamont on runway issue
Mark Zaretsky
NEW HAVEN — Mayor Toni N. Harp and other Tweed New Haven Regional Airport advocates met with Gov. Ned Lamont to discuss Tweed’s future Wednesday.
They came out feeling hopeful that the governor remains on the same page when it comes to future airport development.
“I’m grateful to Gov. Lamont for the time he took today for a candid, productive conversation about the strong alliance there is among greater New Haven business, academic, entrepreneurial and environmental leaders in favor of runway improvements at Tweed New Haven Airport,” Harp said after the meeting.“I told the governor I’m confident everyone in greater New Haven wants a vibrant future for this region, and that I’m eager to work with state leaders to improve the airport — within its existing footprint and fence line,” Harp said in a statement.
She also said she’s eager to “mitigate neighborhood concerns and realize the potential of this facility for the convenient use of thousands of additional Connecticut air travelers.”
The 2nd Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on July 10 ruled in favor of Tweed in its longstanding lawsuit seeking to strike down the state statute limiting Tweed’s main runway length to 5,600 feet.
In a unanimous decision, the court ruled that the state statute limiting the length of the runway is preempted by federal law, and therefore invalid.
The ruling, assuming the state does not appeal it, would clear the way for Tweed to pave portions of the existing, unpaved runway safety areas to increase the effective length of the runway for takeoff.
It also would make Tweed a more attractive airport to attract additional air service, Tweed supporters have said.
Tweed wants to pave portions of the two unpaved, 1,000-foot runway safety areas at either end of the runway to lengthen the usable runway for takeoffs to at least 6,000 feet.
Tweed’s most recent master plan, which the Federal Aviation Administration approved in 2002, stated an intention to eventually lengthen the runway to 7,200 feet.
Two of the most powerful members of state Senate, Senate President Pro Tempore Martin M. Looney, D-New Haven — who lives near Tweed — and Minority Leader Len Fasano, R-North Haven, whose district includes East Haven, sent a letter to state Attorney General William Tong July 16, urging him to appeal the 2nd Circuit decision to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Tweed, which is owned by New Haven and run by the Tweed New Haven Airport Authority, straddles the New Haven-East Haven border and is located in both communities.“I thought it was a productive meeting,” said Tweed Authority Executive Director Matthew Hoey, who also is first selectman of Guilford. “We stated our case.
“Many of the points were consistent with some of the governor’s statements throughout the campaign and in his inaugural address” about the importance of transportation, and also the important of New Haven, for the state’s future economic development,” Hoey said.
Among other things, they told Lamont that “our partner, Avports, is prepared to help us financially early on in the process of applying and moving this along,” Hoey said. Avports manages the airport.
“We also talked about the fact that this is an investment that is important for the entire region,” Hoey said. “But more importantly, the state has invested over $30 million in recent years, and the city over $6 million ... to make Tweed a viable transportation hub.”
Limo tour shows what state money can do
MICHAEL PUFFER
WATERBURY – From $7.7 million for redevelopment of the former Howland-Hughes Department Store to $4 million to rebuild a portion of East Main Street downtown, the state has poured tens of millions of dollars worth of grants into redeveloping Waterbury in recent years.
Mayor Neil O’Leary spent three hours with new Department of Economic and Community Development Commissioner David Lehman Wednesday, aiming to convince him it was money well spent, and that the state should keep it up.
“My goal was to show him what can be done with the support of the state of Connecticut and partnerships and relationships we’ve built both at the state and federal government,” O’Leary said.
O’Leary, former Webster Bank President Jim Smith, state Sen. Joan V. Hartley, D-15th District; and about 15 additional staff and supporters toured around the city with Lehman in a deluxe limousine.
The first stop was Freight Street, which was recently rebuilt as part of a $19.1 million package of downtown transit upgrades funded largely by a federal grant.
