State Audit Finds Port Authority Failed to Bid Out $800K Contract
Brendan Crowley
The Connecticut Port Authority did not seek bids or gain
board approval for a nearly $800,000 environmental permit consulting contract,
according to a report released
Thursday by state auditors.
In its first report since a scathing 2019
audit led to then-Executive Director Evan Matthews being fired and
the Office of Policy and Management gaining oversight of the quasi-public
agency, auditors said the authority didn’t open bids before awarding a $794,790
contract to AECOM Technical Services in May 2019.
The auditors’ office told CT Examiner that AECOM’s contract
was later increased in October 2021 to $2.4 million.
It was the second contract over $50,000 that auditors had
found the authority awarded without an open bid. In the 2019 audit, they said
the authority had paid a business development consultant $59,463 in 2018 – despite
policies stating any contract over $50,000 needs to be awarded in a competitive
negotiation.
In its written response to the auditors, the authority said
the AECOM contract was awarded in fiscal year 2019, before September 2019 when
it signed an agreement for the state Office of Policy and Management to oversee
“all financial and procurement decisions” for the authority.
The authority also said it updated its contracting
procedures in 2022 after working with the state budget office and the State
Contracting Standards Board.
“The authority is confident that it has adequate policies
and procedures in place to ensure that procurements are conducted in accordance
with the highest standards of best practice and compliance,” it said.
The Port Authority’s contracting practices have been under
scrutiny since the 2019 audit report. Lawmakers gave the State Contracting
Standards Board authority to review the agency in 2021, and the board issued
a report questioning
the authority’s power to enter into a “public-private partnership” to redevelop
New London’s State Pier, along with other contracting practices.
The Office of State Ethics fined Seabury
Capital $10,000 for making “improper gifts” to Port Authority
officials, and Attorney General William Tong’s office said it’s still
investigating the $523,000 “success fee” the authority paid Seabury as part of
a contract to find a State Pier port operator.
The auditors’ latest report also found that Kiewit – the
construction manager the authority hired to oversee the State Pier
redevelopment – awarded itself six of the 30 pieces of subcontracting work that
auditors reviewed.
CT
Mirror first reported in 2022 that Omaha-based Kiewit was using its
position to push the authority to select it for at least $87 million in
subcontracting work. Auditors said they reviewed two pieces of work Kiewit
awarded itself – totaling about $64.4 million.
State law doesn’t allow construction managers to bid on
projects for UConn and the state Department of Administrative Services. They
can bid on their own DOT projects if they are more cost-effective than a
subcontractor, but there are no state laws addressing construction managers
bidding on subcontracts for quasi-public projects, the auditors said.
State auditor John Geragosian told CT Examiner the auditors
weren’t evaluating if Kiewit’s bids were the best value, but whether the
authority was following good business practices.
“The contractor can’t monitor its own work, and there’s got
to be a transparent process that, if they’re going to do it, they’re showing
how they’re either the most economical or the most qualified,” Geragosian said.
“Obviously with construction projects, cheaper isn’t always better.”
State lawmakers passed bills this
year to ban quasi-public agencies like the Port Authority from charging
“success fees,” and ban construction managers from bidding for work on the
quasi-public projects they’re overseeing.
“The authority will reevaluate its procedures to ensure that
sole responsibility for criteria requirements and conditions in future maritime
project contracts are clearly delineated by the authority, particularly in the
event that a [construction manager] may be allowed to self-perform, to avoid
any appearance of a conflict,” the authority said in its response to auditors.
Hartford-Brainard Airport has an uncertain future, but there are some looking to save it
The growl of a corporate jet revving its engines and taking
off into the hot summer sky punctuated Michael Teiger’s comments on the
importance of Hartford-Brainard
Airport, seeming to illustrate his point.
Not just a playground for wealthy airplane owners, the
airport plays an important role in Hartford’s economy as a base for corporate
jets, said Teiger, president of the Hartford Brainard Airport Association.
Keeping the airport open will also position Hartford for a future where
advanced aerospace — be it drones, vertical takeoff and landing technology or
electric planes — helps power Connecticut’s economic growth.
“We don’t want to keep it as it’s been,” Teiger said,
outlining plans to attract new companies to the airport property. “But there
are a lot of things that this could be... if we could make this something
great.”
