O&G chosen as construction manager for Torrington school project
O&G Industries has been selected as the construction
manager for the new Torrington Middle/High School.
The City Council authorized a contract Monday for the
city-based firm to construct the grade 7-12 school, which residents passed last
November. The Board of Education and the project’s building committee had
previously approved the contract.
The construction budget and maximum price of the school,
which include space for district administrators, is $130.7 million.
O&G and SLAM Collaborative, a Glastonbury-based
architectural firm, ran into issues last month with overestimated construction
budget costs. After initial attempts to reduce the cost from $186.4 million,
the estimated construction budget stands at $142.1 million.
About $18 million in the estimate is tied to contingency
funds and escalation costs.
The original total cost of the project, which residents
approved, was $159.5 million. The city school district received an 85% state
reimbursement via school construction grants the General Assembly approved in
early June.
Arguments continue on permit for work at State Pier
Greg Smith
DRVN Enterprises, the road salt business forced off of State
Pier in New London ahead of a planned $235.5 million modernization project,
continued its effort Wednesday to stop the project from moving forward.
During a hearing held before state Department of Energy and
Environmental Protection Commissioner Katie Dykes, DRVN attorney Keith Anthony
argued that DRVN, as opposed to commercial fishermen using State Pier, was
overlooked in DEEP’s analysis of water-dependent users at State Pier.
Attorneys for DEEP and the Connecticut Port Authority said
DRVN’s arguments are related to its lease at the pier and not an environmental
permit.
The CPA awaits DEEP’s permit, which is critical to the
completion of the overall plan for the deepwater port and its conversion into a
facility to accommodate the offshore wind industry. While work commissioned by
the Connecticut Port Authority is well underway at State Pier, permits from
DEEP and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers would allow work to start on dredging
and fill to be placed between the two existing piers at the New London
facility.
Plans call for the two piers to be joined to create a larger
platform for ships delivering massive wind turbine parts for assembly. The CPA
is nearing deadlines in an agreement with offshore wind partners Ørsted and
Eversource that would put completion of the project, which has already started,
in jeopardy.
Anthony argued that a notice of insufficiency issued by DEEP
in June 2019 required the CPA to revise its permit application and provide
information on current water-dependent users who would be displaced or allowed
to work at the pier through construction. He claims DRVN was left out.
DRVN "was a current water-dependent user until February
of 2021, when the CPA basically had him sign a memorandum of understanding that
said you have two options: you can either leave in February of 2021 or we’re
going to seize your salt pile and your equipment," Anthony
said. "There was no accommodation for him.”
DRVN President and owner Steve Farrelly "was a small
business operating in the eastern part of Connecticut employing Connecticut
individuals,” Anthony said. “He was importing salt to the pier since 2014. He
would still be doing that but for this application. The only place that salt
can be imported via the ocean now in the state of Connecticut is New Haven
Harbor. That’s it.”
Dykes, tasked with the final decision, questioned DRVN’s
argument in calling for denial of an environmental permit.
“Clearly the Coastal Management Act requires us to
prioritize water-dependent uses but it feels that you’re asking us to go further
and prioritize or protect specific water-dependent users over other
water-dependent users,” Dykes said.
She continued by saying, “the department is not extending a
lease here. This is not our lease. It feels to me this is a contractual matter
that you’re raising with respect to a different party. I’m struggling to see
how if we were to find in your favor that we could provide the relief you’re
seeking, which is continuation of a lease. We’re not in control of that.”
Anthony said he was not asking for DRVN to be prioritized,
only recognized as an existing water-dependent user.
Attorneys for both DEEP and the Connecticut Port Authority
said DRVN’s arguments against issuance of a permit strayed from any legal
basis.
Assistant Attorney General Lori DiBella said that in June
2019, DRVN had already been notified by the port operator, Gateway, that its
time was nearing an end at the pier. The company was told to vacate by December
2019 but given extensions until February 2020 to allow it to sell its
salt.
DiBella said there is nothing in the permitting process that
would protect one particular water-dependent user over another.
“There’s just nothing in the law that requires that,” she
said. “State Pier will continue to be a water-dependent use.”
She said DRVN’s argument has nothing to do with the permit
but has more to do with the business relationship with the port operator
Gateway.
“That’s what the situation is about. It’s not about the
proposed final decision. It’s about this business and its business relationships,”
she said.
John Casey, representing the CPA, agreed and said, “we’re
really here on exceptions to one former user’s dissatisfaction with its
business with the port operator.”
