Norwich Public Utilities looks to join major gas line expansion project
Daniel Drainville
Norwich — The City Council on Monday is scheduled to
consider a resolution that would authorize Norwich Public Utilities to pursue
increased natural gas capacity from the Algonquin Gas Pipeline, which supplies
the Northeast, under an upcoming expansion planned by the pipeline's owner and
operator.
In September, Enbridge, which owns and operates the
Algonquin line along with several others around the country, announced that it
will be moving forward with two gas expansion projects, one of which, called
the Algonquin Reliable Affordable Resilient Enhancement (RARE) project, also
known as the AGT Enhancement project.
It would increase supply for gas distributors in the
Northeast, if they agree to help finance the project. The RARE project is
expected to finish in 2029.
"They are growing the pipeline size," explained
NPU General Manager Chris LaRose, adding that NPU would be entering into a
contract to purchase some of the increased gas capacity from that larger
pipeline.
Chris Riley, spokesperson for Norwich Public Utilities,
which supplies gas to customers across this city and others, said last week
"these projects do not happen very often." The last time a similar
expansion project happened was in 2017.
"We’ve only had a couple of opportunities in my 30
years here," LaRose said.
NPU is looking to buy into the project, which would supply
the company with an additional 1,000 dekatherms of gas capacity per day, which
it can use for customers in Norwich and Preston. NPU currently has a total gas
capacity of 12,840 dekatherms a day.
"It is a purchase agreement where we are buying a
capacity on that pipe," LaRose explained. "There are other
distributors in New England buying that too."
"The significance of that is, when you’re buying a
greater amount, it's coming from a lower cost source," Riley said.
"It’s going to save our ratepayers money.... We’re going to be able to get
more gas, more cheaply, down the road."
On some winter days, LaRose said, the gas usage of all NPU's
customers is teetering close to what the utility's capacity is currently.
"We’re bumping up against our capacity already,"
Riley said.
The majority of NPU's gas customers use it for residential
heating, which is why the company's demand for gas increases in the winter.
That demand would also increase with new customers.
If the company exceeds its current capacity, which would
happen if customers are all at once using a lot of gas, NPU has to purchase
what Riley described as "very expensive" gas from other sources,
increasing cost to customers. Riley likened the difference between having the
gas capacity on-hand, and having to purchase it, to "going into the front
door of a store instead of buying it at Costco."
Gas for future development
Riley also pointed to additional developments scheduled to
come online in Norwich and Preston — the Occum Industrial Center, and Preston
Riverwalk — that could require gas, and push the utility over its capacity. He
said NPU needs to be "ready for the Norwich of 2030 and beyond."
Asked how much gas those developments would require, Riley
said, "It’s too early to know exactly, because both of them are in
development."
"We don’t know what the tenants in Occum are going to
be, and the Mohegan demands as well, but we want to be prepared - because we
want to be able to meet their needs," he added. "If a new hotel went
in at Preston Riverwalk, usually they use electric heating/ac, but use natural
gas for pool areas, common areas and kitchens."
LaRose said NPU has been told the Algonquin expansion will
not require any pipe work in the City of Norwich.
NPU, which currently operations five "gate
stations" that assist in distributing gas to customers, as part of the
project, would only update one of them, off Yantic Lane.
The cost of opting into the Algonquin expansion project,
purchasing the additional capacity, will eventually be rolled into gas
customers' rates in the future, NPU officials say. Those rates are partly
calculated based on what NPU pays for the gas it receives from the Algonquin
pipeline, and how much is used.
Gas customer rates are currently locked in until November
2026.
NPU officials say opting into the project now will save
money down the road.
"The cost of this is going to be a rate that’s going to
be determined down the road," Riley said. "This new capacity will be
at a different rate, and it will be determined after the pipeline is put in
place."
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), which
manages the interstate pipeline, needs to first know how many distributors are
signing on to receive the additional capacity from the project. Then, the
pipeline is built.
"When they finish the project in 2029, they will come
up with the exact rate for the exact cost that it took to build the pipeline,
and that’s what we take to bill the rate," LaRose explained.
