CT Construction Digest Friday February 28, 2020

EPA to resume project to bring water line from Middletown to Durham Superfund Site
Cassandra Day
DURHAM — Work will soon resume on the Durham Meadows Superfund project in the center of town, bringing fresh drinking water from a yet-to-be-built water tank near the Middletown line to families and businesses dealing with the effects of 30 years of contamination.The water line project will remedy 50 private wells serving 54 locations. All have been using carbon filters and bottled water provided to them by the Environmental Protection Agency.
The goal is to resume work in April. “We have a very ambitious construction schedule that we hope to achieve. It will set us up to really get the vast majority of work done by the end of next year,” said project manager Ed Hathaway of the EPA’s Boston office.
The project will encompass building an 800,000-gallon water storage tank at the top of Talcott Ridge Road in Middletown, which also will provide fire protection.
In September, state, federal and local officials from Middletown and Durham gathered at 281 Main St. to herald the start of the $24.4 million construction project.
That property, a privately owned field, has become a staging area for construction crews, Hathaway said. Work is expected to be complete this year.
When construction wrapped up for the season in December, due to the weather and unavailability of asphalt plants in cold weather, much had been accomplished, according to Hathaway
Crews installed 10,000 linear feet of water main, mostly up Route 17, to three miles away, along Talcott Ridge Drive in Middletown. That included the clearing of trees at the water tank, booster station, and meter vault locations, Hathaway said. “We’re gearing up for year two, and we’re very excited.”Next up will be laying the water main from Middlefield Road along Route 68, and then to the skating pond in Durham, Hathaway said.
“Once we get the get the main work done on 17 and 68, we’ll start branching down the side streets: Talcott Lane, Maple Avenue, Maiden Lane, and we may or not get to Pickett Lane to put the water in for the school district this year,” Hathaway said.
“We’ll start curb-stop connections, which is where we jump out from the water main to the edge of individuals’ property to set them up for water connections; then bring water into houses. But we won’t actually start the water flowing yet. That will be next year,” he said.
During the Durham Fair in late September, which draws up to 200,000 people from throughout the area, as well as New England, work was halted to accommodate crowds.
The two-year process of preparation involved several hearings and discussions with Middletown residents concerned about what construction would entail, Hathaway said.
“We did lower the tank a little bit, and made some other adjustments to the clean-up plan to address concerns to the extent we could. In the end, they recognize it’s a water line that needs to go in. It will be a short period of time for which they’ll still have some inconvenience,” he said. The water storage container will be 79 feet tall.
Many Middletown residents were worried about a possible disturbance to the neighborhood as trucks move back and forth. “Then there was the physical appearance of the tank. We tried to give an understanding as to whether they’ll be able to see the tank, and how much of it they will see,” Hathaway said.
“It really should not be visible to the vast majority of the neighborhood. Some part of the top of the tank will stick out above the trees,” he added.
Work on Route 17 takes place at night, side roads during day. “Safety is one of our most important considerations. We make sure we have flaggers, and clear demarcation of our work area,” Hathaway said.
A public hearing on the issue is scheduled for March 24 at the Durham Library, 7 Maple Ave., at 7 p.m. For information, visit epa.gov/superfund/durham or contact Community Involvement Coordinator Darriel Swatts at 617-918-1065 or swatts.darriel@epa.gov.

Eversource to acquire MA gas pipeline after $53M criminal settlement
Alexander Soule
Eversource Energy is spending $1.1 billion to acquire the Massachusetts assets of Columbia Gas, which was hit with a $53 million criminal penalty this week after natural gas ignited in September 2018 to damage dozens of homes in multiple towns north of Boston.
Any remaining legal liabilities for the Merrimack Valley fires will remain in the hands of NiSource, the Indiana-based owner of Columbia Gas. The purchase is subject to approval from the U.S. Department of Justice and the Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities.Columbia Gas pipes natural gas to about 330,000 customers in 60 cities and towns in Massachusetts, effectively doubling Eversource’s existing customer base in the commonwealth where it has corporate offices in Boston in addition to Hartford.

In the aftermath of the 2018 disaster in Lawrence, Andover and North Andover, Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker named Eversource the caretaker of the Columbia Gas operations as investigators launched probes.

In announcing the acquisition, Eversource noted that there is overlap between the existing Columbia Gas customer base and its own for electric service in Massachusetts, where it has some 1.5 million accounts.
The price Eversource is paying exceeds the net income the utility holding company generated in 2019 spanning electric, gas and water operations in Connecticut, Massachusetts and New Hampshire. Profits totaled $909 million last year on revenue of $8.5 billion, with natural gas operations contributing $96 million in net income.
In addition to the historic Connecticut Light & Power electric grid, Eversource subsidiaries include Yankee Gas and Aquarion Water. In partnership with Orsted, Eversource is now moving ahead with an offshore wind farm it will stage out of New London, with the goal of adding others over time.
Eversource CEO Jim Judge noted the company is well into an investment initiative to replace older iron and steel piping for natural gas to reduce emissions and improve safety, while speaking last week on a conference call.
“By excelling at our basic business, we enjoy strong credibility with our regulators and other state and federal policymakers,” Judge said. “I think we’re perceived as an excellent operator — whether you look at electric, gas or water.

But in a written statement from NiSource announcing the deal, the executive leading Columbia Gas acknowledged the hurdles remaining to rebuild its reputation in Massachusetts after the September 2018 explosions, which killed one, forced 30,000 people to evacuate, and rattled the nerves of natural gas customers nationally. “While we have taken significant restoration and safety steps over the past 17 months, we acknowledge that events have led many to lose trust in Columbia Gas,” stated Mark Kempic, president of Columbia Gas of Massachusetts, as quoted by NiSource. “We believe that Eversource's proven track record of investing in its infrastructure, employees and operations to enhance system reliability, combined with its deep familiarity with the region and our operations, will enable Columbia Gas ... to be a part of a strong local gas distribution company.”

 

Developer ready to move forward on $9M, 42-unit Bloomfield apartment project

Greg Bordonaro

The next phase of an ambitious 400-plus apartment development in Bloomfield’s town center could break ground by early fall, pending final town approval and other factors, according to the project developer.Paul Butler, the principal of 25 Jerome Avenue LLC, said he is seeking final site plan approval to build a $9-million, 42-unit apartment project on Bloomfield Avenue.
The development is part of Butler’s larger master plan to build 407 apartment units in three phases on Bloomfield and Jerome avenues and Jerome Way.
The first phase of the project — construction of the 215-unit Heirloom Flats luxury apartments — was wildly successful, having been fully leased within a year before being sold in early 2019 for $61 million to a New York investor.

In the next phase, Butler will be the project developer and he said he’s in talks with Chris Nelson of Simsbury-based Nelson Construction to be the general contractor.

Butler said this would be the largest project he’s ever developed and it will include six, two-bedroom units and the rest one-bedroom units targeted at Millennials, empty nesters and others.
They will all be market-rate rate apartments. Rents will vary depending on market conditions post construction, Butler said.
“This will be the largest project I’ve ever taken on,” said Butler, adding he moved from West Hartford to Bloomfield because he’s bullish about the town’s future.
Bloomfield’s planning and zoning commission will consider site plan approval for the 42 units at a meeting Thursday, Feb. 27. Once the town gives its blessing Butler said he’ll look for traditional bank financing and he expects several community lenders to be interested in the deal.

A fourth phase

Butler said he’s also working on moving forward the third phase of the project, which would include 129 market-rate apartments built on Jerome Avenue. He’s currently in talks to find a developer for that project.
Meantime, Butler is also eyeing a potential fourth phase. He said his development group recently bought eight additional homes on Bloomfield Avenue and he’d like to present a plan this summer to create a public dog park, walking trail and more apartments there, including potentially some affordable housing.

Mounds succeeds Drajewicz as Lamont’s chief of staff
Mark Pazniokas
One of Gov. Ned Lamont’s highest-profile recruits from the private sector, Ryan Drajewicz, is leaving the administration after 13 months as the governor’s chief of staff, a long-rumored departure resulting in a reshuffling of two other appointees, Paul Mounds and Josh Geballe.
Mounds, the chief operating officer and deputy chief of staff, succeeds Drajewicz, giving the governor a top aide with a deeper well of political contacts inside the State Capitol. Geballe, a former IBM executive who has been tasked with reorganizing and modernizing government as commissioner of administrative services, will continue that project as the commissioner and the state’s chief operating officer.  
The changes come on the heels of a signal failure: The administration’s abandonment of a year-long campaign to win passage of some form of highway tolls to finance CT2030, a 10-year transportation infrastructure program Lamont deems crucial to economic growth.
Drajewicz’s exit does not appear forced as he has confided for months his plan to leave in February, once the tolls issue was resolved. Drajewicz acknowledged Thursday the resolution was not the one he envisioned: On Feb. 19, Lamont effectively gave up on Senate Democrats ever putting his plan to a vote.
By all accounts, the governor and chief of staff had developed a close relationship. Chief of staff is a job that requires a political sense, management skills, and an ability to serve as a reliable conduit between the governor, the legislature and the rest of state government.
“It’s incredibly intense, what this job is and what you go through, the paces you go through,” Lamont told reporters, outlining the changes. “And you get very close to people, and I got very close to Ryan.”