“What it's trying to do is confuse the matter in my mind,”
Casey said. “He knew this project was coming years ago but waited until the
very last minute to intervene in this matter.”
DRVN previously filed an objection to DEEP’s draft decision
and, once that was denied, filed what is known as a “notice of exception,”
which required all sides to file legal briefs.
Casey said the source of DRVN’s argument is “some sort of
rights that need to be adjudicated in this matter.”
“That’s simply not the case,” Casey said. “Is DEEP supposed
to protect individual users or water-dependent uses? If that was the case,
everyone who ever rented a slip at a marina could be aggrieved when they didn’t
get a new rental agreement the next year.”
Jeffrey Londregan, representing the city of New London,
urged the commissioner to adopt DEEP’s proposed draft decision and issue a
permit.
Challenge of protecting fisheries, developing wind power
The Day Editorial Board
If you crave hard work, often undertaken in bad weather, and
are willing to accept a job carrying inherent dangers even when all precautions
are followed, a job in which a paycheck can’t be assured but will result from
the size of the next “catch” — then the job of commercial fisherman may be for
you.
Yet it is also a job that takes place on the beauty of the
ocean, which lets you be your own boss in control of your own success or
failure, and is about as far from an office cubicle as a person can get.
It’s not a job for everyone, but thankfully it is for some
folks because the fruits of their labor provide fresh, healthy and delicious
menu choices. Perhaps as importantly, fishermen and lobstermen like those who
operate the Town Dock Fleet out of Stonington are part of our heritage.
The region is richer for them.
Over the next few days, a series of Day articles, photos and
videos will take a closer look at the industry and this way of life.
It is a way of life that always came with exceptional
challenges. A new century has added more, even as technology improved.
Quotas on the size of fish catches for certain species —
imposed by federal environmental regulators to avoid stock depletion — cut into
profits and can force fishermen further asea and in search of different fish.
Fishermen told Day Staff Writer Joe Wojtas, who has long covered the fleet,
that they understand the need for quotas, though they often question the logic
and practicality behind some of the details.
Now a new challenge is arriving, the planned development off
our shores of large wind farms featuring towering turbines bolted into the
ocean floor and connected to land-based power grids by buried cables.
Both during construction and once installed, fishermen are
concerned about how the wind farms will affect fishing stocks and their ability
to access them, interfere with fishing equipment, disturb marine life, and
make navigation more difficult.
Failing to add offshore wind to the nation’s renewable energy
portfolio is not a good option, as much as we suspect the Stonington fleet
would prefer that outcome. It is sound policy to work to lower carbon emissions
in an effort to mitigate climate change. Wind power can be a major contributor
to that effort, as can solar if done wisely.
This editorial board also supports the continued use of
nuclear power to support emission-free power. But practically speaking,
the political backing to support a next generation of nuclear power is lacking,
particularly here in the Northeast. This makes the contribution of offshore
wind power that much more critically important to the region.
But the commercial fishing industry must have a prominent
position in the planning and permitting process. Details of fishing activity
should be considered in the positioning of turbines, keeping conflicts
between the wind farms and the fisheries to a minimum.
In other jurisdictions, fishing fleets have called for
substantial transit corridors for their boats, requests that have sometimes met
with resistance from the wind-power industry because they reduce the area for
turbine construction. Regulators should err on the side of assuring safe
navigation and fishing.
Additionally, construction scheduling should align with
fishing seasons.
Continuing research will be critical as wind power moves
through the construction phase and into production of power. A six-year study around the
35 turbines that form the Westernmost Rough offshore wind farm — several miles
off England’s Holderness coast in the North Sea — found no discernible impact
on that area’s rich lobster fishing grounds.
That’s a different sea and a study focusing only on
lobsters, so any extrapolation is limited, but the report offers
encouraging evidence that the fishing and wind-power industries can co-exist.
Maintaining a commercial fishing industry is important, but
so too is expansion of the renewable energy industry. Done right, both
priorities can be met.
Danbury approves $80 million cancer treatment center over concerns of some West Side residents
Rob Ryser
DANBURY — Planners unanimously approved an application by a
cancer treatment group to open what could be Connecticut’s first proton
therapy center on the city’s West Side, clearing the way for the state
to approve the new technology as soon as August.
The city’s Planning Commission, which heard congestion
concerns from West Side residents about the $80 million Danbury Proton project during a
public hearing earlier this month, attached an unusually
long list of conditions in its approval this week.
