Mary Biekert
Old Lyme — After receiving unanimous approval from the town’s Inland Wetlands and Watercourses Commission on Tuesday evening, it appears a proposed $2.28 million synthetic turf field project the Region 18 Board of Education is considering building is moving forward.
The 143,000-square-foot, all-weather, multipurpose field, if eventually approved by the Board of Education, will be located behind the middle and high schools and will overlay an already existing practice field, accommodating soccer, lacrosse, baseball and softball games and practices, as well as physical education classes.
Currently, the district plays sports games only on its track and soccer/lacrosse fields, both of which are irrigated. But with an all-weather synthetic turf field, Superintendent Ian Neviaser said by phone Tuesday, the school’s sports teams could play and practice year-round in almost any weather condition. That would lower use of the district’s two grass sports fields, possibly minimizing irrigation demands and preserving groundwater. The practice field where the turf field is proposed to be built is not irrigated and dries out quickly, Neviaser has said.
“We are not necessarily doing this (project) as a money-saving effort,” Neviaser said. “We are doing it so we don’t have to continue to use our game fields as our practice fields and put so much time, money and effort into upkeeping our game fields. This will allow us to keep (those grass game fields) at a higher quality because they won’t be taking as much of a beating.”
The estimated $2.28 million needed to build the new turf field does not include bleachers, lighting and other stadium upgrades, a shock-pad cushion or pricier infill material options and does not include the cost to replace the field in 10 to 15 years, nor maintenance costs, estimated at between $10,000 and $20,000 a year. Presently, the district spends more than $11,000 annually to maintain the practice field that would be replaced by the turf field, and more than $73,000 annually to maintain all of its fields.
The district will need to decide which infill option it would like to have installed with the field and whether it would like to spend more on higher-quality materials instead of the less-expensive crumb rubber in the initial estimate.
The Board of Education has been discussing the possibility of installing a synthetic turf field for several years now and selected engineering and consulting firm Milone & MacBroom of Cheshire to complete engineering and design work for the field, as well as obtain regulatory approvals from the town, in October 2019 agreeing to spend $26,800 from the district’s undesignated fund to finance that work, according to meeting minutes.
In December, Milone & MacBroom engineer Kevin Fuselier presented plans for the field before the board with a proposed timeline of the project, which included plans to present the field to the public and obtain needed land-use permits from the town in 2020.
The timeline outlined that the final design would be complete by fall 2020 and construction could begin as early as summer 2021. Construction would take four months, Fuselier has said.
Neviaser said by phone Tuesday he wasn’t sure if the school district also would need to go before the town’s Zoning Commission for further approval, he stressed that the Board of Education still has not formally decided it will follow through on the project but has agreed to move forward with the regulatory and design process in the meantime.
The board had scheduled a presentation of the field to the public in late March, but after schools closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the presentation had been put off. Neviaser said the presentation has not yet been rescheduled but a virtual one may be held.
If the school board agrees to move forward with building the new turf field, the district does not intend to bond for the project but plans to pay for it through district savings, into which the board has funneled up to 1% of its total budget each year. Neviaser has said the savings is used to help finance larger projects, avoiding large budget increases and the need to bond.
As of June 30, 2019, the balance of that account hovered around $1.7 million. Neviaser said after savings from this year’s fiscal budget are added, the balance will be slightly more than $2 million. He has estimated the fund will have $2.5 million by the end of June 2021.
While speaking Tuesday evening before the wetlands commission, which is reviewing the project because 29,000 to 30,000 square feet of the project is proposed to extend into the town’s 100-foot upland review area — or the 100 feet surrounding any wetland — Megan Raymond, a registered soil scientist and professional wetland scientist with Milone & MacBroom, explained the project does not pose any direct, adverse impacts to the town’s wetlands — in this case the Duck River water system. She added that possible indirect impacts will be managed both by sediment and soil erosion control measures, which include putting up hay bales and silt fencing around the site during construction, as well as long-term stormwater management measures.
A drainage system installed underneath the field's surface will collect and distribute water landing on the field to an existing detention basin south of the field that drains into nearby “forested wetlands via a 24-inch corrugated pipe,” according to a wetland delineation and impact assessment submitted to the commission as part of the application.
Most rainwater landing on the field, however, will be absorbed through a permeable stone base installed under the synthetic turf infill and then into the ground, Fuselier said at Tuesday’s meeting, “and not put a burden on this detention pond.”
He added that while ball safety netting, concrete access paths and electric utilities will be built around the field, light poles and fixtures are not part of the proposed plans.
While the commission did not raise many concerns with Fuselier and Raymond about the application, commission member Evan Griswold questioned whether rainwater warmed from landing on a hot synthetic turf surface in the summer draining from the detention basin could adversely impact the Duck River.
Fuselier said that Milone & MacBroom has completed studies and testing on heat generated by turf fields and because the field will be built on at least 8 inches of granite stone, water will lose its heat while passing through that material. With “the cloud cover from a rain event ... the cooling rain and ... the cool substructure of the turf ... we haven’t seen any issues with thermal temperatures,” he said.
CT heads to Wall Street to jump-start its construction industry
Keith M. Phaneuf
Connecticut is taking a big step toward re-energizing its construction economy, seeking nearly $1.4 billion in financing from a Wall Street that appears anxious to deal.
