Meriden Housing authority replaces $192 million bond authorization with $225 million deal
MERIDEN — The
Meriden Housing Authority will replace a 2022 bond sale valued at $192
million with a new proposal for up to $225 million.
Executive Director Robert Cappelletti said the latest bond
sale authorization replaced the $192 million authorization approved in 2022. In
that instance, shortly after gaining board approval for the bond sale, Maynard
Road secured a $16.2 million loan from Titan Capital for preconstruction
costs, with the MHA signing as the loan guarantor.
After several defaults for non-payment, Titan Capital filed
suit against Maynard Road and the Meriden Housing Authority in late 2023
to recover the funds. In February, a New
Haven Superior Court judge granted a $6 million prejudgment remedy against
the agencies, bringing the total owed to $22 million. He also granted a request
that both agencies disclose their assets.
This month, Maynard Road Corp. proposed the $225,000
agreement to the MHA for assistance financing the cost of developing 100
units of rental housing in two buildings and commercial retail space at 143 W.
Main Street. The commercial space includes a black box music theater.
In addition, Maynard Road hopes to generate financing
to build a community center and power generation plant at Yale Acres. The
project descriptions are identical to the earlier bond authorization.
Maynard Road is the development arm of the Meriden Housing
Authority and shares identical board members including two employees of the
agencies.
According to the resolution approved this month, the bonds
are special obligation payable only from the revenues and assets of the
project, and are not the obligation of the city, the state or any other
political subdivisions. The resolution gives Cappelletti authority to use
"reasonable efforts to issue the bonds to provide the financial assistance
required for the project," the resolution stated.
Earlier this week, the Meriden Housing Authority Board of
Commissions also approved a loan authorization for an undetermined amount to
allow Maynard Road to begin constructing the projects.
Cappelletti said the project is eligible for carbon
emissions reduction tax credits for its use of geo-thermal and passive solar
technology. The tax credits are expected to shave a considerable amount off the
undetermined construction loan, he said.
After failing to disclose their assets, Titan Capital issued
subpoenas in June to depose members of the board of the Meriden Housing
Authority and the Groton Housing Authority. The Groton Housing Authority has a
shared work agreement with the MHA including the executive director. Lawyers
for Titan noted that several loan payments were made from Groton's account,
according to Shelton attorney Charles Willinger.
Titan's attorneys have said they are seeking information and
documents on how the funds were spent. The U.S. Department of Housing and
Urban Development is also conducting an audit on the loan.
Lawyers for both housing authorities fought the subpoenas
claiming housing authority commissioners are "high-level government
officials" and the action is nothing more than a "fishing
expedition" into the business of both housing authorities.
A judge has yet to rule on whether the subpoenas will be
enforced or schedule a hearing on the matter.
Willinger said this week he had not heard about a new bond
reauthorization or a new loan.
"We are waiting for the court to schedule (a
hearing)," Willinger stated in an email. "We are in the dark
regarding bond financing, hope it is real and imminent."
As Ridgefield plans $75M station, police and fire say headquarters are outdated, 'bursting' at seams
RIDGEFIELD — On a recent weekday morning, the inside of
the Ridgefield
Fire Department garage at 6 Catoonah St. resembled a multi-ring
circus.
On the left side, men are exercising in the fitness section;
in the center, fire trucks are pulling in and out. In other corners of the
station are laundry, clothing and storage areas — and in the middle of it all,
firefighters are taking part in a training session.
“This is our exercise room. It should be separate from the
garage,” said Assistant Fire Chief Mickey Grasso on a tour of the police
and fire facilities.
Not only are firefighters at risk for being hit by trucks
pulling in and out, they are breathing in exhaust, he said.
The cramped quarters are among the reasons local officials
say Ridgefield needs
a new headquarters for its fire and police departments. Like the fire
department, police are running
out of room and are in serious need of a new home, said Ridgefield Police
Chief Jeff Kreitz said.
