Lamont signs law in Norwich to stop pay to contractors violating wages
Matt Grahn
Connecticut is taking a step to make sure workers are paid
fairly.
On June 30, Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont signed Public
Act 26-17, which enables the State Comptroller to issue a stop work order and
withhold state funds to contractors that are not properly paying their
employees.
The bill was signed on the construction
site for Greeneville Elementary School, which is one of the four new
elementary schools being built in Norwich. The State of Connecticut is
reimbursing the city for 80% of the project, and the law applies to “any place
where the state is making a payment,” Lamont said.
Wage theft can take many forms
It matters because wage theft can take many forms, from
money taken from base pay, to money not given in benefits, Kimberly Glassman,
director of compliance and government affairs for the International Union of
Operating Engineers Local 478, said.
Local 478 also has a presence in the Norwich school building
project, with 10 to 20 union members working at each site daily, Glassman said.
What do state leaders think of the Greeneville site’s
progress?
Lamont is impressed with how quickly the work is going.
“They told me that the walls went up in the last two weeks,
so a lot of progress is happening,” he said.
During the bill signing, Norwich Mayor Swarnjit Singh touted
the importance of using union labor and the value of project labor agreements.
“We are on time and on budget,” he said.
After the bill signing, Singh said its possible the
Greeneville School building could be complete as soon as the first quarter of
2027, he said.
“They’re not wasting any time,” Singh said.
State Rep. Derrel Wilson attended the original Greeneville
School as a kid, and still lives in Greeneville. He was credited as being one
of the driving forces for getting the workers bill passed.
“It’s exciting seeing this revitalization for our
neighborhood, seeing active construction and watching individuals rebuild our
community,” Wilson said.
Norwalk nears first milestone in Yankee Doodle Garage project, but roughly 2 years of work remain
Shaniece
Holmes-Brown
NORWALK — The first
phase of construction at Yankee Doodle Garage in Norwalk is
95% done and officials are planning a ribbon cutting to celebrate.
However, officials said there are two more phases of
construction and likely two more years of work to do on the garage at
10 Burnell Blvd..
Assistant Parking Director Bryan Lutz told the city's
parking authority that the first phase of the project is 95% complete and said
the property is going to "look really, really sharp" after some
stenciling work is done. He said there are plans to host a ribbon cutting to
show off the results of phase one, but the date hasn't been announced yet.
"This phase of the project really represents the most
visible transformation to date, and we want to highlight the improvement to the
public and celebrate this milestone," Lutz said. "It's likely the
most positively received project Park Norwalk has delivered, and ribbon cutting
would be an excellent opportunity for the community to see the impact
firsthand."
Jim Travers, director of Transportation, Mobility and
Parking in Norwalk, said Tuesday morning that the first phase of the project at
the garage was aesthetic improvements, which included new lighting, removing
older trees and painting various areas throughout. He said it will be finished
within the next two weeks and cost about $600,000, which was funded through the
city's parking authority budget.
"The aesthetic improvements that took place really came
out of the community meetings that we had as part of the Wall Street District
Revitalization project, where people were concerned about the garage," he
said. "They didn't feel safe, it was run down, you know, it was showing
its age."
But there's more work to do. The second phase of the project
could start some time in 2027, Lutz said. Officials said that phase is likely
to cost about $2.7 million.
Travers said Tuesday morning that the second phase, to
repair the concrete structures of the garage, will take about one year to
complete.
"When you go through the garage, you'll see where
there's flaking of concrete, so they have to chip that away," he said.
"We have to sometimes get to the bottom structure, where maybe water has
infiltrated, and then we just have to repair the rebar that's in the concrete.
This is just really normal concrete maintenance that makes sure that the
structure stays there for another 50 years."
The city's parking authority, which is funding the entire
three-phase project, approved the funding allocation for the second phase on
June 24, choosing Middletown-based Frank Capasso and Sons, Inc. as the
contractor.
Travers said the cost of the third and final phase — adding
crown molding on the top and bottom of the garage — could be about $1 million.
But he said the cost isn't definite given inflation rates.
"I would hesitate to say what the next one is, because
we aren't going out to bid for the next one for another year, and what we're
seeing right now is costs are increasing at an exorbitant rate that I've never
really even seen before," he said. "So, it is very hard to estimate
what (the) cost is going to be."
