Stonington Point closed to vehicles due to paving project
Stonington — Stonington Point, an increasingly popular spot for people to spend time since the COVID-19 pandemic began, is closed to vehicles until the beginning of next week due to a paving project on the southern section of Water Street in the borough.
The $75,000 project to repave the street and make drainage improvements had been scheduled to take place between Trumbull and Omega streets but Warden Jeff Callahan said the project has now been extended to the parking lot at the Point.
Callahan said people can still walk, jog or bicycle to the Point. A banner advertising the closure has been hung on the side of the firehouse next to the viaduct and residents in the area had been alerted.
Over the past several weeks, more and more people have been driving down to the Point but staying in their cars as they follow social distancing guidelines due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Groton-New London Airport temporarily closed to air travel due to maintenance project Kimberly Drelich
Groton — Groton-New London Airport temporarily is closed to air travel until Sunday morning due to pavement maintenance work on the intersection of the runways, airport officials said.
Tony Sheridan, chairman of the Connecticut Airport Authority board of directors, said the project is part of scheduled repair and maintenance at the Groton airport.
Ryan Tenny, public information officer for the Connecticut Airport Authority, said the closure started Tuesday morning and flight operations will resume at 8 a.m. Sunday, though the project may be completed ahead of schedule based on the current weather forecast. Terminal and airport businesses remain open during this period, he said.
Sheridan said that while the airport was able to remain open for most of the pavement project, the intersection pavement required a closure.
As far as the impact of the pandemic on overall operations, Sheridan said that like other airports across the country, air travel at the typically busy airport — one of the state’s five general aviation airports — has decreased.
“COVID-19 has certainly impacted the entire industry and traffic at Groton-New London is generally down as people continue to shelter at home,” Tenny added.
Sheridan said he doesn’t anticipate that the decrease in flights during the pandemic will have a long-term impact on the airport. He said it will take some time but everything is expected to return to normal.
Hartford townhome redevelopment to debut 75 units this summer Joe Cooper
evelopers are nearing completion on the first phase of a redevelopment project designed to transform one of Hartford's last remaining North End housing projects into a thriving mixed-use community.
Hartford’s housing authority (HACH), a quasi-public agency overseeing the redevelopment, and development partners Pennrose and The Cloud Co. on Tuesday said the initial phase of the Westbrook Village revitalization project is slated for completion this summer after about 14 months of construction.
Officials on Tuesday also revealed the 40-acre community bordering Albany Avenue will be named Village at Park River. The name pays homage to the development’s proximity to the waterway that flows on the western edge of the property. Leasing is expected to begin sometime this spring.
According to plans, phase one of the multi-phase project will include 75 attached one-, two-, and three-bedroom townhouse-style homes equipped with modern kitchens, appliances (including a dishwasher), washer and dryer, and central air conditioning. Amenities will include a community room and fitness center, among others.
Eighty-percent of units (60), will be set aside for households with incomes up to 60% of the area median income, and the remaining 20% will be leased at market rate.
HACH Executive Director Annette Sanderson in a statement said the development is critical to “creating a vibrant new community where residents can live, shop and do business.”
“This new name celebrates that rebirth and new sense of place,” Sanderson said.
The second phase of construction has already begun, and will eventually include 60 units. Officials say 75% of those units will be earmarked for low-income residents.
It will cost more than $70 million to erect 200 units in the first three phases, a spokesperson for the developers told HBJ.
Officials have said the project will be funded by a mix of state and private money, tax credits and subsidies.
In early 2018, the Connecticut Department of Housing provided $9 million to relocate Westbrook residents, as well as remediate, abate and demolish the entire site at the intersection of Mark Twain Drive and Albany Avenue. The federal Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is also providing nearly $4 million in rental subsidies for 15 years to ensure the affordability of 24 units of housing.
Once all redevelopment phases are complete, Village at Park River will comprise more than 400 living units of mixed-income homes, and 100,000 square feet of new office and retail space, bike baths, playground, community gardens and a central park.
The developers say they hope to attract several types of tenants to the 10-acre commercial space, including a pharmacy, restaurant, retail stores and academic space for the University of Hartford.
JDA Development also is partnering with Pennrose and Cloud Co. to develop the commercial-retail component. JDA is best known as the developer of West Hartford’s successful Blue Back Square residential-commercial complex in the heart of town.
Port Authority says State Pier construction schedule on track Greg Smith
New London — The Connecticut Port Authority on Monday authorized its chairman to secure an agreement with a company that will oversee the estimated $157 million redevelopment of State Pier.
The unanimous vote by the authority’s board of directors to hire a construction administrator demonstrates continued momentum for the project in the face of worldwide disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, said Port Authority Chairman David Kooris.
The project to create an offshore wind hub is expected to start early next year and finish in 2022. Activity could start before year’s end with demolition and remediation of existing structures and stockpiling of construction materials.
The state of Connecticut is redeveloping State Pier into an offshore wind staging area as part of a public-private partnership with Denmark-based Ørsted North America and Eversource.
The COVID-19 pandemic’s toll on the federal permitting process, however, has so far led to a delay in one East Coast offshore wind project. Shutdowns at wind turbine manufacturing facilities and delays in the transport of parts are reportedly creating obstacles for offshore wind projects worldwide.
Ørsted, with multiple offshore U.S. wind projects in the planning stages, announced recently that its Skipjack Wind Farm project off the coast of Delaware and Maryland would be delayed by a year.
"As the federal permitting timeline evolves, Ørsted is now receiving its federal Notice of Intent for the Skipjack Wind Farm later than originally anticipated. As a result, Ørsted has determined that moving Skipjack Wind Farm's anticipated completion date from late 2022 to the new target of the end of 2023 puts us in the strongest position possible to deliver a successful project,” Ørsted said in a statement posted on its website.
“Ørsted remains firmly committed to working with our federal partners to complete Skipjack and provide clean, reliable offshore wind energy to 35,000 homes in the Delmarva region,” the statement reads.
Ørsted is involved in other projects in New York, Rhode Island, New Jersey, Massachusetts and Virginia.
Kooris said he can’t speak to the Skipjack project but said port infrastructure work, like the project planned in New London, is proceeding independently of wind farms and “remains on track.” He doesn’t expect delays in permitting at the state or federal level.
A representative from Ørsted, which is scheduled to present its quarterly financial report to investors on Wednesday, was not immediately available to comment.
The construction administrator, or owner’s representative, for the New London project is a key element in the upcoming work and will oversee all aspects of the project, a tight timeline being one of the top priorities, said Joe Salvatore, a program manager for the Connecticut Port Authority.
Twelve firms responded to a request for proposals issued in March.
A panel that included Salvatore and representatives from the Department of Administrative Services, Office of Policy and Management and Northeast Offshore whittled the field to four firms and ranked them.
The authority on Monday authorized Kooris to negotiate and enter into a consulting services agreement with the one of the following companies: AECOM Technical Services Inc., AI Engineers, Downes Construction Co. or WSP USA Inc. Negotiations are proceeding with the top-ranked firm, Kooris said. The port authority’s board will eventually vote on the contract. Money for the harbor development project was already approved by the state legislature.
The state’s bond commission earlier this month approved disbursement of $30 million of previously approved funding toward the project. Kooris said there is an additional $35 million authorized by the legislature in the bond bill earlier this year that hasn't yet been bonded and won't go to the commission until the cost of the project is better known.
While the Port Authority approved the pier redevelopment plan in February, the City of New London has yet to finalize a host community agreement with Ørsted-Eversource. New London Mayor Michael Passero has said he has sought to recoup an amount equal to taxes and state payments in lieu of taxes on the tax-exempt former state property that is now owned by the port authority. Negotiations, he said, have stalled since the COVID-19 pandemic.
Bristol greenlights $5M downtown apartment complex Joe Cooper
A Southington development firm says it will break ground in the coming months on a $5-million apartment complex in downtown Bristol after receiving a tax abatement and other development approvals from the city.
