August 7, 2025

CT Construction Digest Thursday August 7, 2025

First selectwoman casts doubt on viability of major Old Lyme sewer installation project

Jack Lakowsky

Old Lyme — First Selectwoman Martha Shoemaker said now that all the costs of the proposed sewer installation project that Sound View Beach residents would pay have been revealed, it is no longer affordable.

Shoemaker said this based on a price threshold that, if passed, would let the town tell the state it can't move ahead with the project. The state has compelled Sound View Beach and three private beach associations to install sewers to stop septic tanks polluting Long Island Sound.

State funding will cover half of Sound View's $17.1 million portion of the $61 million. Sound View Beach property owners will have to pay back $8.5 million to the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection. Previously, Sound View residents were told this means an annual cost of $1,939 a year per equivalent dwelling unit, up $570 from earlier price estimates.

But during a Board of Selectmen meeting Monday, Water Pollution Control Authority Chairman Steve Cinami revealed users would have to pay hundreds more for other fees, costs that were not included in the annual cost to users.

The Water Pollution Control Authority, or WPCA, the town commission overseeing the installation at Sound View, had not included user fees, maintenance and operational costs passed on to ratepayers, or fees to connect to systems in East Lyme and New London in its estimated yearly costs to users.

User fees, Cinami said, will come to about $380 a year per user, but that still doesn't include all possible costs, such as insurance or how much Bioxide, a wastewater treatment product, the town will need to use, which could drive that number up to as much as $600. Cinami said those variable costs can't be determined now, and he didn't want to provide false information.

These fees and the costs to connect to East Lyme and New London drive the cost to about $2,400 per year per dwelling unit, raising the cost $469 above the affordability limit, according to Shoemaker.

Shoemaker also said in previous conversations with Cinami, she has asked if the WPCA, whether under his chairmanship or a previous one, had taken the required vote to include, or not, these other fees in the price per dwelling unit.

"If it hasn't then it's not legit, because the WPCA has to vote on what you're including," Shoemaker said, saying Cinami had said he would search past commission minutes to find out if the board voted.

Cinami said the information from the state about the affordability limit is from 1997. Shoemaker asked him to see if there's a more recent document.

Sound View Sounds Off

Cinami revealed the user fees and connection costs as he presented a draft of his pitch as to why the town should send to a public vote a $7.5 million increase to the $9.5 million voters approved in 2019, bringing the town's share of the project to about $17.1 million. Cinami has attributed the rise in the project cost to inflation during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Sound View Beach residents at the Board of Selectmen meeting accused the WPCA and Cinami of being unreceptive to questions and misleading about the costs of the sewer installation project.

Daniel Tricarico said Cinami has failed to communicate openly with the public, ignores questions at meetings and Freedom of Information requests. He said Cinami and the WPCA are trying to "ramrod" the project through.

Tricarico said Cinami's actions are harmful to taxpayers.

Resident Carolyn Miranda called for Cinami to resign. She said the need for accurate information is critical to the neighborhood.

"You have lots retired people here, who don't want loans or huge expenses," Miranda said. Miranda added that alternatives to sewers, like better septic tanks, haven't been thoroughly explored.

Before Monday's meeting, Cinami said he wouldn't entertain questions about alternatives to sewers.

The selectmen have said they won't move the request for money ahead until it gets a thorough accounting of the project's costs, and information on the statuses of the installation projects at the private beaches, Old Colony, Old Lyme Shores and Miami Beach. The selectmen have pointed out that Miami Beach received no bids on its work last time it tried to contract the work, and that the bids the town has received now risk expiration. The selectmen also want a confirmed cost-sharing agreement with the private beaches, and a new sewer ordinance.

"The voters will decide in the end whether this moves forward, but I don't want to give it our seal of approval knowing that this isn't done, that isn't done, these numbers aren't here," said Selectman Jim Lampos.

There are 270 equivalent dwelling units in Sound View Beach. Residents and officials on Monday called for a breakdown of how many dwellings each property has. Cinami said about 70% of Sound View properties have a single unit, but a couple of residents disputed that.

The town's three private beach associations are splitting the remaining portion of the $61 million cost of the project.

In the meeting, Cinami said the project can't move forward if one of the other beaches drops out.

Cinami said if the town doesn't show it's making reasonable efforts to move the project ahead, the state can put the town under a consent order as it did the private beach associations, impose fines and stricter timelines.

