WASHINGTON, D.C. — As part of the inaugural meeting of
the White
House Council on Supply Chain Resilience, the U.S. Department of Energy
(DOE) today announced $275 million for seven projects to strengthen clean
energy supply chains and accelerate domestic clean energy manufacturing in nine
former coal communities across the nation. Each project positions the U.S. to
enhance its global competitiveness and national security by building domestic
supply chains for existing and emerging technologies, built with American labor
and materials. Thanks to the President’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, these
projects will leverage over $600 million in private sector investments into
small- and medium-sized manufacturers and create nearly 1,500 high-quality,
good-paying jobs in cutting edge technologies. The portfolio of projects will
address critical clean energy supply chain vulnerabilities by supporting key
materials and components for energy storage for grid and transportation uses,
wind energy, and energy efficient solutions for buildings. In addition to
co-location with energy communities, the majority of selected projects will be
in or adjacent to disadvantaged communities, supporting the Biden-Harris
Administration’s efforts to ensure every community is included in our clean
energy future.
“President Biden's Investing in America agenda is driving
the manufacturing boom while preserving the communities and workforce that have
powered our nation for generations," said U.S. Secretary of Energy
Jennifer M. Granholm. “With these historic investments, DOE will bring new
economic opportunities and ensure these communities continue their key role in
strengthening America's national and energy security.”
The global market for clean energy and carbon reduction
technologies is anticipated to reach a minimum of $23 trillion by 2030, and the
President’s Investing in
America agenda is helping ensure the nation’s energy communities take
part in this massive economic opportunity. The U.S. economy grew at the
fastest pace in nearly 40 years in recent years, and manufacturing as a share
of U.S. gross domestic product (GDP) returned to pre-pandemic levels. The
project selections announced today will strengthen domestic clean energy supply
chains by making them more resilient, robust, and cost-competitive.
The selected projects with small and medium-sized
manufactures will build up the production of technologies, such as insulated
windows essential in large building retrofits, wind turbines, materials for
grid components and critical battery materials, to reduce the nation’s reliance
on fossil fuels, strengthen national defense and energy independence, and
mitigate the climate crisis. The seven projects selected for negotiation
of award focus on manufacturing products and materials that address multiple
needs in the domestic clean energy supply chain.
The lead organizations are listed below along with their
proposed project locations.
Alpen High-Performance Products, Inc., will retrofit
existing facilities in Louisville, Colorado, and Vandergrift, Pennsylvania, for
production of ultra-thin, triple and quad-pane insulated glass units (IGUS) for
windows. These retrofitted facilities will the first of their kind in the U.S.
Boston Metal will build a new facility in Weirton, West
Virginia, to manufacture ultrapure chromium metal and high temperature alloys
that are critical materials needed for clean power, fuel cells and green steel
supply chains.
Carter Wind Turbines, LLC, a family-owned company will
build a new facility in Vernon, Texas, to scale production of mid-sized
turbines and improve wind energy access for remote, rural locations, and rugged
terrains.
CorePower Magnetics, Inc., will retrofit an existing
facility in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, for melting and casting of advanced
magnetic amorphous alloys for grid components.
FastCAP Systems d/b/a Nanoramic Laboratories, will
build a new facility in Bridgeport, Connecticut, to manufacture lithium iron
phosphate (LFP) battery electrodes for grid storage.
LuxWall Inc will build a new facility in Detroit,
Michigan, to manufacture vacuum insulated glass (VIG) window units, one of the
highest energy efficient return-on-investment (ROI) options used to retrofit
buildings.
MP Assets Corporation will build a project in Virginia,
to manufacture lithium-ion battery separators important for electric vehicle
supply chains.
Learn more about the seven projects selected for award
negotiations here.
MESC leads several of DOE’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law investments,
including the Advanced Energy Manufacturing and Recycling Program. Selection
for award negotiations is not a commitment by DOE to issue an award or provide
funding. Before funding is issued, DOE and the applicants will undergo a
negotiation process, and DOE may cancel negotiations and rescind the selection
for any reason during that time. DOE anticipates moving quickly on another
investment round in the U.S. advanced energy manufacturing sector to continue
accelerating domestic clean energy manufacturing.
Learn more about the MESC mission
to strengthen and secure energy supply chains as the frontline of clean energy
capital deployment.
Bridgeport Joins Growing Opposition to $225M United Illuminating Project
Sophia Muce
Bridgeport has joined Fairfield, preservationists, residents
and business owners in questioning the “unreasonable” impacts of a proposed
$225 million project by United Illuminating.
The utility company applied
with the Connecticut Siting Council in March to replace its aging
electric transmission lines with 100- to 135-foot monopoles along the
Metro-North Railroad line in downtown Bridgeport, Fairfield and
Southport.
In August, the town of Fairfield intervened in the
application process, opposing the 8.6 acres of permanent easements in town
required by the project. According to the company’s standard easement form, it
would have the right “at any time” to fill, excavate and remove structures
obstructing its work near hundreds of houses and businesses.