The city council recently approved a multi-year tax abatement for Carrier Construction Inc. to push forward its plan to erect 32 market-rate apartment units in two, three-story buildings on a long-vacant property on Main and Summer streets. Carrier previously received a special permit and site plan approval from the city.
Under the 50% abatement, Carrier will owe annual property tax bills of $63,924, which equates to $656,668 over the 10-year agreement based on the current mill rate of 38.05, city records show. The city would otherwise be slated to recoup just $8,714 annually in taxes, or $87,140 over a decade, from the undeveloped land.
Ryan Carrier, a construction manager for Carrier, said the development company will begin demolishing a blighted multi-family home at the six parcel property sometime in May, and will start construction shortly after. He estimates the apartment community will be finished and open for prospective residents in the next 18 months.
The so-called Residences on Main apartment complex is being built west of Bristol Public Library on land listed at 48 Summer St., 295 Main St., 301 Main St., 307 Main St., 313 Main St., 321 Main St.
According to plans, the two-building residential community will house 32, two-bedroom units spanning from 1,300 square feet to 1,850 square feet. Rents will range between $1,100 and $1,900 a month.
Most units will be equipped with keyless entry systems, private balconies, a master bedroom, walk-in closet, dining room and an assigned storage space in the basement. The site will feature amenities such as park furniture, vehicle charging stations, bike racks and on-site parking for residents.
Renderings of what the development might look like were not immediately available.
Carrier says the underutilized property emerged with redevelopment potential when the city in 2013 amended its zoning regulations to allow for more medium-density modern housing in the downtown corridor. That change was meant to build off Bristol’s 2015 plan of conservation and development, in addition to an anti-blight initiative it launched more than two decades ago, city officials say.
Justin Malley, the city’s executive director of economic and community development, said the city has been intimately involved in Carrier’s planning process since it kicked off in 2015.
Malley sees the apartment community complimenting neighborhood assets including Bristol Health’s new $26 million ambulatory care center and a public library that was renovated for $15 million in 2007.
“It’s sort of a high-profile location that really needed the right project and developer,” he said. “And we have it with Carrier.”
Mayor Ellen Zoppo-Sassu in an interview said the property for many residents represented what was part of downtown’s decline in recent decades.
A large stone apartment building on the property had become an eyesore some 20 years ago, and eventually became the first structure the city razed as part of its anti-blight enforcement.
Today, Zoppo-Sassu said the city is aggressively marketing and investing in its downtown core to woo new retail businesses, apartments or restaurants.
Carrier’s housing project, she said, is the centerpiece of the city’s vision for downtown.
“We want to put the pieces together for what the next generation is going to have downtown,” the mayor said. “We have really not had a downtown for over 20 years.”
Despite COVID-19, Construction Continues on Milford Bridge Ken Liebeskind -CEG Correspondent
The construction of a replacement bridge that carries Wheelers Farms Road over State Road 796, a short highway that connects the Merritt Parkway and Wilbur Cross Parkway to I-95 and the Boston Post Road in Milford, Conn., resumed in early April with completion projected for the fall of 2021.
The job has continued during the COVID-19 pandemic with construction jobs not stopped in Connecticut. Though Gov. Ned Lamont has established business restrictions during the pandemic, he has spared the construction industry, with limitations only placed on indoor construction jobs.
"We're keeping our big, outdoor, public construction projects going, roads, bridges, schools — where it's easier to keep social distancing," Lamont said.
The new structure will be a two-span continuous multi-girder bridge resting on concrete abutments and a center pier. The profile of Wheeler's Farm Road will be raised to increase the minimum vertical clearance over SR 796 to the required 15 ft. The new spans will be lengthened to allow a 6.5-ft. inside shoulder, three 12-ft. travel lanes and a 10 ft. outside shoulder in each direction on SR 796.
New England Road of Clinton, Conn., is the general contractor and won the job with a low bid of $6,848,318, according to Alan Neri, an owner of the company.
The existing bridge was built in 1941 and is being replaced because it is structurally deficient and functionally obsolete, according to Kevin Nursick, a CTDOT spokesperson. "The structural deficiency is due to the deteriorated condition of the deck, superstructure and substructure. All three are rated poor. The deck has hollow area with spalling and the steel girder webs and bearings exhibit section loss and rust. The abutments exhibit numerous spalls and cracking and the steel pier girder has large areas of rust and section loss. It is functionally obsolete due to a substandard roadway width and minimum vertical clearance of 13.8 feet."
The job began a year ago but was held up by utility issues.
"The utility coordination shouldn't have taken as long as it did, but we're at the mercy of the utility companies to get coordinated," Neri said. "Gas, telephone and electric, there were a lot of facilities to relocate. Overhead electric, telephone and cable lines were relocated to clear the area for Stage One construction. In addition, an underground gas main was modified and underground communication lines were exposed and are to be protected and supported in place while the substructure and bridge are constructed around them. All this has delayed the project approximately one construction season."
With the utility issues out of the way, the company began construction of the bridge, which will be completed in three stages: demolition and construction of the East and West sections of the bridge and the addition of acceleration and deceleration lanes.
"We started the job this winter with the demolition of the Stage One section of the bridge," Neri said. "We removed the concrete deck over the connector using shielding to keep at least one lane of traffic open in each direction. Once the deck was removed, we removed the structural steel girders, cutting them at the center and picking them off with a crane. The existing steel pier was cut and removed in sections. The earth support around the excavation for the Stage One section of the pier has been installed and the pier footing section has been poured. Soon, we will pour the concrete for the pier and start reconstruction of the Stage One new abutment sections."
The existing bridge is a 100-ft. span and the new bridge will be a 150-ft. span, with lane widening occurring at the end of the job. "The last stage is to widen the connector," Remi said.
When asked why the bridge had to be expanded, Neri said, "The road is getting wider down below so the abutments needed to be built further from the edge of the road."
The company is using a Grove rough-terrain crane on the job, along with a Caterpillar wheeled excavator and Genie and JLG lifts.
New England Road will work with subcontractors on the job, including Kelly Steel of Hartford, Conn., that will do the steel erection; National Shoring of Waterford, Conn.; and Advance Resources, also of Waterford, that will do the paving and Total Fence of New Haven, Conn., that will construct the guardrails.
The 2019 ADT for Wheeler's Farm Road is 8064 vehicles per day, while the ADT for SR 796 is approximately 60,000 vehicles per day, according to CTDOT figures. CEG
CT DOL is processing $600 stimulus checks for unemployed Mark Pazniokas
The state Department of Labor has completed computer programming changes that allow the state to make the $600 weekly stimulus payments authorized by Congress for people receiving unemployment benefits during the COVID-19 pandemic, state officials announced Tuesday.
With the first payments processed over the weekend, $89 million in stimulus benefits were being paid.
Applications are expected to open Thursday for a separate benefit, “pandemic unemployment assistance,”authorized by Congress for self-employed and gig workers who cannot work due to the COVID-19 restrictions. Officials said work is nearly complete on a system to process and pay those claims. Benefits will be retroactive.
“There are hundreds of thousands in our state relying on our Department of Labor to help get them through this crisis, and the state’s loyal and hard-working team never lost sight of that. This is a difficult time for so many, and I appreciate that these new benefits are being distributed,” Gov. Ned Lamont said.
The department was deluged with a wave of 402,000 jobless claims in six weeks as the pandemic forced the shutdown of schools, restaurants and many retailers and other businesses.
“The task was complicated, due to a 40-year-old mainframe using a COBOL operating system. Despite these challenges, we have now processed over 340,000 of the 402,000 claim applications filed since March 13,” said Kurt Westby, the labor commissioner.
The additional $600 weekly payment, known as federal pandemic unemployment compensation, is retroactive to March 29 and will be provided through July 20.Claimants can check their online accounts on the CTDOL website at www.filectui.com for payments processed over the weekend. Retroactive payments will come as a lump sum by the end of this week.
