New Norwalk High and South Norwalk School take shape, with construction on schedule: 'Very exciting'
NORWALK — Construction is on schedule at the sites of the
new Norwalk
High School and South
Norwalk School, although it's not certain if the latter will have solar
panels or open in fall 2025 as expected.
The new Norwalk High School project has a longer
construction timeline than the South
Norwalk School. Site grading and the foundation is complete at the site of
the new high school, said Alan Lo, Norwalk building and facilities manager. The
foundation for the school’s swimming pool is being tested to ensure it is
watertight, he said.
The new Norwalk High School is slated to welcome students in fall 2027, with the new sports complex atop the bones of the old school to be completed by August 2028, Lo said. The school’s tennis courts will come soon after in the fall of 2028, he said. In the meantime, "many" athletic programs have been displaced during construction, according to an FAQ page for the project.
The district has busing plans to bring student athletes to other sports spaces during the construction, Norwalk Public Schools Media Relations Specialist Emily Morgan said this year.
At the South Norwalk School construction site, the building
is framed out and interior partitions and masonry are being installed, Lo said.
“It’s very exciting,” the building and facilities manager
said. Lo said he can't confirm until April that the school's construction
will have come far enough along to welcome students on time.
"I know we are scheduled to open (on time), assuming
that everything (continues) to go smoothly," Lo said.
Nevertheless, the South Norwalk School's roof is being
installed soon, he said last Tuesday. But whether solar panels will actually go
on that roof is unclear. Last summer, officials had hoped the school could
be entirely solar-powered. If the school ends up having solar panels on the
roof, they will actually provide a maximum of 30 percent of the school’s peak
energy usage, Lo said.
He spoke to the city’s Land
Use and Building Management Committee and the Facilities
committee of the school board this month about how the intended
partnership with South
Norwalk Electric and Water to implement ground mounted and rooftop
solar panels wasn't feasible. SNEW and Connecticut Municipal Electric Energy
Cooperative, of which the utility company is a member, found energy savings
from the solar project wouldn't break even on the costs of a 20-year power
purchasing agreement, according to Lo and a memo provided to the committees.
In a power purchasing agreement, a “third-party developer
installs, owns, and operates an energy system on a customer’s property,”
according to Better Buildings of the United States Department of Energy.
Because the school is located within SNEW’s “electric
service boundaries,” the memo states, Lo said that a power purchase agreement
cannot work without the utility company.
The city purchasing panels and hiring a contractor is the
only way to install them on the school's roof, Lo said. If leftover funds are
available after the South Norwalk School construction is completed, the city
could use it to buy solar panels and engage a contractor to install them, Lo
said. He estimated this would cost $800,000.
Should the cost of the panels and contractor exceed any
potential leftover funds by the school’s completion, a capital request could be
made to further fund the solar project.
Those possibilities hinge on financial calculations Lo said
he would complete by September 2025 to determine if the city funding the solar
project is financially feasible.
Despite the uncertainty, Lo said that the city has a
“commitment” to rooftop solar and looks to use the option wherever possible. He
pointed out completed solar panel projects at Jefferson
Marine Science Elementary School, Ponus Ridge STEAM Academy, Naramake
Elementary School, and a solar project at Cranbury
Elementary School that he said would be completed in the spring.
Regardless, any solar would not be installed at South
Norwalk until spring 2026 after it’s clear the school’s roof is stable, without
leaks, and ready for installation, Lo said.
Brookfield awarded $1.5 million toward sewer installation at almost 100 homes
BROOKFIELD — The town recently received a grant that will go
toward helping install sewer systems for nearly 100 homes while also protecting
the Long
Island Sound.
The $1.5 million grant, awarded through the Long Island
Sound Futures Fund, will go to the town’s Water Pollution Control Authority for construction
of a sewer extension in the Dean and Pocono Road area, said Alison
Kennedy, operations manager of the Brookfield Water Pollution Control
Authority.