In addition to Fairfield, the National
Trust for Historic Preservation and local environmental
groups like Sasco Creek Neighbors Environmental Trust Inc. have
intervened in the process. The project has also been staunchly opposed by
officials including Sen. Richard Blumenthal, Rep. Jim Himes, State Sen. Tony
Hwang, R-Fairfield, State Rep. Jennifer Leeper, D-Fairfield, State Rep. Sarah
Keitt, D-Fairfield, First Selectman Bill Gerber and former First Selectwoman
Brenda Kupchick.
But the City of Bridgeport, which would face about 10.7
acres of permanent easements under the proposal, did not intervene until a
Tuesday council hearing.
Lee Hoffman, an attorney representing the city in United
Illuminating’s application,
said Bridgeport is concerned that the project would negatively impact future
economic development, coastal resources, low-income residents and people of
color.
“Bridgeport seeks to participate in these proceedings to
prevent an unreasonable impact to its municipal interests and to the natural
resources of the State including coastal and water resources,” Hoffman wrote in
a Nov.
22 letter requesting party status from the council.
Given the potential impacts on the city’s tax revenue and a
“material discriminatory impact” on the environmental
justice community, Hoffman said, Bridgeport requested that the utility
company consider other ways to strengthen its grid such as moving the
transmission lines underground.
The city was not the first to suggest underground lines;
many intervenors, including Fairfield, have all asked United Illuminating to
consider alternatives. But the utility company said it already considered and
rejected the underground option.
UI has estimated underground lines along the 7.3-mile
project area would cost approximately $1 billion, take about a decade to
construct and said the state — which currently leases the space on the New
Haven line to the company for $877,500 per year — does not support the option.
According to testimony from
the state Department of Transportation, underground construction would
interrupt railroad operations and interfere with existing state infrastructure.
But at the Tuesday hearing, Hoffman asked for special
consideration of an alternative in Bridgeport alone.
“Why didn’t you consider undergrounding in Bridgeport only?”
Hoffman asked.
UI project team members said that they analyzed the
underground option for the entire stretch of the project, and gave no
indication they would look further into Bridgeport’s request. The company’s
director of environmental permitting and compliance, Todd Berman, noted that
the city never requested that the lines be placed underground during the
numerous meetings between Bridgeport and UI.
Similarly, the project team said they did not consider
placing underground lines solely in historic areas.
In order to receive state approval, the company submitted a
report identifying historic properties within the project area, including the
Southport Historic District, the Mary and Eliza Freeman Houses in Bridgeport,
and Southport Congregational Church. Of the 21 listed, the report named 12
properties that could be visually impacted by the monopoles due to planned
vegetation clearing.
This month, the State Historic Preservation Office, National
Trust and local historic preservationists called the report by Heritage
Consultants, a firm hired by UI, into question, and maintained that the project
will have adverse
effects on historic properties. Several opponents have also insisted
that the report is incomplete and does not identify all the potentially
impacted properties.
But at the hearing, the company’s principal transmission
engineer, MeeNa Sazanowicz, said placing the lines underground only around
historic properties would not eliminate visual impacts, as some of the
equipment would still need to be above ground to connect to nearby monopoles.
“In order to dip underground, we would still have to have
the above-ground poles and riser structures,” Sazanowicz explained.
Attorney David Ball, representing Fairfield, continued to
push for underground lines across the entire project area on Tuesday.
Ball questioned the project team on each benefit of the
underground option, compared to their above-ground proposal. UI employees
acknowledged that underground lines are generally less susceptible to
weather-related outages, pose a lesser visual impact and require less
vegetation removal.
As Ball continued to question the company’s original
analysis of the underground option, UI attorney Bruce McDermott objected.
Fairfield and Bridgeport had the opportunity to question the
contents of the application during earlier hearings, McDermott said, arguing
that the parties have lost their chance to do so this late in the council’s
process. He insisted that the municipalities should only question the UI panel
on new document submissions.
Council Chair John Morissettee agreed, but Ball continued
stressing the importance of an underground alternative.
“I’m simply trying to explore whether a few other
alternatives were considered that might avoid a catastrophe in Fairfield, which
is the taking of 19 acres of property,” Ball said.
In addition to Bridgeport and Fairfield, attorneys
representing local businesses, residents, Southport Congregational Church and
council members cross examined UI employees about their project at the two most
recent hearings.
At the end of the Tuesday meeting, Morissettee extended the
hearing to Dec. 12. Per state guidelines, the council must issue its decision
by March.
School Construction Moves Forward in Madison, With Brief Debate Over Goals for Sustainability
Tim Leininger
MADISON – Plans to upgrade the HVAC system at Polson Middle
School sparked a short debate about spending limits and the town’s goals for
environmental sustainability at Monday night’s Board of Selectmen
meeting.