A third new unemployment benefit also is coming: The “pandemic emergency unemployment compensation” benefit is a 13-week extension that allows eligible claimants to collect the additional weeks after exhausting the 26 weeks of state benefits. That will be available in mid-May and also is retroactive.
Niantic River Drawbridge repairs to begin May 4 Mary Biekert
The state Department of Transportation is scheduled to begin a $13.9 million project to repair the Niantic River Drawbridge on May 4. The yearlong project will require periods of alternating one-way traffic.
According to the DOT, the project will consist of replacing the 27-year-old span’s structural steel, deck joints, and electrical and mechanical systems, along with repainting and repairs to the bridge deck and control house.
Brent Church, the DOT project engineer overseeing the work and who also oversaw the rehabilitation of the Mystic River Drawbridge from 2010 to 2013, said the project will be done in three phases. The state has hired Middlesex Corp. of Littleton, Mass., to do the work.
The firm has worked on bridge projects throughout the state, including a $300 million project in Norwalk in 2015 and parts of the Pearl Harbor Memorial or "Q" Bridge in New Haven, according to the company’s website.
The first phase of the drawbridge project consists of removing and replacing existing joints on the bridge’s deck, as well as reconstructing what are known as the bridge’s deck ends. Church said construction will move from the Waterford side of the bridge to the East Lyme side and will alternate repairing both lanes as work progresses westward. Bridge repaving will begin around late July, while repainting will concurrently take place below the bridge throughout the summer.
Daytime roadwork and alternating traffic patterns will take place only until Memorial Day, when construction is then set to be done overnight between 7 p.m. and 7 a.m., allowing the bridge to be open for normal traffic flow during daytime hours through the summer until Labor Day, when downtown Niantic and Waterford see some of its highest traffic counts.
After Labor Day, construction and alternating traffic flows will return to daytime hours.
“Our promise to the towns was the fact that we wanted to finish all the deck work this construction season, or before Memorial Day next year. We want all the deck work done so we are not impeding any traffic flow — especially as Exit 74 interchange work is coming up.”
Phase II of the project will then take place over winter months, which Church said will mostly consist of under-bridge work, such as painting and replacing mechanical and electrical systems, requiring the drawbridge to close from Nov. 1, 2020, to March 31, 2021.
Drawbridge closure will restrict tall boats from passing back and forth under the bridge during that time, Church said. Fishing and shellfishing boats, as well as most recreation boats, will still have room to pass under the bridge while it is down. Environmental protection and noise control techniques will also be enforced during construction. Paint catch basins, for example, will be installed under the bridge to catch and prevent removed paint from falling into the river, Church said. The paint on the bridge now is not lead paint, Church said, and is not hazardous.
All roadwork on the bridge is to be completed by May 2021. Phase III of the project will then begin with the DOT and contractors completing bridge painting and drainage work. The project is expected to be complete by December 2021.
Police from both Waterford and East Lyme will help direct traffic while construction is ongoing.
The project has been in the works since 2018, Church said, after the DOT performed emergency work on the bridge’s mechanical and electrical systems and found that it was in need of a much greater rehabilitation. The DOT has been working with both Waterford and East Lyme ever since to plan the project, Church says.
The project comes right after the DOT, in combination with Costco contractors, performed significant on- and off-ramp alterations at the Exit 74 interchange of Interstate 95 last summer. The DOT is also planning to carry out an even larger Exit 74 interchange project, with plans for extensive Route 161 widening and an Exit 74 bridge replacement. Construction for that project is anticipated to begin in summer or fall 2021 and is expected to last three to four years.
“After we started conversations about the bridge, we were trying to plan all these other projects at the same time. Costco was last year and then the interchange job is coming out next year, so we were trying to squeeze this (Niantic River Drawbridge project) in between,” Church said.
He said there are plans in place should an accident occur on I-95 and divert traffic down to Route 156 and over the Niantic River, as often happens as drivers attempt to bypass roadblocks on the highway during accidents. He said workers will be able to quickly lay down and anchor what he described as road caps over any ongoing construction areas to quickly allow cars to drive over the bridge should the need arise.
Because of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, as well as unpredictable weather, Church said schedules, bridge repairs and roadwork may change slightly from week to week. The DOT will post status updates on the project to both the Waterford and East Lyme websites every three weeks, letting residents know what’s to come and the status of the project.
“It’s a difficult location, but it has to get done and we want to get in and out as quick as possible,” Church said. “Once it’s done, you won’t see us out there for another 25 to 30 years.”
Church added that an email account specific to the project has been set up to allow residents to submit comments or ask questions about the project. Anyone with questions regarding the project may email DOT.info.nianticriverbridge@ct.gov.
Bids for New London school project are millions over budget Greg Smith
New London — Bids on the largest phase of the $108 million high school construction project have come in at more than $4 million above projected budget estimates.
Combined with escalating costs for construction management, currently more than $14 million, the project is now $5 million beyond what the city can afford and has forced designers to revisit elements of the new school.
Project Manager Diana McNeil, with the Capitol Region Education Council, said the various construction bids for the so-called north campus totaled about $4.2 million over the $77 million budget estimates. A review is underway in order to “value engineer” the project and find areas where costs can be reduced without compromising the quality of the new school and keep it within budget, she said.
A portion of the phased project was expected to begin later this year and continue over the next four years.
“There isn’t a penny to spend beyond the $108 million,” McNeil said. “Every little detail of what is in those contracts is being reviewed.”
The school is already significantly over the original $98 million budget due to multiple changes in the scope and funding sources through the years. There is little left in contingency funds.
A review of bid documents will take place over the coming weeks in hopes of cutting costs and avoiding any further delays in the construction schedule for the school, which already has seen delays since voters approved $168 million in funding for two schools in 2014.
The news on the construction bids, presented to a school building committee on Friday, comes even as the city contemplates adding at least $5 million to the $49 million plan to reconstruct Bennie Dover Jackson Middle School in order to build a new Central Office building for administration. The state recently estimated the Central Office demolition and construction costs to be closer to $8 million, though a representative from the south campus project manager, Colliers, said that figure appears to be high.
It is unclear yet whether portions of the high school project might be rebid or if the COVID-19 pandemic might further affect the construction schedules on either project.
A school building committee on Monday discussed the changes to the high school project, with Board of Education and building committee member Bryan Doughty expressing his frustration. The construction manager for the project is Newfield + Downes. “I’m just so incredibly disheartened and concerned about this project,” Doughty said. “We haven’t been on budget yet. And you think we can value engineer down to the $108 (million) so we’re on budget or below at some point?”
“We don’t have a choice,” McNeil said. “We’re looking at every single number as an adjustment.”
The south campus addition was debated by the City Council and is expected to come up for discussion and a possible vote at its May 4 meeting.
Meetings related to identifying cost savings in the high school project are ongoing.
Under the current plan to create an all-magnet school district, New London High School and the adjacent Science and Technology Magnet High School of Southeastern Connecticut will be home to high school students in STEM and an International Baccalaureate magnet programs, along with students from grades sixth through 12 in the arts magnet program. The Bennie Dover campus will host middle school students in the STEM and International Baccalaureate programs.
Working or Unemployed, Construction Workers Are Screwed Hamilton Nolan
With no firm national standards about shutting down construction projects as the coronavirus stalks the nation, building trade unions and their members are facing a grim multidimensional crisis: high unemployment, faltering pensions, lost benefits, plummeting dues revenue—and, for those who do remain on the job, the constant question of whether they should quit in order to protect their health.
Leaders at two major building trade unions this week described an increasingly desperate economic climate for their members. Eric Dean, the president of the 130,000-member Ironworkers Union, said that 30% of his work force was “idle or sitting at home,” and that unemployment continues to rise by the day. Jim Williams, vice president and organizing director at the International Union of Painters and Allied Trades, said that unemployment among his members has shot up to 50% in the course of a single week.