"It’s very difficult to speculate what the impact is
going to be," Riley added. "The rates are going to be in the same
ballpark that we’re paying now. But we won’t know what that rate is until the
project is in service, in 2029."
Mayor Peter Nystrom said the city doesn't "have
anything on the drawing board with a large need for natural gas in the near
future, but certainly having extra capacity doesn't harm a community that's
looking for growth."
Work to Start on New $87.8M Pier at Conn. Naval Submarine Base
Darien Times & U.S. Navy
The U.S. Navy will replace a pier at the submarine base in
southeastern Connecticut, the latest of a series of infrastructure upgrades at
the hub on the Thames River to accommodate the larger subs that will be berthed
there in the future.
In early September, the Navy officials announced that it had
awarded a contract to replace Pier 31 at Naval Submarine Base New London, with
the project expected to be completed by November 2027.
Nebraska-based Weeks-Cashman JV won the $87.8 million
contract to replace the pier. If all of the deal's options are exercised, the
full value could be as much as $95.6 million, according to the Navy.
An official with Quincy, Mass.-based Cashman Dredging &
Marine Contracting Co. confirmed in an email to the Darien (Conn.) Times that
the company was part of the joint venture with Weeks Marine but did not
immediately provide additional comment.
The project will extend by 90 ft. the length of Pier 31,
which currently measures 70 ft. in width and 500 ft. in length. The structure
was originally constructed in 2012.
Navy officials described the upgrade as
"essential" to support berthing not only older Los Angeles-class
submarines and more advanced Block V Virginia-class nuclear subs — already
homeported at the 10-pier base — but future vessels as well.
Virginia-class submarines, built by Connecticut-based
General Dynamic Electric Boat, will incorporate the new Virginia Payload
module, which comprises four additional large-diameter payload tubes. This
enables the submarine to deliver weapons, unmanned vehicles and other undersea
payloads.
Other work on the pier will include expanding electrical
substations, dredging, relocating a floating security barrier, the possibility
of demolishing existing piers and the construction of a low-pressure compressed
air system, according to the Navy.
The design process for the Pier 8 replacement is already
under way, but its construction has not yet been funded.
Previous undertakings at the submarine base included the
replacement of nearby Pier 12, which was completed in November 2022.
Base is Home to Several Subs
Among the other subs stationed at the base is the USS Iowa,
a Virginia-class ship that was commissioned in April. The vessel was built by
Electric Boat, which is headquartered a few miles down the river from Naval
Submarine Base New London.
Electric Boat has completed 13 Virginia-class submarines,
whose capabilities include anti-submarine and surface-ship warfare, in addition
to special-operations support. The company was awarded a healthy $12.4 billion
for modifications and construction of another pair of Virginia-class vessels
just last spring.
A total of about 6,000 sailors and civilians work daily at
Naval Submarine Base New London. It became the country's nation's first,
permanent continental submarine base in 1916.
While the base has New London in its name, in reference to
the city on the west bank of the Thames River, it is actually located in
Groton, which is on the river's east bank, the Times noted.
Shelton riverfront development plan adds pickleball to condos, restaurants, boat storage
SHELTON — An “upscale” marina and housing project off River
Road could also become home to a racquet facility if developers have their
way.
Ricar, LLC and Mianus Holdings, LLC, developers of the project
dubbed Great River Water Club, are approved to build 35 condos, 110
apartments, a restaurant, a medical office building and boat storage along
the Housatonic River. All of this has been in the works in some form
for roughly 17 years.
But developers now want to eliminate medical office
space.
New plans have been filed to modify the restaurant building,
eliminating the medical office space and adding 10,000 square feet to
accommodate the new “court concept,” according to developer Rick Kral.
“We are very excited about these changes and what the
facility will bring to Shelton and its waterfront,” Kral added.
The new racquet facility would be open to the public for
membership, not limited to only the residents on site. The restaurant will be
open to the public.
Kral said the balance of the project remains close to the
original approval, and the PDD is needed to be modified to include the public
club concept.
The racquet facility would feature five pickleball courts
and six padel courts.
The developers are seeking Planning and Zoning Commission
approval to modify the Planned Development District, which was granted last
year. The commission will hold a public hearing on this proposal at a future
meeting.