Lamont, who called Drajewicz a brother, recruited him from the giant hedge fund, Bridgewater Associates

“I said, ‘Please give us a year. I need a year.’ And he said he’d give us a year. And he gave us a year plus some,” Lamont said. “And I just want you to know that as chief of staff he’s been my friend, been my compadre. He talks me off the ledge when I ought to be talked off the ledge. He comes with me into battle when it’s time for battle.”
On transportation, Drajewicz said, he believes he followed the governor’s charge to “leave everything on the field.”
He said the efforts produced a well-received plan for what needs to be done to speed up commutes by erasing highway bottlenecks and improving rail service on Metro-North, even if the legislature could not embrace tolls as a new revenue sources.
The administration still intends to utilize the low-cost federal loan programs that were identified as a key element of CT2030, though it will have to find new sources of guaranteed repayment. “I can tell you with confidence Connecticut is going to take advantage of these programs that are offered out of Washington,” Drajewicz said.
Drajewicz, a former aide to U.S. Sen. Chris Dodd before he joined Bridgewater Associates, stepped down as Lamont’s top aide at the end of business Thursday, but he will remain for a few weeks to ease the transition. Drajewicz said he has no immediate plans, other than a likely return to the private sector.
He worked for Lamont for nearly 18 months as a volunteer or staffer. Lamont had tapped Drajewicz during his campaign to craft a transition plan, then chose him to oversee the assemblage of a new administration and become his chief of staff. 
“It’s a year and a half, almost, in dog years,” Drajewicz said.

Lamont and Drajewicz each arrived at the State Capitol with few close relationships in the building, and Drajewicz conceded this was an obstacle as the new administration quickly sought passage of a comprehensive system of highway tolls on all vehicles. The plan was twice downsized, most recently to trucks only tolls on a dozen highway bridges.

“It’s not a question of ‘shouldn’t have done it.’ It’s not a question of I should have pushed harder here, there or wherever,” he said. “I guess for me it was [understanding that] doing something like this requires you have to have rock-solid relations with legislators and staff.”
Drajewicz said he has developed those relationships “in the trenches” during the long fight over transportation. Had he started with them, the path might have been smoother, he said.
His successor, Mounds, was an aide to Gov. Dannel P. Malloy for five years, leaving the administration in late 2016 as the director of policy and government affairs for a policy and communications job at the Connecticut Health Foundation. He also worked on the staffs of U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal and U.S. Rep. John B. Larson.
“Paul, as you all know, he knows the building, and the building knows him,” Lamont said. “And if I’ve learned one thing, this is a building that really runs on relationships.”
Mounds was first named to the newly-created post of chief operating officer, a position recommended and never implemented decades ago in Connecticut, while becoming increasingly common in governors’ offices across the U.S. Last summer, he was also given the title of deputy chief of staff in an earlier staff shakeup.
Geballe, a former IBM executive and tech entrepreneur, has a resume more fitting with COOs in other states, where governors have looked to corporate executives and state agency heads for the post.
“In many ways, Josh has already been acting like a COO, which is the chief operating officer, trying to consoldiate personnel, consolidate technology, leading the search of what this government is going to look like with the silver tsunami of people retiring,” Lamont said.

Demographics and a change in retirement benefits are expected to send a sizable chunk of the state workforce out the door by the end of Lamont’s first term.

By the estimates of the comptroller’s office, 14,764 state employees — a quarter of the workforce — will be eligible to retire on July 1, 2022, when a concession deal negotiated in 2017 by Malloy takes effect. It will slow cost-of-living adjustments for all new retirees and raise health costs for a few, primarily high earners.
The governor was asked Thursday if more changes were coming.
His reply: “Not at this point.”

Democrats: GOP has a healthy appetite for borrowing too
Keith M. Phaneuf
Republican legislative leaders may be on Democratic Gov. Ned Lamont’s “debt diet,” but rank-and-file GOP lawmakers are bypassing the proverbial salad bar and eyeing the burger and fries.
Over the first three weeks of the 2020 session, Republicans sponsored 11 bills authorizing more than $112 million in new bonding in their home districts. GOP lawmakers also backed another five measures seeking undetermined amounts of financing for various projects.
Republican leaders said their colleagues simply are doing their duty by asking to use Connecticut’s credit card for theaters, community buildings, rail facilities, police and fire stations, a 4-H camp and other projects.
But majority Democratic legislators — whom Republicans routinely blast for borrowing too much — are crying foul.
“This is the disconnection from the facts that the Republican party in the General Assembly is struggling with,” House Speaker Joe Aresimowicz, D-Berlin, said Thursday.
“The Republicans’ math just doesn’t work,” said Sen. Cathy Osten, D-Sprague, who co-chairs the Appropriations Committee. “It just doesn’t fit.”
But Senate Minority Leader Len Fasano, R-North Haven, countered that rank-and-file Republicans are “duty-bound” to seek bonding for the projects their respective communities need the most. “This is a wish list legislators get from their towns,” he said.

Sen. Heather Somers, R-Stonington, asked for $4.25 million — $3 million to fund a water and sewer line extension in North Stonington, $500,000 to help construct a new, regional senior center in Griswold, and $750,000 to replace a fuel tank and the ice machine that support the fishing industry at Stonington pier.
“If a community asks you, as a senator, to put in a request that is essential to your community, that is your obligation,” Somers said.
But Lamont said Connecticut needs to get a better handle on these obligations.
With more than $26 billion in bonded debt, Connecticut outranks most states on a debt-per-capita basis.
The governor had called for General Obligation bonding — borrowing to be repaid out of the budget’s General Fund — to be limited to slightly less than $1.4 billion per year.
His fellow Democrats in the legislature pushed back, saying this would harm economic development and affordable housing efforts. 
Lamont was willing to consider an annual borrowing level of about $1.77 billion — provided legislators supported truck tolls to bolster transportation. The tolling plan never garnered sufficient support and Lamont abandoned it in mid-February. Republican leaders now want the governor to go back to his “debt diet.”

Rep. Chris Davis of Ellington, the ranking House Republican on the Finance, Revenue and Bonding Committee, said GOP lawmakers can advocate for their respective communities and still support an overall, lean borrowing plan.

 

 

CT Construction Digest Thursday February 27, 2020

Wilton gets $1.4 million grant for pedestrian bridge
Patricia Gay
WILTON— A longstanding plan to connect the Wilton train station to Wilton Center has moved a major step forward.
The town received a commitment letter for a $1,405,200 grant from the Connecticut Department of Transportation for the construction of a pedestrian bridge, according to an announcement by First Selectwoman Lynne Vanderslice on Wednesday, Feb. 26.
She said the town will now move forward sending final drawings to the state for review and requesting permission to bid the project. Once permission is received, the town will put the project out to bid and present bid results to the Board of Selectmen for a decision on next steps, she said.
The pedestrian bridge is part of an overall plan to ensure the vitality and appeal of Wilton Town Center, Vanderslice said.

The bridge is expected to facilitate mixed-used development around the Wilton train station, to increase the value and development prospects of 3.5 acres of undeveloped town-owned land on Station Road, and to incentivize new residential options within the Town Center.

To get from the train station to Wilton Center now — a distance of only about 500 feet — pedestrians must walk nearly a mile along steeply sloped roadways and a heavily traveled section of Route 7.
Wilton has been actively pursuing building the pedestrian bridge since 2007. After applying for a number of state grants for the project, it received a Small Town Economic Assistance Program (STEAP) grant for the project in 2014. The town completed the permitting process, which included required design input from various federal and state agencies resulting in a much more costly project than originally anticipated when the STEAP grant was awarded.
“Based on the expanded scope and cost of the bridge, a reassessment occurred as to whether we should continue to pursue the project,” Vanderslice said. “It was determined the project was worth pursuing because of the potential economic development impact for the area around the train station and Wilton Center.”