The price of this sudden economic dislocation is vast. In particular, health care benefits of the idled construction workers are now at risk, just when they need it most. Also at risk are the unions’ pension funds, which have cratered along with financial markets, endangering retirement benefits for thousands of members. The multi-employer pension fund of the Ironworkers, which was still recovering from the losses of the 2008 financial crisis, has now taken a 20% hit on its portfolio. “With our hours down and our investments down, a blind man can see that we’ve been severely impacted,” Dean said.
It is hard to know whether those construction workers who are still working should be considered lucky. In the coronavirus epicenter of New York, and in most other states, construction workers have been deemed “essential employees,” allowing their employers to keep them building on crowded job sites, where “social distancing” is next to impossible. Dean said that, for the first time in his career, he has seen construction projects building worker housing on job sites in order to keep workers isolated and close to their workplace. At the same time, ironworkers have told him that walking through empty streets in order to get to their still-active building sites “makes me feel that I’m expendable.”
“There’s a growing sentiment among our workforce that maybe [unemployment] should be higher, because of the health and safety risk of being on a construction site,” Jim Williams said. Among IUPAT members, there is a split down the middle between those who are more concerned about health risks, and those who say “I need to work so that I have my health care coverage, so that I can continue my way of life. It’s a Catch-22.” Though the union can see why work on critical infrastructure like the electrical and water systems must continue, commercial construction “can certainly slow down,” he said. “I don’t believe building a millionaire’s or billionaire’s condominium” is worth the risk.
The stimulus bill now working its way through Congress is only a half measure, as far as the unions are concerned. A coalition of building trade unions lobbied for four “planks” to be included in the bill: better unemployment compensation, healthcare coverage that won’t lapse, shoring up pension funds, and a large investment in national infrastructure—a policy that Democrats and Republicans have been talking about for years without ever making it a reality. Of those four goals, only the unemployment compensation aspect will be fulfilled in the current bill. Already, the building trades are pushing for another stimulus bill after this one is completed. “This was the relief bill,” Williams said. “There’s going to have to be a recovery bill, too.”
Besides the direct impacts to members, the unions themselves are now staring down the second-order consequence of widespread unemployment: a dropoff in union dues. IUPAT has already told its locals that it is waiving member dues for the month of April as a relief measure, and will assess again after that. Waiving dues, however, inevitably eats away at the revenue unions use to maintain their staffing—and to lobby Congress for whatever comes next. According to Dean, the Ironworkers lost around 15% of their members after the 2008 recession, a figure they are using as a baseline now. But everyone acknowledges that this time could be worse. And Dean suspects that if work dries up, more members closing in on retirement age may decide to go ahead and retire early, further weakening the active membership numbers. If there is any silver lining, it is that whenever the industry picks back up again, non-union construction workers may feel more enticed to organize, after witnessing their higher-paid union colleagues make use of at least a marginal safety net during this crisis. “It presents the opportunity for the labor movement to get it right,” said Williams. “Any time we miss that, we miss a golden opportunity.”
Here are a few answers to common questions about the additional payment:Will everyone see the additional $600 on Monday?
Everyone who has had their unemployment claim processed since the start of the coronavirus pandemic will begin seeing the additional $600 weekly payment on Monday. There is no separate application necessary.
On Thursday, the Connecticut Department of Labor said they had processed 80% of claims. The agency said it’s on track to reduce the processing time to one week from six by Sunday, thanks to technology improvements and increased staffing.Will the payments be retroactive?
All unemployment claims will be paid retroactively to the date they were filed. The same applies to the $600 federal stimulus funds.
How long will the payments last?
The $600 payments will be in effect from March 29 through July 25. Those who received benefits since March 29 without the additional $600 will be provided the funds in a lump sum that will be given in about a week.My unemployment runs out soon. Will I be getting the 13-week extension?
According to the Department of Labor, each situation is different, so applications must be reviewed for eligibility. If your initial unemployed status was not tied to the coronavirus pandemic, you should connect with the Department of Labor.
When can self-employed individuals and independent contractors expect benefits?
Like the additional weekly $600 benefit, the Department of Labor had to program the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance program into its system. Those can be applied for beginning April 30. Once that claim is processed, you will begin receiving payment.
Developers get $24.5M for apartments at former News-Times site
Alexander Soule
The developers of Brookview Commons in Danbury confirmed receipt of a $24.5 million construction loan from M&T Bank, with the next phase of the complex to total nearly 150 apartments.
Brookview Commons will be built at 333 Main St., owned formerly by the News-Times and Hearst Connecticut Media Group. BRT General Realty and The DiMarco Group are co-developing the apartments, which will include 47 units with two bedrooms and 98 one-bedroom apartments, 18 of those studios. The building will have a pool and workout facility.Danbury-based BRT and Rochester, N.Y.-based DiMarco teamed on an initial phase of the complex next door at 30 Crosby St. that has 115 units, with monthly rents currently listed between $1,240 and $1,825. New York City-based HKS Real Estate Advisors brokered the newest M&T transaction, calling the project in a statement “more than sustainable” despite the economic downturn created by the coronavirus pandemic.
“Considering the strength, reputation and the experience of the borrowers, M&T Bank was very confident in the people standing behind the project,” John Harrington of HKS Real Estate Advisors said in a press release from his firm. “The driving force for getting this closed was a collective decision from both M&T Bank and the developers who were equally confident and in agreement that the project was more than sustainable during the days ahead.”
The commercial real estate advisory firm Marcus & Millichap warned in its study published earlier this month that while luxury apartment owners will see fewer missed rental payments because upper-income tenants may have built-up savings and the ability to work remotely, developers completing new luxury rentals might have difficulty building an immediate tenant roster in the near-term.
“Less people are moving around and actively searching for residences,” stated John Sebree, national director in Marcus & Millichap’s national multi-housing group. “A longer-term headwind could be the slowdown of household creation amid more people moving back in with their families or seeking roommates due to financial burdens. These challenges will dissolve once the economy is returned to full functionality and the health crisis is over, but with no clear timetable it is important for owners to be cognizant of the obstacles they will face.”
Road realignment to cause 2 years of detours in Bridgeport
Jim Shay
BRIDGEPORT - Starting next week, construction work to realign Route 127 (East Main Street) near Beardsley Park, will mean weekday detours for drivers.
The detours associated with safety improvements on the road in the vicinity of Evers Street, are scheduled to begin Monday or early next week. According to the state Department of Transportation, the $4.5 million project is scheduled to be completed on Nov. 30, 2022.
Motorists traveling on East Main Street will be detoured onto Broadbridge Road and Huntington Turnpike.
Traffic control personnel and signing patterns will guide motorists through the detour. Local access to residences and business on Route 127 will still be available.
When school is not in session the detour will take place from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m.
When schools are open, the detour will be from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Traffic may be affected on segments of the following routes:
Route 127 (East Main Street) between Broadbridge Road and Route 730 (Huntington Turnpike)
Route 730 (Huntington Turnpike) between Broadbridge Road and Route 127 (East Main Street)
The project building committee hired Colliers International, which will now be analyzing the building’s needs and formulating a cost for the school’s reconstruction.
School officials have been communicating with the agency via phone and email to continue moving the long-awaited project along, despite prior setbacks.
Newington Town Council has also shown its support, voting unanimously at its most recent meeting to appropriate $50,000 to the committee for the construction manager’s selection.
A grant application for reimbursement of more than half of the project’s cost needs to be submitted on or before June 26, 2020 in order to be considered by the state Bond Commission in the next round of grant awards.
Colliers staff has already begun their assessment of the school facility, taking a comprehensive tour of the building and grounds. A preliminary report on the building’s condition is expected by mid-May, according to Superintendent of Schools Dr. Maureen Brummett.
Repairs made to the roof over the last few months have mitigated issues with leaky ceilings that had been disrupting classroom activities. Now that students are working from home in the district’s online learning system, this isn’t necessarily an issue, but the building is in adequate shape to be occupied.