Travers said the entire Yankee Doodle Garage project is
on schedule to be completed by its fall 2028 deadline.
Lutz also said during the June 24 meeting that work at
the Haviland Parking Lot, which started last year, will be finished in
August. He said the concrete repairs were completed and a new staircase was
installed. He said the remaining work to be done is applying waterproof sealant
and restriping the facility.
Due to this work, Lutz said that the parking lot will be
closed for two weeks from Aug. 3 to Aug. 17. He said there will
be signage to redirect both monthly permit holders and hourly
users to the nearby Maritime Garage in the meantime. Lutz added that
monthly permit holders can use the aquarium parking at no additional cost.
Travers said Tuesday morning that the overall cost of the
Haviland improvements is $1.8 million.
"There's never a good time, but given where we are, the
middle of August is probably the best time because this is where more people
are going away on vacation," he said. "Your trips downtown to city
center are slightly less than if we did it like in a peak time, so we think the
timing is the best time to do it in, but it's also necessity."
Middletown voters to decide $35M bond for downtown parking garage
Cassandra Day
MIDDLETOWN — Big changes are on tap for parking in
downtown Middletown over
the next few years.
The city will be asking voters in November to consider an
estimated $35 million bond request to help build
a new municipal parking garage to replace the one demolished
in 2018.
The garage project, proposed for behind the Main
Street police station, is estimated at between $60 million and $80
million, Mayor Gene Nocera said Tuesday. The $35 million bond is expected to
pay for the city’s portion of the project, he added.
Officials are hoping a developer will come in to build
townhouses and apartments along deKoven Drive, and share some of the
garage cost, since some of the parking would be for those residents, according
to Nocera.
"Right on the (Connecticut) River will be very
attractive for housing," he said.
In addition, some 100 more spaces will be created at Harbor
Park once the Harbor Drive on
ramp is closed as part of the state’s
routes 9 and 17 project, according to Nocera.
Between $10 to $12 million, the remainder of a $55 million
21st Century Infrastructure Development Bond, Nocera said, will be used
for Harbor Park, and to build a double-deck parking structure on the Melilli
Plaza lot off Route 66.
The bond request was approved
by voters in 2020 to fund public parking, riverfront redevelopment,
acquisition and development of city-owned parcels and buildings, creation of a
recreation center, and citywide road paving.
While construction is underway beginning in the fall, a good
deal of the Melilli spaces will be inaccessible, Nocera said.
A parking “swing space” will be offered behind the Main Street police
station, shared between police and the public.
He expects a request for proposals for that project to be
sent out soon.
The city paid
$3 million in 2024 for the Attention to Detail vehicle customization
property at the corner of deKoven and Dingwall drives, where the new lot
will be built.
The plan is to erect a temporary parking lot on the
Attention to Detail site, Nocera said. Later, that site would be
redeveloped and include the municipal garage, as well as the townhouses and
apartments.
"That's five years out — but we have to start planning
for that,” the mayor said.
The city is in the concept stage, and will be looking for a
developer to also build townhouses there.
To attract one, the parking structure needs to be in place
first, however, he explained. A developer is “not going to come if we don't
have parking,” Nocera said.
To create even more parking, he explained, all of Court
Street will eventually be made one way proceeding west — from Main Street to
deKoven Drive.
Inadequate parking has frustrated people for quite a
while, Nocera said.
“Parking is a real issue for our community, and if we're
going to continue to grow and sustain our growth and the enthusiasm around Main
Street and our businesses, we have to get aggressive about planning this in a
real way.”
New Britain OKs Design for $70M Jefferson Elementary Renovation
Luke Feeney
NEW BRITAIN — The Board of Education adopted design plans
for Jefferson Elementary School on Monday as part of a $70 million state-funded
effort to renovate the building.
The school was built in 1956 and had 337 students enrolled
last fall.
“The building’s infrastructure has outlived its life
expectancy,” New Britain Alderman Robert Smedley told CT Examiner.
Smedley presented the board with two design options during its meeting. The
board ultimately chose the second proposal, which he said improves traffic flow
throughout the building and relocates the kindergarten wing closer to the main
office, making student drop-off and pickup easier for parents.