The Great River Water Club approval came what is a growing
River Road corridor. The commission has already approved a multi-building,
152-unit development at 453 River Road and a medical office building
construction next to 762 River Road, home to the restaurant parker. Eatery
& Bar.
Ricar, LLC and Mianus Holdings, LLC, developers of the
project, plan to construct three six-story residential buildings, one with 35
condos. The other two will contain 110 apartments, split evenly between the two
buildings. There will be 15 affordable units.
There will also be a three-story 26,000-square-foot building
to house the rowing club and a 128-berth marina and storage for 100 small
boats.
The 11.98-acre site encompasses four parcels, 704, 712, 722
and 726 River Road, one of which contains the old, dilapidated Autoswage
building.
The developers had previously received PDD approval for land
listed at 704, 712 and 722 River Road, had expanded the plan by incorporating
the adjacent lot at 726 River Road, the former Autoswage site, and have
proposed expanding the plans further to include condominiums and medical office
space.
The initial revision reduced the 102 previously approved
apartments to 90, and added 35 condominium units, in addition to boat slips, a
boat launch/travel-lift and a multi-purpose boat house. This was then adjusted
to 110 apartments during the most recent public hearing process as the
developer moved to include affordable units which were not part of the original
plans.
The 15 affordable units represent 10 percent of the unit count — a net zero for the city as it attempts to increase its affordable housing stock.
450 apartments headed for New Haven parking lots in $1.3 million deal
NEW HAVEN — A major development that could put 450 new
mixed-income apartments in two buildings on what are now two parking lots along
State Street between Chapel and Fair streets has moved forward, with
the Board of Alders' approval of an agreement to sell the property for $1.29
million.
The two-phase project is proposed by GDXP NH JV LLC, a joint
venture between Gilbane Development Co. of Providence, R.I. and New York-based
Xenolith Partners CT.
It would include two buildings to be built in two phases,
with at least 145 units in "The Frontier," to be built first at State
and Chapel streets, and about 300 units in "The Iron," which would
follow at State and Fair streets.
Both would include a number of "affordable" units,
as well as "workforce" and market rate units, as well as outdoor
public amenity space and retail space, according to documents provided to the
Board of Alders.
Both properties, which together comprise 3.25 acres, are
between State Street and the Amtrak/Metro North railroad tracks. A rendering
provided to the alders shows The Iron to be at least 10 stories.
"The design contemplates tiered mixed income units
containing a total of 116 affordable housing units, 45 workforce housing units
and 256 market rate units with outdoor public amenity spaces and retail
space," wrote city Economic Development Administrator Michael Piscitelli
in a June 30 letter to Board of Alders President Tyisha Walker-Myers.
"The project will be carried out in phases, each on its
own parcel," Piscitelli wrote. The Frontier would include no fewer than
147 residential rental units, including 38 affordable units, a public amenity
space and retail space, he wrote.
The Iron would include about 300 residential rental units,
including 77 affordable units and 45 workforce housing units, as well as public
amenity space and commercial space, he wrote.
"This is exciting," Piscitelli said Thursday,
calling the project "an important milestone."
He said he expects The Frontier to move forward in the
second quarter of 2026. What is now the State & Fair parking lot will be
used as a staging area for the State and Chapel development before later
becoming the site for larger building, Piscitelli said.
He told Walker-Myers that the city and the developer
anticipate a construction start date in June 2026 and the completion of Phase I
in the early spring of 2028.
The developer and the city currently are working on
financing and pre-development issues, with the city likely to apply for
financing from the new Connecticut
Municipal Redevelopment Authority, Piscitelli said. City officials also are
likely to seek grants available for cleaning up "brownfield" sites,
he said.
Gilbane also is working on private financing, Piscitelli
said.
Meanwhile, work already
has begun to realign State Street as part of a $5.35 million project, a
portion of which has been closed to northbound traffic between Fair and Crown
streets. That's related to an upcoming traffic shift and is not specifically
related to the development, Piscitelli said. More
work is being done along State Street as
part of a $6.7 million State Street redesign project.