The conditions include a donation of land to the city by the
cancer treatment center “for future roadway improvements along Wooster Heights
Road, including the Lee Farm Drive intersection.”
Danbury Proton agreed not to plant trees on the property and
to grant the city a “tree-trimming easement” to ensure that trees don’t grow
into the approach zone of nearby Danbury Municipal Airport.
Jennifer Emminger, Danbury’s deputy planning director, read
the conditions into the record before the Planning Commission vote Wednesday
night.
“It looks like it is all there, Jen — a lot of stuff — but you
got it all in,” said Planning Commission Chairman Arnold Finaldi. “Well done.”
“All seven pages,” Emminger said. “It was a long one.”
“That’s how we judge the seriousness of an application, by
the number of pages in the resolution,” Finaldi said. “It’s very comprehensive,
Jen.”
Danbury Proton is the second West Side medical building the
city has approved in three months. In April, Danbury gave the green light for
a $36
million rehabilitation hospital on 13 acres in The Reserve residential
development.
Danbury Proton is one of two proton-therapy,
cancer-treatment centers vying for approval from the state Office of Health
Strategy, which must approve medical technology that is “new to the state.”
The novel technology, which is available in New York City
and Boston, aims to kill tumors with a minimum of damage to healthy tissue.
The second application, Connecticut Proton Therapy Center,
is a partnership between Yale New Haven Health Services Corp. and Hartford
HealthCare Corp., which has proposed a cancer treatment center in Wallingford.
Danbury Proton plans a 16,000-square-foot building on three
acres at 85 Wooster Heights Road, where a group of construction-weary West Side
residents complained about the prospect of more
construction and congestion.
Danbury Proton insisted it would draw far less traffic than
a traditional medical office building because of the specialized nature of the
treatments.
Finaldi during last
week’s public hearing agreed, saying, “While I empathize with a lot of
the neighbors and what they have been through … I am fairly comfortable that
the scale of this project is much smaller, and will be much less impactful.”
On Wednesday, Danbury Proton attorney Thomas Beecher thanked
planners for their support.
New Haven plan for new housing on Grand Avenue draws criticism, including over affordabilty
Mary E. O'Leary
NEW HAVEN — The owner of multiple deteriorating warehouses
on Grand Avenue is proposing to convert them to residences, although there is
pushback on some of the design elements and how it fits into larger planning
for the area.
“It is ... a transformation of a really transient area,”
architect Ken Boroson said, referring to the commercial properties located at
the beginning of the major corridor as it approaches downtown. “It is a really
exciting project in my mind.”
The longtime New Haven company, Ungers Flooring America,
would continue to have a space on the ground floor at 897 Grand Ave., which
together with 873 Grand Ave. would support 34 rental apartments that back up to
Lyon Street.
Boroson said they all would be larger units — two- and
three-bedrooms, some with dens, although there would be some one-bedroom
apartments.
There would be a roof deck and shared amenity space with a
new facade on the Ungers building. The name of the project is Ungers Living
Spirits, not to be confused with alcohol, Boroson said.
He said the project is combined with more housing across the
street at 880 Grand Ave.
Attorney Ben Trachten said the project was designed to be
respectful of the residents on Lyon Street both in terms of use and scale.
A business zone runs along the line of the property as it
comes up to the residential zone.
Trachten said the proposal would require some zoning relief.
He said the existing conditions commonly are granted variances as they don’t
pose a threat to neighbors.
There were several questions this week at the Downtown
Wooster Square Community Management Team from Lyon Street residents who abut
the Ungers building. Boroson said no additional construction is planned in the
back where a garage presently exists. He said a driveway would remain.
Resident Rahul Shah said he was concerned with the number of
market-rate and luxury housing units being constructed in the city.
Trachten said these apartments would be developed as market-rate
units. “It is just not possible for a private developer to construct affordable
housing currently without subsidies,” he said.
But Trachten also said the apartments will not carry the
same rents as downtown.
“For the area this will be kind of a pioneering build. I
think the rents will be consistent with what the rents are across the street at
850 Grand Ave. They are significantly below what you would see in parts of
Wooster Square and the new construction buildings along State Street and
Olive,” Trachten said.
In answer to concerns about gentrification, Trachten said
this is an adaptive re-use “of three blighted structures,” not the kind of
housing that displaces people.
