South Norwalk School meeting to give public a voice in neighborhood's 1st school in decades
NORWALK — The community has the chance to learn more about
South Norwalk’s new school on Monday.
The district has invited the public to a "community
conversation" that will explore the proposed “site design, floor plans,
(and) layout elevations” with the construction project’s architects, according
to Norwalk Public Schools. The workshop also will include a question and
answer portion.
This event will be held at the current South Norwalk School
on Concord Street from 6 to 7 p.m. The new school will be South
Norwalk's first elementary school in decades, and the
proposed plan has three floors, an outdoor learning area on the roof,
and a versatile space called a multi-use learning stair within the media
center, where students could work and collaborate.
The school will have a large capacity, at nearly twice the
size of a typical elementary school.
"South Norwalk School is completing schematic design phase and we are about to proceed with design development phase," Alan Lo, the city building and facilities manager, said last month. "Assuming we are able to maintain schedule, we will go out for bids this winter and start construction in the spring of 2024. Construction would take about 14 to 16 months with potential school opening fall of 2025."
Former Gateway building, Long Wharf reimagined under New Haven district plan
NEW HAVEN — A former Gateway Community College building on
Sargent Drive may become home to the school's automotive and transportation
technology programs, according to city officials.
The initial concept for reuse of the currently underutilized
building would be a part of Gateway District, which is under the Long Wharf development plan to upgrade the city's
waterfront. Residents got an update on the project Wednesday night.
The presentation came as the city is in conversations with
the state, the Regional Water Authority and the owner of One Long Wharf to
explore the possibility of working together to redevelop the area.
City Economic Development Administrator Michael Piscitelli
said the Gateway District will focus on education, health care, operations
center and retail and commercial spaces — with a plan for stormwater management
and adequate parking.
Piscitelli said it would take about eight to 10 developments
to make the district get to the “reimagined” point, but there are three major
buildings planned: the old Gateway building, a new APT Foundation building, and
the RWA building, which will remain there under the plan but with a new
equipment and tools organization.
The Connecticut State Colleges and Universities system
is looking to use the space on Sargent Drive for its automotive needs for
Gateway; the school's North Haven campus currently houses those.
Gateway CEO William Brown said the college also is thinking
of using the space for other education and workforce programs that relate to
transportation technology and infrastructure, given its location near two
interstates, a train station and an airport.
With the RWA right next door, Brown said students in the
public utility management program also can take advantage of the space.
The city is in the process of acquiring the space from the
state. There was a bill recently introduced in the General Assembly (H.B. 5719) to transfer the parcel to New Haven for
$1.
CSCU last year received a bond authorization of $28 million
for the automotive project, according to the system. It has undergone a
preliminary design process.
Piscitelli said the district also would house a new, standalone
building for APT Foundation, a substance use treatment clinic currently located
in One Long Wharf medical center.
“Because it's patient care, very personal to the user and
the families, how does that fit within this district," Piscitelli said.
"We think it fits in a little bit smaller but standalone so it's
well-managed and well-designed."
The idea of a new building for the clinic wasn’t well-received by some residents, citing issues some
had with activity around the center, lack of community benefit and possible
exposure to children. Foundation leadership offered to organize a clinic tour
for residents to get insights on management and organization.
In terms of Long Wharf Park, City Engineer Giovanni Zinn
said the city came up with a master plan based on what made the
already-upgraded “food truck paradise” popular to turn the area into “a jewel
of a park on Connecticut's waterfront.”
According to the presented plan, there would be an outdoor
classroom/amphitheater space, a play area for children and some art and
sculpture nodes next to the existing veterans memorials.
The city also proposed eliminating a portion of Long Wharf
Drive to the east of the “food truck paradise” to allow more space for a play
area, seating spots for eaters, an open market and restrooms.
Zinn said there also would be a 20-foot-wide walkable
and bikeable promenade along the water, similar to West Haven’s Savin Rock
boardwalk.
Throughout a question-and-answer session, community
members voiced concerns over safety and security, maintenance, traffic, soil
disturbance, panhandling and drag racing, among other issues.
Under the Long Wharf Responsible Growth Plan that was
adopted in 2019, there are four other districts in addition to the Gateway
District — Innovation, Market, Parkway and Harbor districts.
A 12-month building moratorium on Long Wharf has been in
effect since September last year to prevent any development that hasn’t been
collectively envisioned, said Laura Brown, executive director of the City Plan
Department.
City officials stressed that the plan presented was not “set
in stone” and it will be adjusted based on community feedback and suggestions.
Berlin officials expect $5 million road improvement project to begin in April
BERLIN – Town officials expect a $5 million road improvement
project to three local roads to begin in April.
