THE SUZIO STORY 125 YEARS OF FAMILY ENTERPRISE PHILANTHROPY AND SERVICE
The Meriden Historical Society is hosting an exhibit entitled "The Suzio Story - 125 Years of Enterprise, Family, Philanthropy, and Service" at its Museum and History Center, at 41 West Main Street in Meriden every Sunday in October from 11:00 to 3:00
Featuring memorabilia and photographs from Suzio headquarters on Westfield Road as well as videos of interviews with past and present employees
Capturing the remarkable story of a 21 year old Italian immigrant, Leonardo Suzio, who grew Suzio York Hill into one of the most successful and enduring family-owned businesses in Connecticut history starting in 1898
Including the role of 2nd, 3rd, and 4th generation Suzio members and Henry Altobello in the evolution and growth of the business from building (1910's) to road construction (1930's) to building materials (1955 - today)
Highlighting Suzio loyalty to its origin city Meriden, its employees, its vendors, and its community.
Friday October 6th Bond Commission Agenda CLICK HERE
State to join neighbors in seeking offshore wind power contracts
Greg Smith
New London ― Two days after losing a contract for power from the state’s largest planned
offshore wind farm, the state is seeking to boost its goal of capturing
affordable offshore wind power by partnering with neighboring states.
Gov. Ned Lamont announced Wednesday that Connecticut has
signed an agreement with officials in Rhode Island and Massachusetts to
collectively solicit new offshore wind project proposals in a multi-state
approach designed to leverage buying power.
State Department of Energy and Environmental Protection
Commissioner Katie Dykes joined Lamont for the announcement of a first-of-its
kind memorandum of understanding Wednesday during a
news conference at State Pier in New London, which is being used for a staging
and assembly hub for the South Fork Wind project under construction off the
coast of Long Island.
On Monday, Avangrid, developer of the 800-megawatt Park City
Wind project, announced it was terminating a 2019 agreement with Connecticut
utility companies to buy power because costs have become prohibitive. Avangrid
agreed to pay $16 million in penalties to terminate the contract. Other
offshore wind companies have sought to renegotiate power purchase contracts as
they cope with higher costs of building the projects due to inflation, supply
chain issues and high interest rates.
But Dykes and Lamont, joined by a state legislators and
representatives from the offshore wind industry, said they remain optimistic
about bringing renewable energy to the state despite the challenges.
Dykes said this new memorandum could help the states
coordinate the selection of “multi-state” offshore wind proposals, reducing
costs by developing larger projects that deliver power to more than one state
at a time.
The three states are collectively seeking up to 6,000
megawatts of offshore wind power in 2024. Any two or three states could agree
to select a multi-state proposal and split the power from the projects.
“It’s something we’ve talked about for a long time. All of
our states share strong commitments to offshore wind. We know how important is
to meeting our clean energy targets. We also increasingly know how important
it’s going to be, and is, for maintaining the reliability of our grid,” Dykes
said.
In a joint statement with the governors of Massachusetts and
Rhode Island, Lamont said with the agreement there is potential for the state
to “procure clean energy from offshore wind together at more competitive and
affordable rates.”
“The climate crisis requires us to act in new an innovative
ways,“ Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey said. ”By working together, we can
amplify the many benefits of offshore wind for all three states, including
regional economic development opportunities, healthier communities, lower
energy bills, and advantages to environmental justice populations and
low-income ratepayers.“
The multi-state agreement is between the DEEP, Massachusetts
Department of Energy Resources and the Rhode Island Office of Energy Resources.
DEEP is currently developing a final request for proposals for the next bid
offering for offshore wind and is expected to release that in the coming weeks,
Dykes said.
Lamont also announced Wednesday the publication of the
state’s first strategic road map for economic development in the the
offshore wind industry, to be supported by a new nonprofit group known as the
Connecticut Wind Collaborative.
Connecticut has an existing contract for 304 megawatts of
power from Revolution Wind, a project being developed by Danish wind company
Ørsted and Eversource and also staged in New London. Ørsted has signaled that
some of its planned projects could be delayed or scrapped altogether without
help from the federal government.