Anna Reynolds, built in the 1950s, has been in line for a renovation for over a decade. Parents, teachers and students in the school community advocated for the need to renovate at town meetings over the last year, calling upon elected officials to take the next steps.
In addition to a failing roof, the building needs new electrical, plumbing, heating and cooling systems, infrastructure and other work.
Once a firm cost estimate has been determined, a grant application will be submitted to the state and the bonding will go to voters for approval in a referendum. The committee’s goal is to have the referendum take place this coming fall, at the same time as the Presidential Election.
Project work to shift traffic on Merritt Parkway in Westport
Jim Shay
WESTPORT - As part of a five-mile, $57 million improvement project on the Merritt Parkway, the northbound and southbound traffic lanes approaching and crossing the Saugatuck River Bridge are being shifted to support the next stage of bridge restoration work.
The traffic shifts and Jersey barrier moves will occur during evening and nighttime hours from 7 p.m. to 5 a.m. Lane closures and the closure of the Exit 42 northbound on-ramp and the Exit 42 southbound off-ramp will occur during this time to remove existing and place new pavement markings.
Message boards and a signed detour will be in place providing motorists advance notice and directions for alternate access to the Parkway. All detours utilize the entrance and exit ramps for Exit 40, 41, 42 and 44 to gain access to the parkway
All motorists traveling on the Merritt Parkway are required to obey posted vehicle restrictions and are reminded that no vehicles over 8 feet tall are allowed on the Parkway. The existing vertical clearance under the Newtown Turnpike Bridge is lower than the existing bridge height during construction.
Stretching almost five miles from the Newtown Turnpike Bridge in Westport to just past the Congress Street Bridge in Fairfield, the project — the seventh in a series of eight covering all 37.5 miles of the Merritt — is creating 4-foot reinforced grass shoulders on both sides of the parkway, replacing existing guiderail with steel-backed timber railing, and installing a slip-lined concrete curb and gutter system along the median for improved drainage.
The $57 million project that began in 2017 is about $5 million over budget.
Much to the relief of drivers, work is expected to be completed by Labor Day.
Development agreement outlined for New Haven’s $100M life-sciences incubator
Michael C. Bingham
he city has reached a tentative development agreement that would pave the way for a transformative $100 million life-sciences incubator in the heart of downtown New Haven.
Developer Winstanley Enterprises LLC of Concord, Mass. has proposed to build 500,000 square feet of laboratory and life-sciences incubation space at a new address: 101 College Street.
“We been in conversations with [Winstanley principal] Carter Winstanley and the state for some time, and given everything that’s going on with COVID-19, we’re very grateful that the state and Carter are willing to move forward with this project,” said Mayor Justin Elicker Monday afternoon. The 101 College Street project was first reported in January. That was before the coronavirus pandemic hit, dealing a body blow to economic-development projects in Connecticut and around the world.
“It feels now that everything has slowed down, but at the same time we are excited about the economic opportunity that this will provide for New Haven and enthusiastic about the conversation that we’re going to be having with the Board of Alders in the coming months about the project.”
The development agreement, which was presented to the city’s Board of Alders Monday night, outlines construction of the large-scale private development and the public infrastructure needed to make the project possible. The board accepted the document for review and further discussion.
“It’s important that we get this project rolling because it takes a long time to get things approved,” Elicker explained. “But we’re grateful to the other parties for continuing to willing to move forward — even with some of the uncertainty that exists right now.”
The project, to be built over the existing Rt. 34 connector opposite 100 College Street, would include approximately 100,000 square feet of incubator space for life-sciences enterprises that have advanced beyond the startup stage and have begun to hire workers who need more laboratory and office space to grow their companies.
Much of the remainder of the space in the building would be conventional office and meeting space for the Yale medical school and a “mature” life-sciences tenant or tenants.
The project is being developed by Winstanley, which has assembled financing partners and would own the real estate. The development agreement outlines the private construction and public infrastructure required for the project consistent with the city’s Downtown Crossing project. The latter is the city’s long-term plan to reconnect the medical district and Hill neighborhood with the central business district by converting the Rt. 34 connector into urban boulevards and new city streets.
Construction could begin as early as this summer if various permits, land transfers and easements can be granted and if the coronavirus pandemic does not cause additional delays. Winstanley says construction would take approximately two years.
The incubator would be managed by a third-party operator, which in addition to serving as a leasing agent and property manager would provide services such as educational programming and regular networking opportunities both to resident companies and individual researchers and potential employees. Three’s company
The developer envisions three principal tenants in the new building: one or more “mature” life and bioscience companies; the Yale School of Medicine; and an incubator supporting technology transfer transfer and nascent (presumably life sciences-related) businesses in need of early support services.
The site is across College Street from one of Winstanley’s other well-known developments: the 513,000-square-foot Class A life-sciences building completed in 2015 for Alexion Pharmaceuticals at 100 College St. Like that existing structure, the proposed 101 College building would also be constructed atop the existing Rt. 34 connector. The real estate is owned by the state of Connecticut.
According to the development agreement, the project’s “strategic location is near the York Street Campus of Yale-New Haven Health System and the Yale School of Medicine. Development in this area will continue to solidify New Haven's global standing and prominence in key economic sectors such as the life sciences, biotechnology, health-care technologies and the neurosciences.”
The 101 College Street project is projected to create a “substantial” number of construction jobs and, when completed, some 700 to 1,000 permanent jobs at all skill levels. The document submitted to the Board of Alders projects the creation of more than 3,000 jobs throughout the region’s economy that would generate more than $250 million in wages. The Connecticut Economic Resource Center calculates that each job in the bioscience sector supports an additional 2.9 jobs throughout the larger economy.
As part of the agreement, Winstanley has agreed to contribute between $400,000 and $500,000 to Together, We Grow, a new city-created fund that supports a “wide-ranging inclusive growth agenda” including improved access to jobs for underserved communities.
After a year of construction, bridge reopens in Woodbury
STEVE BIGHAM
WOODBURY — The new Hazel Plain Road bridge opened to traffic Friday afternoon after a year of construction.
Traffic has been detoured around the bridge since April 2019.
The two-way span over Sprain Brook replaces a 100-year-old, one-way wooden bridge that the state Department of Transportation deemed to be in poor condition.
The 22-foot wide bridge will provide travel in both directions. It has an estimated life span of 75 years, Public Works Director Rich Lamothe said. The new 37-foot-long bridge was built for $2 million, 20% of which is the town’s expense.
Lamothe said the cost to the town is $400,000, which is being covered by $935,000 originally bonded for a project on Brushy Hill Road that never started.
Lamothe said there had been talk of realigning the roadway near the bridge to improve sight lines with Route 47. That plan has been put on hold.
The DOT says an average of 442 cars cross the bridge each day.
Hazel Plain Bridge is the first full bridge replacement in Woodbury since the late 1980s when Jack’s Bridge and Minortown Bridge were rebuilt, Lamothe said.
The bridge work was done by Schultz Corporation of Terryville and design work by WMC Consulting Engineers of Newington.
Lamothe said the federal government will reimburse the town for 80% of the cost through its bridge replacement grant program.
Connecticut traffic is down 50 percent and that could spell trouble for the Special Transportation Fund
Marc E. Fitch
Traffic numbers from the Connecticut Department of Transportation show a steep drop-off in people traveling on Connecticut’s highways in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and the closure of nonessential businesses by the governor.
The number of vehicles traveling along I-84, I-91 and I-95 at particular points dropped by as much as 50 percent.
On I-84 in Newtown, for instance, the number of vehicles dropped from an average of roughly 78,000 in 2019 to 39,043 on Thursday, April 16 — a 50 percent decline. Many days saw significantly fewer cars and trucks.
I-95 in Branford saw the number of vehicles drop 49 percent, from a 2019 average of roughly 86,000 per day to 42,291, as of April 16. In Norwalk, the drop was 42 percent.
