Bridgeport needs $22M for Congress St. bridge replacement — 'Get this bridge done, please'
Brian Lockhart
RIDGEPORT — City officials are turning to the federal
government to help finance the long-promised reconstruction of a bridge over
the Pequonnock River linking the East Side to downtown.
The City Council's economic development committee Wednesday
approved a grant application to the U.S. Department of Transportation for $22.1
million to rebuild the Congress Street span. The city and state had previously
set aside an additional $12 million a piece for the project.
“Get this bridge done, please. Let's get it
done," Councilman Jorge Cruz, whose district includes downtown, said
before Wednesday's vote. "It's been delayed, delayed, delayed, delayed.
And it's a shame."
The drawbridge got stuck in the open position in 1997,
during Mayor Joe Ganim’s first tenure in office. He was re-elected in
2015.
In 2010 then-Mayor Bill Finch had the the old structure torn
down to eventually make way for a new one. Proponents of the replacement effort
have argued it is necessary to cut down on emergency response times between the
two neighborhoods — the fire department headquarters is located adjacent to the
downtown end of Congress Street — and to provide easier access for seniors and
disabled East Side and East End residents.
As time passed city officials determined it would be more
cost-effective to install a fixed span. But that resulted in a lengthy state
and federal permitting process, including determining whether a moveable bridge
was still necessary to accommodate boat traffic along
the Pequonnock.
In 2019 Ganim announced the state would help Bridgeport split the then-$24 million cost of a new fixed
bridge. Construction was supposed to start in 2020.
But that never happened because of several factors: the global
COVID-19 pandemic that struck Connecticut in 2020; the aforementioned
permitting process which concluded in fall 2022; and last-minute objections
from a few property owners along the river who wanted a drawbridge.
When the city finally sought construction bids last
summer, four interested contractors participated, submitting costs
double and more of what had been anticipated — $42.55 million, $48.04 million,
$56.93 million and $57.63 million.
And that resulted in the current $22.1 million grant
application, which is expected to pass the full council at its next meeting.
The members are, like Ganim, all Democrats.
The mayor's rival in this coming Tuesday's Democratic
mayoral primary, former administration employee John Gomes, has previously
sought to use the delays against the incumbent, claiming the Congress St.
bridge is a example of some of Ganim's broken promises to voters.
Other council committee members besides Cruz took the
opportunity Wednesday to express frustration over the seemingly never-ending
effort to build a new Congress Street span. Councilwoman Eneida Martinez, who
lost her East End seat in 2021 but was voted back on the legislative body
in 2023, said, "What is it going to take for the City of Bridgeport to get
it together to get this bridge done? ... We're talking years. Now we're back at
the table asking for money once again."
"It takes away from the short cut for many,"
Martinez said. "Our seniors ... that go to downtown, they have to go all
the way around to the Stratford Avenue bridge. It's ridiculous."
"I think we all know this has been one of the slowest
(projects) we've had in the city, unfortunately," said Councilman Scott
Burns.
Freshman Councilman Richard Ortiz said he would not be shocked if the city gets the federal dollars only to find the costs have again increased.
Councilman Tyler Mack, who also represents downtown, asked
what happens if Bridgeport is not awarded the $22.1 million. Staff with the
economic development department responded that they can quickly pivot to apply
for federal dollars from a different source.
One of those employees, Jonathan Delgado, added the
city "worked very hard" on the grant application.
"We feel very, very competitive," he said.
Half of former West Hartford UConn campus redevelopment gets key wetlands approval
WEST HARTFORD — Plans
for the redevelopment of the former University of Connecticut campus took
a step forward Wednesday when the town's Inland Wetlands and Watercourse Agency
gave one half of the housing and commercial project its approval.
The wetlands approval of 1700 Asylum Ave., the eastern
parcel of the property that's divided into two by Trout Brook Drive, puts
developers closer to the construction of four buildings totaling 322 apartments
on what is now an asphalt parking lot. The project still needs further
approval, including from the Town Council.
"I don't see where a significant impact to the wetlands
and the resources of the state occur," said agency member Gordon
Binkhorst, who made the motion to approve the application.
Joshua Kaplan, another agency member, said he appreciated
the applicant's detailed report, but questioned that there may be a significant
impact, citing the removal of trees.