Trachten said it is a corridor that he passes through almost
on a daily basis. He described it as a “mixture of homeless people,
neighborhood people and it certainly could use some life.”
He said some residential units with ground-floor commercial
would be appropriate rather than just being a corridor between downtown and
Fair Haven.
One resident said it looks like 873 Grand Ave. has the
apartment doors opening onto the sidewalk and into the pedestrian pathway.
Trachten said they will look for a special permit from the
City Plan Commission to have residents on the first floor, something usually
granted without much difficulty. There would be two opportunities for public
hearings.
“There has been a long and difficult zoning history for
these buildings,” the attorney said.
He said they are advancing a project “that actually has the
ability to be built and to bring housing choice and some commercial use to this
area rather than see Ungers shut down and the property just sit vacant for many
years.”
They plan to submit plans for the September hearing of the
Board of Zoning Appeals.
Mona Berman, a resident, said Grand Avenue was one of three
streets designated as gateway corridors in the city for special planning
attention.
She said the proposal was rejected by the neighborhood and
there was extensive consultation with City Plan staff on the issue.
Berman said Grand is different from Dixwell and Whalley
avenues as corridors given how narrow it is. Also, the lot sizes for the
commercial buildings are extremely small, and the street is completely
enveloped by residential zoning.
She said they had a petition with more than 100 signatures
against defining it as a gateway corridor as originally proposed. She said the
neighbors got together with City Plan staff to discuss guidelines for future
zoning for the street.
Berman said it was rude not to be advised about the proposed
residential housing.
She said the neighbors have come up with a long list of
items for future discussion. One is the lack of a loading zone for the current
commercial use.
Berman also said doors need to be recessed to a lobby to
make sure it is not dangerous for people coming in and out. Access to the back
apartments is narrow, she said.
Boroson said he welcomed questions and thoughts on the
project and wasn’t aware of some of the elements mentioned.
Ian Dunn, chairman of the Downtown Wooster Square Community
Management Team, suggested holding a special meeting of the group devoted to
the Grand Avenue proposals and another on the long-term vision for the area.
The proposed development of 880 Grand Ave. across the street
is simpler, Boroson said.
The architect said it adds two stories to a one-story
building. He said a retail space would be created in the front and there is
sufficient parking.
Boroson said there would be four 2-story apartments for a
total of five units. He said they are 3-bedroom units they view as family
apartments.
Boroson said the plans are preliminary at this point.
He said civil engineers would determine what will have to be
done to tie into the sewers and storm systems. The architect said he did not
know yet how much green space there would be.
Trachten said he is not involved in the 880 Grand Ave. plan
but knows it will be subject to full site plan review by the City Plan
Commission.
Anstress Farwell, head of the New Haven Urban Design League,
wondered where the entrance to the apartments are at 880 Grand Ave. Boroson
confirmed that it is Grand Avenue for three units with a rear entrance for the
two others.
Farwell said the current zoning is not appropriate for this
area and there are no design standards in place. She said the narrow sidewalks
don’t even accommodate trees.
She said this leaves “a hot, burned-out feeling.”
Farwell said the historic buildings that still exist and
those razed once featured a continuous canopy of awnings. She said special
design considerations like this are needed.
She said it is an intensely busy street with traffic that
needs buildings “that look like they can stand up to all this activity.”
Farwell said the proposal looks like it would be more at home in a small town,
not the first part of a major artery.
Farwell said the current regulations don’t fit anything
anymore, which is why it has become a “no man’s land.”
“It is an extremely intense environment and it needs a lot
closer attention for just basic street planning and interaction with the
buildings and the street and really making the pedestrian experience a
sympathetic and enjoyable one,” Farwell said.
Proposed zoning changes expected to have big impact on Bridgeport
Brian Lockhart
BRIDGEPORT — Zoning officials are no strangers to
contentious meetings when controversial real estate proposals — say a large
housing development, a new business or a storage facility — draw out dozens of
neighbors in opposition.
And then there are the zoning rules that can make it
difficult for property owners or tenants to make welcome changes that help the
community grow.
City Hall is nearing the end of a rare comprehensive
overhaul of its zoning regulations and associated map and will explain the
draft proposals in a 6 p.m. teleconference Thursday.
And if you think you have better ways to spend a summer evening,
community and business leaders suggest you reconsider.
“Zoning really affects the quality of life of where you
live,” said Deborah Sims, an East End activist. She noted how in that
neighborhood, for example, one might find an auto body shop or other business
that “popped up” in the middle of a residential street “and shouldn’t be
there.”