The work at Polson Middle School and the new elementary
school are part of a larger $89.2 million project approved by referendum in
Feb. 2022. The new school budgeted for $61.15 million and improvements on
Polson budgeted for $21.55 million. There is a third project for improvements
on Brown Intermediate School, budgeted at $6.5 million.
By a vote of 4 to 0, with one abstention, the board approved
a $935,000 bid for the Polson project by BL Companies, a local architectural
and civil engineering firm.
The $935,000 is divided into three different projects as
part of the improvements at Polson.
$170,000 is for auditorium upgrades; $135,000 for electrical
power distribution upgrades; and $630,000 for modernization of the HVAC system.
“This was all part of the referendum,” said Democratic First
Selectwoman Peggy Lyons..
Republican Selectman Bruce Wilson, who was the one
abstention, voiced concerns that the HVAC project for Polson was at odds with
the town’s strategic plan and vision for sustainable energy.
“I think it’s a mistake to invest in traditional HVAC
equipment in a renovation of this scope and magnitude, especially with the
other work scheduled to go on on the grounds,” he said. “I’m particularly
struck that the working draft of our strategic plan repeatedly talks about
sustainability and investing in the future and this… we’re committing the town
to at least another 15 to 20 years of fossil fuel use and it is difficult for
me to support that and the strategic plan at the same time.”
In response, Lyons said that although a more sustainable
system would have been preferable, it didn’t warrant the added
investment.
The town has been under significant pressure to
reduce spending for school construction.
Elementary school update
Graham Curtis, chair of the New Elementary School Building
Committee, provided an update on the progress on the new elementary school,
telling the board that the architects had completed a design for the school,
and were in the process of getting the final sign offs from the state.
“Hopefully in the next two weeks, we’ll be going out to bid
with the main package,” Curtis said.
There had been problems with the project going over budget.
After grants and rebates, the $61.15 million project was
initially estimated to cost the town about $48.7 million, but with inflation,
and the addition of four classrooms to meet changing expectations for student
enrollment, the project was $5.9 million over budget.
In June, the board approved the transfer of $3.5 million
from the Polson project, which was under budget, to help offset the cost,
leaving $2.4 million of costs unresolved
“The building committee is working really hard to get
us back on budget,”
Curtis said. “We came up with $1.8 million in reductions.”
The “reductions,” Curtis said, do not reduce the number of
classrooms, nor do they reduce programming in the school.
“They’re on budget and back on schedule,” he said.
As it currently stands, Curtis said, the rest of the
contracts will go out to bid in early 2024.
“Hopefully we’ll hit a favorable bidding market when we go
out to bid,” he said, “and we can get positive bids.”
Curtis said that construction should commence in the spring
and take about 15 months, finishing by spring 2025.
“Hopefully despite some bumps in the road we’ll be able to
bring that in.”
CT Democrats pledge to keep on path to phasing out new gas cars
With choreographed expressions of contrition and
determination, Gov. Ned Lamont and Democratic legislative leaders acknowledged
Tuesday their failure to make a convincing case for phasing out sales of new
gasoline-powered vehicles by 2035 and pledged to quickly find a new path
forward.
In a crowded room in the state Capitol, administration
officials and members of the Democratic majorities in the House and Senate
offered a defense of the 2035 mandate— something that never came in October and
November, when Republicans campaigned against it as bureaucratic overreach.
The display came a day after the Lamont administrations
confirmed it did not have the votes for passage by the legislature’s bipartisan
Regulation Review Committee of regulations that would have implemented a
timetable for the transition to car and truck markets dominated by electric
vehicles.
House Speaker Matt Ritter, D-Hartford, said he scheduled a
caucus of the House Democratic majority for Monday, a sign legislative leaders
were contemplating passage of a yet-to-be-defined zero-emissions bill in
special session before the General Assembly returns for its annual session in
February.
Connecticut must remain committed to the 2035 deadline, but
only if residents can be assured that the phase-out of gasoline-powered
vehicles is practical and will not be financially ruinous to consumers,
Ritter said.
“Once you get off target, once you don’t have a goal, you
will surely fail,” Ritter said. “But we have to do more. We have to demonstrate
to the Connecticut residents that this switch not only will save the
environment, save lives and save our planet, but not leave you in a position
where you can no longer afford a vehicle.”
Implicit in Ritter’s remarks was a suggestion that the
Lamont administration and the legislature’s Democratic majorities had failed to
make those important assurances to the public.
Ritter, House Majority Leader Jason Rojas of East Hartford,
Senate President Pro Tem Martin M. Looney of New Haven and Senate Majority
Leader Bob Duff of Norwalk joined the governor and Katie Dykes, the
commissioner of energy and environmental protection, to address what they
insist is a setback, not a defeat.
The presence of the top legislative leaders was intended as
a statement that Connecticut is not backing away from updated clean-air
standards set by California and embraced by New York, New Jersey,
Massachusetts, Rhode Island and other states, despite the failure to adopt
regulations necessary for Connecticut to join them.