Utility to pay $53M for blasts that damaged homes, killed 1
BOSTON (AP) — A utility company will pay the largest criminal fine ever imposed for breaking a federal pipeline safety law — $53 million — and plead guilty to causing a series of natural gas explosions in Massachusetts that killed one person and damaged dozens of homes, federal officials said Wednesday.
Columbia Gas of Massachusetts has agreed to plead guilty to violating the Pipeline Safety Act and pay the fine to resolve a federal investigation into the explosions that rocked three communities in the Merrimack Valley, north of Boston, in September 2018.
"Today’s settlement is a sobering reminder that if you decide to put profits before public safety, you will pay the consequences," FBI Agent Joseph Bonavolonta said.
The company said in an emailed statement that it takes full responsibility for the disaster.
“Today’s resolution with the U.S. Attorney’s Office is an important part of addressing the impact," the company wrote. “Our focus remains on enhancing safety, regaining the trust of our customers and ensuring that quality service is delivered.”
The company's parent, Merrillville, Indiana-based NiSource Inc., has also agreed to try to sell the company and cease any gas pipeline and distribution activities in Massachusetts, according to court documents. Any profit from the sale of Columbia Gas of Massachusetts will be handed over to the federal government.
"We knew that one of the things those communities wanted was for Columbia Gas to simply go away," U.S. Attorney Andrew Lelling told reporters. “The tragedy was to such an extent that it would be extremely difficult for the populations in those towns to trust this company going forward, so that was one of our priorities when we struck this deal,” he said.
The explosions and fires outraged the communities of Lawrence, Andover and North Andover, where thousands of homes and businesses went without gas service for weeks, and months in some cases, during the winter. Residents and public officials lashed out at the company for not adequately responding and called for officials to be held accountable. Leonel Rondon, 18, died when a chimney collapsed on his vehicle in the driveway of a friend’s home — hours after he had gotten his driver's license. About two dozen others were injured, and dozens of buildings were damaged or destroyed.
A series of class action lawsuits stemming from the explosions has settled for $143 million. The settlement awaits final approval from a judge.
Lawrence Mayor Dan Rivera praised the plea deal, saying it will be a “great day” when Columbia Gas no longer exists.
“This agreement will bring some much needed solace to those affected,” he told reporters.
The National Transportation Safety Board blamed the explosions on overpressurized gas lines, saying the company failed to account for critical pressure sensors as workers replaced century-old cast-iron pipes in Lawrence. That omission caused high-pressure gas to flood the neighborhood’s distribution system at excessive levels.
Lelling said federal investigators found that Columbia Gas violated minimum safety standards for starting up and shutting down gas lines through a “pattern of flagrant indifference.” An internal company notice circulated in 2015 showed that the company knew that failing to properly account for control lines in construction projects could cause fires and explosions, officials said. Yet Columbia Gas cut corners to increase its bottom line, officials said.
The company didn't keep reliable records of control lines because it was too expensive, hired inexperienced and untrained workers, and didn't communicate with the city of Lawrence about construction projects, Bonavolonta said. Columbia Gas couldn't even give NTSB investigators an accurate picture of who its customers were in the immediate wake of the explosions, he said.
"This disaster was caused by a whole management failure at Columbia Gas," Lelling said.
Until Columbia Gas is sold, an independent monitor will ensure that the company is following state and federal laws, Lelling said.
The disaster prompted federal officials to call in September for every state to require that all natural gas infrastructure projects be reviewed and approved by a licensed professional engineer. The NTSB also recommended that natural gas utilities be required to install additional safeguards on low pressure systems like the one involved in the explosions.
Columbia Gas is scheduled to plead guilty on March 9.

Hartford OKs land sale to developer proposing $6.7M senior-housing complex
Joe Cooper
artford officials have agreed to sell one of its vacant Parkville neighborhood properties to a North Haven-based not-for-profit developer planning to build a $6.7-million senior-housing complex there.
The city council on Monday approved a resolution authorizing the sale of 126 and 130 New Park Ave., 161 Francis Ave. and 8 Francis Court to New Samaritan Corp. for $87,000.
The sale clears a major hurdle for New Samaritan, which says it’s Connecticut’s largest nonprofit developer of affordable senior housing, as it looks to build 22, one-bedroom apartments for elderly residents located next to a Stop & Shop supermarket and CTfastrak station.
Tammy Lautz, New Samaritan’s director of housing management, said her group will break ground on the 12- to 18-month construction project sometime in the next year.

Lautz said New Samaritan, which manages 84 affordable housing units across three properties in Hartford, identified its newly acquired site because residents will easily be able to access Stop & Shop and public transit.

According to city records, the proposed four-story, 23,626-square-foot residential complex will feature a community kitchen, activity area and rooms for physical and occupational therapy, among other spaces and services. Apartments will range from 600 to 675 square feet.
Rents will vary for each resident, who will pay no more than 30% of their annual gross income. Tenants will seek additional rental assistance from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Lautz said.
New Samaritan is investing $2 million in the housing project, and will fund the remaining balance with more than $4.5 million of federal funding secured through HUD.
Founded in 1990, New Samaritan has developed about 2,500 housing units in Connecticut and Massachusetts since its founding 50 years ago. In Hartford, it currently manages the Bacon Congregate Homes, Victory Cathedral and Ida B. Wells Apartments.

The organization is not the first attempting to redevelop the half-acre lot at the corner of New Park and Francis Court, which the city has owned since 2010.

In 2013, the city council opposed a controversial proposal to sell the property for the development of a Stop & Shop gas station.

West Hartford approves $7M Corbin's Corner facelift, Trader Joe’s expansion, new restaurant
Joe Cooper
he owner of West Hartford’s Corbin’s Corner received town approval Tuesday to renovate the shopping center, expand the existing Trader Joe’s Grocery store and add a new restaurant on-site.
West Hartford’s town council on Tuesday unanimously approved a plan by Florida real estate investment firm Regency Centers to upgrade the New Britain Avenue property at an estimated cost of $7 million. Regency is aiming to complete the improvements before this year’s holiday shopping season, according to economic development specialist Kristen Gorski.
According to plans, the management company is looking to add 2,500 square feet of storage space to the rear of Trader’s Joe’s existing 10,000-square-foot space and upgrade current building facades, reconfigure parking and install new landscaping, lighting and other amenities for pedestrians at the retail center, which houses about 25 retailers and eateries including Best Buy, Edge Fitness, Old Navy and Total Wine & More.
It’s also planning to either demolish and replace the former 6,000-square-foot Jared jewelers store with a new 7,360-square-foot restaurant, or redesign the existing facility to house a new restaurant and outdoor dining area.

The single-story shopping center was last renovated “decades ago,” town records show.

Regency, which manages 419 retail facilities, or 56 million square feet across the country, could not be reached for comment Wednesday on when it plans to begin the renovation project.
The Corbin’s Corner upgrades will be implemented just months after Regency filled a major vacancy at the retail corridor abutting REI Co-op and Saks OFF 5th department stores.
In December, Edge Fitness took over a 38,800-square-foot space formerly occupied by a Toys R US store the children’s retailer vacated in 2018 after its bankruptcy and eventual store closures.

‘It’s like a Charlie Brown cartoon.’ Freshman state senator blames fellow Democrats for failure of highway tolls.
Christopher Keating

State Sen. Alex Bergstein of Greenwich is blasting Democratic leaders for the recent failure of the controversial bill on trucks-only tolls.

A freshman lawmaker who defeated incumbent Republican Sen. L. Scott Frantz in November 2018, Bergstein is a strong proponent of tolls on all vehicles and believes that the trucks-only bill would not have raised enough money to solve the state’s transportation infrastructure problems. "I am disappointed in our Senate leaders,'' Bergstein said. "They refuse to tackle one of the biggest economic issues in our state – infrastructure – and kicking this can down the road is costing every taxpayer in the state. For nearly a year, Senate leaders have held the tolls vote hostage and used it as leverage against the Governor. It’s like a Charlie Brown cartoon – the Senate leaders are like Lucy, who keeps moving the football every time Charlie tries to kick it. The bill that died wasn’t even a serious toll bill. If Democratic Senators were willing to vote on that wimpy toll plan, they should have been willing to vote on a real toll plan. And if they weren’t willing to vote for any toll plan, then the public deserves to know where they stand – with an actual public vote.'' Senate President Pro Tem Martin Looney, a New Haven Democrat, responded, “Unlike the Republicans who seek lockstep conformity, especially at the national level, we encourage vigorous debate in the Senate Democratic caucus.” Bergstein continued, "The failure of tolls was due to a failure of leadership and a failure of public messaging strategy. On one hand, Republicans organized a state-wide campaign against tolls that dominated the headlines. They conflated tolls with taxes. But actually, the opposite is true. No Tolls will guarantee Higher Taxes. On the pro-tolls side, there was no messaging strategy and no party organization. A handful of dedicated citizens came to the Capitol to express their support, but that can’t compete with an entire political party organized around a single issue. "The writing was on the wall last February. That’s when I met with the Administration and their Communications Team and asked them to plan events around the state to explain this complex issue to the public with facts and numbers. I hosted my own public forum in Greenwich last January, with Indra Nooyi, and over 300 people attended. The administration could have replicated this model and hosted public events with elected leaders across the state so we could stand up for tolls as a team. But they ignored my suggestion.'' Bergstein added, "That’s what it’s like to be a newly elected female legislator. You can have good ideas, but the boys club still makes the decisions.''

Southington looks to improve roads and bridges
Brian M. Johnson
SOUTHINGTON - The Town Council voted Monday to approve bonding $10 million for road and bridge improvements.

A public hearing was held on bonding for the road repairs, during which Town Council Chair Victoria Triano said two residents spoke in favor. Later, the council voted unanimously to go ahead with it.
“The town manager (Mark Sciota) requested that we bond $10 million for the next four years,” said Triano. “This is the third time we’ve done it and it has worked out well in the past.”
Triano said that Annette Turnquist, superintendent of roadways, explained how the town’s new system for road repairs “takes subjectivity out” of the decision about which roads are repaired and when.
“The roads are repaired based on their condition,” explained Triano. “We go out and check their condition and then assign them a numerical place. No one is getting favoritism on road construction. We now have a plan in place that will keep our roads viable and in order. Within three or four years, all of our roads will be looked at and brought to a high standard.”
Sciota has stated that his goal is to have a $10 million road bond every four years in town.
“From the public standpoint, roads are one of their top priorities,” he said. “We will prioritize road repairs based on the biggest need.”
Additionally, the town received a report from Michelle Passamano, the town’s head of human resources, on the diversity committee. Triano had pushed at the start of 2019 for the creation of the committee.
“Michelle said what I was hoping to hear - that we are going through all of our policies and procedures and ensuring that equity is maintained in Southington,” said Triano. “Everybody should be treated with equity and respect.”
Triano said the committee was established, in part, due to some negative perceptions about the town.
“Southington had always had the connotation that it was a ‘good ol’ boys’ network and that there was a lot of nepotism,” she said. “But, I can now say that I feel comfortable that we are watching our policies and that everything is being done above board.”
Triano added that although she and former chair Chris Palmieri had disagreed about some details regarding the commission, both were pleased by the conclusion that the committee had reached.