The town has proposed constructing a $75 million
headquarters for both departments on a town-owned property that was once home
to an international oil company. The new public safety administration
headquarters would be 70,000 square feet — nearly double the square footage of
each of the current fire and police stations.
Existing police and fire buildings are unable to accommodate
modern technology efficiently, while their outdated utilities and building
structures cause safety hazards, Grasso and Kreitz said. And the need for
constant repairs and the maintenance to keep these old buildings operating can
become a significant cost to the town, officials have said.
Ridgefield’s police station, at 76 East Ridge Road, is
inside a house that was built in the 1890s. Police moved in, in 1976,
from the basement of Ridgefield’s Town Hall. The building was previously a
residence that housed State Police Troop A, Kreitz said.
“Things have changed since 1976 — the way we police,
the equipment we have, the equipment we carry. We’re bursting at the seams with
storage throughout the building,” Kreitz said.
Most rooms inside both facilities are filled to capacity.
Both lack sufficient storage and training space and have frequent water damage
from flooding, which has caused large and unsightly stains on the ceilings,
floors and walls.
Schlumberger site
Town leaders considered expanding at the stations'
current locations or building elsewhere, exploring many
sites throughout town. The best
location to encompass the needs of both departments, they say, is the Schlumberger-Doll
Research Center site, a wooded area at 36 Old Quarry Road. The site
has plenty of parking and fewer traffic impacts compared to the current fire
headquarters, First Selectperson Rudy Marconi said.
According to Ridgefield historian Jack Sanders, the
Schlumberger site on Sunset Lane and Old Quarry Road operated from 1949
until it moved to Cambridge, Mass., in 2006. The center, part of a French-owned
international company, did research into techniques for locating oil deposits
deep under the earth’s surface.
Residents are expected to vote on the project this year or
next. The first of additional public hearings will likely be held in the fall
or winter, in addition to more tours and information sessions, officials
said.
The town would bond the expense of the new facility over 20
or 25 years. Through revisions and modifications to the plans, the town has
already reduced the cost of construction by $9 million. The town will apply for
federal, state and private grants to offset the cost.
Three years ago, Ridgefield’s town leaders began looking at
sites and doing extensive property searches for a new facility. The town hired Kaestle Boos Associates, Inc.
in New Britain, as the architects for the project and conducted a feasibility
study.
“We looked at what our needs were,” said Jake Muller, the
town's director of Public Works & Facilities.
Other sites town leaders looked at for building a new
facility include 63 Copps Hill Road, Diniz
Field at 101 Prospect Ridge, the Ridgefield Recreation
Center and Veterans Park
Elementary School. None of those sites were selected for reasons including
there isn't enough land for a combined facility, the area is limited by
wetlands setbacks, and it would require relocating heavily-used soccer fields,
a public park and an elementary school, Marconi said.
Flooding and other deficiencies
Ridgefield’s fire station was built in 1909 and while it has
undergone several expansions, it no longer meets the needs of the
community, Ridgefield Fire Chief Jerry Myers has said.
All fire trucks have to be custom ordered, Marconi
said, since they can’t exceed a certain height. “We’re restricted on the
height of a vehicle that we can get into the garage,” Marconi said while at the
station. When the 10-foot, 4-inch garage was built, fire trucks were smaller,
he said.
Marconi said the fire department's call volume keeps
increasing. “We used to be one ambulance with a backup. Then we went to two
ambulances with a third backup. Now we’re looking at three full-time ambulances
with a backup," he said. There are 38 career firefighters, one civilian
employee, and 50 trained volunteer firefighters.
Both fire and police stations are not compliant with
the Americans with Disabilities Act.
“There is no elevator, no lifts — nothing,” Marconi said.
Whenever there’s heavy rain or when snow melts, there’s
flooding in both buildings. Stained walls and ceilings and peeling paint were
noticeable upon touring both facilities.