On Wednesday, Ørsted’s head of government affairs and market
strategy for the northeast, David Ortiz, said Ørsted plans to start offshore
construction on its ongoing projects in the new year but could not offer a
guarantee on the development of Revolution Wind.
“We continue to believe the future of this industry in the
U.S. is bright and in the short term have to pull together to address these
challenges,” Ortiz said.
Hartford's $12.5M plan to redevelop vacant lot on Albany Avenue may break ground after over a decade
HARTFORD — For more than a decade, a lot at the corner of
Albany Avenue and Woodland Street has sat vacant and fenced in, waiting for
some redevelopment to take place.
That time may have finally come, as the gateway to Hartford
from the north has an approved and funded plan in place.
That plan includes a 31,700-square-foot, multistory building
that would provide more than 16,000 square feet of space to house most of the
city's health department offices, a Liberty Bank with a drive-thru and ATM,
space for more commercial operations, and a restaurant with rooftop dining. It
would also include 100 public parking spaces.
The cost of the project is expected to be $12.5 million,
which would be covered by a $5.5 million loan and a $7 million grant from the
Connecticut Regional Development Authority.
Hartford Mayor Luke Bronin said that transforming the corner
has been a community aspiration for decades and one of his biggest priorities
before he leaves office in November.
"It’s a critical piece of the bigger puzzle on Albany
Avenue, where we’ve committed significant investments and have a number of
other projects underway," Bronin said.
According to the agreement, the city would pay $270,000 a
year in rent to offset debt service on the CRDA loan.
Erin Howard, Hartford's director of economic development,
said the city has been speaking with Stamford-based La Perle about
occupying the restaurant space.
Daniel Matos, executive vice president and general counsel
for Liberty Bank, said that the bank has worked with the city and other
stakeholders to make homeownership possibilities available to Hartford
residents.
"As a result, Liberty Bank has now become one of the
largest providers of home mortgages in the city," Matos said. "It is
only natural for us to want to expand our footprint in Hartford to continue our
investments and this branch is a great opportunity to do just that."
Howard said that the city acquired several properties
between 2006 and 2010 that make up the current plot of land. Howard said that
the city had a potential developer in 2019-20 but that it fell through.
In 2022, the city nominated the National Development Council
to oversee the project. The NDL formed a nonprofit called Community Development
Properties Woodland Inc. to see the project through.
Crosskey Architects has been chosen for design work. BGT
Environmental has been chosen for environmental cleanup of the site. PAC Group
LLC has been chosen as construction manager, according to the agreement. The
site plan has not been approved yet.
Construction is expected to begin in January 2024 and be
completed early in 2025.
Hartford City Council President Maly Rosado called the Upper
Albany neighborhood a beautiful area that deserves "top-class
resources."
"With this development, Albany Avenue will turn a
vacant lot into somewhere the community can eat, drink, gather, and shop,"
Rosado said. "The city council is proud to have supported this development
and we look forward to seeing shovels in the ground soon."
Key Bridgeport East End development delayed again
BRIDGEPORT — In the spring state lawmakers came to
then-cash-strapped developer Anthony Stewart's rescue, providing
$3.5 million to help fund the completion of his Honey Locust Square project that
is intended to help revitalize the East End with a supermarket, restaurant and
more.
Six months later and Stewart is still waiting on the release
of those funds. As a result, he said Wednesday, work at the site only just
resumed after a two-and-a-half month stop, pushing his already delayed
estimated completion date from this fall to January.
"It messes up my timeline," the developer, owner
of the Ashlar firm, acknowledged. "I am trying, but money makes a big
difference. It makes a big difference."
He said a recent loan from a Wallingford-based organization
allowed him to re-start construction.
Further complicating his situation, one of his suppliers,
L&W of North Haven, according to state superior court records, in late
September filed a lawsuit against Stewart's business seeking $17,574 still owed
for $30,756 worth of materials purchased between November, 2022 and last
January.
"They did nothing wrong," Stewart said, confirming
the overdue bill is related to Honey Locust Square. "They waited as long
as they could. ... I'm going to pay them. They're good people. They don't
deserve anything other than being paid."
He said he intends to clear up that debt by next week.