Waterbury intersection to close for construction
ANDREW LARSON
WATERBURY — Drivers won’t be able to pass through the intersection of Bank and Jackson streets for more than a week starting Wednesday morning because of construction.
The intersection near The Home Depot, 575 Bank St., will close at 8 a.m. Wednesday and is set to reopen March 6, the following Friday. During this time, sanitary storm drainage and water main work will be performed, mayoral adviser Judith Mancini said in a news release.
The work is part of the ongoing reconstruction of Jackson Street, a dead-end that connects Bank Street to a staging area for the state Department of Transportation’s Mixmaster rehabilitation project.
The city is overseeing a project to rebuild and extend Jackson Street to Freight Street, continuing to West Main Street. The work is part of the Waterbury Active Transportation and Economic Resurgence project, which includes a $14.4 million federal TIGER grant, along with $4.7 million from the city, creating a $19.1 million pot of money for initiatives on Freight, Meadow and Jackson streets.
TIGER is an acronym that stands for Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery. Waterbury was one of two cities in the state to receive the grant in 2014.
The work on Jackson Street is scheduled to be finished by the end of 2020.
Per the city’s contract with Guerrera Construction, substantial completion is expected by July 31 with final completion by Nov. 13. The Jackson Street improvements are budgeted to cost $5.3 million, including building the road and sidewalks, along with utility and drainage improvements.

 

CT Construction Digest Wednesday February 26, 2020

Lamont, town and city officials, agree on bonding for roads
Ken Dixon 
HARTFORD — Gov. Ned Lamont on Tuesday afternoon emerged from his Capitol office with representatives of town and city lobbying organizations, after a meeting where they agreed on getting $625 million in spring road-maintenance and municipal aid money approved by late next week.
“We’re pushing the legislature right now to get the ($1.5-billion) bond bill done by March 6,” Lamont said after the closed-door meeting. “If they can’t get the whole thing done by March 6, we have a special letter that went out to at least get the town road aid done by the 6th.”
At a minimum, Lamont wants the $625 million available to be allocated when the State Bond Commission meets in mid-March. He said that while the entire annual $1.5-billion legislation is close to being approved by legislative leaders, Lamont wants the road aid at the ready.The funding had been literally held hostage during the long-delayed discussion for the last nine months on trucks-only highway tolling. But now that Lamont’s toll proposal collapsed, he and leaders of the Connecticut Conference of Municipalities and the Council of Small Towns said expediting the annual funding is crucial to start to imminent spring and summer road-repair season.

Michael Freda, the North Haven first selectman who is the current president of the CCM, said the meeting with Lamont was productive. “These are critically important issues for municipalities,” Freda said. “Many of us have had maintenance projects that needed to be done that we could not afford to delay from a public safety standpoint. This was a good example today of a very efficient, positive meeting.”

“This is absolutely critical to making sure that our towns can go out to bid for projects that need to begin in the spring,” said Betsy Gara, executive director of COST.

Lamont said he and his budget staff is still contemplating where they will subtract about $200 million a year in expenses that would have been offset by tolling the largest trucks that will continue to travel through Connecticut without paying. In fact, out-of-state trucks contribute about $40 million in taxes and fees, that amounts to about $17,000 per truck.

Lamont told reporters that a now-failed Republican plan to finance his 10-year, $19-billion infrastructure proposal would have added another $700 million in long-term borrowing onto the backs of taxpayers. The current legislation will include $200 million in borrowing for highway and bridge work.

“We’re going to go over the bond bill in some detail before the Bond Commission meeting, we’ve got $1.5-billion in new allocations, so we’re going to be able to take care of the key needs,” Lamont said. “Borrowing money on the backs of taxpayers to pay for transportation was, let’s say, less than optimal...as opposed to having large tractor trailers, most of which come out of state to pay for it. That said, the legislature decided not to act. I’m going to act. We’re going to fix our transportation plan in a methodical way and I’m going to do it out of bonding.”

Developer says Hartford’s DoNo project could break ground in April
Joe Cooper
he Stamford developer of Hartford’s four Downtown North (DoNo) parcels on Tuesday said construction could begin on the mixed-use project sometime in April.
Randy Salvatore, founder and CEO of RMS Cos., said his development firm last week filed a site plan with the city of Hartford for “Parcel C” along Main Street, which aims to build about 270 apartment units, ground-level retail and a parking garage with 330 spaces on surface parking lots surrounding Dunkin’ Donuts Park.
Plans for the first phase of development, estimated at $46 million, have grown by about 30 or so residential units in recent weeks, city officials say. The quasi-public Capital Region Development Authority (CRDA) has pledged $12 million towards RMS' first-phase development.
“If all goes well with our approval process, I would expect that within the next six to eight weeks that you will start to see some activity on the site and we will be full blown into construction with the idea that this first phase of about 270 apartments would be delivered in about 18 months,” Salvatore said Tuesday morning at real estate promoter CREW CT’s breakfast-forum on planned development in downtown Hartford at the G. Fox Building.

“We are actively working on our final construction and architectural plans,” he told the crowd of developers, brokers, architectes and economic development officials.

Erin Howard, the city’s director of economic development, who also participated on CREW CT’s panel Tuesday, said the site plans submitted by Salvatore will now be considered for approval by the city’s Planning and Zoning Commission. A new rendering of the DoNo project will be available sometime next week, Howard said.
In an effort to meet residential market demands, Salvatore said living spaces at the estimated $200-million DoNo development -- housing up to 1,000 new apartments when the entire project is completed in the next six or so years -- will be “highly amenitized” with luxury features unseen in Hartford or across the state. In particular, Salvatore last month said he is committed to bringing a grocery store to “Parcel B” in the second phase of the development.
“Because of the fact that this building is on the other side of [Interstate] 84, I recognize that we need to provide a reason for residents to go across 84 and to live in this development,” he said. “That is so critical to residents today, particularly in urban areas, they are looking for everything that you can imagine.”
Salvatore, which the city selected as its preferred developer for the DoNo parcels, began to move forward with the project last summer after a Superior Court judge discharged the liens on the parcels around Dunkin’ Donuts Park. RMS has recently been at the site conducting inspections and other due-diligence work, city officials say.
Under Mayor Luke Bronin’s leadership, the Stamford developer, who broke into downtown when he bought and redeveloped downtown’s Hartford’s historic Goodwin Hotel in recent years, said he views Hartford as a “development friendly” city that encourages community feedback and collaboration.
“They understand the process and what it takes in order for development to happen,” he said. “You need to get community buy-in to get community input in order to develop a successful project.”
He continued: “That process, that we have gone through, been at it for the past few years … has been an amazing process and the result has been a project that is a lot better than what originally I envisioned for it … .”

Old Mystic bridge closure may be permanent
Joe Wojtas
Mystic — After 10 years of unsuccessful efforts to repair and reopen the closed North Stonington Road bridge, it appears it will stay closed permanently.
That’s because the town of Stonington, which tentatively had appropriated money for its $318,000 share of the work over the past years, has decided not to do so in the proposed 2020-21 budget due to other capital project needs. The money was removed from the budget in past years after Groton failed to appropriate its share.
Meanwhile, the town of Groton, which has appropriated money in two years Stonington did not, does plan to include its $318,000 share for the bridge in Town Manager John Burt’s proposed 2020-21 budget.
The bridge was closed in 2010 after a March flood damaged the small span that connects the two towns and frequently was used by the Old Mystic Fire Department North Stonington Road station to respond to calls. A previous project to repair the bridge was stopped when the contractor doing the work discovered the damage was much more extensive than thought by the engineering firm that designed the work. The two towns since have been unable to agree in the same years to appropriate the money needed to gain state funding for the remaining 50% of the project.
Burt said Tuesday that he decided to include funding in the 2020-21 budget because he has been “receiving many calls/comments/emails from residents asking about the bridge in the last few months, many more than I have in the last couple of years."
“I think people realize the state funding portion of the project won’t be there forever. People have also expressed concerns about delays for the trucks from Old Mystic Fire to get around without the bridge. The route they have to take without the bridge includes a sharp angle,” he said.
Stonington First Selectwoman Danielle Chesebrough said Tuesday that last spring the Board of Finance, of which she was a member at the time, had agreed that would be the last time it would allocate money for the bridge because of other projects that would be coming up in the 2020-21 and beyond.
Chesebrough’s proposed budget includes $15,000 to close the bridge permanently.
She added that in past years, the town has been able to use some of its undesignated fund surplus to help pay for additional capital improvements but the town can’t do that this year without endangering its bond rating.
Chesebrough’s decision came as 100 Old Mystic residents submitted a petition this week to the finance board calling on it to restore the funding to fix the bridge.
“If Stonington officials think that our lack of complaints over the years equaled a lack of concern or interest, they would be mistaken. Instead, we have had confidence, so far misplaced, over these past 10 years since the bridge was damaged by flooding that the two towns would work together to get this done. Instead, we’ve seen a see-saw of financial commitment and withdrawal,” the petition letter states.
“It’s hard to understand just what is going on, especially when the state DOT has consistently been willing over the years to fund one-half the project, offering an estimated $600,000. But we are told Groton officials are concerned the state might decide not to fund half the project in the future, which realistically would mean it would never be done. This may be a last chance,” the letter added.
The residents also warned Stonington officials that the letter is “to serve notice that Stonington and its officials would share responsibility should there be unnecessarily serious damage, injury or loss of life if fire trucks are delayed in reaching us because of the closed bridge. To us, the closed bridge is more than an inconvenience and an eyesore. We expect officials of both towns to take this seriously, because we certainly do.”
Chesebrough said she felt it was time for the town to make a final decision on the bridge instead of going back and forth each year. She said residents could ask the Board of Finance to restore money for the bridge at the April 9 public hearing on the budget.
Chesebrough said she understands the frustration of residents who live near the bridge and feel it is a safety hazard, as well as the longtime concerns of Old Mystic Fire Chief Ken Richards, who said the closure delays his department's response to calls, greatly increases the distance to a fire hydrant in the area around the bridge and creates a safety hazard for his trucks trying to turn onto Route 27 near the Old Mystic General store. But she said she is trying to balance all of the pressing needs facing the town.
She added that later this year, she expects the town will have to ask residents to approve up to a $10 million bond to fund needed upgrades to the towns’ sewer system and treatment plants.
She said she already has eliminated $2.5 million in capital improvement projects and expects the finance board to cut up to another $2 million.
Other projects being considered for capital improvement funding include $1.5 million for sidewalks throughout town, including along Route 1 in Pawcatuck; $180,000 in new police cruisers, and $60,000 to partly pay for installing dashboard cameras in cruisers; $1 million in sewer system upgrades; $100,000 for a climate change program; $200,000 for repairs to West Broad Street School, and numerous repairs, including $2.6 million for heating and air conditioning units, at the middle and high schools.
A total of $377,500 also is in the proposed capital budget to pay to replace the Lantern Hill Road bridge. Chesebrough said that work is needed because if the road has to be closed, there would be a lengthy detour for emergency vehicles.


