Lauren Takores
WALLINGFORD — The Town Council approved an ordinance last week to appropriate $60 million for wastewater treatment plant upgrades aimed at reducing phosphorous discharge.
The net cost to the town may be significantly lower, if the town receives state aid.
Upgrades to the water pollution control facility, 155 John St., have been in the works since 2011, when the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection introduced stricter discharge regulations.
Several towns, including Wallingford, are required by DEEP to perform upgrades to their wastewater plants to improve phosphorus removal systems. The new stricter limits take effect April 1, 2022.
Neil Amwake, Water and Sewer Division general manager, has said there have been no significant upgrades to the plant since it opened in July 1989, other than adding a nitrogen removal process in 2005.
The wastewater treatment plant is on a 153-acre site and empties into the Quinnipiac River. The project also includes associated capital improvements.
Amwake said during the May 22 public hearing that the funding covers construction of a tertiary treatment process for phosphorous removal, two secondary settling tanks, a secondary pump station, ultraviolet disinfection and a post-aeration process, along with standby generation, site work and electrical upgrades.
The first phase of the project is estimated to cost around $60 million.
State funding
The town has submitted the project to DEEP for a grant from the Clean Water Fund. With a state grant of $19.9 million and state loan of $38 million, the net cost to town would be $2.1 million, according to the ordinance.
Amwake said the phosphorus removal season is April 1 to October 31.
The current limit is .7 milligrams per liter. At a design flow rate of 8 million gallons per day, Wallingford needs to get down to .13 milligrams per liter, a mass balance of 8.9 pounds per day of phosphorus.
From April 1 to April 30, 2019, Amwake said, the influent phosphorus limit was about 44.5 pounds per day.
Amwake said the removed phosphorus turns into a biomass that’s hauled offsite and is incinerated.
The Planning and Zoning Commission unanimously approved a site plan in February after the Inland Wetlands and Watercourses Commission granted a wetlands permit in December 2018.
Dickinson objects
Mayor William W. Dickinson Jr. has said he doesn't believe phosphorus discharge is an immediate health or environmental threat, and believes the state should pay for the upgrades completely.
Despite this belief, Dickinson said on May 22 that he “could not recommend that we do not move forward” with the $60 million bond, since there’s a a $25,000 daily fine if the upgrades aren’t made.
“We have sent a letter to the governor requesting a variance,” which the state would have to request from the federal EPA, he said.
“I haven’t heard anything from the governor’s office at this point, but I am very much opposed to this project,” he said.
Town report details challenges, benefits of Smiler’s Wharf project
Joe Wojtas
Mystic — In order to secure town approval, the developers of the proposed Smiler’s Wharf project in downtown Mystic will have to overcome issues such as providing enough parking, changing the traffic pattern on Cottrell Street, ensuring there is enough sewer capacity and addressing concerns from Groton officials that the buildings are too high.
Those concerns as well as touted benefits such as increased tax revenue and jobs for the town, increased public access to the water and improved costal resiliency are expected to be part of the discussion Tuesday night when the Stonington Planning and Zoning Commission holds a public hearing on the controversial application at 7 p.m. at Mystic Middle School.
Details and an analysis of the application to rezone a 7.5-acre portion of Seaport Marine’s 11-acre site off Washington Street from marine commercial to Neighborhood Development District for the project are part of a detailed 35-page report prepared for the commission by Town Planner Keith Brynes.
According to Brynes’ summary of the master plan submitted by Noank Shipyard, the owners of Seaport Marine, the project calls for demolition of all current buildings on the site except for the popular Red 36 restaurant.
The plan calls for a five-story, 45-unit hotel, a 16,590-square-foot, three-story marine service and community event space, a three-story, a 200-seat restaurant, a six-story, 25-unit apartment building, 16 townhouses, six units of multi-family housing, a kayak rental building, an open-air plaza, a park, 120 boat slips, a 200-foot public boardwalk extension, 130 feet of new coastal access, a new boat basin that will require the removal of 13,000 square feet of current land and a new bulkhead to protect against storm surge.