The Hartford Brainard Airport Association’s advocacy will be
on display Aug. 10, when members plan to turn out in force for the final public
meeting on a pivotal study of the airport’s future at Hartford’s Metzner Early
Learning Center.
“We’re excited about what the future could be. There are
steps in order to get there. But the first thing we have to do is get by this
study,” Teiger said.
Commissioned by the state Department of Economic and
Community Development, consultant BJF Planning plans to present its analysis of
the “highest and best use” of the airport property, 201 acres of
highway-adjacent land three miles from downtown Hartford. Since early this year
BJF has been analyzing three options: Closing the airport and redeveloping the
land, keeping most of the airport open and redeveloping part of it, and keeping
the airport open as-is.
The challenges facing airport boosters were illustrated at
the most recent public meeting on the study on July 13, when
Hartford Mayor Luke Bronin called for the shutdown of Hartford-Brainard as
a money-losing enterprise that wasted the potential of prime property.
“It’s our obligation as public servants and your obligation
as those who’ve been commissioned to do the study to ask how this piece of land
can be used to the greatest benefit to the greatest number in our state,”
Bronin said, addressing the consultants.
“I understand that there are those who will not want to see
that change. But it cannot be that that’s the highest and best use. And so I
hope that we look broadly at the possibilities,” Bronin said. His comments were
cut short by angry shouting from some in the audience, criticizing the mayor’s
economic record.
Call to action
A similar call to close the airport and redevelop the land
sparked the creation of the Hartford Brainard Airport Association in 2022, not
long after the Hartford City Council approved a non-binding resolution to
decommission the facility.
Hartford-Brainard, one of 5,000 “general aviation” airports
in the nation that mainly handle smaller planes, is run by the quasi-public
Connecticut Airport Authority. As a federal facility, the airport can’t be
taxed by the city; smaller airplanes are also exempt from sales tax.
Home-base for 130 planes, the airport recorded about 65,000
takeoffs and landings last year and also hosts three flight schools, an
aviation-technology school and a handful of aviation-related
businesses.
Many of the pilots and businesses at Hartford-Brainard have
joined the airport advocacy group, which has created a website and hired a
lobbyist. The group’s budget for 2022 is $111,300, with goals to seek
additional funding from grants and aerospace industry groups.
Airport advocates haven’t done a good job in the past of
highlighting Hartford-Brainard’s importance as a resource for businesses and a
center for aviation job training, Teiger said.
“Because it’s been a sleeper airport, without the publicity,
nobody knows what goes on down here,” Teiger said. “It’s easy for a politician
to come in and say there’s nothing going on here.”
Potential weighed against challenges
Hartford city officials see more economic potential in the
land the airport sits on: A study commissioned by the city council earlier this
year explored alternate uses for the 201 acres including a warehouse and
logistics center, a mixed-use development with possible housing and a park with
a riverside marina.
“People saw the economic value of the site as a potential
job generator and a creator of opportunity for the greater region,” design
consultant David Vega-Barachowitz told the city’s Planning, Economic
Development and Housing Committee in January.
But the hurdles facing any redevelopment are high, the
DECD’s consultant outlined at the most recent public meeting on the airport
study.
Environmental issues include the Connecticut River, which
sent water under the existing 1930s-built levee after last month’s storms to
flood Hartford-Brainard’s runways for a brief time. Silt deposited by the river
over the millennia has also buried bedrock dozens of feet below ground level,
making any major construction difficult and expensive.
Toxins from underground storage tanks have also been detected in the soil which would require extensive cleanup before any sort of housing could be built. Not to mention the smells from the nearby waste-treatment plant, plus the contaminant threat from the shuttered trash-burning facility that sits just to the airport’s north.
On the economic front, experts hired by the study’s authors
found a soft market for most types of new construction, including offices. New
apartments would be cut off from the rest of the city due to the site’s
geography and likely less than desirable.
“Many developers we work with, when I asked them about this
site, ’Would you invest?’ The answer for most of our developers is no,” lead
consultant Frank Fish said.
Airport advocates can also point to a potential major
investment from the federal government on the horizon: The Federal Aviation
Administration earlier this year proposed replacing
Hartford-Brainard’s 1973-vintage air traffic control tower as part of
a new nationwide upgrade to general aviation facilities.