She also recalled “Mt. Trashmore,” the infamous
35-foot-high, 30,000-ton pile of construction debris that plagued East End
residents for years.
“That’s why zoning matters,” Sims said.
Meanwhile Dan Onofrio, president of the Bridgeport Regional
Business Council, believes the new rules will promote economic development by
eliminating some current ambiguity “so people looking to invest in or purchase
a property have a very clear sense of what a building should look like, feel
like, be used for.”
“You don’t have to jump through hoops to understand what you
can and cannot do,” Onofrio said, which can help grow the tax base and create
jobs, he said.
The zoning overhaul, dubbed Zone Bridgeport, is the result
of a new 10-year
master plan the city finalized in 2019.
According to the Office of Planning and Economic Development
(OPED), which is spearheading the effort with the help of a consulting team,
the biggest change is moving to a “form-based” system.
“So the (new) zones are based upon building types, then the
uses in those buildings,” said OPED in a statement. This is the opposite of the
current use-based zones.
“While it may take a bit to get used to, this approach
retains the rich architecture Bridgeport prides itself in by codifying design
elements,” OPED said.
OPED said the new regulations also aim to: Maintain the
scale of neighborhoods; allow “a greater mix of uses” in commercial corridors;
bring artisans and small manufacturing to non-industrial areas; encourage more
housing and more retain diversity downtown; promote other types of housing by
expanding accessory dwelling units — often affordable apartments added to
existing single-family homes; and improve the city’s public
spaces/streetscapes and public waterfront access.
Anyone wishing to listen in on Thursday’s teleconference can
first view the proposed changes at https://zonebridgeport.com/,
then connect via that website or by phoning toll free 888-475-4499 or
877-853-5257.
“A resident or business may see something that impacts their
property or development in their neighborhood further down the line,” OPED said
of Thursday’s meeting. “Involvement now is key to what happens in the future.”
Ansonia's East Main Street to become one-way
Eddy Martinez
ANSONIA - Drivers heading north on East Main Street are soon
going to have to look for another route past Kingston Drive toward the
intersection with Main Street and State Street, where the new police station is
currently under construction.
That’s because that section of the street will become
one-way only. The city has contracted Colonna Concrete and Asphalt Paving,
based out of Woodbridge, to begin work on East Main Street in two weeks. The
job is expected to take about 90 days.
John Marini, the city’s corporate counsel said that the
city’s push to change the layout of the street is to accommodate an expected
influx of new apartments and businesses.
“It's really about parking, it's about increasing the
parking downtown because of everything going on all the activity, the
apartments coming online, police station, restaurants, we really need to up the
parking downtown,” Marini said.
The city first announced the change in an October public hearing,
according to Sheila O’Malley, the economic development director. The street
itself will not be closed during construction. The plan calls for East Main
Street to be turned into a one-way heading south for about 1,200 feet starting
from the new police station and ending at Kingston Drive. From there the road
will continue to be a two way street.
O’Malley said that while the street is wide, not as many
cars pass through compared to nearby roads and that part of the street could be
put to better use.
“It doesn't get the traffic volume that people think it
does, but it doesn't,” O’Malley said.
The new street layout will allow for 120 new parking spaces,
O’Malley said. The new spaces will be of particular importance to new residents
moving into nearly 300 renovated apartments that will occupy former industrial
buildings on the street. Currently, that section of the road has no on-street
parking.
Josh Eannotti is the project manager for East Main Street
and works for VHB, a consulting company. He said the project will do more than
just paint new parking spots and get rid of the double yellow line.
“Although this is a relatively small streetscape project
lengthwise, there's really a lot to it,” he said. “The contractor will have
quite a bit of clearing and excavation to do.”
The contractor will also build retaining walls, install
sidewalks and drainage facilities, and install decorative lighting, according
to Eannotti. The project is expected to cost about $385,000, according to the
state’s Department of Transportation, which is funding the project through a
grant.
In two public hearings, O’Malley said the city had not heard
any concerns from local businesses.
“I would suspect that they're going to get more traffic in
their area, and that's probably going to be a really good thing for them,” she
said.
Stonington residents to vote on tax breaks for Campbell Grain site redevelopment
Joe Wojtas
Stonington — The town has reached a tax break agreement with
the developer planning to construct an 82-unit apartment building on
the site of the former Campbell Grain Building in downtown Pawcatuck.