Each time there’s flooding, Kreitz said the police
department calls a restoration company. He said about a year and a half ago,
due to heavy rain, water started leaking in through the floor and wall. “It
damaged a bunch of the firearms, damaged the walls so we had to get full
replacement of walls and an insurance claim on the damaged
firearms,” Kreitz said.
In the police building, many officers share one office room,
and there isn't an extra locker to spare. “We have the exact number of officers
that there are lockers. So we’re outgrowing the building,” Kreitz said.
“When moved in here, there was 19 or 20 officers. Now we have 44 sworn.”
Research Parkway in Meriden, Wallingford isn't dead. It's just in transition, officials say.
No one will ever mistake Connecticut's Research Parkway,
which runs between Wallingford and Meriden, for the
Route 128 beltway around Boston, dubbed "America's Technology
Highway" in 1982 because of the number of cutting edge businesses located
there.
But that's not to say that the Research Parkway corridor
isn't as important to the two New Haven County communities as Route 128 is to
Massachusetts. Several blue chip companies have located on the Parkway over the
years or still have a presence along the three-and-half mile corridor that runs
parallel to Interstate
91 between the Exit 15 in Wallingford and
the Meriden interchange
that includes East Main Street in the city and Interstate 691.
Pharmaceutical giant Bristol Myers Squibb operated a sprawling research facility on Research Parkway in Wallingford for decades before the facility closed in 2018 and the building torn down a year later. The property now sits dormant, though town officials approved a plan for a 440,000 square foot warehouse and 10,000 square foot office space more than 18 months ago.
Protein Sciences, which makes vaccines, had a similarly long run in the corridor first as an independent company, then as part of French-pharmaceutical giant Sanofi. But Sanofi announced in early July it had shifted the company's laboratories on Research Parkway in Meriden to a much larger facility in eastern Pennsylvania.
The
company that owns clothing and shoe retailer Bob's Stores and Eastern Mountain
Sports is also pulling out of the corridor, where it had a combination
headquarters and distribution facility in Meriden.
But none of this indicates the Research Parkway's best days
are behind it, say economic development officials in Wallingford and Meriden.
Rather, the corridor is going through a transition.
What's come and what's gone
Meriden Economic Development Director Joseph Feest
said while several
high profile businesses have left
the Research Parkway corridor, "the city doesn't have a great many
unoccupied buildings there."
"We have the Bob's Stores headquarters that opened up
just recently and we have the Protein Sciences buildings" that have left,
Feest admitted, adding: "The rest of our buildings out there are
pretty much full up."
One of the most prominent businesses that still sits along
Research Parkway is Minnesota-based conglomerate 3M. The company has a facility
at 400 Research Parkway in the corridor that is part of 3M's Separation and
Purification Sciences division.
Further south on the Research Parkway in Wallingford, global
online retailer Amazon has a pair of warehouses. There are also lesser
known, but no less important technology driven companies in Wallingford's
portion of the corridor, including Nel
Hydrogen. That Norwegian company which makes equipment for hydrogen
fueling stations is located in the corridor, as is APS Technology, makers of drilling equipment
for the oil and natural gas industries.
A major boost for the Research Parkway corridor is also
expected when Connecticut's two largest hospital groups, Yale New Haven Health
and Hartford HealthCare, break ground this fall on a proton therapy center.
Experts say the joint venture could result in more medical technology
businesses moving into the corridor as a result. Construction
of the $70 million facility had been scheduled to start in the spring,
but is now expected to begin in the fall, Yale New Haven Health officials say.
Feest acknowledged that in recent years, the make-up of the
businesses located in the corridor has shifted from office space and
technology-driven businesses to distribution companies. In addition to the two
Amazon warehouses, Connecticut Foodshare,
the organization that supplies local food pantries, has its headquarters and
warehouse at 2 Research Parkway in Wallingford.
He said the Research Parkway corridor "has always been
a bright spot for economic development for" Meriden.