The state's $3.5 million was actually awarded the city for
Honey Locust Square in April from the
Community Investment Fund that Connecticut lawmakers established in
2021. That pot of money — $875 million total, spread out through 2030 — was set
up to funnel financial support to projects/initiatives like Stewart's that will
benefit underserved and marginalized communities and people adversely affected
by persistent poverty or inequality.
Honey Locust Square will include a supermarket, something
East End community leaders have for years demanded, plus a restaurant and other
services and amenities. Most recently M&T Bank in late August announced
it would be a tenant there too.
Jim Watson is spokesman for the state's Department of
Economic and Community Development, which administers the CIF dollars.
“DECD and the city have been actively working on the grant
assistance agreement terms and details over the last several weeks,"
Watson said in a statement late Wednesday. "It is a complicated project,
but we are confident that we’ll be finalizing the agreement shortly."
The CIF board of state officials includes two lawmakers from
Bridgeport, Sen. Marilyn Moore and Rep. Antonio Felipe. In separate
interviews earlier Wednesday both blamed the delay in getting Stewart the $3.5
million on the internal process at the DECD.
"Within 30 days, without having any problems, he should
have his money," Moore said of Stewart, adding, "The problem is at
the state level. ... It's really internal lack of staff up there and getting
the work done. It was nothing to do with the city. It was nothing to do with
Anthony Stewart."
Felipe said with the new CIF-related
responsibilities, state economic development employees have been
"juggling so many balls at the same time."
"Unfortunately I feel like this (Honey Locust Square)
is a project that needed to be prioritized," he said.
Stewart is an East End native whose Ashlar company was
selected in late 2018 by Mayor Joe Ganim's administration to revitalize
the dilapidated commercial block on Stratford Avenue between Newfield and
Central avenues into Honey Locust Square. But, following delays and cost hikes
he attributed to the global COVID-19 pandemic that struck in early 2020, as
of summer 2022 Stewart had run out of money.
Stewart had previously also experienced financial
troubles building the new Newfield branch library next door that opened in
2022. He went over his initial $6.2 million budget by $1.9 million, something
Stewart similarly blamed on the pandemic. The city's library board reluctantly
paid him $1.4 million more. Then
early last year the board and city agreed to pay about a third of the $500,000
balance.
Ganim's administration tried
and failed to obtain CIF dollars for Honey Locust Square last fall. It was
then successful last spring. And in January the
city also gave Stewart a nearly $1 million bailout — $588,000
that required a vote of the City Council plus $400,000 out of the $110 million
Bridgeport received in federal American Rescue Plan COVID relief.
Stewart on Wednesday said he needs the $3.5 million from the
DECD to complete the interior of the supermarket and installation of the
necessary underground utilities to the development. He said a new loan from
the Capital For Change organization
in Wallingford helped him resume construction after he had to shut down for
much of the summer.
A spokesperson with Capital For Change did not return a
request for comment Wednesday.
Moore said while it has taken "longer than I would
hope" to get the developer his CIF aid, "I'd rather have a
long process doing it right than later find out we've given money to a project
that should not have gotten it."
"I'm pretty excited," Stewart said. "If I can
just get this money, this is going to be a great plaza."
Old Greenwich School upgrades get unanimous planning OK; now back to finance board for $42M
GREENWICH — The Planning & Zoning Commission gave
unanimous approval to expand and renovate the Old Greenwich School, though
issues about funding the multi-million dollar project remain.
The commission authorized a municipal improvement for the
planned construction work at the 121-year-old school and gave site-plan
approval.
Now the project needs to be funded
by the Board of Estimate and Taxation, where Republican members of the
finance board have
previously turned down appropriations in split votes.
James Waters, chairman of the Old Greenwich School Building
Committee, said the planning approvals were an important step forward.
"The Old Greenwich School Building Committee would like
to thank P&Z for their unanimous support and thoughtful feedback last
night. We were also overwhelmed at the support expressed by the
community," he said after the Tuesday vote. "Receiving municipal
improvement status is a huge milestone and enables us, once again, to seek
construction funding from the BET.
"Hopefully, the third time will be a charm as we have
now answered all process-oriented objections, including new ones implemented in
the past four weeks. If the BET and Representative Town Meeting approve, our
state delegation will seek special legislation in the near term so that we can
commence construction in summer 2024," he said.