Voters would have to approve the additional money for the sewer project at a Sept. 9 referendum, if the funding request passes at a Sept. 2 town meeting. Before that, the selectmen have to vote to send it to the Board of Finance, which would then decide whether to send it to the public meeting.

Cinami will present the final version of his presentation Aug. 18 at Lyme-Old Lyme High School.


Waterbury revives plan to sell 17.3 acres to Amazon for warehouse access road

Paul Hughes

WATERBURY — A proposal to sell 17.3 acres of city-owned land in the Waterbury-Naugatuck Industrial Park to online retail giant Amazon for an access road for its new logistics center now under construction there is being revived.

The administration of Mayor Paul K. Pernerewski Jr. resubmitted a request to sell the parcel to Amazon for $325,000 to the Board of Aldermen two months after the original sales proposal was withdrawn because Amazon required more time. 

In April, Amazon.com Services officially closed on the purchase of a 157-acre project site in the Waterbury-Naugatuck Industrial Park for construction of a planned fulfillment center. The $2.5 million sale was conditioned on the granting of an easement across the 17.3-acre parcel of city-owned land for an access way to the warehouse and distribution hub.

The city initially had granted the easement to Bluewater Property Group, the Pennsylvania-based company that was selected in 2022 to develop the fulfillment center for Amazon in the Waterbury-Naugatuck Industrial Park.

City officials later offered to sell the land to Amazon after they determined the lot would have limited development opportunities due to being divided by the access road and the difficult topography on its remaining sections. The city and company negotiated the $325,000 sales price.

The Board of Aldermen is expected to schedule a hearing on the proposed sales agreement at its upcoming meeting Monday. In addition, the city's Board of Public Works must conduct a hearing and vote on the land sale.

Finance Director Michael LeBlanc noted the proposed sale of the 17.3 acres has been referred to the City Planning Commission for its review and recommendation at its upcoming meeting on Wednesday.

Site work and construction has started on the five-story, 3.2 million-square-foot logistics center. The construction contract sets a three-year timetable for completion, but Bluewater and Amazon can request two extensions totaling 18 months.

Bluewater representatives have said construction of the warehouse and distribution center is expected to take 24 to 30 months. Amazon officials have noted the company is looking to get the fulfillment hub up and running in 2027.

Once opened, the Amazon distribution center will operate 24 hours a day, year-round. As planned, the building will have 59 tractor-trailer bays and loading docks, and will be equipped with the latest robotics and AI technologies to assist employees in the storing, picking and packing of goods for delivery. The plans call for a parking lot of about 600 spaces and a two-level parking deck with about 400 spaces.

E. Gil Graveline is a retired Waterbury building inspector who has been retained to serve as a part-time liaison to Bluewater and Amazon for Waterbury and Naugatuck building departments.

Graveline reported Tuesday that Bluewater and Amazon have started constructing a 50-foot retaining wall for the parking deck and this week began pouring several dozen concrete footings to support the foundation. He said work on forming and pouring the first section of the building foundation is expected to start next week.

Waterbury and Naugatuck have agreed to evenly divide property tax revenue and building permit fees. Roughly 115 acres of the project site is situated in Waterbury and 52 acres in Naugatuck. Graveline said each municipality received $1.7 million for the permits for the foundation work


Bridgeport moving to demolish undeveloped Cherry Street Lofts buildings

Brian Lockhart

BRIDGEPORT — The long-delayed next phase of the Cherry Street Lofts housing complex may be permanently canceled by a wrecking ball.

With the city seeking bids from demolition contractors, time is rapidly running out for Gary Flocco to break ground on the redevelopment of the four blighted structures in question.

"It is a race," Flocco acknowledged this week. "And I understand it. The buildings are in bad shape." 

He anticipates closing on the loans needed to finance construction by mid-September, before Mayor Joe Ganim's administration can actually move forward with razing 62, 72 and 80 Cherry St. and 1325 Railroad Ave.

"I've been in touch with the city," Flocco said. "They are willing to work with us."

Economic Development Director Thomas Gill, in a brief statement for this article, said, "The city's position has been consistent that there will be no change in the demo process unless a formal commitment letter for the financing is received by the city."