While the marine commercial zone, which is the current zoning designation for the portion of the site that would be developed, limits the height of buildings to 20 feet to protect coastal views, the proposed plan calls for one building to be 72 feet high and another 63 feet.
That's because the Neighborhood Development District designation, which the developers are seeking, is a floating zone tool established by the town in 2005 to "encourage redevelopment of underutilized commercial properties" and supersedes the existing zoning designation.
The application for a master plan, though, gives the PZC a great deal of flexibility in determining what will be allowed on the site. Under the NDD, a developer needs both master plan and site plan approval. The former is an overall plan for the site while the latter contains detailed engineering, architectural, lighting, landscaping and other plans. Both require a public hearing.
The NDD's statement of purpose also is intended to "preserve and enhance the Town's historic character, sensitive environmental resources and those neighborhoods in the village cores."
Brynes' report points out that the Mystic sewage treatment plant is nearing capacity and cannot accommodate any additional flow for projects such as Smiler's Wharf until upgrades are made to divert sewage to the underutilized borough plant. While $1.7 million has been appropriated in the 2019-20 budget for part of the work, the remaining $865,000 is projected for inclusion in the 2020-21 budget but has not yet been approved.
Brynes wrote that the PZC could approve the master plan with the stipulation that construction cannot begin until the capacity is increased or reject the master plan because the project is not supported by the needed infrastructure.
Brynes also wrote that the narrow roads in the area and residential character of much of adjacent Washington and Willow streets make traffic an important issue as the area can experience significant congestion during the tourist season.
He pointed out that the developers' traffic study, which found that traffic on several nearby streets will not experience undue congestion due to the project except for during a few peak hours, is based on the town making Cottrell Street one way southbound, something the town has not yet approved. Brynes suggested that if the PZC approves the master plan, it may want to link the approval to the town changing the street to one way.
Brynes wrote that the development would typically require 387 on-site parking spots but just 318 are planned with 54 more off site within 500 feet for a total of 372. The NDD, however, gives the PZC discretion over details such as the amount of required parking.
An additional 56 spots would be available at the nearby Mystic Packer Building with shuttle service for special events, bringing the total to 428. Last year, the PZC told the Coogan Farm Nature & Heritage Center that it could not use off-site parking with shuttle service for larger special events.
Brynes' report also points out the property is located just outside the Mystic Bridge National Register Historic District. A 1920s-era home and boat sheds are slated for demolition.
The report states the project would generate $493,977 of annual tax revenue for the town of Stonington, with a net revenue of $120,719, or $40,146 more than now, after projected town and school expenses are deducted.
The net revenue could increase as the economic impact study assumes $210,000 in school expenses, based on the residential units containing 12 schoolchildren. The project, though, is not aimed at families with children. The project is also estimated to create 155 full-time jobs and 166 construction jobs.
The apartment building, projected for 72 feet, would be the tallest in Mystic, and the Groton Planning Commission has expressed concerns about that building and the 63-foot-high hotel, saying they are "significantly out of scale and character" with other development in the downtown.
Opponents, many of whom live in the Washington Street area, maintain the project does not conform to the town's Plan of Conservation and would damage the character of the village. They also charge that many of the residential units will be placed for rent on sites such as Airbnb and VRBO. Although such short-term rentals are not allowed under Stonington zoning regulations, the town decided a few years ago to not enforce any violations.
Downtown North dilemma: Can you knock down an ugly building near Dunkin’ Donuts Park and save the parking garage underneath?
Kenneth R. Gosselin
As a trial over control of Downtown North development looms in early June, a study is being launched to determine whether it is possible to demolish the vacant, decaying concrete building to the east of Dunkin’ Donuts Park but save the parking garage under the building.
The Capital Region Development Authority says preserving the parking could create more than 300 spaces -- at least temporarily -- while the Downtown North development unfolds. If the building is completely demolished, a surface lot of about 180 spaces could be created.
The idea, according to CRDA executive director Michael W. Freimuth, is to replace parking that would be lost with the development of the lot just south of the stadium.