"We have several large companies that are doing well up
there," Feest said. "And it's one of the largest tracts of
developable land we have in the city."
In addition to 3M, he mentioned Mirion Technolgies, a
company that produces health care diagnostic safety equipment, and instruments
to measure and analyze radiation. Feest added the Research Parkway
corridor is also home to Lyons Tool & Die, which makes components for a
variety of industries.
Zoning is key
One challenge for both communities in terms of attracting
businesses to the corridor is the presence of wetlands. Willow Brook feeds
Bishops Pond, which straddles both sides of Research Parkway in Meriden.
Muddy River and its watershed flow through the corridor as well in Wallingford.
Wallingford had initially zoned the area along Research
Parkway with a focus on office space. But Joseph Mira, chairman of the town's
economic commission, said its since been rezoned for broader commercial use
that includes a separate zone to protect the Muddy River
Even with the zone changes along Research Parkway, Mira
said development along the business corridor "has been pretty
active."
Feest said he "remains very optimistic" the
vacancies left by the departures of Bob's Stores and Protein Sciences will be
filled soon.
John Boyd, whose Florida-based company evaluates locations
for corporations, said business clustering along corridors is "a critical
concept in economic development."
"Everybody wants a tech hub, but you have to look at
what financial incentives are available and what has been done to make a
community more attractive to companies," Boyd said. "It's a tricky
juggling act."
Because of Connecticut's highly educated workforce and the
involvement of major health care providers moving in, Boyd said the area is
ripe to attract medical technology businesses, "which are high paying,
even though they are less labor intensive."
Wallingford and Meriden can make the corridor more
attractive to new medical tech businesses by ensuring the area has a
significant "inventory of shovel ready sites available" around the
soon-to-be-built Proton Therapy Center, Boyd said.
"With a little bit of support from state and local
government, you could be able to leverage that into a real turnaround
there," he added.
But David Cadden, professor emeritus at Quinnipiac
University's School of Business, said replicating the success of business
clusters seen in other parts of the country has proven elusive.
"Ever since the
creation of Silicon Valley, everyone has been looking for that special
sauce," Cadden said. "How do you create it and once you've created
it, how do you keep it in place."
For starters, he said, any area looking to create a business
cluster or corridor "needs a heavyweight research institution
nearby."
Yale
and the University of Connecticut can provide some of that, Cadden said.
"But that may not be enough of a critical mass."
To make the Research Parkway more attractive to corporate
tenants, Feest said Meriden officials have a project on Research Parkway
that would widen an existing walking trail between the city and Wallingford and
would include a place for food trucks to congregate.
"We are always looking at different ways to utilize our
planning and zoning as well as what trends are there in the marketplace in
terms of businesses coming in and what they might be looking
for," Feest said of Meriden officials. "We are always looking at
(zoning) areas in the city to see if they need to be adjusted."
Norwalk installs ADA ramps ahead of repaving on Fillow St. Here are other roads set for paving
NORWALK — The Norwalk Public Works Department has
installed ADA accessible ramps on Fillow Street ahead of a repaving
and sidewalk project.
“The contractor will install concrete curbing in the area of
the pedestrian ramps,” said Michelle Woods Matthews, Norwalk’s director of
communications. “The City’s Engineering Department will be working with the
construction team to ensure the installation adheres to all applicable
guidelines. Afterward, the roadway and asphalt sidewalks will be installed.”
The ramps are part of the citywide accessibility plan, which
aims to provide safe
connections for all Norwalkers. New crosswalks will also be installed
at Betmarlea Road and Fillow Street and across Fillow Street near Little Fox
Lane.
“Mayor Rilling’s vision is to create a welcoming environment
that fosters a sense of belonging, safety, and equity for all members of our
community, including those with limited mobility,” Woods Matthews said. “The
City is therefore committed to providing ADA ramps where necessary as they are
essential to those in our community with limited mobility.”