The latest step in the long-awaited project came this week,
when town council members agreed to allow the town manager to contract
Manchester-based Fuss & O’Neill for design services in tandem with New
Britain-based Tilcon and SLR International Corporation in Glastonbury – the
latter of which have already been contracted in the 2.57-mile paving and road
improvement project to Christian Lane, Deming Road and Porter Pass.
According to town officials, Fuss & O’Neill was the
design engineer for the project, having already completed its original scope of
work once the construction contract was awarded to Tilcon.
Gov. Lamont proposes $600M for affordable housing, tying it to fair economic growth
Gov. Ned Lamont plans to nearly double the state’s
investment in affordable housing development, raising it to $600 million in the
coming two-year state budget, according to documents released Wednesday.
Lamont unveiled his $50.5 billion two-year budget proposal
Wednesday in a speech focused on economic growth that benefits a wider range of
incomes. That speech carried a heavy focus on meeting growing housing needs, as
well as investing in education, workforce training, child care and tax cuts
aimed at lower-income households.
The Connecticut Business & Industry Association and
others have highlighted Connecticut’s fast-rising cost of housing as a
challenge to worker recruitment and filling approximately 100,000 open jobs in
the state. Housing advocates are trying to coordinate with industry leaders on
a joint push for affordable housing investments on redeveloped industrial sites
and near mass transit.
“Millions of dollars for workforce training will go to
naught if we don’t have enough housing where workers can afford to live,”
Lamont said during his address to the General Assembly. “For the first time in
a very long time, more and more young families are moving to Connecticut. Last
year we built more market rate and affordable housing than any time this
century, yet we are still desperately short of housing. Having just climbed out
of a fiscal crisis, I don't want to fall into a housing crisis.”
Lamont’s budget aims to incentivize developers to build
6,400 housing units in the next two years.
That spending includes $50 million annually for the Housing Trust Fund
administered by the State Department of Housing. It provides loans and grants
for affordable housing development.
“Time is money and the Housing Trust Fund will allow
developers to move quickly, with an emphasis on multi-unit housing in downtown
areas close to transportation,” Lamont said.
Lamont’s budget proposes a further $100 million annually for
the Department of Housing’ FLEX program, which provides loans, grants and loan
guarantees in support of affordable and mixed-income housing development.
Lamont proposes another $100 million in each budget year for
“workforce development housing,” focused on households with 60% to 120% of the
area median income. The governor said this funding will help build housing in
downtowns of Connecticut cities.
Lamont’s budget also allocates another $50 million in each
of the two coming years to the “Time-to-Own” downpayment assistance program
administered by the Connecticut Housing Finance Authority.
According to a budget summary provided by the governor’s office,
the program will provide forgivable down-payment assistance ranging from
$18,750 to $50,000. It is expected to assist in the purchase of up to 1,250
homes each year.
Lamont also urged municipal officials to adopt “friendlier
zoning and expedited approvals” to facilitate rapid addition of needed housing.
“Towns may submit their plans to facilitate housing on their
terms,” Lamont said. “Doing nothing is not an acceptable strategy.”
A man authorities describe as part of a years-long
conspiracy to rig bids at major construction projects across Connecticut has
agreed to pay the
government more than $300,000 in addition to serving five months in
prison.
Gary DeVoe of Bethlehem is one of four men and three
companies convicted of dividing up among themselves industrial insulation
contracts at public and private construction projects valued at $39 million.
“The charged bid-rigging conspiracy occurred amongst
individuals at competing insulation contractors seeking to allocate customers
amongst insulation contractors and extract higher prices from project owners,”
federal prosecutors said in court filings. “The aim of the bid-rigging was to
fraudulently benefit all of the insulation companies, rather than directly
lining the pockets of any particular individual.”
The jobs involved installing insulation around heating,
cooling and duct systems at 34 new construction and renovation jobs. The
government claims the rigged bids cost building owners more than $1 million in
losses.
DeVoe, 69, worked for BC Flynn Contracting Corp of Oxford, a
regional contractor. The Department of Justice said BC Flynn was responsible
for about $635,000 in losses due to fraud in more than a dozen projects that
included Weaver High School In Hartford and a variety of projects for UConn,
Stamford Hospital and Yale University.
DeVoe agreed to forfeit $183,000, pay a $131,000 settlement
and was fined another $20,000.
Others sentenced previously in the conspiracy:
Thomas F. Langan, owner of Langan Insulation of North Haven,
sentenced to a year and a day in prison; paid a $20,000 fine and $481,000 in
restitution.