The van turned into an alleyway leading to empty factory buildings, with falling bricks, broken windows and disarray inside. The state has approved $1.5 million to help the city demolish a large part of the former Anaconda American Brass site.
O’Leary told Lehman it would probably take $5 million to clean up pollution on the property ahead of redevelopment. But if the city doesn’t do it, nobody will, he said.
“I agree this is very smart planning,” Lehman said of the city’s various efforts to redevelop the area around Freight Street.
There was a quick stop at the former Howland-Hughes department store, the mammoth building downtown that sat largely vacant for decades. Today it’s largely occupied by crisp-looking and brightly lit office space for more than 400 Post University office workers. The state contributed $7.7 million toward a redevelopment of the privately held building.
“It’s been a very great relationship,” Post University President John Hopkins told Lehman.
Lehman got very much the same report from Robert King, vice president of operations of Norwalk-based King Industries. The chemicals company paid $750,000 in 2013 for an 11-acre chunk of the city’s Waterbury Industrial Commons. King officers say they plan to move the entire company to the city eventually.
Jim Smith, former president of Webster Bank and a top economic advisor to both O’Leary and Gov. Ned Lamont, told Lehman that King is making a $100 million investment.
“They’ve really been nothing but supportive,” King told Lehman.
Following the tour, O’Leary said he wanted to stress the need for state help with costly cleanups of former industrial sites. He also wanted to familiarize Lehman with the good work the city has done with the state’s funding and his ongoing development priorities.
It seems to have had the desired impact.
The Connecticut General Assembly has yet to adopt a bond package for the fiscal year that began July 1, and Lamont has pledged to cut back on the state’s borrowing habits.
Whatever money is ultimately available, Lehman promised brownfields would be a priority.
“I can’t comment on the amount because I’m not sure where we will end up, but I put it at the top of my list of priorities,” Lehman said.
Lehman expressed admiration for the city’s development efforts.
“For me what really stands out is there is clearly a plan here as it relates to priorities, development, where the state can be helpful, where the federal government can be helpful,” Lehman said. “The mayor clearly has a vision of what he wants to see done and they’re acting on it.”
Officials from the U.S. Attorney’s Office said Ferguson was the owner of Ferguson Electric and Ferguson Mechanical, which are both headquartered in Plainville. These contracting companies provide electrical and mechanical systems for new projects and renovated structures.
According to federal officials, the scheme, which was done from 2013 to 2017, involved deducting between $1.60 to $3.15 per hour from each employee’s fringe benefits package. The deductions were disguised as a “third-party administrator fee” for the more than 300 employees’ pension plans.
Federal officials said Ferguson knew the money was not being used for an administrative fee. The money was sent to TPA of Connecticut, a company that Ferguson established. It was then sent to DJS Associates, a Florida company formed for the “purported purpose” of performing business consulting services, according to federal officials. These services were never performed, and Ferguson instead used the money for personal expenses, according to officials.
The way the money was sent to the Florida-based company was meant to “conceal and disguise” the nature of what it was for, federal court documents said.
“The crime that I pled guilty to today is the result of my actions, and mine alone,” Ferguson said in a statement Wednesday. “I take full and complete responsibility. At no time did anyone else at my former companies participate in or was aware of my actions or motives. I deeply regret any pain that this has caused my former employees and my family.”
In total, just over $3.3 million was stolen from the Plainville employees. Federal court documents indicate that Ferguson could be expected to pay restitution.
According to court documents, the plea deal Ferguson agreed to gives him credit for his “prompt recognition and affirmative acceptance of personal responsibility.” The plea bargain also says an initial assessment estimates that Ferguson will face anywhere between 51 and 63 months in federal prison and a fine between $20,000 and $200,000.
Ferguson is free on $50,000 bond and is scheduled to be sentenced on Oct. 24.
Federal interference has brought Massachusetts wind power to a screeching halt
Who thought we’d miss Ryan Zinke?
President Trump’s former interior secretary, who left office last winter dogged by a pack of ethical questions, got at least one thing right: He supported swift action to develop offshore wind energy in the U.S.