“We have some properties along that road whose septic systems are not doing well,” Brookfield First Selectman Steve Dunn said. “They’re all working but some are on their last legs.”
Kennedy said the extension will serve 91 residential
homes and possibly the Town Hall campus. A complete design of the project is
anticipated by July 2025.
She said by replacing the septic systems with sewer,
the town will be eliminating a lot of nitrogen and phosphorus from entering
the Housatonic
Watershed, in addition to any E. coli contamination of surface water.
“All of these nutrients going into the Still River in the
Housatonic Watershed eventually feed the Long Island Sound,” she said. “So the
reduction of nutrients would help the Long Island Sound be a healthier
environment.”
The $1.5 million is the maximum award of the grant, and
the town’s match for the grant is $750,000, to total $2.25 million, Kennedy
added.
The Long Island Sound Futures Fund said the project will
reduce 34 pounds of nitrogen, 24 pounds of phosphorus, and the potential risks
to public health and wildlife habitats due to water quality issues.
Dunn said he’s very pleased with the grant award.
“This has been under consideration for a few years now.
We’re very thankful that we got a grant,” he said.
“Overall, this really helps to build a sewer system along
the Still River Greenway to protect the Still River and make it much more
affordable for the residents,” he added.
The Long Island Futures Fund project grant has been awarded
through the National Fish and Wildlife
Foundation, in partnership with the Long Island Sound Study and
the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Thirty-one
new grants totaling $12.5 million were awarded, according to its website.
The Futures Fund "supports efforts to address sewage
pollution by providing grants which test innovative approaches to conservation,
deliver transformative projects and support people and communities who value
the sound and take a direct role in its future," according to its website.
'Two different sewer alternatives'
The town is in the final design phase of the project,
Kennedy said.
“Our engineers are bringing the final design two different
sewer alternatives — one would be a full gravity system and one
would be a low pressure system,” said Kennedy.
She said the town will decide which of those systems it will
choose. She added much of that will be dependent on costs as well.
Depending on which system is used, the cost will be
between $3.4 million and $6.7 million, Dunn said.
He said typically, sewer extension costs are bonded over the
course of over 20 years.
“And if there’s a cost per household of $20,000 —
that’s $1,000 per year,” he said. “So any grants we can get really, really help
to lower the cost for the residents.”
Kennedy said the town will continue to take additional
grants and funding to help pay for the project.
Last year, Brookfield was awarded $300,000 from the Long
Island Sound Futures Fund to help the town fund the final design phase, she
said.
Stamford reopens two bridges but three others need more work to fix their structural deficiencies
STAMFORD — Two of Stamford's five
ailing bridges have reopened: West Glen Drive bridge and Lakeside
Drive bridge in Stamford are back in service after being closed over the summer
and fall.
Both bridges were rated "poor" by the Connecticut
Department of Transportation and both were closed in the spring for repairs.
The CTDOT has 11 rankings for bridge conditions ranging from "failed"
at one end to "excellent" at the other.
The "poor" rating is defined as as a bridge with "widespread moderate or isolated major defects; strength and/or performance of the component is affected."
Stamford taxpayers were not on the hook for repairs to
either the West Glen Drive or Lakeside Drive bridges. Eighty percent of the
$3.9 million used to replace the Lakeside Drive bridge came from federal funds
with the remainder from state funds. The bridge was built in 1936, rebuilt in
1993 and was closed as of April 1 for the most recent upgrade. It opened
to traffic Dec. 9.
The West Glen Drive bridge, which was built in 1964, cost
$2.1 million to replace and was 80 percent funded by federal funds with the
rest covered by state funds. It closed around June 17 and reopened to traffic
Dec. 6.
Meanwhile, work is ongoing on other bridges in
Stamford.
The Hunting Ridge Road Bridge, just up the street
from LaRocca’s Country Market in North Stamford, is still planned to be
opened by June 2025, according to the city’s website as of Dec. 10.