“We know that the gasoline-powered car is certainly on its
way out. We will have all electric vehicles in the future. And we want to make
that future happen as soon as we can. We also have to make sure that it happens
in an equitable way, not leaving any community behind,” Looney said.
Looney blamed the failure to adopt the regulations on
Republicans, ignoring the role of members of his own caucus.
“The Republican Party, unfortunately, is the party of no,
without thought; no, without a plan,” Looney said, contrasting them with the
Democratic majorities. “We have to plan. We have to think. We’re responsible
for the state.”
But the administration withdrew the regulations only after
concluding that two Senate Democrats on the Regulation Review Committee, Cathy
Osten of Sprague and Joan Hartley of Waterbury, were prepared to vote with all
seven Republicans against the regulations. (Osten was among the two dozen
lawmakers at the press conference, but she made no remarks.)
The committee has seven Democrats and seven Republicans. A
tie vote at the meeting Tuesday would have allowed the regulations to take
effect next month.
Like the Republicans, Osten and Hartley said they were
concerned about the affordability of electric vehicles, the availability of
charging stations and the ability of the electric grid in Connecticut to supply
adequate electricity.
Standing just feet from Looney, Ritter rebuked those who
dismissed the concerns raised by Osten, Hartley and the Republicans.
“Our party sometimes has a wag-our-finger approach to
individuals who may not always see it the same way,” Ritter said. “These are
real concerns that can’t be just shooed away, they can’t be wished away. They
have to be worked on.”
Ritter said his caucus has those same concerns, but he is
confident they can be addressed.
One option is a bill that would endorse the 2035 timetable
but require periodic reviews by the legislature about whether the EV market and
infrastructure are sufficiently robust to meet the deadline. Such an approach,
which had been privately suggested by some advocates, would assure lawmakers
that the 2035 goal was realistic — or allow the state to change course.
“I think that’s what people need to know,” Ritter said.
Every state has two options: hewing to the California
standards or the ones set by the federal Environmental Protection Agency. The
EPA has set a less ambitious timetable for phasing out gas-powered cars.
Looney said the legislature should focus on a path forward,
not a look at what went wrong.
“I don’t think there’s a need to point any fingers at those
who did or did not advocate that effectively on this,” Looney said. “But I
think what we need to point out is just that we now are in a better position to
have an understanding of the key issues in this process.”
“I think the one thing that we learned today from that press
conference is that, thank God, there’s Connecticut Republicans who are here
being the voice of working- and middle-class families, of rural and urban
communities, that have raised legitimate — and you’re hearing — they recognize
these were legitimate concerns,” said Senate Minority Leader Kevin Kelly of
Stratford.
“Certainly, I think moving forward, it was good to hear that
they’re now going to start taking into consideration the affordability, the
impact this is actually going to have on Connecticut residents. And we’re
looking forward to that conversation,” said House Minority Leader Vincent J.
Candelora of North Branford.
There was a surprise guest at the Democratic news
conference: Steve Sullivan, the Eversource executive in charge of the utility’s
Connecticut operations, whose presence at the invitation of the governor raised
eyebrows. Eversource currently is battling utility regulators who serve at
Lamont’s pleasure, complaining that a hostile regulatory environment is
hobbling efforts to modernize the electric grid.
Jonathan Dach, the governor’s chief of staff, said
Sullivan’s presence was intended to underscore the administration’s
understanding that grid modernization is necessary to make the 2035 mandate
achievable. Sullivan used the opportunity to double down on Eversource’s
criticism of the regulators.
“Our customers and our residents all want the same thing:
clean, reliable energy at an equitable cost. And the best path forward to
achieve that is through a constructive regulatory environment,” Sullivan said.
“A constructive regulatory environment enables a collaboration in the planning
process, and a strategic partnership between the state and the utilities.”
Lamont did not disagree.
“Look, you have to be able to make the investments to make
sure the power is there for the charging stations,” he said.
The administration adopted an “electric vehicle roadmap” in
2020 and a strategy to expand the availability of charging stations in 2022.
The Public Utilities Regulatory Authority also has opened a docket on grid
modernization.
But Sullivan said Connecticut lags other states.
Dykes, the commissioner behind the regulations, said the
need to move away from internal combustion engines remains.
“Connecticut has some of the worst air quality in the
country, and our kids in our vulnerable communities, especially environmental
justice communities living near highways, industrial zones, are
disproportionately experiencing asthma and respiratory illness, disruptive
lives and high medical bills,” Dykes said.
$176B plan unveiled to rebuild Northeast rail corridor
The Northeast Corridor Commission — a coalition of
Amtrak, commuter transit agencies, states and the U.S. Department of
Transportation — announced Nov. 16 an ambitious 15-year plan to rebuild
the Boston-New York City-Washington, D.C., rail line.
The plan is an update to one set out in 2021 that outlined
repair needs, service goals and the necessary infrastructure to achieve those,
and is estimated to cost $176
billion in inflation-adjusted, year-of-expenditure dollars.