Waters opened his remarks to the commission Tuesday night by
stating, "People want this project done, and they want it done now."
The current building is not ADA (Americans with Disabilities
Act) accessible and has a number of maintenance problems. The renovation would
add a four-kindergarten-classroom addition, a new elevator, entry plaza and
upgraded security, among other construction projects, at an estimated cost of
roughly $42 million.
A number of community residents spoke in favor of the
renovation plan at a teleconferenced hearing.
Michelle Waugh, a local resident and OG School parent, said,
"It is a must have." She emphasized the addition of a sprinkler
system to the building as part of the upgrades was an important safety
improvement.
The commission reviewed drainage, flooding and design issues
before giving approvals, asking the building committee to fine-tune design
issues with the Architectural Review Committee. The commission also asked the
building committee to prioritize flood mitigation and address flooding
complaints from property-owners in the area.
Stamford sells two city-owned land parcels in South End near I-95, Metro-North overpasses
STAMFORD — The Board of Representatives on Monday night
approved the sale of two small city-owned properties, just south of Atlantic Street’s
Interstate 95 and Metro North overpasses.
The narrow parcels at 560 Atlantic St. and 13 Manhattan St.
will now be owned by SMTG LLC, a holding company owned by developer Frank Steinegger of Darien. The board approved
the item on its consent agenda, though six representatives abstained from
voting.
The sales received the recommendation of the board's
Legislative & Rules Committee at a meeting on Thursday night.
“The city made it a commitment a while back when the mayor
got into office to take lands — that the city wasn’t using, and paying to
maintain — and selling them and putting them back on the tax (books) so we can
gain revenue. And I think that this is a perfect opportunity.” Rep. Terry
Adams, D-3, told the committee. Adams’ South End district includes the
properties.
Steinegger's company was the only bidder for both
properties. The Manhattan Street parcel, which is about 2,200 square feet, sold
for $137,500 and the Atlantic Street parcel, which is roughly 3,400 square
feet, went for $207,500.
Steinegger could not be reached for comment, so it is
unclear what his plans are for the properties.
The developer and his family's estate own a handful of
Stamford properties, city records show. In 2021, he withdrew a rezoning proposal to build a commercial village on
the city's West Side, after community members rallied against it. He has
since sold the 226 West Main St. parcel.
City officials originally acquired the two South End parcels
for the construction of the Stamford Urban Transitway, a commuter road
that connects the Stamford Transportation Center to U.S. Route 1 on the East
Side. The two properties were part of the project’s first phase between
Atlantic and Elm streets, completed in 2012.
Officials used eminent domain to take parts of dozens of properties
in the roadway’s path. At the time, some landowners said they were satisfied
with the compensation they received, while others said that the pay was
insufficient.
“These are the leftover (remains) of what the road couldn’t
use,” Adams said.
The city purchased the properties using money from the
Federal Transit Authority. As a result, to sell them they had to have the
property appraisals approved by federal officials.
According to the appraisals, neither parcel is large enough
to be developed on its own without being combined with neighboring lots.
Still, at last week's committee meeting, two public speakers
said they were concerned the sale was a “giveaway” to developers. Assistant
corporation counsel Chris Dellaselva asserted that city officials followed
the rules.
Last October, a similar transaction passed Stamford boards
with little attention. The city approved the sale of two vacant lots on Elm Street, which were also
acquired for the urban transitway project.
“We’re not giving away property,” Dellaselva said. “We
bidded out through our purchasing department. We put out public notices in
newspapers and wherever else we customarily put them, whatever it is we’re
required to do.”
Properties in the block are owned by multiple landowners,
city records show. Neighboring parcels at 11 Garden St. and 31-39 Manhattan St.
are owned by Czescik Family Properties LLC.
Though some properties in the once-industrial South End
still contain toxic dirt, the federal appraisals did not require an
environmental study. Appraisers recommended that an outside environmental
expert be employed to determine if there are any hazardous materials.
If the properties are safe, Rep. Sean Boeger, D-15, said the
area could be suitable for residential and commercial development.
“They’re going to have to do all the remediation and they’re
going to have to comply with the zoning regulations as attorney Dellaselva
already said. And, actually, this is a good, appropriate area to have higher
density housing and perhaps commercial property,” Boeger said.
