CT a 'partner' as Naugatuck breaks ground on new $33M train station, Lamont says
Andreas Yilma
NAUGATUCK — There is light at the end of the tunnel for the
new Naugatuck train station after a ground-breaking ceremony Friday attended by
Gov. Ned Lamont, Mayor N. Warren “Pete” Hess and other local, state and
federal officials.
The Connecticut Department of Transportation held a news
conference at the location of the new train station in the middle of the vacant
Parcel B lot on Old Firehouse Road. Construction is expected to take two years.
The current train station is just north of The Station Restaurant at 195 Water
St. and serves about 34,000 riders annually.
Hess said the borough has had help from the state Department
of Economic and Community Development for remediation at the site, as well as
the Connecticut Communities Challenge grant to build a new road network near
the new station.
“We’ve been talking about this for a long time and I
explained to (Lamont) that the gold is in the valley. ... The undeveloped land
along the Waterbury branch line is really great for the state,” Hess said of
Metro-North.
DOT Commissioner Garrett T. Eucalitto said the $33.2 million
project for the new train station will include a 2,300-square-foot building
with a 350-foot platform. The station will have built-in heated elements in the
platform to eliminate the need to salt it during winter. In addition, the
station will improve accessiblility for individuals who have mobility
impairments.
“That’s really going to keep Naugatuck’s economic engine and
the entire (Naugatuck) Valley humming, and this is just the start of an entire
phase of work up and down the whole Waterbury branch line,” Eucalitto
said.
The new two-story station will offer 72 on-street parking
spaces, electric vehicle charging stations, energy-efficient LED lighting and
upgraded safety features. The DOT noted 80% of the funds for the project will
come from the Federal Transit Administration and state bond funds will cover
the remaining 20%.
Metro-North Railroad President Justin Vonashek said this
project reflects the future of public transportation, where transit, housing
and community development all come together for a more connected, sustainable
and inclusive future.
“The project will connect more residents to jobs, education
and all the region has to offer with a modern accessible station at its
heart,” Vonashek said.
Eucalitto said the project is part of a $140 million
investment on the Waterbury branch line. The DOT aims to build a new station in
Derby and Shelton, as well a new waiting room for the Waterbury station.
U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., said the state has received
an unprecedented nearly $2 billion investment in federal funds to upgrade rail
service over the last three to four years.
“Naugatuck already had a lot going for it, but this allows
us to continue this really positive trend of growing with housing options and
economic development options for Naugatuck and the Valley,” Murphy said.
The new train station will be in the heart of a new
mixed-use residential commercial development at Parcel B on the corner of Maple
Street and Old Firehouse Road. Pennrose, a real estate development company
based in Philadelphia, is poised to develop three 60-unit apartment buildings
consisting of one or two bedrooms over a three-phase project.
Lamont said his vision aligns with Hess’ vision and the
state is investing in Naugatuck because the borough is getting it right.
“This is a very competitive process to get all the pieces
together ... and Pete Hess has been thinking about this strategically for a
while,” Lamont said. “He knows exactly what he wants this town to look like and
we’re here as his partner.”
Trumbull council OKs new design and price tag for proposed senior and community center
TRUMBULL — Trumbull residents will decide in November if the town will build a new senior center after the
Town Council approved the most recent design.
In an 18-3 vote, the Town Council approved the new cost of
the proposed
senior and community center at 5958 Main St. after 10 years of
studying various locations, designs and budgets. The newest version, known as
Option 7, costs $4 million less than the original and has smaller square
footage.
Lori Hayes-O'Brien, chair of the Community Facilities
Building Committee, said she cried after the approval at the July 10 meeting.
"I feel very relieved because this is the first time
we've come close to letting the people decide if they want this," she
said.
The new building design, created by QA+M Architects, is a
condensed version of the original 30,000-square-foot project, which was estimated to
cost about $32 million.
The approved design is about 27,500-square-feet and is
estimated to cost $27,115,000, with $21 million in hard construction costs and
$6,115,000 in soft costs, like fees and contingencies.
"I think the architects did an excellent job with
it," said Town Council Chair Carl Massaro.
The Town Council also approved the town clerk to prepare the
text for the referendum question. The vote will take place on Nov. 4 during the
upcoming general election.
"This long-overdue step forward will finally give our
residents the opportunity to decide whether to invest in a modern, inclusive
facility that meets the needs of today’s seniors and the broader
community," said First Selectman Vicki Tesoro in a July 11 statement.
The new design stemmed from the Republican-majority's
April decision to halt the approval on the $32 million design until three
more cost-effective designs were presented.
"While we fully support the development of a new senior
center to meet the needs of our community, we must balance this with fiscal
responsibility," the Republican Town Council members said in a joint
statement.
After months of discussion with the building
committee, QA+M principal Thomas Arcari presented the new designs to the
Town Council.
