(HARTFORD, CT) – Governor Ned Lamont today announced that he
has received notification from the White House indicating that his request for
President Joe Biden to authorize a federal emergency declaration for Fairfield
County, New Haven County, and Litchfield County in response to the extreme
flooding from the historic rainfall that portions of the state received earlier
this week has been approved.
The declaration means that state agencies can coordinate
with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) on the deployment of
federal personnel and equipment to augment emergency recovery efforts already
underway by the state and its municipal counterparts. This includes actions to
protect lives and property, and restorative efforts that defend public safety.
Staff from several state agencies, including the Connecticut
Department of Transportation, the Connecticut Department of Energy and
Environmental Protection, and the Connecticut Department of Emergency Services
and Public Protection, among others, have been on the ground since the initial
impact of the storm to provide emergency services.
“This federal emergency declaration means that additional
equipment and crews could be mobilized to Connecticut to support our many state
and local crews who have been on the ground working to repair damaged roads,
bridges, and dams, and also clean up waterways that have been contaminated by
all kinds of hazardous items from the storm,” Governor Lamont said. “There
is still much work to do to repair and reopen the roads and make sure those who
live in the area remain safe, and we are committed to completing this task. I
thank President Biden for taking these actions and providing Connecticut with
these lifesaving resources.”
The Lamont administration is continuing to work with towns,
businesses, and individuals to conduct detailed damage assessments and
calculate whether the cost thresholds have been met that would enable the state
to receive a major disaster declaration from the federal government, which
could result in the release of federal funding to support the rebuilding and
repairing of damage to eligible public and uninsured private property. Any such
funding to support those efforts requires the approval of a separate declaration.
The process of conducting these assessments typically takes several weeks to
complete and is already underway.
Biden approves federal emergency declaration for Fairfield, Litchfield and New Haven counties
PAUL HUGHES
President Joe Biden on Wednesday approved a federal
emergency declaration that Gov. Ned Lamont requested for Fairfield, Litchfield
and New Haven counties after heavy rainfall Sunday and ensuing flooding caused
widespread damage and two deaths.
A White House announcement said Biden authorized the Federal
Emergency Management Agency to supplement state and local response efforts and
coordinate disaster-relief efforts. The president’s approval came one day after
Lamont requested the emergency declaration.
The governor’s office said state agencies can now coordinate
with FEMA on the deployment of federal personnel and equipment to augment
emergency recovery efforts already underway by the state and its municipal
counterparts. This includes actions to protect lives and property, and
restorative efforts that defend public safety.
“This federal emergency declaration means that additional
equipment and crews could be mobilized to Connecticut to support our many state
and local crews who have been on the ground working to repair damaged roads,
bridges and dams, and also clean up waterways that have been contaminated by
all kinds of hazardous items from the storm,” Lamont said in a statement.
Flash flooding from historic amounts of rainfall Sunday
caused widespread damage to western parts of Connecticut, and two women were
swept to their deaths in raging waters in Oxford.
The state request sought 100% federal reimbursement for the
state and municipal costs for debris removal and emergency protective measures.
Biden only approved a 75% reimbursement rate.
The request asked for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to
provide support for the repairing of dozens of bridges, dams and other
infrastructure. It also requested U.S. Environmental Protection Agency support
to address the numerous oil tanks, propane cylinders, vehicles, vessels and
drums that are floating in multiple waterways.
Additionally, the request sought assistance from the Federal
Highway Administration for the numerous destroyed and compromised state roads.
The governor’s office said the Lamont administration plans
to request a major disaster declaration from FEMA that could make federal
funding available to help homeowners, businesses, and local and state
governments pay for recovery costs.
State officials are continuing to work with towns,
businesses and individuals to conduct detailed damage assessments and calculate
whether the cost thresholds have been met that would enable the state to
receive a major disaster declaration from the federal government. The
governor’s office said the process typically takes several weeks to complete.