Situated on the outskirts of downtown between the railroad tracks and Interstate 95, Cherry Street Lofts is a prominent renovation of some old abandoned factory buildings that initially earned Flocco accolades. The complex opened in 2018 and currently boasts a charter school and 158 units of affordable "workforce housing" priced for tenants earning roughly $54,000 to $80,000 annually. 

The developer has long planned to add another 130-plus units within adjacent abandoned structures at 62, 72 and 80 Cherry St. and 1325 Railroad Ave. To that end, a ceremonial groundbreaking was held in 2001. But then Flocco had legal and financing issues, and that next stage of his redevelopment sat dormant.

In response, by April 2024, Ganim's administration had condemned the addresses in question as hazardous and begun preparing to tear them down. Flocco requested and was granted a reprieve, claiming he could start work in late summer or early fall of last year. 

But again, nothing happened. So a few weeks ago, the city began advertising for bids from demolition contractors with a submission deadline of Aug. 12. Flocco said he was not given a heads-up, and upon learning of the move, subsequently reached out to the Ganim administration for more time. 

"The city's been very fair and patient with us," he said. "But they couldn't let (the structures) stand another winter. We understand that. ... This can't sit another winter."

Flocco said that should the teardown move forward, he is worried because 1325 Railroad Ave. shares a three-story wall with one of his inhabited buildings at 1289 Railroad Ave.

"There's apartments in there, residents in there," he said. "This is a major concern, and this can't be a willy-nilly situation where they're going to swing a wrecking ball."

The lofts are located just within City Councilman Scott Burns' district. He is also a co-chair of that local legislative body's budget committee. Burns said the city's concern with the state of Flocco's remaining undeveloped buildings is "understandable" given their highly visible location.

"Who wants to see a decrepit, blighted building coming off 95 into Bridgeport?" Burns said. 

But he also wants to know how the city intends to finance tearing the structures down. Last year, the economic development office asked the council to commit $10 million for that effort. But that money was never approved because the decision was made to give Flocco his original reprieve.

Meanwhile, City Council President Aidee Nieves, who had previously supported giving Flocco more time to settle his legal and financial woes, indicated this week that she is out of patience.

"The city has to do what it has to do," Nieves said. "Developers need to complete their projects on time. ... (Flocco's) taking a very long time to get this money together. We have a city to develop. You've got to keep moving." 


$3M state stormwater infrastructure grant opens door to development near Hartford’s Bushnell Park

Michael Puffer

Hartford’s effort to transform vacant lots and underused buildings to the south of Bushnell Park just got a big boost with a $3 million state investment in stormwater improvements.

The state Bond Commission, on Friday, approved a $3 million grant through the Capital Region Development Authority for a roughly mile-long pipe to carry stormwater runoff away from the “Bushnell South” area and into the Park River.

Ultimately, the project will help a drive by officials to transform about 20 acres of underused buildings and vacant lots into a neighborhood mixing apartments and retail.

The new system will allow developers to tie drainage systems carrying water from their building rooftops and parking lots into a stormwater sewer system, rather than into stormwater retention systems that are expensive and eat up otherwise buildable space on their lots.

The Metropolitan District and Capital Region Development Authority have worked closely over the past two years to finalize a cost-sharing arrangement for the roughly $4.5 million project.

The MDC is expected to cover $1.5 million, using a fund built up with fees paid by developers, not ratepayers.

“This is a huge win for the MDC, for the development community and for the City of Hartford,” said Scott Jellison, CEO of MDC. “So there’s no cost whatsoever to our ratepayers, but yet there’s going to be over 1,000 apartments will be built as a part of this development.”

A surge of development in Hartford will mean more fees paid into the MDC, which will help keep costs down for ratepayers in other communities.

The project, Jellison said, will also help keep costs down in the future when MDC begins a broader effort to separate stormwater and sanitary sewer lines in that area of Hartford.

Jellison expects to hammer out a final cost-sharing agreement with the state and CRDA later this year, then launch an 18-month construction effort at some point next year.


CT clean energy project will heat a university. It also could power thousands of homes.

Kenneth R. Gosselin 

An innovative fuel cell development that has been a decade in the making is now under construction and will provide heat to a nearby university and generate enough electricity annually that could potentially service 8,500 homes.