Adams said it would serve the city well to spruce up the
Manhattan Street area.
“It’s a dumping ground as it is right now,” Adams said.
“People just go over there with a load of construction material and just unload
their truck because there’s no eyes in that part of the city and it’s not well
patrolled … it’s abandoned.”
DOT project to close Route 9 access road in Middletown's North End set to go to bid
MIDDLETOWN – A
two-car collision on Route 9 south in Middletown on Sept. 28 that sent
two people to the hospital in serious condition has spotlighted the risks
motorists can face when trying to enter the highway from the Miller Street
neighborhood.
The Miller and Bridge streets access road in the city’s
North End, located some 600 feet from Exit 24 at St. Johns Square, has been
designated by the state Department of
Transportation as a dangerous area.
There were a total of 50 crashes at Route 9 and Miller
Street from 2018 to Oct. 2, 2023, according to data supplied by the DOT on
the CT Crash Data Repository. None
resulted in fatalities, figures show.
The most collisions occurred in 2018 (12) and 2022 (11), the
information indicates.
“That is a dangerous turn to take because you’re crossing
over a freeway,” DOT's strategic communications manager, Shannon Burnham,
said last week.
The DOT has completed the design phase of a longtime project
to close the access road from Route 9 leading to Bridge and Miller streets,
both of which are dead-end roads. It will involve converting the Bridge
Street railroad crossing to allow daily through traffic, according to the DOT
website.
Presently, the neighborhood is effectively isolated from the
rest of the city.
The proposed work includes closing the Miller Street access
to Route 9, including the median crossover, and opening the railway crossing at
Bridge Street to provide access from St. Johns Street.
Widening and full-depth reconstruction will occur on the
east side of Bridge Street to incorporate an additional through lane, the DOT
said.
Sidewalks will be extended from Portland Street to connect
to the existing ones along Bridge Street. On-street parking will be maintained
in front of residences along Bridge Street, the DOT website said.
Eighty percent of the cost of construction will be paid for
through federal funds, and 20 percent will come from the state, according to
the DOT website.
The construction project is expected to go out to bid in
early October, and work is slated to begin in 2024, Burnham said.
The collision between a Toyota Corolla and Nissan Rogue near
the Miller Street access road Sept. 28 forced a front-seat passenger in the
Corolla through the windshield, according to a police report.
The operator of the Rogue, which burst into flames following
the crash, had non-life threatening injuries, authorities said.
Two of the victims remain hospitalized in serious
condition, Police Chief Erik Costa said Wednesday morning.
“There’s really no rhyme or reason to when there are accidents,” Middletown
Fire Chief Jay Woron said of the Miller Street access road. “There are more
accidents when there is less traffic. In the rush hours, the traffic is so
congested that nobody can go fast.”
The Sept. 28 accident took place at 5 a.m. “With less
traffic, people can move faster through the area,” Woron said.
There are other issues getting to and from the Miller Street
neighborhood.
Motorists can drive to the end of nearby Portland Street,
where the railroad gate is open. However, operators must navigate through a
narrow entrance at very low speeds, over bumpy railway tracks and under
the Arrigoni Bridge.
The Miller Street access “project required a
legislation modification to legally open the at-grade railroad crossing for
daily use by all users,” the DOT website said.
The entrance is now unlocked so emergency vehicles can get
through, the fire chief said. “It’s such a tight street. If there’s a fire,
it’s hard to get our ladder trucks in there,” he acknowledged.
For information on project 0082-0322, including how to
provide feedback, visit bit.ly/3ZIluoK.
Norwalk athletes to be bused to other fields when new high school, P-Tech project begins in 2024
NORWALK — The city’s school board has approved final plans
for the new Norwalk
High School and P-TECH combined campus, built on an existing athletic
field.
The $239 million building replace the current NHS campus and
include the two schools, according to the district’s construction information
website. The state has promised to
reimburse the city for 80 percent of the cost. School board members gave their final approvals during
their Sept. 26 meeting.
Emily Morgan, media relations specialist for the district,
said the new school will be ready for students in the fall of 2027.
“As of Sept. 11, construction is to begin in early 2024,
currently targeted for February,” she said. “With completion and occupancy in
time for the 2027-2028 school year.”