Teiger and other airport advocates are working hard to make
the economic case to keep Hartford-Brainard open, but they often circle back to
what drew them to aviation in the first place and what makes this airport
special.
Arguably the nation’s first municipal airport,
Hartford-Brainard was set up on a former cow pasture in 1921 and was visited in
its early years by famed aviators Amelia Earhart and Charles Lindbergh. President
Biden landed at the airport in a helicopter on a visit to Connecticut
in 2021.
A retired lung specialist, Teiger fell in love with flying
after his first jaunt from Brainard, 42 years ago. He has since logged 3,400
hours of flight time and has qualified as a commercial pilot, flight instructor
and aviation medical examiner, or someone who medically certifies pilots. Now
he devotes a chunk of time he’d rather be in the air to keeping his home
airport open.
“I came down here, somebody took me for a flight and you’re
hooked,” Teiger said. “It’s a passion.”
Three Darien elementary schools have delayed their renovations by nearly a year. Why?
Mollie Hersh
DARIEN — Renovations for three Darien elementary schools
have been delayed by a year after a disappointing round of construction bids.
Overhauls of Hindley,
Holmes and Royle elementary schools, originally slated to begin this
summer, will now begin construction closer to late spring and summer of 2024
and run through August 2026.
The main cause of delay was an unsuccessful construction bid
period with too few interested contractors and too-high costs that would send
the entire project over its $68 million budget.
Given the circumstances, members of the Hindley, Holmes and
Royle building committee met July 26 to figure out a path forward, unanimously
agreeing to essentially delay the project by a year.
“At the end of the day, it's not going to be about the time,
it's going to be about what we delivered,” said committee co-chair and school
board vice chair Jill McCammon.
Designs for the three schools were first approved by the
school board in October and the
Planning and Zoning Commission in February. The plans included adding new
building wings while getting rid of portable classrooms, redesigning the
schools’ libraries, creating new playgrounds and improving school entrances.
Renovations were already
delayed from a mid-July start date to mid-August to accommodate
additional pre-construction design work and updated cost estimates.
Students and campuses should not be affected by the delay
during the upcoming school year, according to the district’s facilities
director Kevin Munrett.
The schools had already been preparing for the summer
construction, including relocating playgrounds and getting the Royle elementary
library ready for demolition.
Holmes and Royle schools and fields are expected
to operate as normal. Hindley's playground has been relocated and there will be
an extra portable classroom.
“Some of that has already happened, some of that is going to
either be paused or reversed completely,” Munrett said. “All of that is set and
ready to go, and the students should be not really impacted (on) day one.”
To get the renovations back on track and at a better price,
consultants from construction company O&G Industries recommended the
committee reject the current slate of bids and rebid in October to get more
contractor options and, hopefully, a better deal.
The committee may keep some of the bids from this year if
possible, taking into consideration whether the contractor will hold at their
current price, if the bid works within the budget, the number of contractors
who bid on certain jobs and whether a rebid would attract more contractors.
The decision on which bids will stay or go should be made by
Sept. 6.
When asked about how confident O&G was about this
reassessment, O&G pre-construction manager Lorel Purcell said it was a good
solution because “the only alternative for staying on schedule is to accept
some of those higher bids.”
“You could partially accept some of the higher bids and just
move along and still try to rebid, but you're really opening up risk with not
knowing the total story,” Purcell said. “I think this approach gives the
building committee the total story of what the project is going to cost… Before
we recommend to reject bids, we will make sure that we do, in fact, solidly
think that we have a pool of bidders that will be waiting for these projects
this time.”
The delay may have a small silver lining, as construction
will no longer require the more expensive accelerated six-day work schedule.
The postponement could also mitigate supply chain risks and allow some time to
look for any cost-savings measures.
While bidding, the committee will also have to go back to
the town to secure any additional funding for the project.
Schools superintendent Alan Addley and the principals of
Hindley, Holmes and Royle recommended not beginning construction until after
the 2023-24 school year ends so as not to interrupt the students.
“It's probably most helpful to the school system,” Addley
said. “We have to wait just another year, essentially, to get what we need, and
that's what we have to do. It's probably better to do that.”