"We had some disappointment of not going forward with
the original," Hayes-O'Brien said. "I’m excited about what they can
do with this option; and it’s going to end up being a beautiful building,
useful and up-to-date, which is what we were tasked with as a committee."
During the meeting, Arcari said the one that
was ultimately chosen made the building footprint "a little bit
bigger" but overall made the building "skinnier" after
eliminating the recreational areas in the basement and moving them to the back
of the building.
"We were able to find savings for the community,"
Arcari said during the meeting.
Hayes-O'Brien said removing the basement drastically reduced
the excavation planned for the project. But she said the compromise resulted in
downsizing the gym as well as other recreational spaces.
Tesoro said that although she's glad the project is moving
forward and that $4 million will be saved over 20 years, there's a sacrifice
that comes with it.
"While this reduction represents some cost savings, it
will limit certain recreation programming that had been envisioned for our
seniors and community members," Tesoro said.
She said a town meeting will be scheduled and more
information about the design will be available in the coming months.
"I want to thank the members of the Community
Facilities Building Committee and our architects for their tireless efforts and
commitment over the past several years," she said. "Your dedication
has brought us to this critical milestone."
Enfield, South Windsor among 16 towns and cities to get $57.3 million for transportation projects
Enfield and South Windsor are
among 16 towns and cities to receive $57.3 million from the state Department of
Transportation for trails and roadwork.
The state DOT announced Wednesday that South Windsor was
granted $4.1 million through the Local Transportation Capital Improvement
Program, or LOTCIP, for reconstruction of Dart Hill Road between
Neiderwerfer Road and the Vernon town
line, including new drainage, pavement, and road base, as well as improved
alignments and new sidewalks on the north side of the road that will lead into
Vernon.
Kevin Vincens, South Windsor's Deputy Director of Public
Works, said Thursday that Dart Hill Road is both a major connection between
Vernon and South Windsor and one of the older roads in town. He said minor
improvements were made to Dart Hill Road in 2019, but the $4.1 million
project is a more substantial project.
"The existing roadway had poor drainage and base
material," Vincens said. "The new project is addressing these issues
by upgrading roadway geometry to ensure positive drainage as well as
installation of 12” of new gravel base material to support the pavement
structure."
Vincens said South Windsor is using about $300,000 to cover
the sidewalk portion and other construction items that are not eligible for
grant funding. He said the town did not use previously allocated American
Rescue Plan Act funds for the project due to timing constraints associated with
their use, and instead redirected the money to pay for sidewalks along Birch
Hill and Ellington roads.
As for Enfield, the town received roughly $900,000 for
continued work to extend a multi-use trail on the north side of Town Farm Road,
in the vicinity of former farmland approved
for a controversial solar facility last year. Once the extension is
complete, the trail will span from Abbe Road to Broad Brook Road.
Other allocations from LOTCIP include $6.9 million for a set
of road reconstruction projects in Seymour, over $6.4 million for work on New
Britain's John Downey Drive corridor, and $3.6 million for two New Haven
projects, improvements to Quinnipiac Avenue and a cycle track on Water
Street.
Waterbury was selected to receive the largest chunk of
funding among the group, with $12 million for improvements to a group of
four roads.
The remaining portion of the LOTCIP funding went to similar
projects in Bloomfield, Clinton, Colchester, Fairfield, Marlborough,
Plainville, Putnam, Torrington, Trumbull, and Weston.
Developer wants to build three warehouses on Wallingford's Barnes Road
Christian Metzger
WALLINGFORD — A major warehouse complex is in the works
along Barnes Road in Wallingford.
The complex would be three separate buildings distributed
across 1000, 1020, 1030, 1044 and 1080 Barnes Road, across a combined 47 acres.
The parcels of land have been owned by the Midwood Management Corporation since
the late 1980s and haven’t seen significant development in that time, until
recently.
The developer intends to construct two 157,000-square-foot
warehouses, with a third smaller 100,000 square-foot warehouse on the
southernmost end of the property, according to documents
recently presented to the Planning and Zoning Commission. While all
clustered closely together, the three buildings would not make up one
contiguous complex, and could be used by three separate tenants,
self-sufficient from one another.
The developers said the warehouses would be versatile and
would be able to be used for a variety of commercial purposes.
Should the project proceed, it would be the one of the
largest developments in Wallingford’s Industrial Development District in recent
years, alongside the pending data center before the commission.
There would be five entrances to the property to accommodate
the traffic: three for employees and two for trucks. Two employee and one truck
access road would be along Northrop Road, one of which being accessible through
an outlet on the existing Radiall USA property at 777 Northrop Road. The
remaining two entries would link up directly with Route 68.
Despite the massive footprint of the structures, developers
said they would be looking to minimize the environmental disruption with
considerable remaining greenspace in the middle of the parcel separating
the buildings and use that greenery to keep the buildings partially hidden and
as minimally disruptive to neighbors as possible, officials said.