“The Northeast Corridor is vital to hundreds of thousands of
Americans and the American economy, and investing in it is a priority of the
Biden-Harris Administration,” said Amit Bose, administrator of the Federal
Railroad Administration and co-chair of the NEC Commission, in a statement.
Dive Insight:
Amtrak expects ridership along the Northeast Corridor to
return to or exceed pre-pandemic levels by 2024. The NEC also carries the
commuter trains of transit agencies serving Massachusetts, Rhode Island,
Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Delaware, Pennsylvania, Maryland and
Virginia. Under the Commission’s latest plan, the NEC will handle 60% more
commuter trains and 50% more Amtrak trains between Boston and New York City.
The plan will also nearly double the number of Amtrak trains between New York
City and Washington, D.C.
“Amtrak ridership on the Northeast Corridor is at all-time
record levels, and the projects included in this plan will provide the
capacity, reliability, and service improvements that our customers need and
deserve,” Amtrak CEO Stephen Gardner said in a statement.
The planned improvements would accommodate 51 million more
travelers each year, potentially shifting some 38 million car trips and 600,000
short-haul plane trips to rail each year, according to the Commission. The
Northeast Corridor is electrified from Boston to Washington and west to
Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, although some commuter trains use diesel locomotives.
In addition to shifting travel to rail’s more carbon-efficient transportation
mode, upgrades to the NEC aim to improve its climate resiliency and make
electric power systems less susceptible to outages in extreme weather.
The Federal Railroad Administration awarded $16.4
billion to 25 passenger rail projects in the Northeast Corridor on
Nov. 6, funded by the Federal-State Partnership for Intercity Passenger Rail
Program, which was established by the 2021 infrastructure law. Those projects
are included in the Commission’s latest plan. The infrastructure law provided
additional funding, which is expected to account for about a third of the
available funding for the NEC plan. In total, approximately 40% of the
estimated cost of the Commission’s plan is funded through existing or expected
federal, state and local sources.
According to the Commission, the corridor’s collective
jurisdictions will work with the Commission on regional improvements. The plan
includes detailed sequencing of construction that can allow for completion
within 15 years with minimal disruption to riders.
“Amtrak, the states, and the federal government all
recognize the importance of the Northeast Corridor to the regional and national
economy,” said Northeast Corridor Commission Executive Director Mitch Warren in
a statement.
Final Anaconda building in Waterbury razed, environmental tests of 20-acre site to continue
STEVE BIGHAM
WATERBURY – The razing of the third and final building of
the former Anaconda American Brass Co. factory complex is nearing completion
just over a month after demolition crews first converged on the site at 170
Freight St.
Six excavators were in operation Tuesday, taking down the
last skeletal remains of what was the first large brass manufacturing firm in
the United States and, for much of its existence, the country’s largest brass
manufacturer.
Manafort Brothers of Plainville is doing the demolition work
on the 20-acre brownfield through a contract with the city.
“Demolition began in mid October, they’ve made great
progress and we expect the entire building to be down over the next two weeks,”
said Tommy Hyde, CEO of Naugatuck Valley Regional Development Corp.
The city is looking to transform the property into a
mixed-use, transit-oriented development. Hyde said more environmental work
still needs to be done.
“We had trouble getting some of the test borings in because
of the building and its location, so we’ll do additional sampling once the
building is down,” Hyde said.
The city already demolished buildings at 130 Freight St. and
000 West Main St., both also once part of Anaconda. Hyde said those two
properties require additional environmental testing, and are subject to state
and federal guidelines beyond those at 170 Freight St.
The city held a news conference marking the start of
demolition in October, hailing it as an opportunity to transform a blighted,
contaminated property into a potential hub for jobs and economic growth.
Mayor Neil M. O’Leary said the city lobbied hard for federal
funding to transform the site. He said the property will dictate the next
chapter for Waterbury, noting its location as a 5-minute walk to the
Metro-North train station, 3-minute walk to the Naugatuck River Greenway, and
next to Route 8 and Interstate 84.
Waterbury is in the process of transforming more than a
dozen brownfield sites across the city. To date, more than $30 million in
federal and state grants have been invested in the redevelopment of the Freight
Street property and surrounding infrastructure.
Medical campus eyed for 40-acre site in Waterbury
LIVI STANFORD
WATERBURY – Plans are underway on a long-term project to
construct a medical campus behind BJ’s on Reidville Drive and the residential
development off of Saddle Rock Road, which city officials said will spur
economic growth.
“I believe the end result is not only to bring people to the
area but also to create a large number of jobs in the medical field,” said Joe
McGrath, the city’s economic development director. “It is a great asset to the
city. It is a very populated and busy area.”
In January of this year, the city’s Zoning Commission
approved changing the designation of the 40-acre site from single-family
residential to commercial and supporting the project.
The property is owned by 84 Vistas LLC, whose principals
include developers Curt Jones, Joe Pisani, and Robert LaFlamme.
