Wilton looking at 'in excess of $100 million' for school repairs, first selectwoman says
Jarret Liotta
WILTON — It will cost "in excess of $100 million" over the next 15 years for the town to address infrastructure issues at three of Wilton's public schools, according to outgoing First Selectwoman Lynne Vanderslice.
A "Schools Needs Assessment Study and Report," a consultant's report that is due to be released next month, will show a projected cost of more than $100 million for infrastructure improvement work almost exclusively at Cider Mill, Middlebrook and Wilton High Schools, Vanderslice told the Board of Selectmen as she shared details of initial assessment.
"I wouldn't normally speak about a draft, (but) with the upcoming election and my term ending shortly, I think it's important that, now that I have seen the projected 10-year cost, that I share it," she said at the meeting on Monday, Oct. 2.
"The actual cost will be significantly higher," Vanderslice, who is not seeking reelection this fall, said as she referred to prices that are already escalating beyond what is anticipated in the draft report.
"This is supposed to be a 10-year plan, (but) ... it's my opinion that this is not going to get addressed in 10 years," she said. "It's just too large and, importantly, not all the items, as I looked through the list, appear to be bondable. So some of the expenses are going to have to run through the annual operating expenses budget."
After her announcement, none of the other four board members responded during the meeting, neither asking questions nor sharing any comments.
Asked later for comments, only two board members responded.
"It was the first time I had heard that the draft report had come out, or anything contained within it, as it hadn't been sent to us as a board," Board of Selectmen member Kim Healy said.
"After receiving and reviewing the report, I will provide public comments at the BOS meetings as appropriate," Healy said.
Board of Selectmen member Joshua Cole said, "it would be inappropriate and premature to react or respond to the report until I've received a copy ... and had an opportunity to review it."
The Board of Selectmen, which Cole said commissioned the report, first heard the amount at the meeting. "We do not substantively discuss or react to items in the First Selectwoman's Report; it is only an opportunity for Lynne to present us with news or information for future discussion and deliberation," he said.
"I will give my thoughts on the report and the numbers in the report in a noticed public meeting once I've received the report and had an opportunity to review the report," Cole said.
The other two board members, Basam Nabulsi and Ross Tartell. did not respond to emails seeking comment.
Asked whether she was surprised that none of the board members reacted at the meeting, Vanderslice said, "I don't think it was strange, as they hadn't seen the document and what I described was a draft document that covered a 10-year period that had not been prioritized or finalized."
Vanderslice reminded the Board of Selectmen that after the renovation and reconfiguration of Miller-Driscoll School, and other big-cost items such as the soon-to-begin construction on the new police station, the next phase of the town's infrastructure improvement centered on work at the remaining three schools.
"The school buildings' needs assessment will be available in November," she said. "In the meantime, we did receive a draft (that) includes a very detailed comprehensive list ... of the work that is required for those three school buildings."
Staff from the Department of Public Works, including Director Frank Smeriglio and Assistant Director Jeff Pardo, are working with the consultant to create a prioritized schedule of that work, which is supposed to be part of a 10-year plan, Vanderslice said. But that work could reach beyond 15 years due to the amount of money it will cost, she said.
"My recommendation ... is that we have quad board meeting in November," she said, which would also include the Board of Education and Board of Finance, as well as the Planning & Zoning Commission along with the Board of Selectmen.
"Every board has to understand the magnitude of this, has to buy into it, and (how) it's going to impact them. And if we do it in a meeting after the election, we can have current board members and the people who are elected ... be in the audience and they can hear the conversation," Vanderslice said.
She said she wouldn't normally talk about a draft report but said brought up the costs of the school repairs because she didn't want this to be a "November surprise."
New London plans colossal expansion of electric vehicle charging station stock
John Penney
New London – The city in the coming months will massively expand its inventory of electric vehicle charging stations through a no-cost incentive program that parking officials said will create the biggest pocket of such devices in the region.
The 18 dual-port, Level 2 devices will be introduced to several municipal addresses, from City Hall and parking lots to five school district buildings, said Carey Redd II, the city’s director of transportation and parking.
Redd, who said he’s been working on the project for months, said at least half of the incoming stations will be active by the end of the year.
“When we’re done, we’ll have largest number of electric vehicle charging stations in the southeast corridor,” he said.
The cost of the design and installation of the devices will be paid by the Shaws Cove-based contractor Resource Lighting & Energy, which in turn will recoup its costs by way of grant and rebate incentives offered by Eversource, Mayor Michael Passero said.