"(The developers) presented a very thorough case,"
Kaplan said. "I very much appreciate all the efforts that they've put in
with respect to wetland mitigation, enhancement, invasive species removal. But
I do feel that there's a possibility that there is significant impact here. I
don't know that I can vote in a positive manner on this application. A modest
redesign to increase the wetland buffers ... would allow the preservation of
many of those larger diameter trees."
Ultimately, Kaplan gave the application his approval after
having a condition to preserve certain large trees on the site.
Other conditions for approval included moving a maintenance
garage further from a wetlands resource. The application was unanimously
approved.
"I really have tried to find those significant impacts
on the wetlands," said agency member Elizabeth Gillette, explaining her
yes vote. "And try as I might, they really just aren't there. I will
support this application. But it is with a heavy heart, because if nothing
else, I just think of what else it could have been. But that's not what's being
proposed. They have frankly met the burden and have worked with the town quite
cooperatively on increasing buffers."
In all, developer West Hartford 1 LLC hopes to build what's
now called Heritage Park,
a mixed-used residential and commercial property that would
include 569 units of housing split between apartments, assisted living and
townhouses. The western parcel, 1800 Asylum Ave., would also include a
grocery store, restaurant, cafe and more. Plans for that parcel were withdrawn
and will be resubmitted and considered separately from the eastern parcel at a
later date.
Before giving its approval, the agency unanimously also
denied an intervening petition filed by three West Hartford residents —
Christine Feely, Gary Schulman and Jessica Rubin — who
claimed it would be reasonably likely that the construction would harm the
site's existing wetlands.
"This was a very complicated application we looked
at," Binkhorst said. "It's a pretty high bar to unreasonably pollute
our environment. We must make our finding on substantial evidence — not on
conjecture, not on speculation and not on questions or concerns raised. It has
to be reasonably likely. There was nothing in the record ... that meets that
burden."
$8M Bartlem Park expansion project on track for possible fall opening in Cheshire
Ciara Hooks
CHESHIRE— Work continues on the Bartlem South Project —a
nearly $8 million expansion of Cheshire's Bartlem Park — and officials
anticipate it to be completed in the fall or early winter of 2024.
The master plan for the property, adopted in 2021, includes
a Great Lawn and a bandshell to be used as a community-gathering place
where concerts, movie nights and other events can be held. In addition, the
plan calls for a passive recreation picnic grove area, multiple fields,
walkways throughout, a new bathroom facility, additional parking spaces, and
expanded parking in the pool parking lot area.
“It’s a great project for the town and certainly something
everyone is really anticipating, especially the new turf field because it has
lighting," said Town Council Vice Chairman Jim Jinks. "It will be a
huge addition to our current set of fields because we don’t have any
fields right now that are lit up so it’s going to really help in terms of field
hockey, lacrosse, football and other sports. We can kind of extend the day with
the use of those turf fields being lit up.
“Everyone’s really excited about it and we’re eager to see
it come to fruition," Jinks added.
Site work and excavation for the site improvements started
in March 2023 by DeRita & Sons Construction Co., and officials are hoping
this phase of the project will be completed later this year, while
acknowledging that significant work still lies ahead.
“It all depends on the construction of the band shell and
bathroom facility,” said Town Manager Sean Kimball. “As with any project
there’s a variety of change orders and changes to the original design that are
proposed and of course the town works through all of those.”
It also heavily depends on the weather.
“If we have a longer winter that might delay things. But if
we have a shorter winter they can do a lot more work,” Kimball added. “But
certain phases of the project are pretty much complete, like the baseball field
(which) has been replaced with the multi-purpose synthetic turf field with
lights.”
The total cost of the project is $7.9 million, $2 million of
which came from American Rescue Plan Act funds, as well as a credit of $81,000
to be used for the restroom facilities and $750,000 of additional state grants.
Nonprofit Meriden housing developer moves on after completing Bristol project
Mary Ellen Godin
Years after developers, including a Meriden nonprofit,
broke ground on renovations to convert two historic schools in Bristol into
apartments, the units are finally fully leased.
Bristol officials celebrated the groundbreaking in 2017 for
what was seen as much needed housing near downtown. And while the project is
being hailed as a success, the path to opening was difficult.
Bristol Enterprises LLC, a partnership between Ted Lazarus
of the Park Lane Group and Maynard Road Corp., the private nonprofit
development arm of the Meriden Housing Authority, cobbled together $23 million
in tax credits and other state financing to complete the renovations to Bingham
and O’Connell schools on Park Street and North Street.
