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
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
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
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.
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.