Scale Microgrids, the project’s New Jersey-based developer, expects the 3.5-story Bridgeport development near Interstate 95, with 21 fuel cells to come online next year, and the company sees future expansion of its base of customers purchasing heat. The clean energy development will initially provide heat to nearly 20 buildings at the University of Bridgeport and a new city high school. In addition, the project also has signed on a local company that sterilizes medical waste.

“This is certainly a project that we are very excited about,” Daniel Forero, vice president of capital markets at Scale Microgrids, said. “Connecticut, in general, is a state where we have been expanding our presence. This project was a large investment in that long term strategy of expanding our presence there.”

Scale Microgrids declined to comment on the project’s cost. But a 2021 filing with the Connecticut Siting Council estimated the cost to be about $70 million, with a capital investment of up to $78 million but that does not reflect price increases sparked during the pandemic.

Scale Microgrids, which specializes in energy generation and storage systems located close to where they are used, acquired the 9.6-megawatt project from Easton-based NuPower in 2024 but it wasn’t announced until earlier this year when financing for the project was completed, partly by investment tax credits. Terms of the sale weren’t disclosed.

The heating and power development — known as the Charter Oak Combined Heat and Power Project —  is launching construction as the state this year has updated its greenhouse gas reduction targets. The reduction target is 65% below 2001 levels by 2040 and an economy-wide, net-zero level by 2050, provided those emissions are reduced at least 80% below 2001 levels.

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J. Scott Guilmartin, co-founder of NuPower, said the use of natural gas to power the fuel cells in attractive because it is projected to reduce 2,000 metric tons of greenhouse gases being released into the atmosphere in Bridgeport.

“It’s an area that has a significant issue with asthma and other breathing-type issues,” said Guilmartin, who remains a consultant on the project. “So it’s environmentally really desirable for us to be able to do this.”

NuPower, a renewable energy developer, spent a decade on the project, going back to 2014 when the city of Bridgeport, NuPower and United Illuminating Co. first partnered on the idea of a fuel cell plant that would provide heat through an underground network of pipes carrying hot water and would supply the local electrical grid.

In addition to heating spaces, the project also will provide “domestic” hot water, essentially water out of the tap.

The project took years to build legislative support and wind its way through regulatory approvals. There were local detractors, including neighbors who worried about noise, emissions and their property values. The pandemic slowed progress, and there also was skepticism about the project until it had signed on heating customers.

The Connecticut Green Bank provided a $400,000 loan for the project to fund pre-construction design work, Guilmartin said.

NuPower also was the developer of the $200 million biomass, electricity-producing plant in Plainfield in 2013. NuPower subsequently sold the plant.

At the heart of the Bridgeport project are fuel cells, which convert natural gas to hydrogen, in an electrochemical process that produces combustion-free electricity and waste heat. The electricity will be sold back to UI and the heat will warm the water to create heat and hot water.

At the University of Bridgeport, the system will replace an aging network of natural gas-fired boilers and provide heat at a cost savings of as much as 10%, according to Guilmartin.

“This is very similar to geothermal and that both are using hot water, except that our source is going to be from a fuel cell instead of from the Earth,” said Guilmartin, who remains a consultant on the project.

The university did not immediately have a comment.

HyAxiom, an East Hartford-based fuel cell maker with manufacturing operations in South Windsor, will produce, install and operate the fuel cells. HyAxiom, owned by South Korea’s Doosan Corp., was once United Technologies Corp’s fuel cell business. UTC, long based in Hartford and then Farmington, was acquired by Raytheon in 2020, and the combined companies are now known as RTX Corp.

Hartford has a similar system serving dozens of buildings in and around downtown including the Travelers tower, City Hall and CityPlace I. Hartford Steam Co.’s two district energy systems — using a combination of oil, natural gas and electricity — provide both heating and cooling, a service that got its start in the 1960s.

What distinguishes the Bridgeport project is the use of fuel cells and the magnitude of the project, Guilmartin said. The plant that is now being built on a triangular, half-acre wedge of land hugging I-95 and also includes the installation of underground pipes and the connection to a UI substation for the sale of electricity. Power would be sold to the utility under a purchase agreement approved by the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority in 2019.

Guilmartin said the project also has another benefit because the city of Bridgeport receives an annual payment in lieu of taxes of about $240,000.

“So considering that the property was only generating a little over $3,000 a year in property taxes, this is a real plus for the city,” Guilmartin said.