Pisani said the first step in the project is clearing the
trees, followed by land preparation. He said the project could take a couple of
years to complete.
“The long-term economic goal is to entice medical uses,
which right now is very high in demand for medical space,” he said.
The proposed medical campus will consist of four buildings
varying in size, the largest at 100,000 square feet, with all the buildings
arranged in a block with a shared parking space, said Robert Nerney, city
planner.
McGrath said there are certainly challenges with the
project.
“It is a challenging area to develop because of the rock and
ledge,” he said, as the property is located on a cliff behind BJ’s. “It is
going to take some time to do that.”
The project has a long history dating back to 2016 when
Eighty-Four Vistas first acquired an easement from the city, allowing it to
build an entrance from Interstate Lane as city regulations prohibit a
commercial development from being accessed via a residential street.
But at the time, East Mountain neighbors contested the zone
change from residential to commercial, arguing it would change the residential
character of the area. Ultimately, the Zoning Commission approved the plan.
Still, Catherine Brunnock and her husband, retired probate
Judge Thomas P. Brunnock, who lived on Split Rock Drive, filed a lawsuit, with
the court ruling in their favor that 84 Vistas’ acquirement of an easement does
not meet the frontage requirement in the city’s zoning regulations.
Eighty-four Vistas LLC addressed the frontage requirement by
buying a parcel of land from the city on Interstate Lane, the main road to the
medical campus.
“We are able to prohibit any kind of traffic from the
neighborhood at Split Rock Road,” said Pisani.
Brewer Street Bridge in East Hartford now expected to reopen in May due to unanticipated delays
EAST HARTFORD — Originally scheduled to reopen in November,
construction on the Brewer Street Bridge near the Pratt & Whitney campus
has been suspended until the spring due to unanticipated delays and temperature
restrictions.
The bridge, which spans Pewterpot Brook, closed on May 1. It
is now expected to reopen in May 2024.
"A gas main, a water main, and several dozen
communication conduits had to be relocated between the bridge beams as part of
the project," Town Engineer Douglas Wilson said.
Wilson said that the construction is a "full bridge
replacement project" with new foundations. Utility lines, which used to
block the waterways, had to be relocated between the bridge beams above the
water elevation.
The abutments have been built and the wings walls and beams
have been set, Wilson said, and most of the utility lines have been hung. The
concrete deck still needs to be poured, but with winter weather setting in, the
temperatures are not optimal now.
Wilson said that the new bridge will span 24 feet, whereas
the original bridge was 15 feet.
The bridge was originally built in 1938 and was modified in
the 1960s, Wilson said, when concrete deck sections were added to the
north and south of it.
Construction on the bridge is expected to resume in April,
as that month is typically the end of the winter shutdown, when temperatures
are most favorable for construction.
"Asphalt plants also are closed for the winter and
reopen in April," Wilson said.
The reconstruction is part of an $8 million road project
that goes from Main Street to Jefferson Lane, Wilson said. It includes a new
traffic signal at the intersection of Brewer Street and Contractors and Glenn
roads, as well as an intersection change at Main and Brewer streets, where
there will be new sidewalks, new storm drainage, and road reconstruction.
Wilson said that more than 90 percent of the funding for the
project is being provided by state and federal programs, with the town's Road
Improvement Program covering the remaining amount, so there is no specific
property tax increase tied to the project.
The Road Improvement Program, which is funded by bond
referendums, was created in 2003 to address the conditions of the town's
roadways.
West Hartford nonprofit breaks ground on $100M affordable housing project for Starkel Road campus
WEST HARTFORD — In a town where new
housing developments are coming to all corners, one uniquely stands out
among the rest.
West
Hartford Fellowship Housing, a nonprofit that for over 50 years has
provided low-income housing for an older population and to people with
disabilities, broke ground on a sweeping
and transformative $100 million project that will modernize and expand
upon its Starkel Road campus, ultimately providing 300 total units of in-demand
housing.
Mayor Shari Cantor said that enhancing the property, which
is on town-owned land, has been a long time coming.
"I am really, really excited and touched to be here
because this has been a long road," Cantor said on Tuesday. "It is
sort of a culmination of the commitment of the town to provide affordable
housing, respect and dignity for really a treasured group of residents."
Teresa Adamczyk is one of those residents who will soon
reap the benefits of the project, which will include larger units and modern
amenities in all the new apartments. She's particularly excited about having a
new kitchen.
"I'm so excited," Adamczyk said. "I'm the
first one to cheer for this. I've been waiting, waiting, waiting a long time.
They've been talking about this for awhile. I'm looking forward to a regular
kitchen and excellent windows. I cannot explain how excited I am. I want it to
be done tomorrow."
Claire Buck has lived on the property for nine years now.
She said she's happy to hear that the apartments will be 80 to 110 percent
bigger than what is currently offered.
