Manchester secures $2.2 million in tax credits for Bowers Elementary School renovations
MANCHESTER — A $2.2 million tax credit for Bowers
Elementary School is expected to reduce the burden on Manchester taxpayers
for "net-zero energy" renovations that were completed last year.
Town officials announced last week that the forthcoming
credit leverages the
federal Inflation Reduction Act's clean energy tax credits, typically
granted to individuals and households but allowing for local governments to
take part as well.
Earlier this year, the state of Connecticut received funds
through the act for development
of urban forests.
Manchester officials said in a statement that the tax credit
will help to reduce the debt issuance needed for the project, reducing the
burden on taxpayers as a result of school renovation plans laid out more than
five years ago.
In June 2019, voters approved up to $88 million in bonding
for the SMARTR2 school renovation project, which encompassed major reworks of
three elementary school buildings with a focus on sustainability.
Manchester initially allocated $5 million from the town's
reserve fund for the project and ultimately acquired $81 million in bonds for
the project, with roughly two-thirds coming from the state's Construction Grant
Program.
Buckley Elementary re-opened in September 2022 as the first
K-12 school verified by the state as producing net-zero
emissions, employing solar panels and geothermal
wells to generate electricity and provide heating and cooling.
Bowers Elementary followed
suit in September 2023, leveraging similar systems for net-zero operations,
and Keeney Elementary is expected to re-open in time for the upcoming
school year.
Manchester has received outside funding for the school
renovations since the 2019 referendum, including $1.9 million from the federal
government in March 2024 to keep up with rising costs of solar and geothermal
equipment.
Town officials said that the town is preparing to submit for
tax credits for "similar financial benefits" on Keeney as well
as the
new Main Street library, which also aims for "net-zero"
operations.
Finance Director Kimberly Lord said in a statement Thursday
that the town is proud to save money through the tax credit.
"This initiative not only benefits our community
financially but also contributes to a sustainable future for generations to
come," Lord said.
Town Manager Steve Stephanou gave thanks to Lord and other
town staff for their efforts in a statement Thursday.
"Securing this cost savings through the IRA clean
energy tax credits is a testament to our town's commitment to both financial
stewardship and sustainability," Stephanou said.
$43M renovation OK'd for Old Greenwich School includes enclosed courtyard, basketball court
GREENWICH — The Planning & Zoning Commission approved
major renovations at Old Greenwich School at its meeting Tuesday.
The commission voted unanimously to approve plans to
construct an 8,000 square-foot addition with four new classrooms, a
new main
entrance, improved handicap access and additional recreation space.
The construction work is estimated to be in
the $43 million range, and work is expected to start next year, the summer
of 2025. Financing and budgeting the project has been a
source of debate and deliberations for over two years. The last major
renovation at the school was undertaken in 1996.
The building was constructed in 1902 and lacked access for
people with disabilities. A new elevator will be built at the school.
In addition, a new enclosed courtyard will be built,
providing sheltered outdoor instructional space. A new play area and
a basketball court,
to the west of the school building, are part of the planned construction.
The construction work will remove five trees from the site, but they will be replaced with new plantings. Once completed, the campus will have six new shade trees, seven ornamental trees and approximately 170 shrubs. The site will also have around 7,000 square feet of ground cover planted. Improvements to prevent flooding, including a redesigned plaza to move water away from the building toward a drainage system, are in store.
The commission approved the construction plan without
comment after reading the resolution approving the site plan.
Dozens of parents, community leaders and educators spoke
in favor of the renovations and expansion over the course of the
lengthy review process. The school serves over 400 students and 75 staff
members.
The The Board of Estimate and Taxation approved the vast
majority of the funding for the Old Greenwich School upgrades in March. Some
cost reimbursement from the state is expected as the work proceeds. The
construction will be done in a phases to allow students to remain in school
during the construction.
Middletown officials considering $54.6 million bond to upgrade 100-year-old school, 911 center
MIDDLETOWN — A Common Council presentation later this month
will outline two bond questions proposed for the November ballot totaling $54.6
million.
The circa 1924 Macdonough Elementary School on
Spring Street is in “significant” need of upgrades, Mayor Ben Florsheim
said at
Monday’s Council meeting.
It is named
for Commodore Thomas Macdonough, commander of the American fleet on Lake
Champlain during the War of 1812.
Officials are considering a $45 million renovation and
expansion at the facility on the existing property.
Some 68 percent of the cost
would be reimbursable by the state, leaving the city’s portion at $13
million, Common Council President Gene Nocera said Tuesday.