City Plan Executive Director Laura Brown said her office has
had preliminary discussions with the developer, but it has not yet filed
applications or plans.
Piscitelli said the City Plan Commission is likely to see
design plans later this year.
Neither Gilbane nor Xenolith immediately responded to
requests for comment.
In December 11, 2023, the city issued a "request for
qualifications" to redevelop the property. Gilbane Development and
Xenolith Partners responded in January 2024. The city selected the partnership
in April 2024 and agreed to a memorandum of understanding with them on June 25,
2024, according to documents provided to the alders.
The developer has proposed to meet "high
standards for sustainability and energy efficiency," according to
documents provided to the alders.
With regard to the affordable units, the 38 units in the
Frontier Project would be restricted for 30 years to households whose annual
gross income is not greater than 80% of the Area Median Income for New Haven
County, with some reserved for families whose annual gross income is not
greater than 60 percent of AMI, according to documents provided to the alders.
In The Iron project, 78 units would be restricted for 30
years to households whose annual gross income is not greater than 80% the AMI
for New Haven County, with some of those reserved for households with incomes
not to exceed 60 percent of AMI.
The city is using the $5.35 million state grant to realign
and redevelop lower State Street from Audubon Street to George Street and open
several existing parking lots for transit-oriented, mixed-use development,
Mayor Justin Elicker has said, calling it “truly a game-changer.”
The project has the potential to add 652,000 square feet of
development to downtown, including 447 new residential units and 80,000 square
feet of retail, Elicker has said.
Construction of new Norton, Barnum schools in Cheshire on track for buildings to open next fall
CHESHIRE — Construction of the new Norton and
Barnum elementary schools is on track, with energy-efficient features and
modern designs taking shape as the district prepares to close three older
buildings for the next school year.
The new Norton Elementary, located at 414 North Brooksvale
Road in Cheshire,
will cost an estimated $76 million and will house 650 students. Barnum
Elementary, a $90 million project, will serve about 750 prekindergarten
through sixth-grade students when completed.
Together, the two schools will replace three existing
buildings: the current Norton School, Chapman
Elementary and Darcey School, the district’s early childhood center.
School Superintendent
Jeffrey Solan said the current Norton building will be demolished
to make room for additional parking and green space, while the district
considers the future of the Chapman and Darcey properties.
“It could either be sold or repurposed for something else,”
Solan said.
The decision to build new schools came after the district
explored whether to renovate the aging facilities, which are 60 to 70 years
old, school officials said. Renovations would have cost two-thirds of the price
of new construction but added only about 20 years of usable life to the
buildings, according to officials.
The new schools will feature solar
panels and geothermal systems to provide energy-efficient heating and
cooling. Each will also include a shared cafeteria and gym space with an
auditorium stage positioned between them, allowing for flexible use of the
space.
For many parents, the projects bring excitement as well as
concerns about what the changes could mean for class sizes and future
enrollment at the middle and high school levels.
Elizabeth Montgomery, who has three children at Norton and
two more starting next year, said her kids are looking forward to the new
building.
“Everyone kind of knows everyone,” Montgomery said. “It’s
really been a nice small-town feel, so I hope they keep the class sizes the
same and keep that small school feel.”
With Norton expanding and Barnum opening next fall, she said
she worries about how enrollment increases will eventually affect Dodd
Middle School and Cheshire
High School.
“I wonder what it will look like when all these kids are now
going to Dodd and will they have space for these kids,” she said. “We might not
see it soon, but once enrollment starts picking up over the years.”
Enrollment growth is expected to reach the middle and high
school levels in about six to seven years, said Vincent Masciana, the
district’s chief operating officer.
“We know there will be a phase two in the modernization of
our schools,” Masciana said. “We’re just not sure yet what that will look like
when it comes to the middle and high school.”
The investment reflects Cheshire’s commitment to education,
parents said.
“It’s what the teachers and kids deserve,” said Erica
Angeloni, who has four children at Norton and two more who will enter in the
coming years. “It’s a safe and modern space for kids to learn."
Unexpected pollution, drainage issues add cost to new Hartford municipal/retail building
An ongoing $19.4 million effort by the City of Hartford to
build a 32,000-square-foot mixed-use building — combining a new health
department headquarters with ground-floor retail space — is in line to receive
an emergency $700,000 boost.