 

 

CT Construction Digest Tuesday February 25, 2020

Legislators who opposed tolls want transit spending in their districts
Mark Pazniokas
A bipartisan group of lawmakers, many of whom helped block Gov. Ned Lamont’s plan to increase funding for transportation with truck tolls, called on the governor and legislature Monday to deliver millions of dollars in improvements to the Waterbury Line of Metro North.
“We’re done talking. We want action,” said House Minority Leader Themis Klarides, R-Derby. “The state of Connecticut needs this, not just the region that we’re from. It needs it, because it will push the state forward.”
At a press conference and then at a public hearing before the legislature’s Transportation Committee, legislators and municipal officials made a compelling case for investing at least $250 million in mass transit in the corridor running from Bridgeport to Waterbury and beyond.
“It was an impressive showing, no doubt,” Rep. Roland J. Lemar, D-New Haven, the committee co-chair, told the last of the legislative witnesses. “We all believe that investments in transportation pay off.” 
Then he smiled and added that reaching a consensus on investment is easy, while agreeing on how to finance those investments is not.
“It’s frustrating that folks have trouble connecting those two things,” Lemar said.
Every lawmaker who testified at the public hearing in support of Naugatuck Valley transportation investments was opposed to tolls, and no one suggested sources of new revenue that could subsidize an expansion of rail service through their districts. 

The lawmakers want the state to invest $150 million in rail cars and a maintenance facility.

 Max Reiss, the communications director for the governor, said Lamont is in complete agreement with the lawmakers on the potential for improved rail service and transit-oriented development to spur economic growth around six stations on the 27-mile Waterbury Line.“No governor in Connecticut history has proposed the kind of infrastructure improvements for the Waterbury Line that were proposed by Gov. Lamont,” Reiss said.
But, as Reiss noted, the governor’s proposed transportation investments for the Naugatuck Valley came with a call for new revenue, originally tolls on all motor vehicles and, more recently, only on tractor trailers at a dozen highway bridges.
CT2030, the governor’s transportation infrastructure plan, called for more than $19 billion in improvements that the administration says are necessary over the next decade to return roads and bridges to a state of good repair and shorten car and rail commute times.
Last week, the governor effectively walked away from truck tolls after Senate Democrats postponed a tentative vote. With House and Senate Democrats refusing to go first on a tolls vote, Lamont said he was moving on to alternatives. A short-term fix is likely to be reserving at least $200 million in general-obligation borrowing for transportation, a step that will squeeze funds for other capital projects.
Truck tolls would not have contributed directly to rail improvements: The plan abandoned last week called for toll gantries on a dozen highway bridges, with the revenue restricted to paying for debt service on repairs to those structures. But new funding for bridges would ease demands on the state’s underfunded Special Transportation Fund, which uses taxes on fuel and  motor vehicles, as well as various transportation-related fees, to pay for other transportation operating and capital costs.
Sen. Joan Hartley, D-Waterbury, said at the press conference that the Waterbury Line is deserving of a greater share of existing transportation investments.

“There has been far too long that this rail has not be tended to,” Hartley said. “And so, that’s an issue of parity.”With or without new revenue, the state should be pursuing low-cost financing from the federal Railroad Rehabilitation and Improvement Financing program, which has been making railroad infrastructure loans since 2002, Hartley said.

Railroad operators have shied away from the program, citing upfront applications costs and uncertain timelines for approval, according to a report published by the Congressional Research Service in January 2018. Of the 37 loans made, two-thirds were executed prior to 2008, and only four have been approved since 2012. 
Lemar, a mass-transit advocate who often takes the train from New Haven to Hartford, said it was encouraging to hear so many legislators extolling the virtue of transit-oriented development.
Mayor N. Warren “Pete” Hess III of Naugatuck said developers have identified nearly 240 acres of developable land within a half-mile of the six stations on the Waterbury Line. With the appropriate transit investments, the region could become an economic engine, he said.
The state already has invested $90 million in a positive control safety system on the line, he said.
“Your investment is totally wasted if we don’t have the trains. We can’t make it happen,” Hess said. “We can’t have TOD, we can’t have what everyone else has with the train cars.”
Collectively, Democrats and Republicans have proposed five transportation financing plans, though none has come to floor vote in either the House or Senate.  Lamont originally proposed a comprehensive tolls system for cars and trucks that could have raised as much as $800 million annually. It was downsized twice, ending with a trucks-only plan raising about $175 million.
The GOP has declined to support any plans with tolls — or any other form of new revenue.  

 

Republicans first proposed setting aside a major portion of the state’s borrowing for transportation. Then they suggested using about $1.6 billion of the state’s $2.5 billion budget reserve to pay down pension debt, allowing the state to shift money needed for annual pension contributions to transportation.
“No caucus has had a bill they were able to get through,” said House Majority Leader Matt Ritter, D-Hartford. “If we all agree transportation is a problem, we all should share in the failure of that.”

Tenants sought for mixed-use development in Cheshire
Michelle Tuccitto Sullo
A 107-acre tract in Cheshire along the I-691 corridor has been branded as Stone Bridge Crossing and is now being advertised as available for lease for a variety of potential uses, including for a hotel, assisted living, restaurant, retail space and residences.
The currently wooded property at the town’s north end has long been eyed as prime real estate for potential development because of its proximity to both I-691 and I-84. Over the last few years, prior plans, such as for a shopping plaza, never came to fruition.
Last summer, Miller Napolitano Wolff LLC and Tri-Star Development LLC secured approval from the town’s Planning & Zoning Commission to subdivide the land, at 1953 and 2037 Highland Ave., into eight lots.
Recently, a large sign was posted on Highland Avenue (Route 10) to bring attention to and market the development. It advertises potential occupancy as early as 2021. Charter Realty & Development of Westport is serving as the leasing agent.
The developers are advertising opportunities for assisted living, retail/restaurant, urgent care, a convenience store/gas station and hotel on the eastern side of the acreage, off Highland Avenue. The project also includes 300 multifamily residential units near I-691.
The Ten Mile River runs through the property. According to plans on file at Town Hall, the western portion of the property is bounded by Dickerman Road. Plans are for a residential development off Dickerman Road, with the central space near the river to remain undeveloped. New roads and walking trails are also part of the plan.
The property is among the first in Cheshire encountered by motorists traveling south on Highland Ave./Route 10 from Southington or taking Exit 3 off I-691.
“It is seen as an important gateway, right at the [691] interchange,” said Town Planner William S. Voelker. “It invites a lot of interest, and we are keeping our fingers crossed that good things will happen there.”
According to Voelker, while the subdivision is approved, the town had not received any applications for a specific development as of this week. Prospective property users would have to come back for site plan review and approval before any construction could begin, he said.

“The subdivision approval was meant to be flexible in terms of acreage and what is needed for the sites,” Voelker said.

Therefore, if particular tenants want more or less acreage, the lot sizes can be tweaked.
Miller Napolitano Wolff LLC bought the property for about $1.4 million in 2005, town records show.