The city is also repaving Richards
Avenue from Fillow Street to West Cedar Street.
“Every year, we put together our capital program, which
includes several roadways that will be repaved,” Woods Matthews said. “The
plans for this project began last fall when we put together our FY 2024-2025
capital program.”
So far, the city has paved Muriel Street, Margaret Street,
Princeton Street, Yale Street, Rustic Lane, and Honeysuckle Drive as
of May 17.
“Our annual paving program is also important as it creates a
smooth surface for vehicles and all modes of transportation users that can make
roads safer and more enjoyable to use,” Woods Matthews said.
Currently, the city is working on installing sidewalks on
Spring Hill Avenue. The city also plans to enhance Grumman Avenue with
sidewalks and a repaving project.
Here’s a look at what is being paved in 2024 according
to the city’s road paving program map:
Spring Hill Avenue, Coolidge Street, Loomis Street, and
Leuvine Street
Cossitt Road, Chatham Drive, Shaw Avenue, Senga Road,
Morton Street, Crown Avenue, Avenue A, Avenue B, Avenue C, Avenue D, Avenue E
Cliff Street and Ridge Street
Witch Lane
Richard Avenue (north of West Cedar Street), Fireside Court,
Fillow Street (between West Norwalk Road and Fox Run Road), and Coventry Place
Rising Road, Jennifer Road, Ravenwood Road, and Tommys Lane
Daphne Drive, Mark Drive, Saddle Road, and Friendly Road
Grumman Avenue, Grumman Court, Jayne Way, Sherman
Place, Anderson Road, Heritage Hill Road, Noah’s Lane Extension, Stonecrop Road
South, Frank Street, Cranbury Road, Susan Court, Field Street
After 8-year wait, Mystic River Boathouse Park poised to become reality this fall
Carrie Czerwinski
Mystic ― After an eight year wait, residents may finally see
a long-promised waterfront park come to life in the coming months.
But there are still some financial hurdles to clear.
“Hopefully we can see shovels in the ground in late fall,”
said First Selectman Danielle Chesebrough late last week.
While preparing to send the $4.8 million Mystic River
Boathouse Park project out for bid this summer, the town is simultaneously
awaiting results of two living shoreline grant applications totaling $1.14
million dollars that could offset the town’s current project deficit of $1.18
million
The project began in 2016 after residents approved $2.2
million in bonding to purchase the 1.5-acre Greenmanville Avenue site just
north of Mystic Seaport Museum. With environmental remediation grants, the town
has funded $3.67 million of the newly estimated $4.85 million project.
Chesebrough noted that prices have risen substantially since
2016, and though the town has been proactive about seeking grant funding and
could apply $300,000 in remaining American Rescue Plan Act funding to the
project, there could still be a shortfall.
“I want to be very transparent. I just had this conversation
with the Board of Finance last week, and we might be talking more about it in
the fall,” she said, explaining that although the project was moving in a very
positive direction, and the town was seeking all avenues to avoid it, there was
still the possibility it could require additional taxpayer dollars.
Chesebrough said the bid process will start this summer and
probably take until early fall to complete, at which point work like grading
the site and removal of a shed on the property could be completed before work
pauses for the winter.
The pause would allow Stonington Community Rowing Inc. to
begin work on a two-story boathouse which will house the Jim Dietz Rowing
Center.
As part of the project, SCRI will pay to relocate the
historic Lovelace House and connect it, via a vestibule, to the future Hart
Perry Boathouse on the property before turning it over to the town at the cost
of $1.
On Friday, Secretary and Director of Rowing for SCRI, John
Thornell, said that SCRI is carefully coordinating with the town to ensure the
two simultaneous projects do not interfere with each other. He said the
boathouse could be completed as early as spring of 2025.
“We don’t want the town to finish the park and then we go in
with heavy machinery and build the boathouse, so we have to sync our
schedules,” he said.