That agreement, which fixes the assessment on the $32
million property at $2,054,915 over 10 years, will be sent to voters to approve
at a Town Meeting set for Aug. 9 at 7 p.m. at the high school.
The town has said the proposed fixed assessment would
save Winn Development $690,748 in taxes over 10 years.
During that time Winn would pay $695,000 in taxes to the town. If
the parcel remains vacant and undeveloped, it would generate less than
$30,000 in taxes over the same period.
The agreement states that it is in the best interest of the
town and taxpayers that Winn acquire and improve the property, but the project is
economically feasible only if a fixed amount of reduced taxes is agreed upon
over the next 10 years.
Town officials see the site as crucial for the
redevelopment of the downtown but there had been little interest in the
site before Winn's proposal.
The project will consist of a mix of studio, one-, two- and
three-bedroom units that will be rented at prices affordable
to people who earn 30%, 50% and 80% of the area median income. The
project also will contain market-rate units. Plans also call
for extending the public Pawcatuck Riverwalk to the property.
Winn is seeking $20 million in funding from the
Connecticut Housing Finance Authority and the Connecticut Department of
Housing through a competitive grant process. A contribution
from the town improves Winn's chances of obtaining the needed
funding.
"In summary, the project requires a fixed assessment to
be financially viable and competitive for state funding resources. Without the
Town contribution, in the form of the fixed assessment agreement, the project
will not go forward, and there is a high risk that this vacant, unproductive
lot will remain so indefinitely," the town meeting announcement states.
Bond Commission to consider switching funding from Hartford mixed-use development
Zachary Vasile
The state Bond Commission will consider Friday whether to
shift funding for a $5.5 million loan from a stalled mixed-use development in
Hartford’s Upper Albany neighborhood to a prospective commercial space in the
same general area.
The proposal would reallocate previously approved aid
funneled through the Capital Region Development Authority to a
40,000-square-foot retail space focused on health and wellness, and expand the
use of funds for complementary economic development along Albany Avenue. The
Bond Commission’s agenda does not list the project’s developer.
The general obligation bonds supporting the loan had been
committed, through the CRDA, to a $21 million mixed-use development set to be
built at the corner of Woodland Street and Albany Avenue. Plans for that site
included 75 affordable housing units and 20,000 square feet of retail space.
The commission’s agenda notes that the developer for the
project, Seven Summits, has been facing concerns from the community over the
density of the housing.
The Hartford Business Journal reported in April that
Development Services Interim Director I. Charles Matthews had recommended that
the city postpone signing a lease with Seven Summits for the property.
Farmington Marriott redevelopment set to begin this summer
Zarhary Vasile
With his application for a zoning change and a site plan now
approved, a developer plans to start the conversion of the former Marriott
hotel in Farmington into a mixed-used apartment complex later this summer.
“We’re excited to meet a growing need in Farmington and
throughout the area and develop a new multifamily community with robust
amenities, convenience and luxury,” said Jason Schlesinger, owner of CLP
Farmington LLC. “We look forward to creating a vibrant live, work, play
community and becoming one of the premier multi-family communities in the
Greater Hartford area.”
Schlesinger is working to redevelop the 381-room Hartford
Marriott Farmington — which shut down earlier this year — into 225 studio,
one-, two- and three-bedroom luxury apartments. The units would include
stainless steel appliances, stone countertops and washing and drying machines.
The hotel’s pools, fitness center, courtyard and event
spaces are being targeted for renovations and improvements, and the entire site
will undergo architectural and landscaping enhancements. Aside from housing,
the complex will also include a new coffee shop and restaurant.
CLP Farmington acquired the hotel in June for $10.5 million,
and Farmington’s Planning and Zoning Commission approved the company’s plans
for the site last week.
Construction is expected to be completed by the spring of
2022. Leasing will begin in January.
Labor secretary calls for additional funding for OSHA
Sebastin Obando
Labor Secretary Marty Walsh made a case to boost OSHA staffing
during a Senate subcommittee hearing last week, in a request that would
increase both the number of safety inspectors and wage-hour investigators who
scrutinize employer payroll records by 2024.
The department's protection agencies lost
14% of their personnel over the last four years, while the DOL has
lost around 3,000 employees overall during that span, according to Walsh.
The department is requesting $2.1
billion in its budget request to Congress for fiscal year 2022 for
worker protection agencies, including $73 million for OSHA, a 17% increase from
last year. The proposal, which would bring overall Labor Department
funding to $14.2 billion, must be approved by Congress.