CT Construction Digest Thursday August 4, 2023
Here's a new plan to improve the Route 7/Merritt interchange in Norwalk; public invited to weigh in
NORWALK — A new plan to create more connections between Route 7 and the Merritt Parkway in the north end of Norwalk is heading to a public hearing with the hope of gaining community approval.
Currently, motorists driving south on the Merritt, also known as Route 15, cannot exit directly to southbound or northbound Route 7. Also, motorists driving north or south on Route 7 cannot exit to the northbound Merritt.
“This project will allow motorists to move directly between Routes 7 and 15 in new ways, avoiding unnecessary travel on local roads,” Scott Hill, chief engineer for the Connecticut Department of Transportation, said in a statement. “We encourage the public to attend this hearing to share their feedback with the CTDOT project team. The public’s input is valuable and will be essential as we move forward into the design phase.”
This proposal, called Alternative 26, includes plans to smooth traffic flow off Main Avenue by adding new exits and entrance ramps that connect to both Route 7 and the Merritt.
Additionally, proposed improvements to the Route 15 and Main Avenue ramps would address the substandard acceleration lanes, steep changes in grade, sharp curves and limited sight distance in an effort to increase safety. These factors contribute to a high number of crashes on the Merritt Parkway.
Plans to remedy the lack of direct connections in the Route 7 and Merritt 15 interchange have been in the works for decades. CTDOT has devised many proposals over the years, however, the project has faced challenges with balancing environmental and community concerns.
Before the public hearing, CTDOT released a joint Environmental Assessment and Environmental Impact Evaluation, which outlines the new plan and its potential impacts as well as another proposal, Alternative 21D, which was presented in 2009.
Construction to add the additional exits originally began in 2005 but was halted by a lawsuit in 2006 filed by the Merritt Parkway Conservancy and other preservationist groups against the Federal Highway Administration and CTDOT, saying the plan was too large, costly and destructive.
U.S. District Court in New Haven agreed, stating the “administrative record did not adequately document that avoidance, minimization and
mitigation alternatives associated with impacts to resources within the project area had been fully analyzed,” according to the EA/EIE.
After the court decision, new plans were developed and approved by the public in 2009, however, there was not sufficient funding at the time.
The plan approved was Alternative 21D; however, the CTDOT now has “identified Alternative 26 as the preferred alternative.”
“In evaluating each alternative, CTDOT and FHWA considered the project’s purpose and need, engineering complexities, constructability, estimated construction and maintenance costs, and potential environmental impacts,” the joint evaluation states."As described throughout this document and summarized below, this alternative best addresses the project’s purpose and need while minimizing the environmental impacts.”
With plans for new bridges over the Norwalk River, the proposal has significant environmental factors regarding wetlands and flood plains development to consider.
“Due to the clear-span structures proposed for the new highway ramps, both build alternatives would have little impact on the 100-year floodplain,” the joint evaluation says. “Additionally, the work would not promote additional floodplain development since no developments can be made along a highway ramp.
On Aug. 16 at 7 p.m. in the community room at City Hall, the public is invited to weigh in on the latest Route 7/Merritt interchange plans. Comments can also be submitted by email to comments@7-15norwalk.com; by mail to Kevin Carifa, transportation planning director, 2800 Berlin Turnpike, Newington, CT 06131 or via the project’s website at www.7-15norwalk.com.
Mixmaster construction will close Route 8 exit in Waterbury for 6 weeks, DOT says
Matthew P. Knox
WATERBURY — An exit connecting Route 8 northbound and Interstate 84 will be closed for approximately six weeks, the state Department of Transportation has announced.
As part of the rehabilitation of the Route 8 and I-84 interchange, known as the Mixmaster, Exit 31 on Route 8 northbound will be closed starting at 10 p.m. Monday, according to the department.
The department said drivers seeking to access I-84 from Route 8 northbound will need to use Exit 35, make a U-turn onto the southbound side and then use Exit 31 from that direction.
Signage will be placed in advance along both sides of the highway and Exit 35 to direct drivers, the DOT said.
EPA: Raymark cleanup costs in Stratford increase by $45 million
Richard Chumney
STRATFORD — The ongoing effort to remove thousands of truck loads of toxic waste buried across town by the defunct Raymark Industries is now expected to cost around $140 million, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.
That figure is up from the $95 million the agency originally estimated seven years ago it would take to dig up and consolidate the polluted soil, Jim DiLorenzo, an environmental engineer who is leading the yearslong project, announced at a recent public meeting.