Any homeowners and business owners who experienced damage to
their property from this storm are being strongly urged to contact their town’s
local emergency management office as soon as possible so that their damages can
be documented as part of this effort.
Dozens of bridges and roads in CT were destroyed by flooding. Repairs could cost tens of millions
SOUTHBURY — Minutes after state Transportation Commissioner
Garrett Eucalitto got word Wednesday afternoon that the White
House approved Gov. Ned Lamont’s emergency declaration, he stood in the
unusually quiet center of Route 67, a major two-lane road that links Route 8 in
Seymour with Interstate 84 a mile or so up the road.
He swept an arm toward a couple-hundred-yard section, still
partially covered with debris, closed for the foreseeable future after
the Sunday
cloudbursts and severe flooding. Concrete Jersey barriers block the little
bridge over the South Branch Bullet Hill Brook that few motorists could have
even noticed in the usual daily flow of traffic.
Sunday’s downpours resulted in flooding
that killed two women in Oxford, compromised or destroyed 27 state bridges
and dozens more local bridges, culverts and road shoulders.
The usual meager flow of brook water picked up massive volume, left its banks and created a new channel, taking out trees, undermining pavement, sending at least one car flying into the water and creating headaches for DOT workers for the foreseeable future.
“Until we clear all the debris out, we don’t know if those
wall structures are able to be saved or not,” Eucalitto said, pointing to a
nearby storm water catch basin. “This must have gotten clogged with debris, so
the water just found its way around that way instead,” describing the way the
flood changed the course of the brook, now making rebuilding even tougher.
“This was not a bridge or a culvert,” he said, pointing more
toward downtown Southbury. “This was a road, but it just pushed through, jumped
over, tore away all the asphalt on the roadway.” Engineers will have to
determine how to replace the roadbed, which in some places is six or seven feet
below the free-hanging asphalt road shoulders.
“The only thing keeping even part of it up is there was
concrete bed the road was built on,” Eucalitto said, pointing to a 50-yard
ribbon of twisted metal guardrail about 15 feet off the former eastern
shoulder. “Everything that didn’t have concrete under it is gone.”
With Eucalitto was Paul Rizzo, the DOT’s bureau chief of
highway operations, as they walked along about 100 yards of black top that was
peeling away along large sections of the highway. They were both wearing
high-visibility vests and hard hats. Nearby, at the community park, three
people were shooting a basketball.
Farther up the hill, a utility crew from Massachusetts was
trying to restore power to several families whose electricity went out on
Sunday afternoon. Near the now slowly moving brook, a hairy woodpecker perched
briefly, then darted off.
“It’s going to be a long recovery to rebuild this roadway,”
said Eucalitto, who was late for a meeting elsewhere in town, as state DOT
planners and designers try to determine how to help stranded residents on
Georges Hill Road access their properties. “The river is where the road was and
now there is nothing where the river was. And that’s what we’ve seen in a lot
of places, where the river or brooks or streams just redirected and created new
water courses.”
Eucalitto said that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will
have to be consulted on the waterflow issues.
“Part of the rebuilding is getting the stream or brook or
river, wherever we are, back to its natural course,” Rizzo said.
“The first thing the contractors will do here is begin with
debris removal,” Rizzo said. “They have to get out of the way so they can
really do a good assessment of the structure of the road. How much of the road
is able to be salvaged or how much has to come out and be rebuilt? We have to
start at the base and build back up. “
Eucalitto talked about the possibility of an 80-percent
federal reimbursement rate for the work ahead. But with major damage in places
as far flung as Woodbury, Redding, Oxford, Derby and other spots, right now
the DOT is prioritizing. And Route 67 is a priority.
“We’re looking at tens of millions of dollars in roadway
repairs and reconstruction,” he said during a brief tour and interview. Above,
as a reminder, a little gray cloud in the otherwise sunny afternoon dropped
some drizzle. “Right now, we’re reallocating resources that we have available.
Moving funds around.”