The goal is to replace the bridge, which was built around
1940, with a structure that can withstand “pressures, velocities, impact and
uplift forces from a 100-year flood,” according to the city’s website.
The state will cover 45 percent of the $3.1 million it will
take to replace the bridge, which was rated in “poor” condition by CTDOT.
The goal to withstand heavy flooding came after an August
downpour experts described as a 100-year storm dumped
three months worth of rain on southwest Connecticut in just a few
hours. That same storm killed
two people; more than two dozen streets were washed out or
damaged.
Officials say the bridge on Cedar Heights Road that has
been delayed
multiple times is aiming to be replaced by the end of April.
The bridge is closed to traffic. A detour takes cars along
High Ridge Road and Wire Mill Road.
The most recent delay of several that have affected the
project came after the city discovered the bridge, rated in “serious” condition
by CTDOT, was rebuilt too low. Tony Vitti, president of A. Vitti
Excavators, which is handling the bridge construction project, said his company
will pay to fix the height discrepancy.
A "serious" grade is defined as a bridge with
"major defects; strength and/or performance of the component is
seriously affected." A bridge with this grade also calls for
"more frequent monitoring, load restrictions and/or corrective
actions."
The original goal was to complete the project by Nov. 30,
2023. Vitti Excavators committed to working during the 2023 winter to get
the job done by May 31, 2024. That date was pushed back to June 30.
The completion date was then pushed back to the end of
November after the company submitted documents on handling the flow of the
Rippowam River, demolition of the original bridge and supporting utility lines
to an inspection firm before moving from one stage of construction to the
next.
The documents went through multiple rounds of reviews that
resulted in more delays.
The Cedar Heights Road bridge is also a detour for a project
to replace
the Wire Mill Road bridge, so a delay in the Cedar Heights project could
delay the Wire Mill Road project.
The Wire Mill Road bridge replacement must be finished by
2025 or risk losing some or all of the nearly $2 million in federal funds that
back the project, City Engineer Lou Casolo previously told The Stamford
Advocate.
AFL-CIO urges activist to resign over opposition to Amazon project on Waterbury-Naugatuck line
LIVI STANFORD
WATERBURY – The executive board of the state’s AFL-CIO is
asking Steve Schrag, a volunteer with the Naugatuck Valley Project, to
voluntarily resign from the state’s AFL-CIO Health & Safety Committee
because of his vocal opposition to a planned Amazon distribution center on the
Waterbury-Naugatuck line.
“Due to your opposition, you endangered the approval of this
project, which would provide 1 million work hours for members of the
Connecticut Building Trades,” the board wrote in a letter to Schrag on Tuesday.
“This project has the potential to create thousands of good paying jobs with
strong benefits for Connecticut workers.”
The letter includes a notice for Schrag to cease and desist,
halting all actions “opposing projects that would benefit the hardworking
members of the Connecticut State Building and Construction Trades Council.”
Ed Hawthorne, president of the AFL-CIO, said he
wholeheartedly stood behind the contents of the letter and in full support and
solidarity with “the hardworking men and women of the building trades.
“This is an internal matter that will be addressed through
the democratic processes of the labor movement,” he said. “I will make no
further comment on our internal procedures.”
Waterbury, Naugatuck and Bluewater, the developer of the
Amazon facility, entered into an agreement on May 17, 2022, for the new
distribution center. The facility would cover 650,000 square feet and stand
four-and-a-half stories high, including a two-story parking garage.
Schrag said he was disappointed and confused by the AFL-CIO
letter and that he was seeking the appeals process regarding the issue.
But he remained vocal in his opposition to the Amazon
project.
“I refuse to let corporations bargain with our health and
whether it is health and safety in the workplace or my neighbors there is no
negotiating with bargaining with our health,” he said.
He said the project’s location is the last bit of green
space Waterbury has left, adding that the project will result in the removal of
thousands of trees.
He suggested moving the facility to a more suitable
location.