The new school will be constructed where the Testa
Field Complex is currently located. A new athletic facility will be built in
place of the existing school, which will be demolished, according to the
project website.
“As a result, many athletic programs will be displaced
during construction from 2024 through 2027,” the project website states.
To allow for students to participate in athletics without
disruption, the district will bus students to spaces at Nathan Hale Middle
School, West Rocks Middle School, Cranbury Elementary School, Brien McMahon
High School and Oak Hills Park.
“By distributing NHS athletics to alternate facilities
within the community, some recreational sports will also be displaced,” the
website said. “City of Norwalk Recreation and Parks has reviewed these impacts
and is confident that they can coordinate a suitable alternate location or time
to accommodate these sports."
While many athletic teams’ programming will be affected by
the construction, Andrews Field will remain and programming for the marching
band will continue.
The district anticipates that the new P-TECH and NHS campus
can accommodate over 2,000 students in a 332,628-square-foot space.
NHS will have 56 classrooms, eight less than the current
school. P-TECH will have 19 classrooms, one more than the current school,
though the district’s website states that there are other expansions of
educational spaces in the plans.
“Please note, the new NHS campus includes an additional two
computer science labs, eight small group/seminar rooms, four project areas and
six breakout spaces which are not included in the general classroom count,” the
website said.
The classroom quantity is designed to accommodate 85 percent
of the potential student body, though NHS and P-TECH’s student population is 65
percent of capacity.
The new school will also be equipped
with solar panels.
Sherman to vote on $47M plan to save the town's only school: 'Nothing is not an option'
SHERMAN — Residents will vote this Saturday on a $47 million
plan to renovate the only public school in Sherman.
The project would reduce the K-8 school's size by replacing
a wing that's no longer used and address various deficiencies in a 86-year-old
building that is in such poor shape
that local officials weighed whether to close it as enrollment declines.
Problems in the school include a lack of potable water and outdated building
systems.
Pending voter approval, the town would pursue a state grant
to be reimbursed for $11 million of the project.
“We are hopeful that the Sherman community will approve the
renovation projects to allow Sherman School students to be educated in a school
that is ready for the 21st century,” Sherman School Superintendent
Pat Cosentino said. “This project will right size the building and also
repair all of the needed failures that are currently problematic in the
building.”
Should the referendum pass, construction would begin no
later than April 2024 and progress in phases, without the use of portable
classrooms, toward an anticipated completion in August 2025, according to a
statement from the town. Portions of the building can be worked on while
students are in the rest of the building, the school board chairman said.
If the project were to fail at the referendum, “we’ll
probably go back to the drawing board and see if there’s another plan, possibly
put a plan out there to build a new building, which will be more
expensive,"Cosentino said, "but something has to be done. So many of
the these systems are past their life expectancy and we really need to do
something. Nothing is not an option."
Matt Vogt, Sherman’s Board of Education chairman, said that
when developing a renovation plan, the School Building Committee and the Board
of Education have worked hard "and really dug in deep into the details to
get a real understanding of what the needs of the building are."
He continued: "We looked at a lot of different ways to
try to deal with those problems and this is absolutely the best way to fix the
school and have the facility that the town needs for the next 30 years."
Considering different options
The Sherman School, located at 2 Route 37 East, opened in
1937 and has since expanded with five additions over the last 86 years. The
school, which has students in prekindergarten through eighth grade, has
needed repair for many years. The Board of Education's initial attempt at a
renovation was in 2020, following a 2019 facility committee study, called
the Friar Report, that highlighted the major issues in the
school, Vogt said.
At a 90-minute school board meeting in April, school leaders
considered whether to close the building and send the students to neighboring
districts. Many impassioned
community members spoke against closing the school.
The school has seen a steady decline in enrollment, dropping
from about 440 students in 2009 to 250 students this school year. It is the
only school in the town, and if it were to close, Sherman would be the only
town in the state without a school, according to a state Department of
Education spokesperson. Students would be sent to nearby districts.
When looking at renovation possibilities, a 10-member
School Building Committee was formed last May to oversee repairs and
improvements to the facility, considered seven options. The options were
developed by architects based on requests made by the building committee, said
Vogt, who is a member of the committee.