DiLorenzo said the increase in expenses were largely driven by the impact of inflation on labor, fuel and material costs. He also noted the agency decided to remediate more areas than initially planned after crews discovered additional underground waste.
“There’s been an expansion generally of the amount of material that we had to dig,” DiLorenzo said. “So that brought up labor costs. Actually more significantly, has been the inflation that has hit everything across the board.”
As of July, the agency has spent $64 million to clean up nearly two dozen properties where Raymark, an automotive parts manufacturer, dumped waste decades ago contaminated with cancer-causing agents such as asbestos, lead and polychlorinated biphenyls or PCBs.
The federal environmental officials, who are working alongside the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, have also spent $38 million on related infrastructure costs associated with the cleanup, including temporary roads and a new stormwater conveyance system that will feature a pump station to help prevent flooding.
DiLorenzo said it will likely take up to an additional $40 million to complete the project. But he said the agency has already secured those funds as part of the $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill President Joe Biden signed into law in 2021.
“Right now we are fully funded through the end of the consolidation remedy because of that big slug of money,” he said.
In total, crews have dug up about 56,000 cubic yards — or nearly 5,000 truckloads — of contaminated soil from 23 different private and town-owned properties since the work began in 2020. Another 6,381 cubic yards of particularly hazardous waste have also been removed and transported to a disposal site outside of town.
Crews are now in the midst of clearing toxic soil from the badly-polluted Ferry Creek — an intensive project that required workers to drain much of the waterway. The excavation work began in late June and is anticipated to continue into late October or November, DiLorenzo said.
DiLorenzo said other areas that still need to be remediated include a residential property on Third Avenue, spots around Ferry Boulevard and the wetlands directly east of Lockwood Avenue — a location that is polluted with about 20,000 cubic yards of waste.
By the time the project is expected to end in late 2024, somewhere between 100,000 to 125,000 cubic yards of toxic soil will have been extracted and consolidated at the former Raybestos Memorial Field on Frog Pond Lane.
Engineers are consolidating and “capping” the soil with a clay-type material to prevent the toxic chemicals from emerging from the ground. Eventually, buildings may be constructed on the once-abandoned softball field.
Meanwhile, crews are building a stormwater conveyance system designed to handle what is expected to be a significant amount of rainwater runoff from the field. The system will link the site to a planned pump station on the edge of the Housatonic River that will operate during significant storms and other high water events.
Mike Looney, a project manager with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, said the conveyance line has been built and the pump station is now expected to be completed by the end of 2024. He said construction crews have encountered delays in recent weeks due to an unexpected level of groundwater.
Looney said the delays have also pushed back plans to use explosives to blast away up to a foot of rock to make way for the crucial pump station, which will help mitigate flooding. The drilling and blasting work, which will take place over the course of three weeks in an area east of Platt Street, is now expected to start in late August.
The EPA plans to hold a community meeting on Aug. 8 regarding a new project to remove Raymark waste from an area around the Housatonic Boat Club and Shore Road. The event, which will be streamed online, will be held at 6:30 p.m. at the Raymark Cleanup Headquarters at 300 Ferry Boulevard.
Latest federal funding provides further lift to Meriden airport
Christian Metzger
MERIDEN — Meriden-Markham Municipal Airport will receive a $1.4 million grant from the federal government to repave the southern section of its taxiway, the latest in a series of improvements to the municipal airport.
The grant, announced during a press conference Tuesday, will provide funding for the last in a significant series of redevelopment projects at the airport over the last five years, which has seen the airstrip completely repaved, the construction of new hangars for the planes, the installation of new lights, and a state-of-the-art fuel pump.
U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Connecticut, discussed the grant during Tuesday’s event alongside Mayor Kevin Scarpati. He praised the airport, citing its central location in the state and continued growth as an investment in the economic prosperity of Meriden.
The funding was awarded through the Federal Aviation Administration’s Airport Improvement Program and will finish the replacement of the airport’s southern taxiway, which is covered in large cracks and overgrown with weeds.
It is the largest open space on the property where many planes are tied down and has not been redeveloped in over 20 years. Not only will the redevelopment be able to accommodate more planes, 30 tie-downs in total, but it will also improve safety. Construction is expected to begin in the fall.