Now his successor, David Bernhardt, is slow-walking a critical federal permit and could bring a Massachusetts project to a screeching halt. Caution is one thing, but Bernhardt ought to resolve his doubts soon, before he delivers a major setback to a nascent industry.
Last year, the state’s major utilities picked Vineyard Wind to develop what would be the nation’s first industrial-scale wind farm. The 84-turbine facility is supposed to start generating electricity by 2022. That’s an ambitious target, but the company says it had been on track to meet that deadline.
Until now. A major problem surfaced earlier this month, when, without warning, the department abandoned a previously announced timetable by failing to finish a required environmental review.
That set off alarm bells in the Commonwealth, where creating an offshore wind industry has been a major economic and climate-mitigation goal. According to the company, if it doesn’t receive the permit in the next three to five weeks, it will be “very challenging to move forward.”
An extra few weeks might not seem like a big deal, but according to the company a delay could wreck its tight construction schedule. For instance, to construct the platforms for offshore wind turbines, the company booked the use of a specialized vessel used by the offshore oil and gas industry. The ship’s time is reserved years in advance, and there are few other American-flagged vessels the company could use instead (federal law requires use of an American ship). If Vineyard Wind misses its window it’ll have to start from scratch.
Apart from logistics, there’s also the discouraging message the Interior Department would be sending if it sabotages Vineyard Wind. Investors need regulatory certainty, not abrupt policy shifts.
The Interior Department provided no explanation for the delay, but has pointed out that it’s not legally required to make a decision until March 2020. The department did not respond to a request for comment from the Globe. Some fishing groups have pressed for more distance between the turbines, but the company says it’s not feasible to change its plans so late.
It’d be ironic for an administration that’s usually intent on dismantling environmental protections and speeding the construction of energy infrastructure to drag out the review of Vineyard Wind. Worse, it’d undermine the goals this administration professes to support. The “men and women who construct wind turbines in American waters in the years to come will continue to set our nation toward clean energy dominance,” Zinke wrote in these pages last year. Hopefully, Bernhardt will agree - and let Vineyard Wind move forward on schedule.
Developers show interest in Norwich portion of former hospital property
Claire Bessette
Norwich — With developers expressing interest in the Norwich portion of the former Norwich Hospital property, the city Redevelopment Agency on Wednesday approved using $45,500 of the city’s federal environmental assessment grant to study three buildings and land for potential contamination.
Amy Vaillancourt, licensed environmental professional for Tighe & Bond Inc., the city’s environmental consultant for the federal brownfield assessment grant, toured the property with owner Carl Castanho on Wednesday morning prior to the noon redevelopment agency meeting to approve the funding.
Vaillancourt told the agency that one developer is interested in the Martin, Pondview and a former employee residence building, and another developer is looking at the Lippitt Building — a large, square, brick building with a central courtyard — for a possible convention center.
The agency approved a three-page scope of services agreement with Tighe & Bond on Wednesday for a limited environmental site assessment, including a review of past reports, collection of soil samples and a “limited structural assessment” of the four buildings. A structural engineer will spend one day at the site and will “highlight the major architectural and structural deficiencies of the buildings,” the proposal stated.
Samples of paint chips and areas of suspected asbestos material will be taken.
“Areas deemed to be unsafe or inaccessible will not be viewed,” the proposal states. No cost estimates for repairs or rehabilitation will be done.
Castanho, who did not attend the redevelopment agency meeting, later said he was pleased with the grant and that city officials are trying to help him get the property developed. He said he could not discuss details “until things are more firm.” But he added that he is very optimistic that development will happen there.
“I’ve been really busy, talking to a lot of developers, a lot of people,” Castanho said Wednesday. “There are a lot of promising things, but I’m not at the point to discuss anything yet. I am excited about the future of this development, more than ever.”