Department workers were on duty nonstop from Sunday night
through Tuesday and now they’ll be stationed full-time at places where traffic
needs to share the road, which in some cases, like along Route 34 in Newtown,
is a single lane.
“We’re opening sections, we’re closing
sections,” Eucalitto said. “We just came from Route 6 in Woodbury. We got
one lane open there, now, so Route 6 is passable for vehicles. What Paul’s team
is doing right now, is working on every place that we think is going to be a
long-term closure, like this. They’re working and mapping out what the posted
detours are going to be, so we can share that because we need to determine
what’s safe to be able to accommodate that much traffic, the amount of large
vehicles passing through there.”
Norwich will not ask voters to increase $385 million budget for school project
Claire Bessette
Norwich ― There will be no referendum in November to change
either the price or the scope of the $385 million school construction project,
leaving project planners with a mandate to complete it for the price approved
by voters.
The City Council on Monday withdrew two competing
ordinances, one to raise the price by $50 million and one to cut the scope of
the project to $342 million.
The project includes four new elementary schools, either a
complete renovation or a new Teachers’ Memorial Global Studies Middle School
with the School Building Committee leaning toward a new school and renovations
to the Samuel Huntington School for central offices and adult education.
Both the School Building Committee and the Board of
Education last week voted to recommend no new referendum, affirming they could
revise the project to meet the $385 million approved by voters in 2022.
The biggest revision so far was to correct a mathematical
error that overestimated middle school enrollment by 200 students. The
correction allowed a reduction in size for the middle school, dropping the
projected cost from $99 million to either $72.5 million for a new school or
$69.27 million for extensive renovations.
On Tuesday, the building committee hired the MP Planning
Group for $9,675 to conduct a demographics study to update enrollment figures.
Those numbers will be required for state grant reimbursement for all portions
of the project, committee Chairman Mark Bettencourt said..
MP Group Principal Michael Zuba said the group could do
preliminary work immediately and be ready to incorporate new state enrollment
projection data when it is released in October.
Schools starting to take shape
The building committee Tuesday got its first virtual look
inside the new Greeneville and John B. Stanton schools, as project architect
Jim Barrett of the DRA firm presented renderings of exteriors and images of
bright, colorful interior hallways, cafeterias, gymnasiums and lobbies.
The committee previously had scaled back the cost estimates
of the new buildings and on Tuesday approved several more changes to the
Greeneville and Stanton school plans that collectively will save another $1.5
million.
The committee cut a planned second art room from each
school, saving $1.25 million in construction costs. Acting Superintendent Susan
Lessard said school officials visited the 700-student Griswold Elementary
School, which originally had two art rooms.
But the school ended up converting one into an intervention
room without hurting art offerings, Lessard said.
The committee agreed to eliminate ceiling fans in the two
school gymnasiums, saving $100,000. Barrett said the fans tend to become caked
with dust and are difficult to clean. He said some schools end up not even
using them.
Another $100,000 was saved by switching from exterior sun
shades for south-facing windows in favor of sun-blocking window glazing.
Barrett said the glaze would achieve the same energy efficiency rating.
Additional savings are expected from building windows on
site that allow the contractor to adjust to last-minute changes.
The next two new elementary schools, Uncas and John Moriarty
schools, each were reduced by 5,000 square feet, with most spaces retained but
slightly smaller.
The Huntington School renovation is the last portion of the
project and will be based on available remaining funds after the new schools
are completed and is expected to cost between $10.3 million and $13.8 million.
Lyme-Old Lyme School Construction Hit With Higher Costs, Possible Cuts
Francisco Uranga
LYME/OLD LYME — Plans to update four schools in Lyme-Old
Lyme may cost considerably more than anticipated, given bids discussed on
Monday by the Board of Education’s Building Committee.
CT Examiner reviewed a number of budget and bid documents
prepared by Downes Construction, which is overseeing the project for the
district. With bids for Mile Creek Elementary School, the largest single
portion of the schools project, still outstanding, Downes told the committee
that the total costs were already $7.7 million over budget.