“Airports are one of the essential links that create connections for businesses in areas like Meriden. They foster and support economic development,” Blumenthal said. “These kinds of regional airports are the lifeblood of air transportation in the United States increasingly … We need more options for aircraft. And so the investment here is in economic development, ease of travel, and safer air transport.”
Blumenthal thanked the FAA and fellow U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Connecticut, for securing the money for the project.
Constance Castillo, manager of Meriden-Markham Municipal Airport, said that the completion of the project is only the beginning of what they wish to be a larger revitalization of the airport space. Though there is no timeline for further projects, she spoke of a desire to extend their services to build even more hangers to accommodate a growing waitlist.
Castillo, Scarpati, and Blumenthal also expressed hope that as the airport continues to grow, it may attract other businesses, such as a charter service to operate out of the airport — which could fly smaller passenger planes across the state and elsewhere.
“If Meriden isn't ahead of the game, we lose a tremendous opportunity. And so with these funds from the FAA and our continued trajectory to continue building out, we stand a great shot at making sure that Meriden is not only one of several airports, but the airport for Connecticut. And I think that's kind of where we're headed,” Scarpati said.
Over the past several years there have been several closures of smaller airports across the state to utilize the land for other projects, leading Meriden to service more incoming aircraft traffic. And with continued discussions surrounding the potential closure and redevelopment of Hartford’s Brainard Airport, it could leave Meriden with a significant location for aircraft looking to fly centrally into the state.
With the ongoing pilot shortage, in both the military and in the commercial sector, officials also recognized the importance of the Meriden redevelopment for providing a space where students can come to educate themselves about aircraft and get their pilot licenses.
The Experimental Aircraft Association has rented one of the hangers on the property, and last year over 20 students helped complete construction of the group’s own aircraft — which has since flown across the country. To Blumenthal and others, they see it as a valuable step toward expanding the presence and reach of the airport in the community, which they say has so far been understated.
“Until these hangers were built, they didn’t really have a space. They were kind of this lost child that was dependent on decent weather to then depend on how many kids we could have. So the fact that they now have their own space, they can invest, build, learn, and grow like the next generation of pilots,” Scarpati said.
“Producing more pilots is so critical,” Blumenthal added.
“You could look at this $1.4 million as a workforce development and skill training grant — apart from what it’s gonna do in infrastructure.”
Luxury housing at Seely School site seen as boon to EB workers
Kimberly Drelich
Groton ― New luxury apartments, designed to ease pressure on the local housing market as Electric Boat ramps up hiring, are coming to the site of the former William Seely School off Route 12.
The 304-unit housing development, called Triton Square, will feature a yoga studio, pool, pickle ball courts, a dog run and co-working spaces. It is the first redevelopment project involving Groton’s excess school properties to begin construction, local officials said.
Project leaders and government officials gathered on the site for a groundbreaking ceremony Wednesday to celebrate the start of the project led by DonMar Development of North Haven. They took photos wearing hardhats and holding shovels in front of an American flag.
“Groton is starved for housing,” said U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., speaking during the ceremony. “This housing is going to meet a real need.”
Electric Boat spokesman Daniel McFadden told The Day that the company expects to hire about 3,000 new employees in Connecticut this year, primarily in the manufacturing trades at the Groton shipyard and in engineering and design.
Duing the groundbreaking, Anthony Di Gioia and Michael Di Gioia, who are brothers and vice presidents of DonMar, gave praise to the town staff and partners who made the project a reality. They also thanked their family.
“Triton Square stands as a symbol of what can be achieved when the public and private sector work together with a shared purpose,” said Anthony Di Gioia.
“For us, this is a dream realized,” said Michael Di Gioia.
The idea is to attract workers to the region, said project leaders and officials. Construction already has started on the apartment building at the 14-acre site.
The DiGioias said DonMar Development, along with LakeMarsh Investments and the Simon Konover Group, are the project developers. ELV Associates is an equity partner and Fairfield County Bank is a lender.
Haynes Construction is the construction company, Sullivan Architectural Group the architecture firm, and SLR Consulting the civil engineer.
The apartment complex will be a mix of studios, one-bedroom apartments and two-bedroom apartments. Rents will start at $1,650 for studios and go up to $2,800 for the largest apartments, said Anthony Di Gioia.