Langan Insulation, of North Haven, paid a $15,000 fine and
$489,000 in restitution.
Axion Specialty Contracting of Foxborough, Mass., paid a $1
million fine and $313,000 in restitution
Paul Camara, an Axion employee, sentenced to a year and day
in prison; paid a $10,000 fine and $313,000 in restitution.
BC Flynn Contracting Corp. paid a $300,00 fine and $1
million in restitution.
A fourth individual, Michael S. Flynn, part owner of Flynn
Contracting, is scheduled to be sentenced Friday and is expected to be ordered
to forfeit $802,000 and pay $327,000 toward a settlement.
The conspirators used cell phones with masked registrations
to conceal their conversations and used an encrypted and disappearing telephone
messaging application, which prosecutors said investigators were unable to
penetrate.
“Bid-rigging and fraud-based crimes, like the one
perpetrated by DeVoe, are very difficult to detect and investigate,” federal
prosecutors said in a memo filed with the court. “These crimes consist of
secret agreements between individuals who are motivated to conceal their criminal
activities. The difficulty in detecting these crimes is highlighted by the fact
DeVoe and his co-conspirators avoided detection for nearly seven years.”
The construction projects involved in the conspiracy
included hospitals in Stamford, Danbury, Bridgeport; high schools in Meriden,
Stratford, Bridgeport and Hartford; and three universities.
During their conversations, prosecutors said the
conspirators agreed on who would win bids and what the bid submissions would
be. In some cases, they agreed to submit one or more inflated bids to create an
appearance of competition.
The prosecutors said the conspirators used the “disappearing
messaging application” to exchange “proposals, estimates, and other bid
information.”
Government's Estimate of Fraud Loss and Restitution by
Project
United States v. Michael S. Flynn ((3:19-CR-112) (KAD))
|
Project Name |
Time Period |
Winner |
Contract Amount |
Victim |
|
CCSU
Willard and Diloreto Halls (HVAC) |
2016-11 |
Langan |
$670,000 |
CCSU |
|
CCSU Willard and Diloreto Halls (PLG) |
2016-11 |
Langan |
$109,000 |
CCSU |
|
Danbury
Hospital (PLG) |
2011 |
Langan |
$535,000 |
Nuvance
Health System |
|
Maloney High (PLG) |
2013 |
Langan |
$320,000 |
City of Meriden |
|
Stratford
High School (PLG) |
2017-04 |
Langan |
$305,000 |
Town of
Stratford |
|
UConn Engineering and Science Building (PLG) |
2015-08 |
Langan |
$132,000 |
UConn |
|
UConn
IPB "Innovation Partnership Building" |
2014-10 |
Langan |
$1,950,000 |
UConn |
|
Yale Science Center |
2017-06 |
Langan |
$3,150,000 |
Yale |
|
Yale
SCL Teaching Lab |
2014 |
Langan |
$2,447,000 |
Yale |
|
Bridgeport Hospital EPU ("Emergency Power Unit") |
2016-11 |
Axion |
$30,300 |
Yale New Haven Health System |
|
Central
High School (Bridgeport) |
2015-11 |
Axion |
$1,275,000 |
City of
Bridgeport |
|
Liuna Training and Education Fund |
2016-05 |
Axion |
$21,464 |
Liuna Training and Education Fund |
|
Stamford
Hospital "Fit Out" (Packages 49/51/52) |
2013 |
Axion |
$866,549 |
Stamford
Hospital |
|
Stamford Hospital Café |
2016-2 |
Axion |
$11,796 |
Stamford Hospital |
|
Warren
G. Harding High School (Bridgeport) |
2016-08 |
Axion |
$2,100,000 |
City of
Bridgeport |
|
West Haven High School |
2018-01 |
Axion |
$1,837,103 |
City of West Haven |
|
Yale
KCL ("Kline Chemistry Lab") |
2016-10 |
Axion |
$27,220 |
Yale |
|
Yale Schwarzman Center Enabling |
2017-08; 2017-12 |
Axion |
$93,000 |
Yale |
|
PepsiCo
(Valhalla NY) |
2017-10 |
BC
Flynn |
$1,244,000 |
PepsiCo.