I-91 in Wethersfield saw a 49 percent decline in vehicles
At the same time, gasoline prices have reached the lowest point in recent history, the result of an oil price war between Saudi Arabia and Russia.
None of this bodes well for Connecticut’s Special Transportation Fund, which relies on the state’s gasoline tax and oil companies gross receipts tax as two of its largest revenue sources.
While the state gasoline tax of 25 cents per gallon is a set rate, fewer people driving means declining gasoline sales. A report from OPIS Pricing and Marketing Analysis for Oil, Fuel & Energy showed retail station sales were down 46.6 percent for the week ending March 28.
Michael Fox, executive director of the Greenwich-based Gasoline & Automotive Service Dealers of America, Inc., says gas stations are seeing a steep drop-offs in sales.
“My members are talking about numbers between 40 and 60 percent lower in sales,” Fox said. “There’s just no traffic or volume out there.”
Fox said typically high-volume stations, in particular, are seeing steep declines in sales, noting that a typical high-volume station sells anywhere between 100,000 and 150,000 gallons of gasoline per week.
Fox says the STF will take “a double hit,” because the price of gasoline and oil has plummeted, impacting the fund’s third-largest revenue source: the petroleum gross receipts tax.
In FY 2019, the STF took in $509.7 million from the motor fuels tax and $313 million from the oil companies tax, according to the state’s Open Budget website.
This fiscal year – which ends June 30 – the state has taken in $303.5 million in the gasoline tax and $153.1 million from the oil companies tax.
During the 2019 fiscal year, the state took in an average of $31.2 million per month in gasoline tax revenue, according to the CT Data website, although revenue figures for all months were not yet available.
A percentage of the state sales tax is also deposited into the STF, constituting the second-largest revenue source for the STF. Indications are Connecticut could see lower sales tax revenue as many businesses are closed and residents are spending less
The STF started the year with a balance of $320 million and a projected surplus of $13 million, but, according to recent budget projections from the Office of Fiscal Analysis and the Office of Policy and Management, that balance is already declining significantly due to oil prices and reduced commuter travel.
The Office of Policy and Management is estimating a revenue loss of $102 million, resulting from lower gasoline sales, sales tax revenue and oil company gross receipts, leaving the fund’s balance at $184.3 million.
“The Motor Fuels Tax has been revised downward by $26.5 million due to significant declines in consumption resulting from increased telecommuting and social distancing orders which we assume will continue through the month of May,” OPM Secretary Melissa McCaw wrote in an April 20 report to State Comptroller Kevin Lembo.
“The Oil Companies Tax has been revised downward by $18.0 million as a result of continued declines in the price of oil. The Sales and Use Tax has been revised downward by $26.3 million, consistent with revisions made in the General Fund,” McCaw wrote.
The STF had been on track to have a cumulative balance of $638.9 million by 2024, according to the OFA. However, according to the governor’s office, after 2024 debt service payments for Connecticut’s past borrowing would begin to outpace revenue.
The future of the STF has already been the subject of a multi-year fight regarding tolls on Connecticut’s highways.
Both Gov. Dannel Malloy and Gov. Ned Lamont argued tolls were necessary to support the STF because gasoline tax revenue had flattened, and debt service costs were projected to rise, but the public backlash to the tolling proposals eventually killed the government’s push for tolls in early 2020.
But the lower gasoline sales and prices are not the only problem for the state’s transportation fund.
The pandemic and social distancing measures put into place have led to decreased usage of public transportation, which means much lower ticket sales for trains and buses.
Subsidies for trains and buses constitute one of the largest payouts for the state’s transportation fund, but without ticket sales those subsidies will likely grow. The New Haven Line, for instance, took in $356.3 million in ticket sales during the 2019 fiscal year, according to numbers provided by DOT.
“The decrease in ridership is a reflection of the fact that our customers are continuing to follow the advice of health professionals to keep themselves and others safe,” said CTDOT Public Transportation Bureau Chief Richard Andreski in a March 27 press release.
Although the Connecticut Department of Motor Vehicles has closed its doors to the public, many services remain available online. License renewals have been extended during the shutdown.
DMV and registration fees are also a significant source of revenue for the STF, but, presumably, license renewal fees will start flowing again when the offices reopen, making it only a temporary loss. OPM projects that $20 million of DMV revenue will be shifted to the 2021 fiscal year.
Although revenues will surely decrease, expenses most likely won’t — at least not nearly enough to make up for the loss.
Payroll is the biggest cost for state agencies and many DOT employees are considered essential and are working on the states roads and bridges. Those employees deemed nonessential have been working from home when possible.
A DOT worker who works on Connecticut’s bridges, and agreed to offer comment on condition of anonymity, says even though he’s considered an essential employee, he was told to stay home for a week with pay.
“Half my guys are staying home this week, and I’m doing it next week,” he said in an interview. “If I’m an essential employee, why am I home? A week off isn’t going to change a damn thing. I’d rather be at work than sitting at home.”
Connecticut is currently sitting on a reserve fund of roughly $2.5 billion.
Early estimates project Connecticut may face a $500 million deficit this year and a $1.5 billion deficit next year as a result from the shutdown and economic downturn, although those numbers will likely depend on how long the pandemic and recession continues.
DANBURY — An $80 million cancer treatment center offering a therapy only available in 36 other facilities in the country could be coming to the city.
Danbury Proton proposes building what it calls a “state-of-the-art” center at 85 Wooster Heights, where 338 patients a year could be treated using proton therapy, a non-invasive radiation technique.
The company published Tuesday a notice of intent to submit a “certificate of need” to the state Office of Health Strategy. This is the first step in what is expected to be a three-year process to open the facility.
The announcement comes as the city and globe is roiled with the coronavirus pandemic, which has killed 1,331 Connecticut residents and led to mass unemployment.
“The wheels of progress were already turning when the coronavirus crisis hit,” he said. “Cancer doesn’t wait for the coronavirus. Cancer is still a huge killer, and cancer will be with us long after the coronavirus virus vaccine is (developed).”
The project is expected to create more than 100 construction jobs over a two-year period, with at least 30 permanent on-site jobs and an annual payroll of $3 million once the center opens in early 2023, Crandall said. The company expects to pay around $613,000 a year in property taxes.
Mayor Mark Boughton said the center could be a boon to the city’s economy.
“Any economic investment will be a good story to tell after what I think will be a very, very difficult time economically, not just in Danbury, but in Connecticut and across the country,” he said.
For now, there are no other centers offering this therapy in Connecticut, with the nearest facilities in Boston and New York, Danbury Proton said.
“That particular technology isn’t widely available, so it also has a nice health care component for our residents,” Boughton said.
The treatment is particularly good for patients with cancerous tumors, especially those in sensitive locations such as near the brain, spine, heart and eye, the company said. Unlike traditional radiation which uses photons, or X-rays, the protons better direct their energy onto the tumor, protecting healthy tissue and sensitive organs, leading to fewer or no side effects.
Patients also have a better quality of life during and after treatment, the company said.
“The whole field of proton therapy has been growing, and the forecasts are that it will become a growing therapy in cancer treatment for years to come,” Crandall said.
The center would use what the company called the “revolutionary” Mevion S250i system, which is manufactured in Massachusetts and installed at seven U.S. proton centers in the country, with several more in the planning stages.
The 14,400-square-foot building in Danbury would have one treatment room, but would be designed to add a second if necessary. Only one patient may be treated at a time, but multiple patients can be scheduled each day, Crandall said.
The facility would be built in a mixed-use development property adjacent to Route 7 and Danbury Municipal Airport, and three miles from Danbury Hospital.
State approval is expected to take several months, with city zoning approval needed afterward.
“Our attitude is: The sooner we get the proton center operational, the sooner patients can benefit,” Crandall said.