“These are chargers that would normally cost between $40,000 and $50,000 each and we’ll be able to add them to every city address, including City Hall, the senior center and the schools,” Passero said. “Before this, we were really on our own, adding a few at the marina parking lot and the (Water Street) garage.”
Other locations slated to welcome the new stations include the Stanton Building on Union Street, the city’s Masonic Street finance office, upper levels of the Water Street Garage and several municipal parking lots
Redd said he anticipates charging users 25 cents per kilowatt hour, less than the state’s standard rate of 43 cents.
“That’s a price that will help subsidize our costs but in a favorable way to residents and tourists,” he said. “I know of some cities that charge 50 cents or a dollar per kilowatt hour for charging. By charging less, we show we want people to come here, to spend money at restaurants and stores without paying a 50% higher cost for charging.”
Redd noted the charging stations introduced in the city nearly a decade ago did not offer a payment option.
In addition to the municipal sites, the chargers will also be placed outside all school buildings, school district Director of Facilities Miguel Gautier said.
“Everyone seems to be getting these electric vehicle stations and we wanted to offer the same option to our staff,” he said. “This represents a zero-cost program for the district,” he said.
He said trenches were recently dug outside the Winthrop STEM, Nathan Hale Arts Magnet or C.B. Jennings International schools in anticipation of installation, though a new, inactive station was in place at the C.B. Jennings school on Tuesday.
Ongoing infrastructure projects at the Bennie Dover Jackson middle school and multi-magnet high school campus will delay installation at those locations until next year, Gautier said.
He said the devices will likely only be available for school employees at the elementary and middle school sites, though the high school location might be opened for student use.
Bryan Doughty, chairman of the board’s School Facilities & Program Design Committee, said the proposal was introduced to his group a couple of weeks ago.
“Why not get ahead of the curve?” he asked. “You see these stations at restaurants, outside municipal buildings and other places, and it seems like a super-smart idea to put them outside schools.”
Doughty suspects few, if any, New London students are driving electric vehicles – at least right now.
“But the trend is heading towards more and more of those vehicles being bought and driven, including by teachers and staff,” he said, noting he’s heard talk of school bus companies in the country looking to introduce such models into their fleets. “It’s forward thinking for us to look at this.”
Greg Bordonaro
Massachusetts-based developer Winstanley Enterprises recently paid $4.6 million for an undeveloped 133.6-acre site in Enfield, with plans to build more than 600,000 square feet of industrial space.
Winstanley Enterprises on Tuesday announced its purchase of 1697 King St., also known as “Metro Park North,” and plans to eventually move forward on previously obtained land-use approvals for the property.
Those approvals, according to Winstanley, allow for a 500,225-square-foot distribution facility as well as a 100,125-square-foot “flex” building. The latter would be predominantly warehousing space, with some office.
“This property boasts unlimited potential and enables companies to hit the ground running in a very short time,” said Adam Winstanley, principal of Winstanley Enterprises. “Traditionally it’s months or years before a company can secure permitting to break ground on a development, but this fully entitled site offers prospective tenants expedited speed-to-market potential, building customization input, and it’s a great location.”
The property offers easy access to Interstate 91 and is minutes away from Bradley International Airport.
Winstanley acquired the property from Rocky Hill-based DF Realty LLC, in a deed recorded by the town on Oct. 5. The seller’s principal is Marc Fontaine, of South Glastonbury, according to state business records. DF Realty paid $1.45 million for the property in 2015, according to assessor records.
Winstanley has been heavily involved in the logistics boom in towns north of Hartford over the past decade. Winstanley recently paid $122.3 million for a 1-million-square-foot distribution center in Windsor that hosts an Amazon fulfillment center.
Winstanley on Tuesday reaffirmed its confidence in the warehouse and distribution sector.
The company said it will immediately market its newly acquired Enfield property to prospective tenants and expects to begin construction during the first half of 2024.
A building Winstanley recently completed on North Maple Street in Enfield has been occupied by life-sciences company Eppendorf and dairy cooperative Agri-Mark. The company owns another 1.1 million square feet of office and logistics space in Enfield, with tenants including Lego, Coca-Cola and Advanced Auto Parts.
The company said it also recently settled a legal dispute, allowing it to proceed with an 819,000-square-foot distribution facility at 35 Bacon Road, part of the former Hallmark site.
Winstanley owns and operates more than 12.5 million square feet of commercial real estate.