"I've really enjoyed it," Buck said of the
community, which is centrally located in Bishop's Corner and just across the
street from a grocery store and branches of the town's senior center and
library. "I just think the community is just fantastic. I can't wait until
this project is finished though because I really want to get into those bigger
apartments. Right now, they're small, they don't accommodate that much."
The plans will replace 23 of the 24 buildings on site with
six new buildings. Construction will be done in four phases, with the first
estimated to take about 18 months. All residents living in those units have
been given new accommodations in the meantime and will move into the new
apartments when they're finished. When all work is finished, there will be 87
more units than when things started, which will help alleviate their waiting
list.
And when they walk into those new apartments, they'll be
greeted by more accessible and energy efficient homes, according to Mark
Garilli, the nonprofit's executive director.
"They're going to walk into almost double the size of
the units they're in today," Garilli said. "You think about, as
we're aging in place and the need for more accessibility, more room to make
turnarounds if folks need walking-assisted devices, that takes up space in your
room. If you need a caregiver to come, you've got room to make that happen.
Right now, the units are so small it doesn't really afford that opportunity. We
think the opportunity with the new buildings will afford our residents
more independence."
West Hartford's commitment to keep West Hartford Fellowship
Housing what it's been since 1970 by issuing a 99-year lease agreement earlier
this year marks an investment in affordable housing for a vulnerable
population. The town, which
is currently reviewing its new affordable housing plan, has set a goal to
have 10 percent of its housing stock be considered affordable. Those types of
units have appeared across town in the last few years, with most recent
additions being properties managed
by the West Hartford Housing Authority on New Park Avenue and the
recent approval that will transform
a former synagogue into affordable housing. The West
Hartford Inn is also marked to become affordable housing.
"Fifty years ago the town had the vision and the strength and the courage to give some very valuable land for the most important reason — for people to live in safety and in dignity," Cantor said. "The potential for this to be a market rate development and to do something else was real for a period of time. The recommitment of the partners is to make sure this place ... remains a high-quality project."
New Haven gets $7.5 million to improve Grand Avenue
NEW HAVEN, Conn. (WTNH) — Some big changes are coming to
Grand Avenue in New Haven.
On Tuesday, city and state leaders announced millions in
grants and investments will go toward two major revitalization projects aimed
at improving Grand Avenue.
More than $7.5 million will improve a 1.5-mile stretch of
Grand Avenue in the Fair Haven, Mill River and Wooster Square neighborhoods.
“The community for many years has been crying for some
improvements in Fair Haven, and now is the opportunity. We’re going to make our
streets safer and this improvement couldn’t have been done without everyone
involved,” State Rep. Juan Candelaria (D-District 95).
The first phase of the revitalization project will focus on
roadway enhancements: including repaving and traffic calming improvements along
the busy and dangerous stretch of road.
“The moment I step out of my school, I see a lot of
commotion involving the cars speeding or while crossing the street. It can
sometimes be dangerous with kids crossing the road in the morning, said Fair
Haven School eighth grader Nathalia Marcano Gutierrez.
Grand Avenue has one of the highest crash fatality rates in
the city.
“It’s important to make these investments while having the
kids in mind and think about their future, “Marcano Gutierrez said.
The second phase of the project will include streetscape
improvements: sidewalk upgrades, new signage, lighting, trees and planters.
“The third phase is this new public plaza that we’re going
to be built at the corner of Grand Avenue and Poplar, which is currently a
parking lot,” New Mayor Justin Elicker said.
The improvements are meant to enliven and activate the
corridor. The project is expected to take 3 years to complete.
The City of New Haven also announced that the vacant Strong
School site will be turned into 58 new affordable housing units. The full
statement can be found below.
“New Haven will officially formalize the Development and
Land Use Agreement (DLDA) with Pennrose LLC and the Cloud Company, the
development partners that will convert and expand the historic and long-vacant
Strong School, located at 69 Grand Avenue, into 58 new affordable housing units
and a community art space, all within an LGBTQ-friendly environment. The $27
million project will begin in late 2024 and construction will take 18 – 24
months to complete.”
The plans for Grand Avenue may also be viewed here.
Church Street South Futures Floated
LAURA GLESBY
A plan to rebuild at the site of the old Church Street South
apartments will bring a new start not only for the neighbors still living
in the Hill, but also for the people who lived there until hazardous conditions
forced them out.
After Church Street South residents were forced to leave
their homes when the apartment complex was condemned, they secured an agreement
from the then-landlord that they could someday move back to redeveloped
apartments at that address.
At a public meeting on Monday evening that drew sixty
people from the Hill and beyond to High School in the Community, the property’s
new owner, Elm City Communities/Housing Authority of New Haven, assured
attendees that that promise to former residents still stands.
ECC leaders also announced that it will demolish and
redevelop the adjacent 93-unit Robert T. Wolfe building, which is still
operating as public housing for elderly and disabled tenants. Tenants in those
apartments, too, are guaranteed housing in the to-be-developed apartments.