New Fairfield approves land purchase for school project Kendra Baker
NEW FAIRFIELD — Despite opposition from several residents, the selectmen and finance boards voted to move forward with purchasing 78 Gillotti Road for the high school building project.
During a special joint meeting Monday night, the Board of Selectmen authorized the purchase of the 2-acre property for $325,000, and the Board of Finance voted to authorize the appropriation from the town’s capital and non-recurring projects fund balance. Officials have said the $325,000 property purchase price will not be an added cost as the Permanent Building Committee has agreed to reduce the budget by $475,772 and move an additional $547,228 into contingency.
Costs, however, are not the only concerns residents have about the $84.2 million building project.
Some have questioned whether the town’s purchase of 78 Gillotti Road without referendum meets the criteria in Gov. Ned Lamont’s Executive Order No. 7S.
The legal opinion of New Fairfield’s town attorney, David Grogins, was that it was “an appropriate proceeding under the governor’s order” for the selectmen and finance boards to vote on the purchase and appropriation.
Others in town are against moving forward with the project at all at this time, including a number of Gillotti Road residents who are upset about the town’s recently changed construction plans and lack of communication with those who live near the high school.
Due in part to unforeseen costs in the original plan, the Permanent Building Committee decided two weeks ago to move forward with a different high school construction plan than the one taxpayers approved in October.
Since the new plan requires using land at 78 Gillotti Road, the committee recommended the purchase of the property to the selectmen and finance boards.
Kelly Zurzola, who lives across the street from the school, said she “did not know anything about this until last week.”
“I voted yes to the high school (building project) because I thought that was best for the kids in the town. We were told everything about that and where it was going to be — and now all of a sudden it’s moving … and no one was told anything about that,” she said.
Gillotti Road resident Claudia Thiel said she and her neighbors have tolerated a lot over the years, but the new high school construction plan is too much.
“Before there was ever a high school built, there were people living here (and) since the high school was built, there has been a lot of tolerance and sacrifice by people who have been living here,” she said. “None of us have really complained about it because it’s all been for the good of the town, but what you’re asking us to accept now is just wrong. It’s not right; it’s not what was voted on.”
Residents in the immediate vicinity of the high school already deal with school-related traffic backups, light pollution, noise and occasional trespassers, Thiel said.
“I do not doubt that is all going to be significantly worse now that you have abandoned the original site presented to the town,” she said.
Thiel said the site the town voted on back in October was “far less imposing” than the one incorporating 78 Gillotti Road, and she does not approve of the way the project is being handled.“The one group that was never contacted about these changes are the people who are going to be the most negatively impacted, and those are the neighbors,” she said.
Selectman Khris Hall said many of the concerns presented by neighbors are legitimate and she hopes they will be considered during the design phase of the high school project.
Hall and First Selectman Pat Del Monaco voted in favor of the resolution to purchase 78 Gillotti Road, but Selectman Kim Hanson “vehemently” voted against it, citing concerns about legality and lack of transparency.
Board of Finance member Cheryl Reedy said she voted in favor of the 78 Gillotti Road appropriation because she believed it’s “the right thing to do” financially but had some reservations about the process.“I think we’re all learning, and we have to take this opportunity to learn how to be much more (transparent) than we have been in the past,” she said. “I think we need to take to heart the concerns that we heard tonight about how the public feeling has been that they’re not getting good information from us.”
With all the changes brought on by the coronavirus pandemic, Reedy said it’s important for the boards to “bend over backwards” to make sure the public is properly informed about what’s happening.
Brief outbreak of tolls debate marks Bond Commission meeting Keith M. Phaneuf
The unifying crisis of the coronavirus pandemic didn’t prevent the tolls debate from resurfacing Thursday at the state Capitol.
Republican legislative leaders charged Gov. Ned Lamont with retaliating against toll opponents after the State Bond Commission scrapped financing at the last minute for rail cars for the Waterbury and Danbury lines.
The administration countered that the change was due to a simple, agenda error. But Lamont also told critics that the state’s transportation program is running dry and legislators must address that.
“We don’t have an endless supply of bonding money,” the governor told Rep. Chris Davis of Ellington, a commission member and ranking House Republican on the Finance, Revenue and Bonding Committee. “We had to make some choices and these were the choices we made.”
The bond commission unanimously approved more than $700 million in total financing for various transportation projects across the state.
Thursday’s agenda originally called for some of that total — $300 million — to be used to purchase 72 rail cars to be distributed among four lines: Danbury, Waterbury, Hartford and Shoreline East — which serves south-central and southeastern Connecticut.
But Lamont’s budget director, Melissa McCaw, amended the item, saying the $300 million would cover just 60 cars, and that they would go only to Hartford and to Shoreline East.
When Davis asked why the 60 cars couldn’t be shared among all four lines, Department of Transportation Commissioner Joseph Giulietti replied that the Shoreline and Hartford lines have the greatest need for cars, and the oldest vehicles.
“Governor Lamont is punishing an entire region that is loaded with talent and skillsets that need to be developed,” House Minority Leader Themis Klarides, R-Derby, told the CT Mirror immediately after the purchase was revised. “I think it’s very clear what happened here.”
The Democratic governor — who originally proposed tolls on all vehicles and later just on commercial trucks — ran into bipartisan opposition on both fronts.
But Klarides said improving the connections between Danbury, Waterbury and New York City enjoys strong support from both parties — and comes with a huge economic payoff that would benefit all of Connecticut.
“The governor stood in the [Naugatuck] Valley five days before his election and said ‘this part of the state has been ignored for far too long. That will change if I’m elected governor.’ And all he has done is ignore us since the election.”
Rep. Rosa Rebimbas, R-Naugatuck, added after the meeting that Lamont’s decision was “completely irresponsible and further represses the ability of the greater Waterbury area to thrive. … if there ever was a presentation of a necessity, a need, that would benefit the state of Connecticut, this was it.”
And Republicans weren’t the only ones to complain.
Rep. Jason Rojas, D-East Hartford, also a member of the bond commission and co-chairman of the finance committee, told Lamont “there’s significant disappointment with the decision that’s been made and the manner in which it’s been made. … I hope, in the future, you’ll give it serious consideration.”
But administration officials have argued for months that toll opponents want to have their cake — in this case, robust investments in transportation — without paying.
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 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.
To address all concerns, DOT officials said earlier this year, the state would need to boost its annual capital investment by about 25%.
At that pace, the transportation fund hits insolvency around 2025 or 2026. Towns to finally receive long awaited state aid
In other business Thursday, the bond commission approved the release of $136 million in long-awaited grants to cities and towns.
Some of those funds were due as far back as July. The current fiscal year, which the grants cover, will end less than three months from now on June 30.
Though most grants are paid out of the state budget, Connecticut does finance some municipal assistance with bonding. But Lamont delayed approval of a full state bond package — a necessary prerequisite before grants can be distributed — through 2019 and the first two months of this year, trying to get legislators to approve electronic tolling.
One grant approved Thursday was the full $60 million Town Aid Road program, which pays for road repairs, tree-clearing and snow removal.
The bond commission also approved the full $76 million pledged to towns this fiscal year through an omnibus public works grant.
This is a huge relief for towns, particularly during these challenging times,” said Betsy Gara, Executive Director of Connecticut Council of Small Towns. “Towns have had to delay projects, shift funding from other programs or draw down reserves to fund critical infrastructure projects.”
Thursday’s meeting was the bond commission’s second attempt to gather since the coronavirus pandemic began. An April 8 meeting by teleconference was suspended after technical difficulties. New London port development advances
The commission also approved $30 million to support ongoing efforts to transform the port of New London into the green energy capital of the Northeast.
Lamont announced on Feb. 11 that the Connecticut Port Authority had reached a deal with Eversource and its Denmark-based partner, Ørsted North America, to develop an offshore wind turbine farm expected to create 400 jobs and generate as much as 4,000 megawatt hours of electricity. Part of that initiative includes redesigning State Pier and the surrounding area in New London into a heavy-lift capable port that can accommodate wind generation equipment and other related cargo.