Eighty percent of students at the North End school walk to
classes, the mayor said. Building a state-of-the-art facility has been a
“longstanding priority” for both the city and school district, he added.
A couple of decades ago, Nocera explained, the reimbursement
rate was in the “high 40s. We thought that was wonderful. Now three-quarters of
it is paid by the state, so that’s huge.”
When Woodrow Wilson Middle School was rebuilt as Beman
Middle School in 2021, 55 percent of the project was reimbursed by the state,
Florsheim explained at the meeting.
The 100-year-old Macdonough building has undergone minor
renovations, said Nocera, who was a principal there from 1980 to 1985. “That
school is still as it was 40 years ago. It’s so important to those children and
families at that school. It's a rock. It grounds our community."
Macdonough has a “tremendous history,” Nocera said. “It’s a
school that’s thriving. … It’s filled to capacity.” It is also a STEM
school with a waiting list to get in.
Superintendent of Schools Alberto Vázquez Matos spoke
at the council meeting, saying that “our children deserve a state-of-the-art
school,” Nocera said.
It’s "a school that has no air conditioning, an
inadequate heating system, a roof that leaks now and then, and windows that are
completely inefficient with energy-saving capacity,” the councilman said.
Macdonough also lacks enough space for children and staff to
be creative, Nocera explained. “It’s 100 years old. It’s way past its
usefulness in terms of a facility that can be repaired.”
Over the course of construction, estimated to take between
18 months to two years, Nocera said, the vacant former Keigwin Middle School,
next to the high school, will serve primary grade students.
Macdonough is unique in many ways, he added.
“Without a doubt, it’s a school that embraces community
education. … It’s more than academics,” the council president said. “It grounds
the community that surrounds it,” and provides a wide range of services,
including a health center, preschool, outreach programs and more.
The high percentage of students who walk to school is
“unheard of today,” Nocera said.
TSKP architects, which also designed Beman, will be working
on the project, and community input will be gathered over the next several
months.
Across town, the tiny, one-room emergency dispatch center at
the Cross Street fire station will be entirely rebuilt and relocated to the
Mile Lane emergency operations facility for a cost of $9.6 million, said
Nocera, a member of the Public Safety Telecommunications Commission.
“It’s not a safe working condition for some of the most
important work we do in the city of Middletown,” the mayor said.
The town of Portland also uses the service.
“It is grossly inadequate for the work that they do. It’s
(been) made to work. It’s stingy. There are no windows. It’s not conducive to
any workspace,” Nocera said. “Nobody should work in those conditions.”
For information on the Aug. 19 referendum workshop,
visit middletownct.gov.
Danbury alerts drivers to construction projects on Wooster Heights, Franklin Street Ext. and more
DANBURY — Motorists in Danbury should continue
to be on the lookout for
construction on local roadways in the coming weeks.
Beginning Tuesday, Aug. 6, Danbury's Public Works Department
is conducting road
construction on Wooster Heights Road, the city of Danbury announced on its website.
This construction will not result in any road closures, however, there is the
possibility of travel restrictions during the work period, the city said.
The construction work is expected to last approximately two
to three weeks in this downtown area,
the city said. During this time, there will be no on-street parking permitted
on Wooster Heights Road. Any questions on the project should be directed to the
Danbury Department of Public Works at 203-797-4605.
The city also issued a road construction advisory on its
website for a bridge project near the intersection of Franklin Street
Extension and Gregory Street. Eversource will be relocating its gas main
that currently crosses over the top of the existing
bridge to facilitate the bridge construction, the city said.
The work by Eversource was scheduled to start on
Monday, Aug. 5, and to continue for approximately three weeks. This work will
involve closing one travel lane and alternating traffic on to the remaining
lane, the city said. The project will also include the full road closure and
detour for several days.
Danbury police officers will be posted on scene to direct
vehicular traffic in the area, the city said.
Also, the Public Works Department will continue its work to
install several new water mains on White Street and
Ninth Avenue. That work began July 31 and will last for about three weeks.
This construction work requires the closure of one travel lane. Danbury police
officers are directing the traffic in the area of the work.
All of this construction work comes on the heels of large
paving projects on nearby Main Street and Deer Hill Avenue in recent
weeks. Other summer road work has included projects to repave Federal Road
from the White Street intersection into Brookfield; Newtown Road’s span between
White Street and Lyon Street, as well as a South Street paving project.
The estimated cost of the Main Street repaving project
was just under $1.146 million. Meanwhile the Federal Road project’s estimated
cost was more than $1.85 million, and the cost of repaving Newtown Road was
estimated at nearly $311,000, according to the city.