Inc. |
|
Pratt Whitney UTRC Building H |
2017 |
BC Flynn |
$310,000 |
Raytheon Company |
|
Stamford
Hospital 5th Floor Fitout |
2015-11 |
BC
Flynn |
$258,600 |
Stamford
Hospital |
|
Stamford Hospital "Fit Out" (Packages 50/53) |
2013 |
BC Flynn |
$3,230,000 |
Stamford Hospital |
|
Stratford
High School (HV AC) |
2017-04 |
BC
Flynn |
$722,486 |
Town of
Stratford |
|
UConn C Building Medical Center |
2016-01 |
BC Flynn |
$2,525,000 |
UConn |
|
UConn
Hartford Downtown Campus |
2016-01 |
BC
Flynn |
$1,255,000 |
UConn |
|
UConn Recreation Center (PLG) |
2017 |
BC Flynn |
$207,000 |
UConn |
|
Vassar
Brothers Medical Center - Wetside - Pipe/Equipment |
2016 |
BC
Flynn |
$3,500,000 |
Nuvance
Health System |
|
Weaver High School (Hartford) |
2017-06 |
BC Flynn |
$1,315,000 |
City of Hartford |
|
Yale
Baker Hall |
2017-04 |
BC
Flynn |
$734,000 |
Yale |
|
Yale Beinecke Library |
2015-01 |
BC Flynn |
$1,622,015 |
Yale |
|
Yale
Hendrie Hall |
2014-11 |
BC
Flynn |
$660,000 |
Yale |
|
Yale School Of Management (HVAC) |
2011 |
BC Flynn |
$3,660,000 |
Yale |
|
Danbury
Hospital (HV AC) |
2011 |
Company
A |
$1,471,670 |
Nuvance
Health System |
|
Yale School Of Management (PLG) |
2011 |
Company A |
$288,770 |
Yale |
|
Total
Value |
$38,883,973 |
|
House confirms Katie Dykes at DEEP, Michelle Gilman at DAS
Republicans in the General Assembly registered
dissatisfaction Thursday with two of Gov. Ned Lamont’s agency heads, casting
largely symbolic votes against the confirmations of Katie Dykes and Michelle
Gilman.
Dykes, the commissioner of energy and environmental
protection, had come under fire for enforcing a bottle deposit law as written,
as opposed to how lawmakers described their intentions in debate
Gilman, the commissioner of administrative services, angered
Republicans during her confirmation hearing for failing, in their view, to
adequately explain what her agency was doing to ensure school construction
money was properly spent.
The House confirmed both commissioners after brief debates.
The House voted 105-36 to confirm Dykes after passing a bill
that corrected the legislature’s error in a 2021 law that expanded the types of
cans and bottles that carry a deposit as of Jan. 1 of this year.
During the debate in 2021, legislators said there was no
intent to extend the deposit law to hard seltzers with spirit alcohol, while
hard seltzers that are malt beverages are covered. They made no effort,
however, to define hard seltzers in the law.
“It’s not the commissioner’s fault,” said Rep. Mary
Mushinsky, D-Wallingford, who worked for the bottle bill’s passage in 1978 as
an environmental activist, then was elected to the House two years later.
As is the well-established practice of courts, the Department
of Energy and Environmental Protection relied on the plain language of the law
and disregarded the verbal “legislative intent” as irrelevant.
“I think that the legislature was clear through legislative
intent when they drafted the language,” House Minority Leader Vincent J.
Candelora, R-North Branford, told reporters before the vote. “I think the
department saw an opportunity, and they stuck their foot in that door and
opened it up to expand the bottle bill to things that we did not intend to.”
The fix enacted Thursday was simple, requiring the addition
of a dozen words to the bottle law: “‘Carbonated beverage’ does not include any
product that contains wine or spirits.”
The rationale for exempting wine and spirits is that the
industry does not have the infrastructure for redeeming bottle and can deposits
that have been developed by beer and soda distributors.
Mushinsky said all beverage cans should be covered by the
deposit law, but the wine and spirits industry should be given two years to
prepare.
Every Democrat and 14 Republicans voted for Dykes’
confirmation including Candelora, the House GOP leader.
The House confirmed Gilman on an 89-48 vote, with one
Democrat, Rep. Minnie Gonzalez of Hartford, joining 47 Republicans in
opposition. Candelora was one of three Republicans voting for passage.
Rep. David Yaccarino, R-North Haven, the ranking House
Republican on the Executive and Legislative Nominations Committee, said he
found Gilman less than responsive during her hearing.
Gilman was appointed as commissioner of administrative
services after a federal investigation of school construction grants,
which comes under the purview of her agency, came to light.
Local officials from several towns alleged that the former
director of the school construction office pressured them to hire specific
contractors for school projects.
The administration ordered an audit of the grants, but it did not contact the local officials.
Gilman told lawmakers that municipal officials were not
questioned because the scope of the audit was focused on reviewing the
documentation that the state collects after each school construction project is
completed.
Yaccarino said he has been impressed by the quality of
Lamont’s appointees but said he should have opted for “a fresh start” at DAS at
the start of his second term in January.