He said after the town clears and prepares the site this
fall, SCRI will begin construction, and once complete, the town will be able to
resume work to get the park ready to open as soon as fall of 2025.
He said the organization is focused on a goal of raising
$500,000 by this fall but can start construction on the $2.5 million project
regardless.
He noted that SCRI currently has $1.6 million in donations
and estimates an additional $300,000 in unspecified dollar amount pledges which
will cover work like pouring foundations, moving the Lovelace House, and
constructing the boathouse. If necessary, parts of the project could be
postponed while SCRI raises the rest of the money.
“Even if we need to phase the rowing center project, having
a boathouse to store equipment and to train athletes is a major step toward
having our own home and, ultimately, offering rowing programs to the
community,” Thornell said.
New Sherman Street bridge in Norwich opens
Claire Bessette
Norwich ― More than two years after the busy Sherman Street
bridge closed for a $10 million replacement project, it quietly reopened Friday
after city crews removed the last barriers.
Replacement of the two bridge spans over the Yantic
River and an adjacent narrow former mill canal closed the key Sherman Street
intersection with Asylum Street, forcing long detours for residents west of the
bridge to reach Backus Hospital, Norwich Free Academy and various medical
offices and businesses east of the bridge.
The work also closed the Sherman Street entrance to the
Upper Falls Heritage Park along the Yantic River.
The project replaced the 1955 bridge spans with new wider
bridge spans. The main bridge over the river is 18 inches higher for flood
prevention, and utilities are better protected beneath the bridge, rather than
suspended from the bridge and exposed to rushing waters.
The higher bridge meant that a portion of Asylum Street
approaching the Sherman Street intersection needed to be raised 18 inches as
well to meet the new bridge height.
South Norfolk residents make their pitch for temporary bridge spanning Hall Meadow Brook
KATHRYN BOUGHTON
NORFOLK – A contingent of concerned South Norfolk citizens
met with First Selectman Matt Riiska on July 19 to urge construction of a
temporary bridge across Hall Meadow Brook.
The neighborhood has been cut off from Route 272 since a
flash flood in July 2023 swept away bridges on Smith Hill and Old Goshen roads.
Since then, the state Department of Transportation has promised to replace the
bridges at a cost of $5.8 million, but the time frame for the work could extend
into 2028, Riiska said.
Residents attending the meeting expressed frustration that
no progress had been made in a year to provide convenient access to their homes
by emergency and other services. They were adamant that their isolation is a
safety issue and that moves should be made to provide a temporary bridge to
their community. They suggested options that could provide temporary access in
two weeks for as little as $20,000.
Riiska said he has held discussions with Guerrera
Construction about how a temporary connection could be established.
“I understand how nauseatingly slow it is for the DOT to
make a decision,” he said. “I pleaded with them to stop work on Mountain Road
and to put their efforts into Smith Road, but it has fallen on deaf ears.”
He noted there is no clear-cut answer to the problem.
“Herein lies the problem: once you get within so many feet
of the stream, everyone wants you to go by their rules and regulations,” Riiska
said. “All we really need is a one-lane (span) that can handle 50,000 pounds,
but you have to get back away from the river. You can’t just put a pad in,
level it off and say good enough.”
He looked at temporary bridges in Scotland, Conn., and
received information that the town paid $440,000 for one.
“Realistically, we are looking at $125,000 to $150,000,”
Riiska said. “We have to build to specifications that satisfy the insurance
company and the DOT. Those organizations, in this day and age, are not going to
let you put in something they don’t approve. They will shut you down.”
Riiska said Thursday he understands residents’ frustration.
He looked at options last week, but added, “It’s not as simplistic as people
think it is.”
He bemoaned the bureaucracy of the DOT, saying a meeting
about Smith Hill Road the day before included 38 people. During the meeting, he
expressed concern about why it was taking so long to restore the area.
Meanwhile, Riiska said he is seeking quotes for a temporary
bridge and will meet with the residents again Friday.