Hartford, CT – Today, Rep. John B. Larson (CT-01) and Senators
Richard Blumenthal and Chris Murphy announced a new federal
determination they negotiated with the General Services Administration (GSA) to
require a Project Labor Agreement (PLA) for the upcoming $345 million
courthouse construction project in Hartford. This new determination will secure
hundreds of good-paying, union construction jobs for the new U.S. District
Courthouse on Allyn Street.
“Our delegation has worked together for many years to secure
the funding needed to build a new courthouse in Hartford and press the GSA to
oversee a bidding process that does right by our workers,” said Larson. “We
brought together a broad coalition to secure this determination, including the
Building Trades and local leaders like Mayor Arunan Arulampalam, who understand
the importance of good-paying union jobs in our community. As Big Business and
their allies continue to try to cut labor out of the process, we will keep
fighting to make sure no one can deny Connecticut workers the pay and benefits
they deserve. I will always stand with our hard-working men and women in
construction, and will continue to work with our federal, state, and local
partners to see this project through.”
“This agreement will ensure high quality craftsmanship and
good wages for skilled workers as they build Hartford’s much needed new
courthouse,” said Blumenthal. “Project Labor Agreements are a
win-win, ensuring that workers are fairly compensated, and projects are cost
effective and completed on time. Our delegation strongly encouraged this
agreement and advocated for the project’s funding, and I am thrilled it is
moving forward.”
“Building a new courthouse is a massive project that will
create hundreds of jobs in Hartford. This decision is a huge win for workers
and I’m grateful to my colleagues for their partnership in making sure these
workers are paid livable wages and working on sites that are safe,” said
Murphy.
Today’s announcement came after Larson, Blumenthal, and
Murphy secured $345 million in federal funding to support the new courthouse’s
construction. Following the lawmakers’ recent letter urging the requirement of a PLA for the
project, GSA officials issued a determination that a PLA would be in the
public’s interest, citing Larson, Blumenthal, and Murphy’s advocacy as a
key reason for the new policy.
“Project Labor Agreements not only mean better-paying jobs
for our members here in Hartford, but also a safer worksite, better building
materials, and in this case, a more modern and reliable courthouse for our
community. They are an essential part of any significant construction
project,” said Hartford Building Trades President Mike Grabowski. “The
hard-working men and women of the Building Trades are grateful to Congressman
Larson and Senators Blumenthal and Murphy, who worked tirelessly across
multiple administrations to bring this $345 million project to Hartford and
secure this landmark determination from the federal government for the workers
we represent.”
View Larson, Blumenthal, and Murphy’s full letter to
GSA HERE.
Read the full determination from GSA requiring PLAs to be
part of the bidding process for the courthouse project HERE.
$7.3M solar farm plan for CT forest land denied. Environmental impact cited in ruling.
The Connecticut
Siting Council has rejected a Lodestar Energy application that
would have brought a solar farm to Torrington.
The application was for the construction, maintenance, and
operation of a 3.0-megawatt-AC solar photovoltaic electric generating facility
and associated equipment on 13 parcels located south of West Hill Road in
Torrington.
The Connecticut Siting Council found that the effects
associated with the construction of the 3.0-megawatt-AC solar photovoltaic
electric generating facility were a reason for the proposal’s denial.
The council cited effects on “the natural environment,
ecological balance, public health and safety, scenic, historic, and
recreational values, agriculture, forests and parks, air and water purity,
fish, aquaculture and wildlife are disproportionate either alone or
cumulatively with other effects compared to need, are in conflict with the
policies of the State concerning such effects, and are sufficient reason to
deny the application,” the decision says.
West Hartford-based
Lodestar Energy, also known as LSE Serpens LLC, formally applied for
this solar farm, with the goal of generating renewable electrical energy from
solar power, generating renewable electrical energy from solar power on March
13, 2025.
Prior to that, Lodestar began consulting with officials of
the city of Torrington and the town of New Hartford in Oct. 2024. In Nov. 2024,
Lodestar met with the mayor, city planner and deputy public works director/city
engineer, records show. New Hartford is located within 2,500 feet of the
proposed facility site.
During a June 2025 evidentiary hearing, the city of
Torrington submitted an objection to the application as defective for lack of
notice, records show. The city claimed “Lodestar’s failure to comply with new
requirements that became effective on October 1, 2024, for an applicant to make
“good faith efforts to meet with the… legislative body of the municipality and
each member of the legislature in whose assembly or senate district the
facility… is to be located… and shall provide.. any technical reports concerning
the public need, the site selection process and the environmental effects of
the proposed facility,” according to a Connecticut
Siting Council report from last month.