Since the COVID-19 pandemic began limiting the amount of
in-person inspections that the agency can perform, OSHA has not been providing
the level of oversight needed to keep workers safe, according to a report
from the department's inspector general. A boost in the budget would allow
it to "conduct the enforcement and regulatory work needed to ensure workers' wages,
benefits, and rights are protected, address the misclassification of workers as
independent contractors and improve workplace safety and
health," Walsh said during the hearing.
The loss of staff during former President Donald Trump's
administration has compromised the ability of the department's worker
protection agencies to do their job, Walsh noted.
"A lack of enforcement makes workers more vulnerable to
workplace violations," he said.
Walsh also touched on President Joe Biden's infrastructure proposal,
the American Jobs Plan, one of several being debated on Capitol Hill right now.
He noted that the American Jobs Plan would provide funding
for training programs focused on growing, high-demand sectors, such as clean
energy, manufacturing and caregiving. It also includes many labor-focused
initiatives.
"The plan provides critical funding to strengthen the
capacity of our labor enforcement agencies to prevent discrimination, protect
wages and benefits, enforce health and safety rules and strengthen health care
and pension plans," said Walsh. "In addition to these
investments, the president is calling for increased penalties when employers
violate workplace safety and health rules, which have proven inadequate to
address serious violations."
Economist: Construction industry resilient despite high prices, pandemic
Matthew Thibault
Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, high materials prices and a
skilled labor shortage, the construction industry is coming back with a
vengeance, according to a noted construction economist.
"I find it remarkable that so much normalcy has
returned to the construction industry," said Anirban Basu, chief economist
for Associated Builders and Contractors.
Basu's remarks came during the ABC's Q2 Construction
Economic Update and Forecast webinar last week, where he delved into factors
surrounding the money flowing in and out of the construction industry, along
with the broader economy as a whole. While the pandemic still rages globally,
and cases surge in unvaccinated areas of the United States, the broader
construction industry is on the path to normalcy, according to Basu.
Basu told attendees that although he expects high raw
material prices to last for a bit longer, prices would eventually come down.
Overall, Basu had a sunny outlook for the construction industry. He predicted
that the second half of 2021 would be "spectacular" for economic
growth in the country and that demand for construction would get a boost from
stimulus spending by the federal government.
"The economy is set to bounce back handsomely,"
Basu said.
Not enough workers
Skilled labor shortages and supply chain issues are the two
biggest issues plaguing construction businesses. When attendees of the webinar
were polled, 52% said that skills and worker shortages were the leading challenges
for their companies at present, followed by another 37% who said that supply
chain delays were their biggest issue.
Skilled labor shortages aren't new in construction, but Basu
said that the demand for labor will only increase as time goes on. Construction
companies will soon be busier than ever as evidenced by the Architecture
Billings Index, which tracks how busy architecture firms are. The majority of
attendees, when asked about their backlog, said that it has risen within the
past three months, and when asked about their projections for their next year's
profits, the majority said they expected it to rise slightly higher or remain
about the same.
Basu said that with older members of the workforce retiring,
roles formerly filled by those with decades of experience will become vacant,
further shrinking the number of employed workers.
However, there are some signs of life in pockets around the
United States. The top four geographic areas of employment growth from February
2020 are centered in the Midwest, in metropolitan areas such as Minneapolis,
Detroit, St. Louis and Chicago, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor
Statistics Current Employment Statistics survey for May 2021. Basu said that it
was "very surprising" that the markets were in the Midwest, and not
elsewhere like the South or the West.
Overall, from February 2020 to April 2021, there has been a
2.9% decline in construction employment, but Basu said it is rebounding
quickly.
High prices sticking around
As the construction industry rebounds, the prices of many
building materials are reaching historically high levels.
In June, softwood lumber increased 125% year over year,
according to the BLS, while overall price peaked in early May at more than
$1,700 per thousand board feet. However, the price has dropped considerably in
the past two months.
Basu predicted that much of the inflation that raised these
prices isn't permanent, but he also said that he didn't expect the prices to
come down anytime soon. Nevertheless, Basu concluded that the price was
trending downward.
Basu said that eventually the market would even out, and
with the high demand and prices for these materials, suppliers would up their
productivity and capacity, which would in turn create more materials, driving
down the cost.
"The cure for high prices is high prices," Basu
said.