“There is very little light impact out onto North Farms
Reservoir, and hopefully all these buildings will be pretty well hidden from
the residents on North Farms,” said Samuel Sargeant, president of Lazarus and
Sargeant Architects who is working on the project. “We’re really trying to hide
it, to make it blend into the side and provide a development for the site that
is really as sympathetic as we can make it given the use.”
Developers said they would be serving a niche for bulk
warehouse storage needs, with many people constructing facilities that can’t
accommodate for larger bulk storage that’s needed, while still being smaller
than a 300,000-square-foot building better utilized for distribution.
“There are 50,000-square-foot warehouses everywhere, and
they’re not big enough for massive storage,” said Managing Principal David
Carson from OCC Design Consortium, who is working on engineering the project.
“There is a need for large bulk storage, rack storage.”
Some members of the public, including state Rep.
Mary Mushinsky, D-Wallingford, expressed concerns over the potential
environmental impacts of the project and how it would affect the reservoir,
which is a common place for residents to fish as well as a nesting ground for
eagles.
While Mushinsky wasn’t opposed to it going through, she
hoped the commission and developers would be conscientious of the needs of the
local environment and develop their plans accordingly.
Members of the commission also expressed some concern about
potential traffic issues along Northrop Road should it be developed, due to its
winding nature and low level of visibility that make it a safety hazard if
trucks were to drive down it.
East Lyme wants NL sewer plant to expand
Jack Lakowsky
East Lyme — The town has about all the sewage it can handle,
and to accommodate expected development, it wants the sewer treatment plant in
New London to grow by half.
The town uses the plant along with Waterford and New London.
The expansion could cost between $50 million and $70 million
and be split among the three communities based how much plant capacity they are
allotted. For East Lyme, that would mean about $7.5 million, about 15%, while
Waterford and New London would pay 30% and 55%, respectively.
"For us to have more capacity, New London needs to
expand its plant," said First Selectman Dan Cunningham, who also chairs
the town's Water and Sewer Commission, on Wednesday. "There are short-term
measures to increase capacity, and the longer-term solution would be to build
more infrastructure."
New London Public Utilities Director Joe Lanzafame said the
three municipalities have been in talks about expanding the plant.
"We don't have many answers yet," Lanzafame said
Wednesday. "Our facility is functional, but it does have some outdated
tech in it."
Before any expansion, East Lyme is seeking an indefinite
moratorium on new sewer connections for any housing developments with more than
20 multifamily or single family units, or which would produce more than 5,000
gallons of sewage daily. A public hearing on the moratorium is set for 7 p.m.
Aug. 6 at Town Hall.
Cunningham said the moratorium would slow down large
developments and help the town gather more information about expanding the New
London plant. He said the town has to be conscious of exceeding the amount of
sewage it can send to New London.
Municipal Utility Engineer Ben North told the Board of
Selectmen on July 2 that York Correctional Institution, the Connecticut
National Guard Training Center at Camp Nett in Niantic, and Rocky Neck State
Park use about 480,000 gallons of the town's 1.5 million gallon daily allotment
at the New London plant. The town uses about 770,000 gallons a day, leaving an
excess capacity of 252,000 gallons.
North said anticipated developments and approved connections
that haven't hooked up to the system use up another 280,000 gallons, meaning
the town is at risk of exceeding its capacity in New London by about 27,000
gallons.
A moratorium would not apply to properties with approved
sewer connections that haven't been built yet, North said.
Taking control
The proposed sewer moratorium comes at the same time the
Water and Sewer Commission approved a lawsuit settlement with developer Parkers
Place LLC. The town denied the developer's multifamily affordable housing
project on North Bride Brook Road last year, saying the town couldn't meet the
project's sewer demands.
But a judge ruled the town improperly denied the application
based on "speculation and conjecture." The court ruled the town must
allocate Parkers Place about 8,100 gallons of daily sewage flow. North told the
selectmen he expects that project to come on line in the next few years.
Cunningham said the sewer moratorium and the Parker's Place
settlement are unrelated.
The attempt at a moratorium also comes as the town prepares
to ask the state for an exemption from rules that allow affordable housing
developers to forgo local zoning rules, returning control to the Zoning
Commission. Cunningham said Wednesday the town is finalizing its application.
The Zoning Commission also changed
development rules for Niantic, allowing new housing development, but only with
apartments sized at least 2,000 square feet.
In June, the Zoning Commission also rezoned about 6,300
acres of land, reducing the number of buildable lots in most of the town's
northern portion from more than 2,200 to just under 900 by changing the minimum
buildable lot size from 2 acres to 5. A developer has appealed
that decision.
Cunningham said the town has not had any "overarching
discussions" about how to "propel or slow down housing" in East
Lyme.