On July 25, 2025, the Connecticut Siting Council denied
Torrington’s objection in part. However, the council voted to keep Lodestar’s
application open and gave the company until Sept. 22, 2025 to submit
“additional municipal and legislative consultation materials.” Lodestar
submitted a certified letter to municipal and state legislative officials on
Aug. 5.
The Connecticut Siting Council under the Public Utility
Environmental Standards Act balances “the need for adequate and
reliable public utility services at the lowest reasonable cost to consumers
with the need to protect the environment and ecology of the state and to
minimize damage to scenic, historic, and recreational values,” according to the
council.
The proposed facility was to “contribute to the state’s
efforts to promote the deployment of clean renewable energy sources,” according
to records.
Under the proposal, Lodestar affiliate Colony Honey, LLC was
to purchase the property and lease the site to Lodestar.
The estimated construction cost of the facility was
approximately $7,294,000, records show.
The proposed solar facility was targeted for “an approximate
19.2-acre site located on host property comprised of 13 contiguous parcels
totaling approximately 41 acres located south of West Hill Road, Torrington.
The host parcels, owned by James Bobinski and Maura Steele, are zoned
Residential Water Shed Protection Zone,” according to a Connecticut Siting
Council report.
The host property was to be south of West Hill Road and had
116 feet of frontage along West Hill Road with the majority of the property
being undeveloped forest with the exception of the Tennessee Gas Pipeline Co.
and that “an approximate 2.37-acre forested wetland occupies the southwestern
portion of the host parcel.”
In July, Connecticut Siting Council extended its final
decision to March 8, 2026, and submitted it about a month before that deadline.
Then Torrington Mayor Elinor Carbone and then City
Councilwoman Molly
Spino (now mayor) submitted letters dated Sept. 30, 2025, that both
“expressed opposition to the proposed facility due to concerns about traffic
safety; proximity of 352 and 340 West Hill Road properties to the proposed
access drive; and potential loss of tax revenue.”
Lodestar responded that the proposed facility would have
provided “direct tax benefits associated with the payment of real and personal
property taxes,” according to the Connecticut Siting Council report.
There were also neighborhood concerns during a public
comment session of a Connecticut Siting Council meeting, records show. Six
members of the public spoke and 12 written statements from the public as well.
Some of the concerns raised by the public included
visibility, noise, water quality, air quality, forest, electric and magnetic
fields (EMF), agricultural activities, cultural resources, wildlife, and public
safety, according to a Connecticut Siting Council report.
Following the raised neighborhood concerns, Lodestar said it
would “utilize landscape plantings near the proposed northern portions of the
array area and utility poles as well as fence screening material.”
Among the benefits Lodestar cited in the Sitting Council
report is that “solar facilities generate the most electricity during daylight
hours which often coincides with periods of high energy use such as during the
summer when air conditioning use increases. This overlap would help to ease
pressure on the grid during peak times and thus lower the risk of overloads or
outages,” according to a Connecticut Siting Council report.
The proposed facility would have consisted of approximately
7,686 photovoltaic panels rated at 540 Watts each. The panels were to be
arranged in linear rows in an east-west direction, separated by approximately
17-foot-wide vegetated aisles.”
The nearest property line and residence to the solar
facility perimeter was approximately 71 and 190 feet, respectively, to the
northwest at 270 West Hill Road,” according to the Connecticut Siting Council
report.
The proposed facility had a design capacity of approximately
2.988 MW AC at the point of interconnection and that would interconnect to an
Eversource electric distribution circuit on West Hill Road, records show.
Lodestar said in the Connecticut Siting Council’s report
that noise emissions from the facility would be during daytime operations from
the 20 inverters and two transformers. The facility would not have operated or
generated noise at night.
An email seeking comment was sent to Lodestar.
Ultimately, the Connecticut Siting Council’s conclusion was
to deny the project.
“Based on forest impacts, bat habitat impacts, proximity to
reservoirs and water quality impacts, the Council will not issue a Certificate
for the construction, maintenance, and operation of a 3.0 MW AC solar
photovoltaic electric generating facility and associated equipment south of
West Hill Road Torrington, Connecticut, and associated electrical
interconnection,” the Connecticut Siting Council’s decision
concluded.