The plans ranged from maintaining the current size of the
building at 77,000 square feet to building a new facility on an alternate site,
according to a statement sent from the town on Sunday.
The recommended option is to reduce the building's size to
about 65,000 square feet, and replace the K-wing, which is the
original school building that was constructed in 1937. It had an antiquated
heating, ventilation and air conditioning system, and issues with well water.
The K-wing closed in 2016 and has since been used only for storage space.
The local share of this cost, an amount not to exceed $36
million, would be borrowed, pending taxpayer approval, through town-issued
bonds likely for a period of 22 years with bonds issued sequentially in fiscal
years 2024 to 2026, the statement said.
Taxes would increase by about $960 annually — or $80 per
month — over 22 years for the current median market home value in Sherman
of $468,200, according to the statement from the town.
Vogt said the recommended plan is the cheapest and was
unanimously recommended by both the school’s building committee and the Board
of Education.
“The costs are associated directly with the square footage
of the building," he said.
Replacing the K-wing shrinks some square footage and that
helps maintain control of the cost, he said.
This option would also limit new construction “by more
creatively reutilizing the large spaces that we have, which was important in
trying to keep the costs down as much as possible, and not to just build extra
that we don’t need," Vogt said.
The building is "bigger than the use of the school now,
so we don’t need all that square footage," he said.
The spring of 2024 start date is “a pretty aggressive
schedule,” Vogt said, although inflation and building and supply shortages
might play a factor in the completion date of the project.
“The idea is that it really needs to pass this referendum
now to allow for the time needed to get all the construction documents
together, to go out and find the contractors for the work to get started,
and order materials in the spring,” he said.
The referendum will be Oct. 7 from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. in
Charter Hall located within Sherman’s Emergency Services Facility
(Firehouse), 1 Route 39.
Union workers, Waterford residents debate plan for data center
Daniel Drainville
Waterford ― At Monday night’s Representative Town Meeting,
residents and unionized construction workers disagreed over a proposal by NE
Edge LLC to build a data center on the Millstone Power Station property.
While residents reiterated their concerns about noise and
the impact on the environment, union workers applauded the jobs it would
create.
William McCoy, attorney for NE Edge, also provided a status
update on the project.
First Selectman Rob Brule signed an agreement in March that
calls for NE Edge to pay the town $231 million over 30 years to construct two
two-story data center buildings, supplied with energy from Millstone, that
would provide 1.5 million square feet of storage for cloud and data centers.
Keith Brothers, who heads the Connecticut State Building
Trades Council, told the RTM on Monday that his union has signed an agreement
with NE Edge in which it has agreed to use local union workers and contractors.
“This project is going to generate over a million man hours
for the construction industry,” added Joseph Toner, the union’s executive
director. “One out of every four construction workers on this project is going
to be from Waterford.”
Toner said noise concerns about the project are disingenuous
because “every project is completely different.”
“Let’s do the due diligence on the studies, and then
everyone will go and look at that,” he said.
While residents acknowledged the importance of construction
jobs, they were not convinced.
“This is not, and I repeat not, about temporary union jobs.
This is about the health and safety of the residents of Waterford,” resident
Lynn MacMorrow said.
“If you go forward with this, you need to understand that
it’s going to impact the hearing of everyone around us,” said Judith Leary.
She claimed that data center noise would radiate 2.5 miles
from the facility.
McCoy refuted Leary’s claims, cited misinformation over the
project.
“Concerns matter, but concerns unsupported by fact are just
concerns,” he said.
McCoy would not deny that there are noisy data centers, but claimed
they are a result of poor design.
“You spend enough money, you can make that building quiet.
And ultimately that’s what we’re committed to doing because that’s the standard
we have. We can’t build a building that puts out 95 decibels. It’s not proper
under the host fee agreement,” he said.
McCoy said he is committed to having further discussions
with residents but pointed out that it will be the town’s land use boards that
will decide on the design of the buildings.
The town’s ability to oversee the project still hinges on a
decision currently before the Connecticut Siting Council that would allow
Millstone owner Dominion Energy nuclear Connecticut, Inc., to make room for the
data center.
McCoy said he is prepared to come back to the RTM in
December with a “reasonably solid plan.”