“It would create the same number of jobs and have it right
near the highway,” he said. “Why don’t we clean up our brownfields before we
tear up our greenfields?”
Mayor Paul K. Pernerewski Jr. said the site on which the
planned facility will be built is in an industrial park.
“It was always designated to be a property that was to be
developed,” he said, adding that the city has extensive greenspaces including
Washington Park, Bunker Hill Park among others that people can enjoy.
He added that the development of the property will bring in
1,000 jobs and millions of money in tax revenue.
He said there is no other parcel of property in the city available to accomodate a facility that large.
Naugatuck seeks additional $3M grant to advance Industrial Park 3 development
ANDREAS YILMA
NAUGATUCK – The borough will seek additional state grant
funding in combination with town funds to further develop Industrial Park 3.
The state awarded the borough a $3 million Community
Investment Fund grant last year to advance the industrial park project –
specifically the construction of infrastructure for the property at 280 Elm St.
The borough is applying for another $3 million CIF grant to
complete the road network for phase two of the subdivision of the 86.5-acre
parcel.
Lanxess Corp., a successor to Uniroyal, owned the site until
it sold most of the land to the borough three years ago for $1 in a remediated
condition with brownfield protection for all future purchasers.
Lanxess retained about 9 acres for its two buildings. The
Lanxess site is accessed by a driveway with an easement over the borough’s
property that has been subdivided after land use approval.
“Our entire effort in this project is designed to finish,
get the site back on the tax rolls and take a nonproducing piece of property
and turn into once again one of our better producing properties in the entire
borough,” said Mayor N. Warren “Pete” Hess, the project manager at a Dec. 3
public information hearing at Town Hall.
Lanxess has spent $20 to $30 million for remediation, while
the borough’s obligation is to cap the site, manage the soils and develop the
property under a stewardship permit, Hess said.
This is one of the borough’s top priority projects to get
the grand list back in shape where “Naugatuck has a significant amount of skin
in the game” as it’s putting up a $7 million match for phase one and two
combined which will come from local Tax Incremental Financing, Hess said.
The town has already spent an additional $1 million of town
funds for the design and engineering of the subdivision, Hess added.
A lumber company has already begun to expand in the phase
one of the industrial park with the construction of two buildings.
International Supply has $8 million in lumber that it will store on site, where
they will build warehousing and some assembly areas, Hess said.
“We’re working with labor unions and trade unions to allow
our high school students and other members of the community to get jobs and to
get paid while they are learning the trades and we have a great partnership
with our labor unions,” Hess said. “We’re really trying to create some better
jobs not just for our residents who are here now but for people who want to
come to Naugatuck and want to move into our new residential project which is
downtown.”
This project is alignment with the Gov. Ned Lamont’s
economic action plan created a few years ago. Conservative estimates show job
creation rates of about 600 jobs for phase one and two. If the borough were to
receive another $3 million for phase two, for a total of $6 million, that would
come out to a $10,000 state investment per job created. The state has
historically spent more than that, Goeway added.
The Board of Mayor and Burgesses approved a contract for
Industrial Park III – Phase I site work and utilities with Guerrera
Construction Co. of Oxford for $5.8 million.
Hess said the bid will be awarded to Guerrera, but
Torrington-based O&G Industries is the borough’s construction manager and
will issue the bids and be responsible for managing the job. The contract will
be signed after approval from the state Department of Economic and Community
Development.
The construction of the new road network on the upper
portion of the industrial park will consist of new utilities. The borough has
already completed some storm-water drainage repairs through Cherry Street. The
will help that street and Hunters Mountain Road divert water through the
industrial park to the Naugatuck River, Hess said.
“This is going to be a job creator and a significant job
creator for the Naugatuck Valley region because we’re on the train line,”
Goeway said. “It’s not just going to be for Naugatuck residents, it’s going to
be for valley residents as a whole and Naugatuck specifically is really special
because we have the workforce that’s ready to train, is capable of learning and
is ready to fill these open positions that will come.”