Capital Region Development Authority leaders are proposing
the capital infusion after unexpectedly finding a patch of subsurface pollution
at the vacant 2.3-acre city-owned lot at the corner of Albany Avenue and
Woodlawn Street.
The city and Grow America — a nonprofit developer partnered
in the building effort — have applied for a roughly $1.5 million state
brownfield cleanup grant to help defray costs, even as project leaders try to
identify the scope of the newly discovered pollution and the real cost to
remediate it, CRDA Executive Director Michael Freimuth said Thursday.
With that application pending and not entirely certain, CRDA
staff are asking the agency’s board to set aside another $700,000 from a city
revolving loan fund controlled by the agency. This would go to a reserve fund
that will allow the project to keep moving forward despite cost hikes.
The project is about 40% complete. Any stoppage due to an out-of-balance budget would end up increasing costs, Freimuth warned.
Freimuth said the project also faces challenges from
outdated and unreliable stormwater drainage maps that could increase costs.
City and CRDA officials had previously committed $12.85
million from the city’s revolving loan fund to the project. The city directly
contributed another $1 million and CRDA is loaning $5.5 million to the project.
A CRDA subcommittee endorsed the $700,000 contingency on
Thursday, with a final vote expected next week.
Freimuth said project planners are negotiating with
potential retail tenants, including a bank. A hoped-for restaurant has not yet
been secured, he said. It’s possible a pharmacy could be recruited to the site,
he added.
As mental health crisis grows, encourage workers to ‘be the helper’
Anxiety and depression are rising among construction
workers, highlighting the industry’s
mental health crisis, according to a Thursday webinar from CPWR – The
Center for Construction Research and Training tied to Construction Suicide
Prevention Week.
From 2018 to 2024, reported anxiety among construction
workers grew from 12.6% to 18.4%, alongside an uptick in depression as well,
from 7.7% to 8%, said Derek Dufoe, research assistant at CPWR. At the same
time, the share of workers who said they needed mental health care but could
not afford it nearly tripled, from 2% to 5.6%.
The discussion focused on the toll of suicide and overdoses
on jobsites and the urgent need for workplace interventions. CPWR urged
contractors to use tools such as resilience training and opioid awareness
programs, as well as to normalize conversations about mental health in the
field.
The findings arrive as construction struggles with one of
the highest
suicide rates of any industry, according to the Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention.
In 2023 alone, about 5,000 construction worker deaths by
suicide and nearly 16,000 overdoses occured, said Amber Trueblood, data center
director at CPWR.
Panelists emphasized cultural
change is as critical as data tracking. For example, workers are often
more willing to help peers than to seek help themselves, said Trueblood. That
could be a powerful entry point.
“The more you encourage [construction workers] to engage
with their coworkers and be a friend and be the helper, then I think that
breaks down some barriers,” said Trueblood during the event. “The more they
talk amongst themselves about it, and the more they try to help their
coworkers, the more likely they will be down the road to seek help if they need
it.”
Many construction workers face long hours away from family,
in addition to chronic pain or production pressure, said Chris Trahan Cain,
executive director at CPWR. These factors then often intersect with opioid
prescriptions.
For that reason, CPWR is pushing resources such as physician
alerts and alternative
pain-management guides, as well as the organization’s Mental Health
Resilience Training, which has nine discussion-based modules and bilingual
toolbox talks. The group also co-branded industry guidelines on suicide
prevention language and offers downloadable infographics for both workers and
employers.
“It’s intended to help construction workers speak to their
doctors about occupational-related pain, and when they speak to their doctors,
how to request medicines for pain that don’t include opioids,” said Trahan
Cain. “We call this a really great example of an intervention that happens
before any kind of dependency could ever form.”
Construction firms are taking action as well. Reston,
Virginia-based Bechtel recently launched its Hard
Hat Courage initiative with the American Foundation for Suicide
Prevention, a $7 million effort that pairs toolbox talks and a crisis-response
toolkit. The goal is to reach 500,000 workers nationwide over the course of
five years.