He said the first building is expected to be completed in the summer of 2024, with the rest being completed four to six months after that.
Mark Keeney, partner at LakeMarsh Investments, said amenities will include a yoga studio, workout room, club room, co-working areas, a music studio, a pool, fire pits, grilling stations, cabanas and pickle ball courts.
Anthony Di Gioia said a playground, dog park and walking trails through the woods will be open to the public.
State Sen. Heather Somers, R-Groton, who presented a citation from the Connecticut General Assembly, said the amenities will make it so the residents of the apartment complex pretty much don’t have to leave.
“It’s all inclusive,” Somers said. “It’s just what people are looking for in the state and actually across our nation, and it’s just, I hope, the first of many transformations that you’ll see here in the Town of Groton.”
Representative Town Meeting member Lian Obrey, a former town councilor, who was on the committee selecting DonMar as the developer for the town-owned property, said the town stressed how important amenities are and the developers were very cooperative.
Town Councilor Bruce Jones said the development sets a standard for new projects coming up.
State Rep. Christine Conley, D-Groton, said the state improved the nearby intersection of Route 12 and Walker Hill Road to make it easier for pedestrians to get back and forth from the apartments to shopping centers and restaurants.
Groton Town Manager John Burt said that with the expansion of Electric Boat, it’s vital to have enough housing for incoming employees.
He said the purchase price for the former town-owned site at 55 Seely School Drive was $1, as the town’s goal is to start receiving taxes on previously un-taxed properties. He said the yearly tax revenue initially was estimated to be at least $1 million per year, once fully built, though it may be even higher now.
The latest large-scale apartment complexes to come to Groton were the apartments on Pleasant Valley Road North and Route 12 in 2018 and the Ledges Apartments in the mid-2000s, according to the town’s Assistant Planning Director Deb Jones.
The former Colonel Ledyard School in the City of Groton is slated as another former school site to be redeveloped into apartments. It is slated to become a 65-unit apartment complex.
Second Norwich business park readies for takeoff
Claire Bessette
Norwich ― Plans were filed this week seeking state and federal approvals for a proposed access road into 384 acres of land in Occum, where Norwich plans to create a second business park.
Rather than seeking city approval for a business park development plan, the Norwich Community Development Corp. on Monday filed plans to divide the property into three major “condominium” lots. Though the word condominium is often associated with buildings, in this case it refers to the vacant land in the industrial park property.
Under that method, NCDC will retain ownership of the property and sell development rights for specific parcels, NCDC officials said.
Each of three large condo lots shown on plans filed in the Norwich city clerk’s office shows proposed divisions into smaller pieces. The plan shows a 66-acre condo parcel east of Canterbury Turnpike, a 216-acre piece between Canterbury Turnpike and Lawler Lane running along Interstate 395 and a 27-acre piece west of Lawler Lane.
The plan shows a potential to divide each of those larger parcels into smaller development sites.
Condominium lots are not considered subdivisions, and do not need local planning and zoning approval, Norwich Director of Planning Deanna Rhodes said. Individual proposed developments still must go through local permitting processes.
NCDC last week selected the national firm Cushman & Wakefield Commercial Real Estate Brokers, with an office in Hartford, to market the lots. NCDC President Kevin Brown said NCDC officials will meet with the Hartford office Executive Director Sean Duffy on Aug. 16 to discuss marketing ideas.
The roadway now needs state and federal environmental approvals and approval from the state Department of Transportation’s Office of State Traffic Administration. NCDC officials hope for quick approvals to start road construction this fall.
NCDC initially had proposed creating a business park master plan for the property, but the City Council, serving as the city zoning board, rejected the plan amid strong neighborhood opposition.
Brown said Tuesday he has met several times with Occum residents to discuss neighbors’ concerns. He said changes have been made to the road design in response to some concerns.
Residents have formed a nonprofit group, Preserving Norwich Neighborhoods LLC. Brown said he plans to meet monthly with neighbors to update them on the plans and to hear concerns.
Neighborhood group organizer Frederick Browning said Wednesday he disagreed with the condominium approach, as it avoids a public hearing and review of a business park plan. The condo plan does not address building heights, setbacks and other restrictions, he said.