Blowback for Democrats?
For the foreseeable future, tolling will not return to Connecticut’s highways. Gov. Ned Lamont, arguably the foremost proponent of tolling, last week threw in the towel on the limited tolling plan he and the legislature’s Democratic majority leaders agreed to in November. Gov. Lamont, also a Democrat, doubted votes on the plan would take place.
The tolling debacle may prove devastating for Democrats in this legislative-election year.
Connecticut’s Special Transportation Fund (STF), established in 1984 to ensure the availability of money for transportation-infrastructure improvements, is in trouble. The STF may be insolvent within five years, the Connecticut Mirror reported last week. Since the mid-1980s, Capitol politicians of both parties, including Gov. Lamont and the current legislative majorities, have siphoned more than $1 billion from the STF. The STF long has been financed via fuel taxes and fees. Certain sales-tax receipts have been dedicated to it in recent years.
Ever since his 2018 campaign, Gov. Lamont had advocated instituting some form of tolling on Connecticut’s highways. In 2019, the governor offered a number of proposals. Generally speaking, Connecticut stakeholders were resistant to tolling, and that was predictable. As this column has been quick to note, the STF’s woes stem from the incompetence and/or spinelessness of politicians. Accordingly, a revival of tolling, which was phased out between 1983 and 1989, would amount to asking the people to pay for something they already paid for, and to clean up a mess they did not make.
With history being what it is, Gov. Lamont and his legislative allies should have intuitively grasped that tolling would be a non-starter. If they had, it is possible an alternative transportation plan would have been worked out some time ago. As we argued in a May 26 editorial, the fairest course would have been to use the General Fund to reimburse the STF for the $1 billion-plus that has been siphoned from it over the last three decades.
Sure, that would not have been easy to do: former Gov. Dannel P. Malloy’s and legislative Democrats’ 2017 pact with the State Employees Bargaining Agent Coalition has burdened the General Fund. Nonetheless, Gov. Lamont argued in 2018 that as organized labor’s candidate, he would be well-positioned to obtain meaningful concessions. House Speaker Joe Aresimowicz, D-Berlin, a tolls supporter, works as an education coordinator for the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees.
In the final analysis, the prolonged push for tolling was a waste of time and energy brought to Connecticut by Gov. Lamont and Democratic legislative leaders. This may cause headaches for Democrats come November, when all 187 legislative seats are up for election. Indeed, Republicans had notable successes in the 2014 and 2016 legislative elections. This resulted in a tie in the Senate and the narrowest of working majorities for House Democrats, when the legislature convened in January 2017.

Naugatuck Valley leaders make case for Waterbury rail line
PAUL HUGHES REPUBLICAN-AMERICAN
HARTFORD — Leaders from the Naugatuck Valley on Monday pushed hard for additional state funding for the Waterbury branch line of the Metro-North Railroad.
Naugatuck Mayor N. Warren “Pete” Hess and Waterbury Mayor Neil M. O’Leary told state lawmakers on the Transportation Committee that much of the economic future of the Naugatuck Valley corridor rides on upgrading the rail line and expanding commuter service on it.
The two mayors testified on legislation that proposes to direct the state Department of Transportation to recommend a schedule of rail infrastructure projects for the Transportation Committee’s consideration in the 2021 legislative session.
Regarding the Waterbury branch line, Hess told committee members that action, not another study, is what is needed now.
“We don’t need a study. This has already been studied five times. The studies said we should have what we are asking for,” he testified.
Local officials, state legislators and business leaders from the Naugatuck Valley are supporting a request for $150 million for purchasing new locomotives and rail cars, plus another $40 million for developing a rail maintenance yard.
Rep. Larry B. Butler, D-72nd District, testified that legislators from Naugatuck Valley communities have supported funding for improvements and rail cars for other commuter rail lines over the years.
“Now, we’re saying it is our turn,” the Waterbury legislator said.
DOT Commissioner Joseph Giulietti testified that he is aware of that sentiment, but offered no commitments Monday.
An upgraded Waterbury branch line and improved train service will unlock the enormous potential for transit-oriented development along the Naugatuck Valley corridor that will economically benefit both the 19-town region and the state, said Rep. Rosa C. Rebimbas, R-Naugatuck, co-chairwoman of the bipartisan Waterbury Rail Line Caucus.
The state government has already committed $90 million to an ongoing project to install signalization, positive train control and sidings on the Waterbury branch line to allow for two-way train service. The completion date is June 2021.
Hess and O’Leary said the state needs to increase commuter service on the rail line to follow-up on that sizable financial commitment.
“Your investment is totally wasted if we don’t have the trains,” Hess said.Advocates of the Waterbury branch line say eight locomotives and 24 rail cars are needed to meet its long-term service needs. They estimate those additions would allow for trains to run roughly every 30 minutes during the morning and afternoon peak hours and every 60 minutes during off-peak hours.Hess said delivery of new locomotives and rail cars will take four to five years once ordered, a timeline that DOT officials confirmed Monday.
More immediately, O’Leary and Hess said there needs to be one new southbound train added in the morning and a northbound train in the evening.
“We lack the number of trains needed in peak commute times. The biggest fear of passengers is missing a connection. If you miss a connection, you wait two hours or more for the next train,” said O’Leary, the chairman of the Naugatuck Valley Council of Governments.
There are approximately 1,000 daily riders, and ridership increased by 34% after Metro-North added one new inbound trip to the morning peak hours commute last year, said Rep. Ronald A. Napoli, D-73rd District.

CT Construction Digest Monday February 24, 2020

With CT tolls debate on ice, fiscal issues loom large
Keith M. Phaneuf
Connecticut’s tolls debate may be over for now, but that lull only means Gov. Ned Lamont and legislators now must resolve a daunting list of fiscal challenges left in its wake.
Absent toll receipts from large trucks, what other measures will be needed to keep the transportation program solvent for the rest of the decade?
Will Lamont, who eased his proposed debt diet to win support for tolls, again try to tighten the purse strings? 
And will lawmakers respond by again attempting to seize control of Connecticut’s credit card?
“I’ve lost patience,” the governor said last week as he announced the tolls bill had fallen into political limbo. “We’re going to fix our transportation plan, and we’re ready to work with anybody who has a constructive alternative.”
Fixing the Special Transportation Fund
What does that mean?
For the short term, the governor said, it involves shifting priorities.

On paper, the budget’s Special Transportation Fund — which repays the borrowing that sustains highway, bridge and rail upgrades —  is in fine shape, projected to run modest surpluses through 2024.But appearances can be deceiving.

Those numbers only hold up if Connecticut keeps fixing infrastructure at its current pace that barely maintains a state of good repair — and leaves very little for strategic projects that enhance traffic flow.
The transportation fund currently supports roughly $800 million per year in state borrowing, which in turns leverages about $750 million in matching federal grants.
But DOT officials say as aging, overcrowded highways and bridges demand more costly repairs, $1.5 billion-to-$1.6 billion won’t get the job done, and something closer to $2 billion per year will be needed.
Based on that assumption, the transportation fund hits insolvency around 2025 or 2026.
As a stop-gap measure, Lamont said he favors taking about $200 million in borrowing supported by the budget’s General Fund — borrowing currently used to support school construction, conservation efforts, state building maintenance and economic development — and shifting that to transportation.
‘I hate to do it this way’
“I hate to do it this way,” Lamont said. “It’s bonding in place of other things that are priorities, but right now there’s no other option on the table.”

But another $200 million per year isn’t a long-term fix. It only postpones insolvency for a few more years, administration officials say.

Truck toll receipts would have added $150 million-to-$200 million per year.
Equally important, they would have helped Connecticut qualify for low-interest federal transportation loans.
This means Connecticut could have borrowed significantly more for infrastructure repairs.
If legislators won’t consider tolls, they could consider raising fuel taxes for the first time in seven years.
But Connecticut has two taxes that impact the price of gasoline — not to mention one of the highest fuel tax burdens in the nation.
When distributors bring fuel to local gas stations, the state applies an 8.1% wholesale tax. [A state-approved surcharge effectively raises the rate to 8.81%.] 
This equates to nearly 15 cents per gallon, based on current wholesale prices, according to the according to the Connecticut Energy Marketers Association. But when oil prices skyrocketed in 2007 and 2008, the tax generated as much as 26 cents per gallon.

Regardless of the amount, gasoline station owners say they build the entire cost into the base price charged motorists, who also face a flat, 25-cents-per-gallon retail tax.The wholesale tax last increased in 2013, following a schedule adopted in 2005. The retail tax last was changed in 2000, when legislators and then-Gov. John G. Rowland lowered it from 32 to 25 cents per gallon.

Neither Lamont nor any legislators have proposed any fuel tax hikes to date this year. The governor often has said tolls and other user fees were more reliable than increasing gasoline taxes, given the increasing fuel efficiency of vehicles.
The two fuel taxes together provide roughly half of the revenue for the $1.73 billion Special Transportation Fund.
Another option to mitigate the absent of toll receipts would be to increase sales tax revenues dedicated to transportation.
The sales tax currently provides about 30% of the STF’s revenues, and legislators passed a bipartisan plan in 2017 to increase that share steadily through the mid-2020s.
Lamont and his fellow Democrats in the legislature voted in June to scale back that increase, and Senate Minority Leader Len Fasano, R-North Haven, said officials should not deviate from that schedule any further.
More importantly, the tolls-centered transportation plan Lamont supports also was counting on sales tax transfers to the STF to ramp up again in 2022, jumping by more than $180 million that year.

In other words, maintaining that transfer plan wouldn’t push off the projected insolvency of the transportation fund. It just would stop it from happening even sooner.