Castanho Development LLC acquired the nearly 50-acre Norwich portion of the former Norwich Hospital property through a mortgage foreclosure in October 2018 against the former Thames River Landing developer, Mark Fields. Thames River Landing, led by Fields, had purchased the property from the state in 2015 for $300,000, financed by Castanho’s company.
No cleanup has been done on the Norwich portion of the campus, and buildings are in various states of decay, overgrown with weeds and brush. The property includes a subdivision of single-family former employees’ homes located off Route 12, also abandoned and overgrown.
In 2005, the city ordered an environmental study by the environmental engineering firm Fuss & O’Neill, which estimated environmental cleanup costs at $1.1 million. Vaillancourt said she did an update of that report in 2009 and will use those reports as a basis for the new assessment.
Preston took ownership of the much larger 393-acre Norwich Hospital campus in 2009, but Norwich decided against taking ownership of the portion on its side of the towns' shared border. Preston has obtained federal and state grants and loans for environmental cleanup and demolition, and is seeking an additional $2 million in state grant money to finish the work before transferring the property to Mohegan Gaming & Entertainment for a proposed major development.
The final hurdle in Preston is coal ash contamination used by the state as roadbed material beneath the former roads that snaked through the property. Vaillancourt said the Norwich portion likely has coal ash contamination along with building material hazards, such as lead paint and asbestos.
Vaillancourt called the $45,500 study “seed money” to assist the owner and potential developers to learn the property cleanup needs.
Norwich city officials also hope the grant approval will encourage other property owners to request similar assessments of their properties.
The city received the $384,000 grant in 2016 — divided into $185,000 for petroleum assessment and $199,000 for hazardous substance assessments — and must spend it by Sept. 30, City Planner Deanna Rhodes said. Including the Norwich Hospital grant, the city has assigned only $142,227 of the total.
Rhodes said the city is seeking a one-year grant extension from the federal Environmental Protection Agency.
The city sent postcards to commercial property owners to alert them of the assessment grants for “abandoned, idle, or underutilized industrial and commercial properties where the reuse, expansion or redevelopment is complicated by real or perceived environmental contamination.”
Interested property owners should contact Rhodes at (860) 823-3766 or drhodes@cityofnorwich.org for more information about the grant program.
Harp, Tweed advocates meet with Lamont on runway issue
Mark Zaretsky
NEW HAVEN — Mayor Toni N. Harp and other Tweed New Haven Regional Airport advocates met with Gov. Ned Lamont to discuss Tweed’s future Wednesday.
They came out feeling hopeful that the governor remains on the same page when it comes to future airport development.
“I’m grateful to Gov. Lamont for the time he took today for a candid, productive conversation about the strong alliance there is among greater New Haven business, academic, entrepreneurial and environmental leaders in favor of runway improvements at Tweed New Haven Airport,” Harp said after the meeting.“I told the governor I’m confident everyone in greater New Haven wants a vibrant future for this region, and that I’m eager to work with state leaders to improve the airport — within its existing footprint and fence line,” Harp said in a statement.
She also said she’s eager to “mitigate neighborhood concerns and realize the potential of this facility for the convenient use of thousands of additional Connecticut air travelers.”
In a unanimous decision, the court ruled that the state statute limiting the length of the runway is preempted by federal law, and therefore invalid.
The ruling, assuming the state does not appeal it, would clear the way for Tweed to pave portions of the existing, unpaved runway safety areas to increase the effective length of the runway for takeoff.
It also would make Tweed a more attractive airport to attract additional air service, Tweed supporters have said.
Tweed wants to pave portions of the two unpaved, 1,000-foot runway safety areas at either end of the runway to lengthen the usable runway for takeoffs to at least 6,000 feet.
Tweed’s most recent master plan, which the Federal Aviation Administration approved in 2002, stated an intention to eventually lengthen the runway to 7,200 feet.