On Nov. 13, Elm City Communities (also known as ECC,
the Housing Authority of New Haven and its nonprofit affiliates) spent $21
million purchasing the 8.27-acre property from the Massachusetts-based
Northland Investment Corp., the landlord
that owned the property at the time of the historic apartment
complex’s demise.
“This is a huge site, an important site, and we want to
be intentional,” said ECC Executive Vice President
Shenae Draughn.
The now-demolished private
affordable housing complex once comprised 301 apartments, which housed
generations of New Haveners. Church Street South often made the news for its
reputation as a site of drugs and violence, and eventually for the
long-brewing mold and structural problems that gave numerous residents chronic
asthma. But to many former Church Street South residents, the
apartments were a site of strong friendships and community networks, of
matchbox car races, hide-and-seek games, double-dutch teams, and block parties
at the height of hip hop’s rise.
When local and federal government agencies declared the
apartments uninhabitable in 2015, the residents were forced to relocate, their
community dispersed. Eventually, more
than a thousand former tenants sued the landlord, Northland Investment
Corporation, and received an $18.75 million settlement.
Though Northland initially sought to redevelop the site into
1,000 new apartments, with 300 set aside at affordable rents, its plans stalled
for years, leaving the property’s future in limbo until Elm City Communities
purchased it this month.
Monday’s meeting marked the first of many planned public
conversations over the course of the next year about what the vacant expanse
across from Union Station could potentially become. That planning process is
supported by a $500,000 federal Housing and Urban Development (HUD) department
Choice Neighborhood Implementation planning grant. The agency plans to submit
the outcome of many planning sessions and community conversations about Church
Street South to HUD in November 2024 to try to secure more funds to
actually build on the site.
Former Hill Alder Dolores Colon, who worked with Church Street South residents to advocate for better conditions while she was in office, questioned the amount of money that the Housing Authority paid to Northland. “The price is $21 million,” she said. “How was that price determined? Was this an opportunity [for Northland] to recoup losses from the lawsuit?”
Draughn replied that the $21 million figure arose from
a variety of factors. If, for example, ECC were to build 1,000
units on the site, that purchase price would be divided into about $21,000 per
unit. “That is money we can make up,” Draughn said.
“This is a prime piece of property,” she
added — especially given its proximity to Union Station just across
the street.
And finally, “if there was an outside developer that
came in, you may not see a lot of affordable housing.” ECC’s purchase
of the property ensures that much of the housing units there remain accessible
to residents making lower incomes, she argued.
ECC leadership informed meeting attendees that they
plan to work alongside the city’s Hill-to-Downtown vision of a more
walkable, “transit-oriented” accessible route between between Union
Station and its adjacent neighborhoods.
For now, Elm City Communities has few constraints or
specific plans in mind for the development, which it plans to rename “Union
Square.” The only certain thing is that the site will include ample housing
units for low and very-low income tenants alongside market-rate units.
“We are dreaming this together,” said ECC President
Karen DuBois-Walton. She prompted the room to offer suggestions for the
site. “If you are a little [kid], what would you hope that community
has?” And for people who work every day, who are aging, who live with a
disability? “I wish I had that in my neighborhood — what’s on
that list?”
“Exercise rooms!” called out Leticia Counsel, whose mom
lives in Robert T. Wolfe. Counsel said she’s observed flooding in the backyard;
when she raised this problem at the meeting, DuBois-Walton said that the
Housing Authority will still invest in maintenance repairs at Robert T. Wolfe
up until its demolition, and that the new buildings will be constructed with
attention to rising sea levels.
“Trader Joes!” whispered Carmen Rodriguez, who represents
the ward including “Union Square” on the Board of Alders, to the others
at her table.
She later raised her hand. “We have previously heard
there was gonna be commercial space on the bottom,” she said. She suggested
that some space be allotted for young people living in the building to use for
businesses. For instance, “If they wanted to start a cafe. Then,
they’re building wealth.”
“Will residents have a chance to own?” asked Davante Mallard, a developer who grew up in the Hill.
“We are looking at that,” replied Draughn.
“I’m big on the ownership piece,” Mallard said later. In
a largely Black and Brown neighborhood affected by redlining
and predatory lending over the last century, having homeownership
opportunities would “give our community a jump start in building
that wealth.”
“Don’t forget the elderly,” piped up Thomasine Shaw. “I
want to see them there.”
Throughout the meeting, attendees continued to raise
questions about who would have the chance to actually live in the
new buildings.
Andrew Giering urged Elm City Communities to provide housing
for former Church Street South residents who lived there within as broad a span
of time as possible, and “not just the folks who stuck to the
bitter end.”
“Is their priority for New Haven residents?” asked Georgia
James. She particularly had in mind people who have been on ECC’s housing
waitlist, which as of October was about 30,000 households long and isn’t just
limited to New Haven residents.
“Anything we build that’s affordable, we go to the wait list
we already have,” responded DuBois-Walton.
James later said she asked the question because she knows
a family who’s been on that waitlist for 5 years.