The lot, to the rear of the Red Lion Hotel and known as “Parcel C," would be the first, mixed-use phase of Downtown North. Plans for the first phase now call for 200 mixed-income apartments, 11,000 square feet of retail and community space and a 250-space parking garage. The estimated cost is $46 million.
“It would give you some elbow room to take the parking off Parcel C to develop Parcel C,” Freimuth said.
The data center is located on what is known as “Parcel D.”
Earlier this year, there was a push for the demolition because the actual development has been stalled amid a legal tangle with the previous developer, Centerplan Construction Co. Centerplan was fired by city from the ballpark project after missing key construction deadlines. Centerplan later filed a lawsuit alleging wrongful termination. The suit seeks $90 million in damages.
A trial is now scheduled to get underway June 5 in Superior Court in Hartford and is expected to last about a month.
The data center is a familiar sight to fans attending Yard Goats games, rising just beyond the bleachers in the stadium.
Freimuth said the cost of preserving the existing parking at the data center will be a prime consideration. It simply may be too expensive to shave the top of the building off.
Providing adequate parking for the ballpark during the construction of Downtown North has been a crucial element as plans for the neighborhood development move forward.
Hartford Mayor Luke Bronin said it makes sense to explore the option because, in addition to ballpark patrons, the existing lots also are used by employers in the city.
The demolition of the bunker-like data center is integral to Downtown North, one of the largest redevelopment projects in the city in decades. If successful, the redevelopment could reconnect downtown with the city’s northern neighborhoods, split by the construction of I-84 in the 1960s. The parcel where the data center sits is one of four near the ballpark in a project that could eventually include 800 apartments, 60,000 square feet of retail and parking garages. The cost is estimated to be $200 million, possibly including as much as $60 million in public subsidy. Developer Randy Salvatore of Stamford-based RMS Cos. has been chosen as the preferred developer to succeed Centerplan. The city has negotiated a development agreement but city council approval is still needed.
The State Bond Commission had approved CRDA lending $12 million in state funds for the first phase of Downtown North. Faced with a delay in the first phase because of the lawsuit, the bond commission later backed using the funds to demolish the data center.
The cost of demolition is still to be determined. But if any of the $12 million is leftover funding, it would be devoted to development elsewhere in the area.
Demolition -- first projected to begin this summer -- is now not expected to begin until the fall, pending the results of the study. The demolition should be completed in time for the 2020 minor league season.
Courant Staff Writer Steven Goode contributed to the story.
Four developers submit bids to renovate Waterbury’s Odd Fellows building
MICHAEL PUFFER REPUBLICAN-AMERICAN
WATERBURY — Four development groups are interested in renovating the former Odd Fellows building at 36 North Main St. with the backing of $10 million from the state.
In April, the city put out a call for developers interested in taking on the ornate, but crumbling, five-story building on the northeast corner of the city’s downtown Green.
Four proposals were received by the city’s May 15 deadline.
The roughly 40,000-square-foot building has been empty for several years and needs extensive repairs. The state has volunteered $10 million to subsidize its redevelopment.
Finance Director Michael LeBlanc said he couldn’t reveal the identity of the respondents at this point.
A vetting committee of top city employees, along with leaders in the downtown and business communities, will be formed to vet the proposals and develop a recommendation to Mayor Neil M. O’Leary. LeBlanc said the committee would get to work in June. He hopes to wrap up this portion of the review in summer.
“We are looking to move along this process as efficiently as possible,” LeBlanc said.
It could take a considerably longer to finish negotiating an agreement that satisfies the city, the developer and the Connecticut Department of Economic and Community Development. The DECD holds the purse strings on the $10 million provided by the state to incentive reuse of the building.
The city’s Board of Aldermen would ultimately be required to sign off on any sales agreement for the city-held property.
The state provided $7.7 million to incentive the redevelopment of the former Howland-Hughes Department Store last year. Mayor Neil M. O’Leary has said this was the most difficult negotiation of his seven-year tenure, but one of the most promising. Post University is leasing most of the Howland-Hughes under a guarantee it will bring “approximately 400” staff downtown.