Voters in Lyme and Old Lyme approved $57.5
million in borrowing in 2022. So far, bids on the project have exceeded
estimates by 27 percent.
Planned projects
include code upgrades, repairing HVAC systems, boilers, fire
protection systems and other improvements at Lyme Consolidated School, Mile
Creek Elementary School, Center School and Lyme-Old Lyme Middle School. Project
plans also include an additional classroom space for Mile Creek Elementary
School.
At Monday’s meeting, Downes suggested that the scope of that
work could be scaled back to bring down costs.
Among the reasons for the increased costs, according to the
Downes report, were scope changes that raised expenses for HVAC equipment and
materials. In addition, there was a higher cost because the project was put out
to bid in June and July of this year, instead of in April. For some items,
there was only one vendor, which meant higher costs due to lack of competition,
according to the report.
Some bids were lower than expected, but that didn’t offset
the more expensive ones, said Superintendent of Schools Ian Neviaser on
Wednesday. He said the committee would begin a phase of cost management to rein
in the added expenses.
“We can’t legally exceed the amount that was approved by the
voters,” Neviaser said to CT Examiner. “The normal thing in any construction
project is cost management. We have to make decisions about what we’re going to
spend our money on and how. This is a normal thing in any construction project
and it’s part of the building committee’s role to make these decisions. But the
budget remains the same no matter what.”
Lyme and Old Lyme residents voted in a November 2022
referendum to authorize $57.5 million in bonds to build these projects. Nearly
$21.8 million will be reimbursed through state grants, but the district will
still need to issue bonds for the full amount.
In May 2023, the district received a
$12 million grant for Middle School, Lyme Consolidated School and
Center School HVAC system improvements. The district also was awarded a $9.8
million grant for the Mile Creek Elementary School project.
The Downes report proposed some cost management strategies
by reducing scope. The document suggested that the cuts could include
eliminating “work not essential to HVAC such as sitework, fire protection” and
reallocating security vestibule improvements to a separate budget.
Christopher Staab, treasurer of the district’s Board of
Education and chairman of the facilities and finance committee, told the CT
Examiner on Wednesday that if there were to be “dramatic changes in the scope
of the project” he would call for a new referendum to give residents a say.
“It is proposed to remove fire suppression systems from Lyme
[Consolidated] School or the update vestibules of all our schools for better
security. That’s a major change in scope,” Staab said. “It has to be presented
to the town, so we hear what our constituents have to say about the overages or
the cutting back of what they were expecting from the project.”
Staab said he expected these proposals to be discussed by
the board in the coming weeks.
Building Commission Chair Susan Fogliano did not respond to
a number of attempts by CT Examiner for comment.
Neviaser said that these are “just Downes’ ideas” and that
the Building Committee has not yet considered them.
“I do not feel that not doing security is a wise approach,
but the decision is up to the committee ultimately,” Neviaser said. “We will
try to maintain the scope of the project as it was presented to the community
and work where we can find some savings.”
Downes also proposed reducing the scope of work for the
“general trades,” which accounts for most of the increase between what was
previously estimated and the adjusted amounts after bids were received. That
includes carpentry or masonry work necessary for HVAC system installation,
Neviaser explained.
Neviaser said that the amounts in the Downes report refer to
initial bids which also still have to be reviewed. Some, he said, were more
expensive than anticipated due to misunderstandings about the scope of work
requested.
“Here’s a perfect example. All the bids for general trades
included putting plywood across the entire attic at Lyme School,” Neviaser
said. “We did not request that. We only requested that they put plywood down in
the areas that they’re working in. Little things like that sometimes can impact
the bid.”
Downes also suggested rebidding some items such as
construction cleaning and labor logistics.
Neviaser said that most of the bids for the three schools
had been completed on July 9 and August 8. He said some bid items were pending
and also that others could be rebid.
Neviaser said that even where rebids may be required, they
do not imply delays in the project. For the HVAC upgrades, he said, the
deadline is to complete the work by December 31, 2025.