‘Debt diet’ debate is far from overAnd there’s also no guarantee legislators will accept the governor’s proposal to redirect $200 million in bonding away from non-transportation projects and into highways, bridges and rail lines.
Connecticut has one of the highest debt burdens, per capita, of any state, prompting Lamont 13 months ago to propose a “debt diet.”
The governor relented two weeks ago, proposing $1.77 billion in new general obligation bonding for this fiscal year — borrowing to bevrepaid out of the budget’s General Fund and not the STF.
That was more than $400 million beyond what the governor wanted, much of its focused on economic development priorities of Democratic legislators. And administration officials made it clear this was an olive branch to build support for tolls.
Now that tolls are on hold, sources say the “debt diet” is back in play.
Sen. John Fonfara, D-Hartford, co-chairman of the Finance, Revenue and Bonding Committee, said he hopes the administration’s bonding proposal from two weeks ago is still on the table.
“I take the administration at its word,” the Hartford lawmaker said. “I thought those decisions were based in good [borrowing] policy.”

Fonfara, who says bonding is a key tool for economic development and to help poor communities in lean fiscal times,  introduced a bill last year that would have wrested control of the State Bond Commission from the Executive Branch and given it to the legislature. 

 It sailed through the finance committee, but legislative leaders then tabled it and instead tried to negotiate a middle ground with Lamont.But if the bonding debate gets heated, the Democratic governor may have allies on the other side of the aisle.
Senate and House Republicans have argued for the past decade that state borrowing is too high, and Fasano warned last fall that if Democrats sent a bloated borrowing plan to Lamont — and if the governor vetoed it — Senate Republicans would not support an override.
“I would still hold to that position,” Fasano said. Democrats lack the two-thirds’ majority needed to override a veto by themselves.
“I think the Republicans recognize we have to prioritize and keep borrowing within our limits, keep it as lean as possible,” added Rep. Chris Davis of Ellington, ranking House Republican on the finance committee.
The battle over the state’s credit card also extends to borrowing for school construction. And sources said another dispute between Lamont and legislators — which was put on hold during the tolls debate — is now coming to the forefront.
Who controls borrowing for school construction?
Legislators from both parties balked last November when the administration unilaterally moved the Office of School Construction Grants and Review  — which annually oversees hundreds of millions of dollars in construction grants to school districts — from the Department of Administrative Services and into the Office of Policy and Management. A high-profile agency that houses the governor’s budget staff, OPM is seen as closely involved with implementing the administration’s political agenda.

Critics said the move threatens a process that not only works well, but has traditionally been immune from politics.

“This reeks of politics,” Deputy House Minority Leader Vincent J. Candelora, R-North Branford, said at the time. “There is not a good reason to make this move.”Administration officials said the move only was about increasing efficiency, but conceded it would require legislative approval, and submitted a bill this month to retroactively endorse the switch.
But the legislature’s Education Committee raised a bill this week to block it. Though full language hasn’t been drafted, the bill’s title starts with  “An Act Prohibiting the Transfer of School Construction from DAS to OPM.”
This consternation surrounding the transfer comes at a time when the flow of money funding new school construction projects or major renovations has been significantly scaled back in recent years. The administration has insisted that this is the result of making sure that only projects that are close to being shovel-ready are brought before the legislature for approval, and eventually by the State Bond Commission.
But Kostantinos Diamantis — who heads the school construction unit — told the Education Committee that the downturn is going to continue because of a “self-imposed cap” of about $400 million in grants per year.

Dan Haar: With tolls plan shelved, Lamont frees up delayed town aid
Dan Haar
Another piece of the tolls meltdown story fell into place Friday afternoon as Gov. Ned Lamont publicly instructed his budget chief to draw up a municipal aid bond package worth $625 million, no later than March 6.
That means finally, after waiting for their money since July 1, cities and towns no longer have to watch the train wreck of a tolls debate unfold with their money for local roads, school contruction and other infrastructure projects hanging in the balance.It appears that Friday’s happy news for the towns stemmed from a lunch event in Southington Wednesday — the same afternoon when Lamont angrily pulled the plug on the troubled plan to toll heavy trucks. Without tolls, Lamont has said all along, the state will have to borrow an extra $200 million a year for state bridge and highway work. That left a lot of bonding projects — and town aid — swinging in the wind.
The governor put off the towns’ howls as long as he could, all the while promising they’d be made whole. It now appears that the $150 million in town road aid and local capital improvement grants will be on a State Bond Commission agenda in early March, if the legislature approves the request as expected.
Another $475 million in school construction money — less than the typical annual amount because the needs are less — is also headed for final approval. All of it would come barely in time for the towns to gather bids for the upcoming build-it and pave-it season.
Some have waited patiently with understanding, others with anger and frustration. Many of them gathered at the Aqua Turf in Southington for the annual meeting of the Connecticut Council of Small Towns.
And who came to that annual meeting as the lunch speaker to face those local folks? Yes, it was Lamont.
The governor wasn’t crushed by an angry mob, Betsy Gara, executive director of the council, told me Friday.
“They just pointed out that these were the projects that were being held up and how important it was for these projects to move forward,” she said. “It does seem as though he heard us.”
Loudly. By no coincidence, less than two hours after he returned to the Capitol, Lamont summoned reporters to his office to announce enough was enough.
At least one key senator needed for the 18-vote total was wavering that afternoon. And the House and Senate continued to bicker about who would have to vote first, and whether they could split the tolls bill in two, like King Solomon’s baby.
Friday’s announcement freeing up the town money was Lamont’s way of telling the towns he’s on their side even as the lawmakers they sent to Hartford put their money in harm’s way. He could have done this earlier, but it was part of his leverage to prod a vote on tolls. “We are now eight months into the fiscal year without solutions to our transportation needs and a bond package. No longer can our cities and towns wait,” Lamont said in a letter Friday afternoon to Melissa McCaw, his budget chief.
Later Friday, McCaw, secretary of the Office of Policy and Management, released a proposed bill and letters to legislators saying she hopes to schedule a bond commission meeting by March 18.
The fight now is over whether Lamont will keep non-transportation bonding at $1.7 billion, or lop off $200 million to feed transportation in the absence of tolls, as he indicated he would do Wednesday. Even the $1.7 billion was a compromise, more than Lamont wanted to commit but less than former Gov. Dannel P. Malloy’s average of just over $2 billion.
Democrats and some Republicans have pressured Lamont to ease up on his so-called debt diet, and free up more money for the projects they want to tout in their re-election campaigns.
You know, a park here, a refurbished train station there, a job training program over yonder, maybe some strategically placed housing money for a city. It’s the grease of politics in more ways than one as we the people spend, and maybe benefit.
Those battles will have to wait for another day. For now, the town aid that was tied to tolls for the better part of a year is seemingly in the clear — probably due to Lamont’s midday trip to Southington.
“This is huge for towns. It’s a wonderful way to usher in the spring,” said Gara, who didn’t speculate on Lamont’s motives in the tolls issue.
In a press release minutes later, she added, “Towns are now breathing a huge sigh of relief because funding will be available soon so that towns can go out to bid.”
That’s the operations part of the story — they could wait no more. The political part is that a governor who has failed to see his signature policy enacted is learning that in fractured, little Connecticut, a direct hand to towns is almost as important as a strong arm over lawmakers.

DEEP: No plans for new boat launch at Haddam state park
Cassandra Day
HADDAM — Boaters nurturing hopes for a second launch at Eagle Landing State Park on the banks of the Connecticut River near the East Haddam Swing Bridge may be disappointed to learn the state says it’s not happening any time soon.
There’s also increasing concern among boaters who put their crafts in at Haddam Meadows, on Route 154 / Saybrook Road that the ramp leading to the water is filling in, as the extensive sandbar pushes south toward the shoreline.
“While some routine maintenance to address the issues associated with the expanding sandbar area may be considered over the next year or so, there is no plan for major rehabilitation of the launch at Haddam Meadows or a second boat launch at that site,” according to state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection Communications Director Kristina Rozek.

“Every once in a while, this rumor pops up, and people call and they talk about it, but I don’t where it’s coming from,” said Capt. Mark Yuknat, who co-owns Haddam-based Connecticut River Expeditions with his wife Mindy. He pilots the eco-tour vessel RiverQuest.

“Sometimes it comes up to the forefront a little bit, then it gets knocked down again,” he said.
Yukmat said the area gets crowded once boating season gets underway.
Many walk out on the sandbar to dip their toes into the water, enjoy refreshments, and take in the view with family and friends under the warm sun from summer to fall. The shoal is growing mostly toward Haddam Island State Park, he said.
Years ago, the DEEP purchased Eagle Landing “with an eye toward potentially using part of it as a boat launching facility, but, at this time, there have been no plans to conduct any improvements that would include a boat launch,” Rozek said.
Eagle Landing is named for America’s national bird, which gather in the area during the winter. It features 16 acres of Connecticut River frontage, and a dock that hosts scenic and bird watching tours, according to the DEEP.
Yuknak is very familiar with the area.
“My big concern about Eagle Landing is the traffic issue: trying to get good-sized boats and trailers out of there with the bridge traffic that stops a lot when the bridge opens up. Then you have a train crossing right there and a busy store (Goodspeed’s Station Country Store) right across the street,” the captain said. “In my opinion, it would be a whole lot cheaper just to occasionally dredge that out right near the launch area than it would be to build an entirely new one in a different park,” Yukmat added.
For information, visit the DEEP site at ct.gov/deep

Developer eyes second project attempt on fiercely guarded Avon golf course land
Matt Pilon
IMBYism runs rampant in some Connecticut communities, but a well-organized Avon citizen group with deeper-than-average pockets has taken the “not-in-my-backyard” approach to a new level and notched several recent victories.
However, the biggest test yet may be ahead for the activist organization, called Save Nod Road, whose opposition helped block a major single-family housing development and more recently, a senior-living facility along the bucolic two-lane road for which the group is named.
Simsbury developer Anthony Giorgio, whose plans to build 95 upscale single-family homes on a portion of Blue Fox Run golf course were dashed by stiff local opposition and a zone-change denial last September, says he’s plotting a comeback.
Giorgio, managing director of The Keystone Companies LLC, told HBJ he is negotiating the purchase of 52 acres from Blue Fox Run, a deal he hopes to close by April.