State officials also announced a deal last month between Connecticut’s port authority and New England Central Railroad.
The NECR has leased a five-acre parcel to the authority to accommodate the delivery of wind turbine components to the port.
More Compression For Iroquois Gas Transmission System Raeanna Haight
Iroquois Gas Transmission System, L.P. (Iroquois) is seeking US Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) approval to construct, own, operate, and maintain new natural gas compression and associated facilities at four existing compressor stations in New York and Connecticut, USA, as part of its Expansion By Compression Project.
Iroquois proposes to add 12,000 horsepower (8952 kW) of new compression and associated facilities at its Athens Station in Greene County, and Dover Station in Dutches County, New York. Iroquois proposes to add two new 12,000 hp units at its Brookfield Station in Fairfield County, Connecticut, for a grand total of 48,000 hp (35,808 kW) of new compression facilities. Iroquois proposes to add cooling and related equipment only at its Milford Station in New Haven County, Connecticut. The purpose of this project is to provide a total of 125,000 dekatherms per day of incremental firm transportation service to existing customers.
Specific project details include: Athens Compressor Station
Iroquois will add one new 12,000 hp Solar Taurus 70 compressor to run in addition to the already existing 10,310 hp (7691 kW) Solar Taurus 70 compressor on site. It will also construct an on skid turbine compressor enclosure installed in an acoustically designed compressor building, a low noise turbine exhaust system which includes oxidation catalyst housing, a low noise turbine air inlet system, a low noise turbine lube oil cooler, a gas cooler, and above-ground and below-grade gas piping. Dover Compressor Station
The Dover Compressor Station consists of one 17,969 hp (13,405 kW) Siemens Cyclone, with Iroquois proposing to add one 12,000 hp Solar Taurus 70 compressor, an on skid turbine compressor enclosure installed in an acoustically designed compressor building, a low noise turbine exhaust system including oxidation catalyst housing, a low noise turbine air inlet system, a low noise turbine lube oil cooler, a station gas cooler, and aboveground and below grade gas piping. Brookfield Compressor Station
Iroquois will add two 12,000 hp Solar Taurus 70 compressors to run in addition to the station’s already existing Solar Taurus 60 (7,684 hp [5732 kW]), and Solar Taurus 70 (10,310 hp) compressors. It will also construct a new control/office building, exhaust systems, air inlet systems, lube oil coolers, low noise gas coolers, and piping. Milford Compressor Station
Iroquois will install new gas cooling equipment to the two existing 10,310 hp Solar Taurus 70 compressor units in the station. It will also build associated piping to allow for compressed discharge gas to be cooled, as no gas cooling facilities currently exist at the Milford compressor station. No new compression will be added.
Riverside Avenue will be closed starting Monday SUSAN CORICA
BRISTOL – Riverside Avenue will be closed starting Monday, April 20, from Blakeslee Street/Memorial Boulevard to Main Street, so Eversource Gas can start installation of a gas line.
The existing gas line is being upgraded due to the State of Connecticut paving schedule for Route 72, which includes Riverside, and the additional hospital load requirements, according to a statement from the Public Works Department.
The project will take approximately eight weeks to complete. Hours of construction will be 7 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday through Friday. Detours will be in place for eastbound traffic. Traffic will be detoured from Main Street onto South Street.
While there may be minor traffic delays during construction, one lane of westbound traffic will remain open for mail delivery, emergency vehicles, buses, and local traffic at all times. Detour signs will be posted and uniformed traffic personnel will be directing traffic.
For more information, contact Chris Tralli of Eversource Energy at 860-302-6024 or Matt Piette, construction superintendent of GPL Construction, the contractor hired by Eversource to do the project, at 401-575-9028.
ey financing for the first phase of the planned $200-million mixed-use development surrounding Hartford’s Dunkin’ Donuts Park was approved Thursday, pushing the project closer to a summer groundbreaking.The Capital Region Development Authority’s (CRDA) board of directors on Thursday afternoon unanimously approved, via teleconference, an $11.8 million low-cost loan for the first phase of the project led by RMS Cos.
The State Bond Commission previously approved a $12-million loan for the DoNo project, but CRDA has already spent $200,000 of those funds to study demolition of the nearby data center structure on Parcel D of the Downtown North (DoNo) property.
In the first phase of development on “Parcel C” along Main Street, RMS plans to build a 270-unit apartment complex, ground-level retail space and a 330-space parking garage on city-owned land flanking the ballpark. Salvatore recently said the first phase, estimated to cost $46 million, could be completed in 18 months. The development will house up to 1,000 new apartments when the entire project is completed in the next six or so years.
Prior to the meeting, CRDA Executive Director Michael Freimuth told HBJ the developer is expected to break ground sometime this summer.
Randy Salvatore, founder and CEO of RMS, in February said construction could begin sometime in April. However, Freimuth this week suggested the timeline was pushed back due to delays caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The project is close to closing with the bank and the equity sources,” Freimuth told the board via conference call Thursday. “The city has worked out the land transfer agreements, the city has worked out a pilot agreement, and we are ready to walk it forward.”
In early March, the city of Hartford signed a development agreement with RMS, which the city selected as its preferred developer for the DoNo parcels, to build the housing and retail development.
Salvatore 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.
President Donald Trump tapped more than a dozen real estate and construction industry leaders this week to counsel him on plans to reopen the national economy amid the coronavirus pandemic. The White House announced the formation of Great American Economic Revival Industry Groups Tuesday night, made up of more than 200 people, largely corporate CEOs, who will give Trump advice on when and how the federal government should reopen the economy.
Two of the groups are dedicated to real estate and construction, made up of 20 men who lead development companies, contractors and trade unions and associations. There are also groups for retail, hospitality, banking, financial services, healthcare and technology. Related Chairman Stephen Ross, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, Blackstone's Stephen Schwarzmann and Jon Gray, California-based Irvine Co. owner Donald Bren and Vornado Realty Trust CEO Steven Roth were all included. All eight men on the real estate council are based in either New York or Southern California.
“The health and wealth of America is the primary goal, and these groups will produce a more independent, self-sufficient, and resilient Nation,” the White House said in a release. Associated General Contractors CEO Stephen Sandherr, who was among those named on the list, said he received a call from the White House on Tuesday afternoon asking for him to join the group.
“The construction industry offers a good template for the business community. For the most part, construction projects have been able to continue,” Sandherr told Bisnow Wednesday. “We’ve already adopted safety practices and have been changing our procedures to limit exposure.”
On phone calls with the White House, Sandherr plans to describe what the construction industry has done to mitigate risk, including persistent education and enforcement.
“It’s an honor to be able to help,” he said.
The list also includes:
Not on the list of high power executives is LeFrak Organization CEO Richard LeFrak, one of New York’s biggest landlords and a longtime friend of Trump's. He was set to lead the president’s infrastructure council in 2017 alongside Roth until Trump abandoned plans for the council.
During the first of four task force meetings Wednesday, leaders in banking and finance exhorted Trump to increase testing measures before reopening the economy, The Wall Street Journal reported. They also lauded the president's response to the pandemic. The group did not speak about when the country would reopen or when they would convene again, according to the WSJ.
The White House’s announcement of the team of experts comes after Trump’s adamant rebuke of governors’ plans to reopen their state economies independent of the federal government on Monday. Two interstate coalitions emerged on both U.S. coasts with freshly minted task forces that will examine how best to reopen the states’ economies.
Trump said he had the ultimate authority to decide when and how the states’ economies could reopen, but later seemed to temper his "absolute" position.
Internationally, other countries have begun opening their economies back up. Most recently, Germany's prime minister, Angela Merkel, announced Wednesday that the country will be reopening schools and some retail in May, given they have a new hygiene plan in place, Seeking Alpha reports. Germany has been touted as a success in keeping its national death toll from the virus down.