Bridgeport gives Cherry Street Lofts developer more time to pay taxes, settle suits
But the black netting draped late last year over Gary
Flocco’s blighted buildings at 62, 72 and 80 Cherry St. and 1325 Railroad Ave.
is considered a sign of progress at the residential redevelopment long-delayed
by legal and financial woes.
Three months ago Mayor
Joe Ganim’s administration was getting ready to demolish the
ex-factory structures. But then the city agreed to provide Flocco's Hancock
Avenue Partners company more time to finally get the next phase of his Cherry
Street Lofts rehabilitation project moving.
Flocco has already built
an adjacent 158 apartments and a charter school with an additional 138
units planned.
So he was granted 90 days to better secure the undeveloped
properties as well as make headway paying off overdue property taxes and
creditors and solidifying financial backing. And while as of last week he has
not checked off that entire to-do list, Flocco accomplished enough to earn a
30-day extension.
“We needed to make sure there was progress being made for
that to be granted,” explained Thomas Gaudett, Ganim’s chief administrative
officer, on Thursday.
Besides the netting installation, as of last week Flocco had
windows boarded up and had paid $10,000 of his over half-million-dollar
municipal tax bill, plus provided city officials paperwork indicating a pending
$3.9 million loan.
Flocco on Friday said that loan will not only make
Bridgeport whole but pay off contractors who have gone to court to collect on
other bills he owes. As long as those legal actions are pending, the state’s
economic development department cannot release $3.2 million worth of
previously-awarded grants Hancock Avenue Partners needs to clean up
contamination at the site ahead of his intended renovations.
“We’re going to keep the shell of the buildings up,
re-secure with timber infrastructure and redo the whole interior,” Flocco said.
“Everything on the inside will be brand new.”
He said his original $78.1 million budget now stands at
“about $82 million” due to cost increases over time.
“The project works financially,” Flocco continued. “We’ve
just got to get over this hump.”
How precarious is the developer’s financial situation?
Netting Nerds, the Madison-based company Flocco hired late last year to,
per his 90-day deal with Bridgeport, help stabilize 62, 72 and 80 Cherry St.
and 1325 Railroad Ave., has yet to be paid its $86,200 bill and taken legal
action to collect.
“I missed my family Christmas party to do it,” the
firm’s frustrated founder, Conor Dowd, said Thursday. “We were supposed to be
doing other work. … We helped him out.”
“They’re doing what they need to do to protect themselves,”
Flocco said Friday. “They’ve been decent to work with. Everyone’s going to
get paid.”
Previously broken promises to clear up his legal and money
problems led to the city’s decision last year to try to raze Flocco’s
undeveloped buildings.
Cherry Street Lofts' first phase opened in 2018 and a
ceremonial groundbreaking for the next section involving 62, 72 and 80 Cherry
St. and 1325 Railroad Ave. was
held in 2021 and attended by Ganim and Gov. Ned Lamont.
But by spring 2024, with no visible progress, the
city formally condemned those four addresses and took other initial steps to
tear them down. Flocco successfully
asked for more time to get his affairs in order.
Still seeing no construction as of last summer, the Ganim
administration advertised
for bids from interested demolition contractors for the job, picking
Total Wrecking & Environmental out of New York. The mayor’s office even
scheduled a press conference — which they then canceled — to promote
the teardown.
In response, in late September Hancock
Avenue Partners went to court and the two sides struck the 90-day
deal.
The state is also taking a closer look at Flocco’s status.
Jim Watson, a spokesman for Connecticut’s economic development department,
re-confirmed that the $3.2 million in aid will not be activated while the
developer’s “legal and other issues … remain unresolved.”
“Additionally,” Watson wrote in an email, “Due to the time
that has passed (we) are reassessing the project budget to ensure that there
are sufficient available funds to complete the cleanup. … This review is
necessary because of potential cost increases and the deterioration of the
buildings.”
Gaudett Thursday acknowledged that Bridgeport may not
have much choice but to remain patient and work with Flocco and
Hancock Partners rather than undertake the threatened demolition.
“We’ve been told that new construction is incredibly,
incredibly difficult to finance and if we were to demolish … we probably
wouldn’t see development there for a much longer period of time,” Gaudett
explained. “So we’re sticking with 'option A' because that’s the most viable.”
Gaudett added that while it has been a few years, Flocco was
successful with Cherry Street Lofts' first phase.
“From our perspective they did the project right next door,”
he said. “We want this to work.”