The course, which would likely shrink from 27 to 18 holes if the deal goes through, would use the proceeds to make improvements, according to Giorgio, who said he hasn’t yet settled on his next development proposal for the land.

He’s keeping his options close to the vest for now. However, he’s not planning another large-scale, single-family home development.
“Obviously we can’t go down that path again,” Giorgio said. “I’m not going to go into that quagmire.”
Another option Giorgio was considering until recently was a retirement community. However, another developer’s plan to build age-restricted, 55-plus condos just down the road from the golf course also faced local resistance.
Nebraska-based developer Cameron General Contractors recently floated the age-restricted housing plan but ultimately abandoned the site, following a cool reception from some planning board members who felt the project would be too dense. A preliminary project meeting last fall was also attended by dozens of Save Nod Road members, signaling a difficult fight ahead for the project, said David Richman, a Save Nod Road board member.

“There was so much opposition [Cameron General Contractors] heard from the board that they decided ‘we’re not going to do it,’ ” Richman recounted.

A Cameron official confirmed the firm is pursuing other sites in town for its 55-plus development, but declined to comment on its reasoning for shelving the Nod Road location.
Giorgio is a longtime developer whose resume includes the $40-million Dorset Crossing mixed-use project in Avon, Stonebridge Estate luxury condos in West Hartford, and manufacturing and bioscience facilities in Pennsylvania, Florida and elsewhere.
He said Save Nod Road members are likely to oppose whatever he ultimately pitches, but he also isn’t willing to give up on his hopes for Blue Fox Run.
”We do believe that it’s a very good piece of developable property and we’ve invested a lot of money in it already,” he said. “I think there’s always an opportunity to do something. It’s a question of how it’s packaged and how it’s presented.”

Lisa Wilson-Foley, who owns the golf course, could not be reached for comment.

Save Nod Road is a bit more official than loosely organized groups that crop up in many towns to oppose a particular project.
It won nonprofit status in 2018, and since then, Save Nod Road Preservation Inc. has raised approximately $100,000, according to president Chris Carville, who owns the Pickin’ Patch, a 353-year-old farm on Nod Road that’s among the oldest in the state.
It used some of that money to hire attorneys and other experts during the fight against Giorgio’s housing proposal, Richman said.
The nonprofit’s mission is to promote and expand permanent land preservation and responsible land management and protect wildlife in the Farmington Valley.

While Carville declined to discuss what, if any, hypothetical Nod Road developments the group may support, he said members oppose any projects on Blue Fox Run.

Another major concern the group has is traffic.
Richman, the Save Nod Road board member, moved to a condo community located just off Nod Road a few years ago.
Since then, he said he has seen traffic backups grow at both ends of the long thoroughfare, which drivers use to cut between Routes 10 and 44.
“The area as a whole cannot absorb any more traffic,” Richman said.

Even if nothing is ever built again on Nod Road, he predicts traffic will continue to increase, due to other nearby developments, such as the massive Avon Village Center mixed-use project now under construction just a few miles away down Route 44, which will be anchored by Whole Foods.

Richman, a commercial real estate investor-landlord and health insurance benefits broker by trade, said he sees no irony in his opposition to development on his street, which many would characterize as NIMBYism.
“I’m pro development,” he insisted. “It’s about smart development and it’s also about where it is.”

Reluctance to vote on controversial issue and mistrust among Democrats sank Gov. Ned Lamont’s toll plan
Christopher Keating
A reluctance to vote on a controversial issue in an election year and mistrust among Democratic legislators ultimately helped sink Gov. Ned Lamont’s signature issue of electronic highway tolls.The grassroots organization No Tolls CT drummed up opposition around the state as legislators rejected Lamont’s first plan for tolls on all vehicles and then more recently failed take up a revised proposal for truck-only tolls on 12 bridges across the state.No Tolls CT did not provide any detailed alternatives to solving the state’s transportation infrastructure problems and instead simply focused on stopping tolls in an ultimately winning strategy.“All they said was no, no, no," Lamont said Wednesday, when he told reporters he was ending his ending his efforts to push for tolls. "So that plays right into a building that is happy to do nothing.”While Lamont has come to personify the issue, there is plenty of blame going around at the state Capitol as top Democratic leaders were unable to cobble together the votes and deliver on tolls to help fund a 10-year, $19.1 billion plan to fix the state’s aging transportation infrastructure.“I think we all failed,” said House Speaker Joe Aresimowicz, who outside of the Capitol is the Berlin High School football coach. “I’m a grown man. I look at my football kids, and I say, ‘When you mess up, you say what you did wrong. When you fail, you failed.' We all failed, and we’re going to try to get it better the next time. ... We have bridges in failing conditions. We have roads that need repairs, and we have to find a way to pay for it.”Despite public assurances from Democratic leaders, rank-and-file legislators in the House and Senate did not believe that lawmakers in the other chamber had the votes needed to pass Lamont’s truck-only toll bill. As a result, neither chamber would commit to voting on the bill first, fearing it would not pass in the other chamber and they would be on the record, in an election year, for having voting for tolls even though the bill ultimately failed.That lack of trust set off highly unusual scenarios calling for debating the bill simultaneously — like two scared friends holding hands when they jump together into a pool. Democrats also considered splitting Lamont’s proposed 12 overhead toll gantries into two bills — with six gantries in each bill — in a scenario that would force legislators to vote twice. Senate President Pro Tem Martin Looney of New Haven told reporters he had even proposed a coin flip to determine which chamber would debate the issue first. He said House Democrats declined.Lamont, a lifelong business executive who never served in the Capitol before becoming governor, deferred to legislative leaders as they tried to find a way to vote on the bill that was palpable to their members.“I thought it was a little weird, but I didn’t care because they were going to vote,” Lamont said. “You can vote simultaneously. You can vote one after the other. You can vote six here and six there. What do I care? Vote. Make up your mind.”But in the end, the legislature never voted.Both Republicans and Democrats had predicted that the chances for tolls would decrease sharply if the vote was pushed into the 2020 election year. Proponents had been seeking a vote before the regular legislative session started on Feb. 5, but that was delayed once again.Patrick Sasser, the founder and leading spirit behind No Tolls CT, repeated the group’s mantra of “vote for tolls, lose at the polls.” While some lawmakers dismissed that slogan, others took it seriously as they said they did not want to face the political wrath of their constituents.Wheeling and dealing

State Rep. Josh Elliott, D-Hamden, said tolls might have been approved if Lamont had done more horse-trading behind the scenes to sweeten the pot for legislators and close the deal.“One of the things that [former Gov. Dannel P.] Malloy was good at was using the power of the Bond Commission to get votes,” he said. “I think that Ned has taken that tool away from himself by saying the state is on a debt diet" to reduce borrowing.“He changes the whole dynamic if he can cut deals,” Elliott said. “That sort of granular tactic never happened, as far as I can tell. If you want to get these deals done, you have to do everything in your power.”Lamont, however, rejected the idea that more wheeling and dealing by him would have made a difference.“No, we had the numbers,” Lamont said. “We were ready to vote. The House was ready to vote on Thursday. The Senate wanted more time, and I just figured we’d been asking for more time every week for the last 50 weeks. So I thought it was time to take a pause on this.”House Republican leader Themis Klarides, who along with the rest of her caucus opposes tolls, said the issue was doomed because of the ongoing mistrust between House and Senate Democrats.“If they don’t trust each other, how do they expect the people of Connecticut to trust them?” she asked.Senate Democrats repeatedly said they could produce 18 votes in favor of truck-only tolls, resulting in a tie in the 36-member chamber that would be broken by Democratic Lt. Gov. Susan Bysiewicz.“But I think even with those 18, there was one or two that were very squishy on it,” Klarides said. “In the House, that vote was very, very close, and you had more people that were squishy on it and had serious concerns.”Moving forward on transportation

While anti-toll activists were delighted at the bill’s failure, others were concerned about where the state goes next. Sen. Alex Bergstein, a supporter of tolls from Greenwich, criticized her fellow Democratic senators for supporting a watered-down plan with 12 gantries for trucks only, rather than a larger plan that would have included cars and generated far more money for the state.“If Democratic senators were willing to vote on that wimpy toll plan [for trucks only], they should have been willing to vote on a real toll plan,” Bergstein said. “And if they weren’t willing to vote for any toll plan, then the public deserves to know where they stand — with an actual public vote.”Despite the defeat on tolls, Lamont has pledged to move forward with his 10-year transportation plan, relying on increased borrowing ($200 million a year in place of other projects) to make up for the lack of toll revenue.“I was elected to this job to fix problems,” Lamont said. "I’ve got a legislature that doesn’t want to make a choice when it deals with a problem that we’ve had confronting this state for going well over a generation, and that’s our deteriorating roads and bridges and rail.“We’re going to keep going with our transportation plan. We’re not raising the money in the most optimum way. Obviously, out-of-state tractor trailers was much better than bonding on the backs of the taxpayers.”