The two former schools today contain 98 units of market-rate
housing for seniors and are back on the tax rolls. A deal to refinance the
construction loan was expected to close out the project for the
developers.
“It’s completely leased up,” Lazurus said in an interview
late last month. “When it is refinanced, it will be even better.”
The renovations included efforts to provide natural light,
ventilation and increased fire safety. The project also incorporated Maynard
Road’s use of geothermal and solar technologies to make both buildings energy
neutral.
It was Maynard Road’s first out-of-town project, but it
wouldn’t be the last. The company is also involved in affordable housing
developments in East Lyme and Waterford.
As an extension of the Meriden Housing Authority, Maynard
Road seeks to develop market-rate and affordable housing with the goal of
ultimately bringing revenue back to Meriden.
Setbacks, lawsuit
Some of the setbacks in Bristol were caused by standards set
by the Connecticut Trust for Historic Preservation, according to the
developers. There was also a fire at the site early on in the project, Lazarus
said. The pandemic created supply shortages on materials and equipment and new
regulations sparked even more delays, he added.
There were financing issues and delayed loan closures, as
well, which led to a $1.2 million lawsuit from Leasing Innovations LLC claiming
failure to pay for equipment, court documents show. On Dec. 7, the court
granted a default judgment against the Meriden Housing Authority, according to
the state Judicial Branch website.
MHA Board of Commissioners Chairman Neil Ivers said in an
interview last month that the housing authority is contesting some of Leasing
Innovations' claims and he was unaware of the default judgment
"What Leasing Innovations is alleging, we don't agree
with," Ivers said. "We're not in default of any payment. We're paying
our bills and I'm happy where we are.”
An email chain between a technology subcontractor, Maynard
Road Secretary Robert Cappelletti and Lazurus over the course of two years
reflects a dispute over payments for work on the project.
Christopher Haley, a co-owner of Massachusetts-based
Intellibeam, provided the emails and invoices to the Record-Journal.
Loan closings were promised and postponed, and Cappelletti,
who is also executive director of the Meriden Housing Authority, paid a $7,658
equipment invoice with the Housing Authority’s credit card, the emails show. An
administrator for the housing authority later asked Haley for a copy of the
receipt, Haley told the Record-Journal.
Haley says he reached out individually to MHA board members
over the credit card use and the nonpayment but received no response.
Cappelletti could not be reached for comment.
Shoreline projects
Cappelletti is also the director of the Groton Housing
Authority and has been able to secure work for Maynard Road in the southeastern
part of the state.
Teaming up with Georgia-based affordable housing developer
Harold Foley, Maynard Road managed construction on a $20 million affordable
housing project on 16 acres in Niantic, The
Day of New London reported.
In Waterford, Maynard Road is working on Brookside Commons,
a mixed-income development.
One of the two buildings at Brookside Commons has a
certificate of occupancy, and another is expected soon, Cappelletti told
Maynard Road board members at their December meeting.
The two affordable housing projects near the shoreline were
financed with the help of Low Income Housing Tax Credits and are similar to
other projects Maynard Road has worked on in Meriden.
Meriden Commons I and II on State Street have 76
mixed-income units, and 66 units at 24 Colony St. are primarily low-income.
Other affordable housing projects in Meriden include 11 Crown St., the
former site of the Record-Journal, where the tax credits from the Meriden
Housing Authority’s voucher program were used to fill a financing gap for the
developer.
Seeking opportunity
Maynard Road’s activity comes as the MHA addresses
deficiencies found in a 2022 audit, which resulted in the agency being
designated as a “troubled” housing authority by the U.S. Department of Housing
and Urban Development. Part of its recovery plan involves outsourcing its
Section 8 program in Meriden to a private company, which is ongoing.
Maynard Road, meanwhile, continues to seek opportunities,
including proposals for a black box theater on West Main Street in Meriden and
a power generation plant and community center at Yale Acres, a housing complex
located just off Broad Street in Meriden. The MHA and Maynard Road completed
renovations to Yale Acres in 2020 converting 162 units of 1950s-era public
housing to modern mixed-income housing utilizing net zero energy.
Maynard Road hopes the Bristol project provides a model for
future success.
“For us, the conversion of those former schools to
apartments has been a great project,” said Bristol Director of Economic and
Community Development Justin Malley. “One of our goals is to increase the
numbers of apartments near our downtown. The buildings didn’t have much use for
us as schools, but their conversion as apartments was a 180.”