Two of the most powerful members of state Senate, Senate President Pro Tempore Martin M. Looney, D-New Haven — who lives near Tweed — and Minority Leader Len Fasano, R-North Haven, whose district includes East Haven, sent a letter to state Attorney General William Tong July 16, urging him to appeal the 2nd Circuit decision to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Tweed, which is owned by New Haven and run by the Tweed New Haven Airport Authority, straddles the New Haven-East Haven border and is located in both communities.“I thought it was a productive meeting,” said Tweed Authority Executive Director Matthew Hoey, who also is first selectman of Guilford. “We stated our case.
Among other things, they told Lamont that “our partner, Avports, is prepared to help us financially early on in the process of applying and moving this along,” Hoey said. Avports manages the airport.
“We also talked about the fact that this is an investment that is important for the entire region,” Hoey said. “But more importantly, the state has invested over $30 million in recent years, and the city over $6 million ... to make Tweed a viable transportation hub.”
Limo tour shows what state money can do
MICHAEL PUFFER
WATERBURY – From $7.7 million for redevelopment of the former Howland-Hughes Department Store to $4 million to rebuild a portion of East Main Street downtown, the state has poured tens of millions of dollars worth of grants into redeveloping Waterbury in recent years.
Mayor Neil O’Leary spent three hours with new Department of Economic and Community Development Commissioner David Lehman Wednesday, aiming to convince him it was money well spent, and that the state should keep it up.
“My goal was to show him what can be done with the support of the state of Connecticut and partnerships and relationships we’ve built both at the state and federal government,” O’Leary said.
O’Leary, former Webster Bank President Jim Smith, state Sen. Joan V. Hartley, D-15th District; and about 15 additional staff and supporters toured around the city with Lehman in a deluxe limousine.
The first stop was Freight Street, which was recently rebuilt as part of a $19.1 million package of downtown transit upgrades funded largely by a federal grant.
The van turned into an alleyway leading to empty factory buildings, with falling bricks, broken windows and disarray inside. The state has approved $1.5 million to help the city demolish a large part of the former Anaconda American Brass site.
O’Leary told Lehman it would probably take $5 million to clean up pollution on the property ahead of redevelopment. But if the city doesn’t do it, nobody will, he said.
“I agree this is very smart planning,” Lehman said of the city’s various efforts to redevelop the area around Freight Street.
There was a quick stop at the former Howland-Hughes department store, the mammoth building downtown that sat largely vacant for decades. Today it’s largely occupied by crisp-looking and brightly lit office space for more than 400 Post University office workers. The state contributed $7.7 million toward a redevelopment of the privately held building.
“It’s been a very great relationship,” Post University President John Hopkins told Lehman.
Lehman got very much the same report from Robert King, vice president of operations of Norwalk-based King Industries. The chemicals company paid $750,000 in 2013 for an 11-acre chunk of the city’s Waterbury Industrial Commons. King officers say they plan to move the entire company to the city eventually.
Jim Smith, former president of Webster Bank and a top economic advisor to both O’Leary and Gov. Ned Lamont, told Lehman that King is making a $100 million investment.
“They’ve really been nothing but supportive,” King told Lehman.
Following the tour, O’Leary said he wanted to stress the need for state help with costly cleanups of former industrial sites. He also wanted to familiarize Lehman with the good work the city has done with the state’s funding and his ongoing development priorities.
It seems to have had the desired impact.
The Connecticut General Assembly has yet to adopt a bond package for the fiscal year that began July 1, and Lamont has pledged to cut back on the state’s borrowing habits.
Whatever money is ultimately available, Lehman promised brownfields would be a priority.
“I can’t comment on the amount because I’m not sure where we will end up, but I put it at the top of my list of priorities,” Lehman said.
Lehman expressed admiration for the city’s development efforts.
“For me what really stands out is there is clearly a plan here as it relates to priorities, development, where the state can be helpful, where the federal government can be helpful,” Lehman said. “The mayor clearly has a vision of what he wants to see done and they’re acting on it.”