The proposed roadway will run from Route 97 in Occum westerly, crossing Canterbury Turnpike with a traffic circle designed to keep business park traffic off the residential street. The road will end just before the intersection with Lawler Lane, keeping business park traffic off the narrow road.
NCDC shifted the road northward slightly to minimize encroachment on wetlands in response to neighbors’ concerns, Brown said. The road plan was approved previously by the Norwich Inland Wetlands, Watercourses and Conservation Commission.
Brown also said a four-acre area near a pond directly across Lawler Lane from the Norwich Worship Center church will remain undeveloped as open space, another request by neighbors.
“Those changes are significant in that we listened to the neighbors and avoid crossing wetlands,” Brown said. “One reason we made the shift north was because we are no longer going to develop the parcel across the street from the Norwich Worship Center. The area next to the pond now will be green space.”
Browning said the condo plan does not show clearly enough that traffic could not get into the business park from Lawler Lane and does not show the proposed traffic circle on Canterbury Turnpike. The group opposes the traffic circle as a traffic safety hazard, Browning said. It also would not prevent cars and smaller trucks from entering the business park using Canterbury Turnpike.
“Our main concern is getting written agreements that would protect the residents going forward on things like building height and boundaries,” Browning said.
CT's infrastructure czar visits three Greenwich sites for potential federal spending
GREENWICH — The town's recycling center, the neglected Pemberwick dam and the Route 1 bridge connecting Greenwich with Port Chester, N.Y., may be in line for federal infrastructure money.
State officials made a trip to Greenwich Friday to visit some sites that may be eligible for Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act money, including the neglected dam on the Pemberwick River that hadn't been inspected in more than a decade.
Mark Boughton, Commissioner of the Department of Revenue Services and Senior Advisor to the Governor for Infrastructure, along with a cadre of local officials, toured the three sites in Greenwich — preliminary visits to determine whether grant money would be available for any of the projects.
There is, however, no indication that any of them will receive funding.
The visit was organized by Greenwich’s State House delegation, Reps. Hector Arzeno, Rachel Khanna and Stephen Meskers, who were all on hand.
“It was a pleasure to host Commissioner Boughton last week,” Khanna said in a statement. “We have been working very hard to identify projects that would benefit from federal infrastructure funding grants to make necessary capital investments in our town. This visit was an exciting first step in the process.”
Meskers said they invited Boughton to town so local officials could better understand what federal funds are available and how the town could apply for them.
First Selectman Fred Camillo, Selectperson Janet Stone McGuigan and other officials from the Department of Public Works, Emergency Management and Environmental Affairs were also present.
Connecticut is slated to receive several billion dollars from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, also known as the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, and Gov. Ned Lamont has tasked Boughton with managing the influx of funds.
“I was delighted to visit Greenwich and hear about these local projects and priorities in person," Boughton said in a statement. "I look forward to working with local leaders to help them advance their goals through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and any other available federal dollars."
The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act is a $1 trillion spending package designed to revamp the nation’s roads, bridges, transportation and more in the coming years. President Biden signed the bill into law in November 2021 and money is flowing out to states, towns and counties now.
The three sites in Greenwich have previously been identified as needing expensive repairs.
The dam near 200 Pemberwick Road is privately owned, but the owners have failed to keep up with regular inspections, so the town stepped in to fund one earlier this year. The dam was found to be in “fair” condition in March, but engineers recommended updating an emergency plan.
The Route 1 bridges leading into New York act as a choke point for the Byram River beneath it, which makes flooding worse, so the Army Corps of Engineers said it needs to be replaced.
Replacing the bridges is expected to cost about $35 million, but the project has not advanced since it was presented in December 2021. The federal government is expected to cover half the cost and Greenwich is supposed to cover the other half, but officials at the New York State Department of Transportation have said they will help bear the cost since the bridges are on the border.
Selectperson Stone McGuigan said that to her, the reconfiguration of the Holly Hill recycling center in Chickahominy seemed like it was the strongest contender for funding on Friday.
There is a decade-old plan to rearrange the facility to better deal with inflows of residential and commercial waste, but the town has yet to fund the project. Updating the Holly Hill master plan has been put on the budget several times, but the Board of Estimate and Taxation has cut it, most recently in 2021.
Meskers said that ultimately it's on the town to do more planning and design work on these projects before it goes to the state or federal government seeking funds.