Fairfield Fights Transmission Lines, Splits Over Messaging
Sophia Muce
FAIRFIELD — Local Republicans took aim at the tactics used
by recently-elected First Selectman Bill Gerber, a Democrat, to fight a plan by
United Illuminating to string transmission lines through private property off
the existing Metro-North right of way through Bridgeport and Fairfield.
In a Jan.
12 email to Fairfield residents, Gerber told residents that the
company’s standard easement form would give United Illuminating the right to
install equipment, fill, excavate and clear the land of any structures at any
time– claims that Republicans are not disputing.
But accompanying the email was a rendering produced
by Sasco Creek Neighbors Environmental Trust Inc., a group opposing the
project, that appears to show a 324-year-old house on Pequot Avenue missing
significant portion of its structure.
The rendering was captioned, “The existing Southport property after the
proposed seizure of property.”
On Wednesday, former Republican RTM chair Pamela Iacono, who
opposes the UI plan, nevertheless urged Gerber to retract the image, calling it
“misleading.”
“Unfortunately, it has come to my attention that this image
is, in fact, misleading and does not accurately represent the situation,”
Iacono wrote. “Using town resources to disseminate inaccurate information is a
serious concern that undermines the trust we place in our local government, and
in this instance may very well harm our fight against the monopole project
proposal.”
Iacono said she had contacted a United Illuminating
employee, who told her the simulation was not accurate and that the company
would not demolish properties.
But on Thursday, Gerber stood by his use of the image, and
questioned Iacono’s intentions.
“It’s really odd of her to be trying to undermine the town
on this issue by talking to a company that has not been forthcoming,” said
Gerber.
Gerber said that United Illuminating had tried to discredit
the rendering during Siting Council hearings, and he was disappointed that
Iacono would do same.
“If you’re going to ask UI something that might hurt their
ability to do this, they’re going to give you an answer that is going to be
disingenuous — to the point that they can be,” he said.
Asked about the imagery on Thursday, Andrea Ozyck,
co-founder of Sasco Creek Neighbors Environmental Trust, told CT Examiner that
architect David Parker had used professional modeling tools to create an image
that would show the degree of encroachment possible under the proposed
easements.
“Some of [the easements] extend into the home,” said Ozyck.
“It certainly was not meant to imply that UI intends to physically remove a
portion of someone’s home. That doesn’t really make a lot of sense. It’s pretty
obvious that you can’t leave the back of someone’s house open.”
Ozyck said the intent was not to suggest that the utility
would demolish half of a house, but that company could technically remove
structures within its easements.
Responding to Iacono’s email, Ozyck said she was shocked by
the former official’s “insensitivity,” as many residents and business owners
are concerned about looming impacts to their property values.
“It’s sad that we have people in our own town who are
minimizing the concerns of these homeowners who are affected by this,” Ozyck
said. “And it’s sad that we’re working against each other on something that
really is meant for the best interest of our town.”
At a meeting of the Board of Selectmen on Wednesday,
Republican Brenda Kupchick further questioned the professionalism of the town’s
new communications director – a new position created by Gerber.
“I know there was some concern about some of the
communication coming from your communications person that may not be completely
accurate. So, I think that we should definitely let professionals be
communicating on something of this level,” Kupchick said.
Gerber responded, calling the criticism “unfounded,” adding
that his newsletter had been reviewed by legal staff before it was emailed to
town residents.
After the meeting, Iacono reiterated that the image was
misleading. She said the town had plenty of “disturbing facts” that could have
been included in the email, but instead chose sensationalism.
She also took aim at the new communications hire and the
legal review.
“His comments also raise critical questions about the
endorsement of the ‘very good lawyer’ he says reviewed the newsletter. The
administration’s employment of a ‘professional’ communications director loses
its purpose when town communications can’t be trusted as factual,” Iacono said.
“Mr. Gerber needs to ensure accurate information is disseminated to residents
of our town to maintain credibility in our collective and worthy fight against
UI’s disastrous monopole project.”
Local officials and residents from both political parties
have largely come
together to oppose the planned $225 million transmission line project,
which would require 19.25 acres of easements, 7 acres of clearing, and the
installation of 102 new monopoles.
UI is awaiting a decision by the Connecticut Siting Council
determining whether the project can continue.
Asked about the email and imagery, United Illuminating
spokesperson Sarah Wall Fliotsos called the email and imagery “misleading” and
“inaccurate.”
She also tried to assure local residents that the company would make every
effort to accommodate property owner concerns.