Treasurer Shawn T. Wooden launched an $850 million bond sale last week to bolster Connecticut’s transportation program, and this week plans to secure another $500 million in financing for various other capital projects and state initiatives.
Meanwhile, the four Wall Street credit rating agencies generally praised the state’s fiscal preparedness leading into the pandemic, though long-term fiscal challenges still loom large.
“This provides us with a year of stability and that is very important right now for the construction industry in Connecticut,” said Don Shubert, president of the Connecticut Construction Industry Association.
The state lost about 3,400 construction jobs in 2019. And while the state Department of Transportation has made work-at-home adjustments to weather the pandemic storm and keep projects moving forward, Shubert said, many other states have scaled back capital programs considerably as they’ve struggled to secure financing.
The transportation bonds will finance upgrades to the Gold Star Memorial Bridge on Interstate 95 in New London, the “Mixmaster” junction of I-84 and Route 8 in Waterbury, the interchange of I-91 and Route 15 in Wethersfield and East Hartford, and the New Haven Rail Yard master complex.
Bonding also will support replacement of the Walk Bridge in Norwalk and a portion of Connecticut’s rail fleet.
“Given the effects of the COVID-19 on our economy, maintaining our credit ratings and outlooks is an important independent assessment of Connecticut’s fiscal stability,” Wooden said. “What matters most is that maintaining our credit standing allows us to continue to access funding for strategic investments for our state at attractive interest rates, saving taxpayers’ money.”
Wooden projects the interest rate on the transportation bonds, which are being financed over 20 years, is 2.97%.
Wall Street, in general, took a positive assessment of Connecticut’s readiness to move beyond the pandemic — at least relative to that of most other states.
“Connecticut has a diverse and mature economic base anchored by a large finance sector and important manufacturing and education and health sectors,” Fitch Ratings Service wrote. “The state is the wealthiest in the U.S. as measured by per capita personal income.”
The state’s position also is strengthened by a $2.5 billion emergency budget reserve, various mechanisms in law to limit spending, “and a willingness to raise revenues” when necessary, Fitch analysts added.
“Connecticut enters the current recession in a significantly better position than in the past,” S&P Global wrote in its assessment. While the current rainy day fund equals about 13% of annual operating costs, Connecticut had enough in the bank just three years ago to cover only 1%.
Fitch, S&P and the other two ratings agencies — Moody’s Investors Service and Kroll Bond Rating Agency — each offer a 10-tier system for ranking their top, “investment grade” bonds.
Ratings agencies generally place Connecticut in the middle of their investment grade rankings, though Kroll assigned the state a AA+ mark — its second-highest grade — for its transportation bonds.
Wall Street is worried about CT’s long-term fiscal issues
Despite its great wealth, Connecticut also has significant budgetary and economic challenges and the rating agencies noted this.Connecticut struggled over the past decade with a very sluggish recovery from the last recession, and Moody’s analysts said their grade “reflects a lagging economy that is highly dependent on volatile revenue sources and recent consecutive years of population loss.”
Equally concerning to Wall Street, simply put, is that Connecticut carries a lot of debt.
With more than $58 billion in unfunded pension and retirement healthcare liabilities — problems amassed over eight decades — Connecticut owes far more in this area, per person, the nearly all other states.
And when it comes to bonded debt per capita, Connecticut also is among the national leaders.
S&P Global was particularly cautious in its outlook for the state budget’s Special Transportation Fund [STF,] which plays a crucial role in the rebuilding of Connecticut’s aging highways, bridges and rail lines.
The STF covers the payments each year on the state’s transportation bonding debt. By borrowing and spending those funds, Connecticut then qualifies for $700 million per year in federal transportation grants.
But before they offer low interest rates, Wall Street investors want to see twice as much revenue flowing into the STF as debt payments going out — for the current year and for four years into the future.
Even before the pandemic, the transportation fund was in trouble. Lamont could not convince legislators to approve tolls to bolster revenues.
Despite reaffirming Connecticut’s bond rating, S&P Global analysts were skeptical STF’s revenues would remain adequate, warning the state’s projections “may prove somewhat optimistic.”
Andrew Cuomo to meet with Trump to discuss infrastructure projects
Brett Samuels
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) will travel to Washington, D.C., on Wednesday for a meeting with President Trump to discuss economic revival efforts.
The governor said during a news conference on Tuesday that he hoped to discuss how infrastructure projects could be leveraged to kickstart the economy, which has cratered due to the coronavirus pandemic.
"You want to restart the economy, you want to reopen the economy, let’s do something creative, let’s do it fast, let’s put Americans back to work, and let’s make America better," Cuomo said. "It is common sense." You have an infrastructure that’s crumbling, you need to jumpstart the economy, you need to create jobs, do it now," he added. "And that's one of the things I'm going to talk to the president about tomorrow."
Wednesday will mark the second time Trump and Cuomo have met at the White House in the last month. Cuomo has been a staunch advocate for congressional funding for states amid the pandemic, something Trump has opposed.
But the two may find common ground on infrastructure. Trump has previously called for a $2 trillion infrastructure package as a way to boost the economy during the pandemic. The president has also praised governors who have seized on the window of limited travel to repair roads and local infrastructure.
Trump will likely meet with Cuomo on Wednesday morning. He is scheduled to fly to Florida in the afternoon to attend the SpaceX launch at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center.