The project — being jointly designed by architect firm
Keastle Boos Associates, the city’s Facilities Department and Jefferson
Principal Shamel Lewis — includes installing air conditioning throughout the
building, modifying programming space, and upgrades to classrooms and
technology.
“This has been about six years in the making. Our students
deserve new, clean, updated state of the art facilities,” Smedley said.
Construction is expected to begin in 2028, with the school slated to reopen in
fall 2030. During construction, students will attend Holy Cross School, which
has served as a temporary campus for other district projects.
The money for the project comes from a wide-ranging 2021
law that approved state funds for dozens of school construction
projects across Connecticut. The funding — which comes with a 95% state
reimbursement rate — also covered renovations for Chamberlin and Holmes
elementary schools.
In a statement, Superintendent Tony Gasper thanked the city and state, and
expressed excitement for the changes.
“The Jefferson renovation will transform one of our oldest school buildings
into a bright and vibrant learning space, just like the soon-to-be-completed
Holmes School renovation. Students and teachers will benefit from modern
spaces, technology, resources, and furniture that make the school a welcoming
place for students, staff, and families,” Gasper wrote.
Chamberlain opened its new building in August 2023 and cost
around $40 million. The construction for Holmes,
similar to Jefferson, cost around $70 million. The new building is set to be
open on Stanley Street this September.
Smedley said students, parents and staff have had an overwhelmingly positive
response to previous renovations, and he expects Jefferson’s upgrades to also
be well-received.
“It’ll be a great, positive thing for the community in that neighborhood as
well,” Smedley said.
A 2024 graduate of the University of Connecticut, Luke
Feeney covered the Gilgo Beach murders, the 2025 Ryder Cup, as well as local
and statewide politics on Long Island prior to joining CT Examiner in 2026.
Montville asked to give school road to developer of large retail project
Jack Lakowsky
Montville — A July 20 public hearing will be the next in a
series of steps to determine if a developer will take control of a town road
that leads to Mohegan Elementary School so it can build a
"large-format" retail operation.
If approved, PTA Lane would no longer be a public road and
the town would no longer be responsible for maintaining it.
Asking for control of PTA Lane is Johnston, R.I.-based real
estate developer Dominic Carpionato, senior vice president of Carpionato Group,
which owns 6 million square feet of of offices, apartment buildings, retailers
and hotels worth $1.5 billion between across southern New England. The company
owns an especially large cluster of properties between central Rhode Island and
North Attleborough, Mass., according to company information.
Planning Director Dennis Goderre on Tuesday said the town
still has not received detailed plans for the project.
On Tuesday, Carpionato said his company and the town are
"working closely to help it realize its longstanding vision to expand its
commercial tax base and relieve the residential tax burden."
He added the proposed discontinuance of PTA Lane has been
reviewed by town staff, and that planned improvements to Golden Road, which
would become the primary way to get to Mohegan school if the town transfers
ownership of PTA Lane, would improve traffic for parents, staff and school
buses.
The group's attempt to build a 114-room hotel, coupled with
a large-format retailer and 100,000 square foot industrial operation on
undeveloped land in Southington was rejected in April by that town's Planning
and Zoning Commission.
The group is also looking to build about 270 apartments in
Glastonbury, and is a main player of the redevelopment of the former UConn
campus in West Hartford, which shut down almost 10 years ago.
A concept plan for a new “large-format retail” development
in Uncasville calls for the permanent closure of PTA Lane, a side road that
leads off Route 32 to Mohegan School, to make room for the project.
Town documents contain few details about the local
development, other than that it would house retail businesses on 24 cares of
undeveloped land at 87 PTA Lane.
Town officials have said the proposal conforms with the
town’s Plan of Conservation and Development, pointing to potential growth in
property tax revenue.
“The benefit is there,” Mayor Leonard Bunnell has said about
the conceptual plan.
Carpionato wants the town to abandon PTA Lane to allow for
better traffic circulation and a more cohesive design. He said the project
would entail improvements to infrastructure, utilities and landscaping. The
town is requesting a thorough traffic study from the firm.
Project engineer Kevin Solli told the Planning and Zoning
Commission in March that the town’s symbolic approval of the road transfer is
the first of many steps before the project can be approved.
Solli said Carpionato, who bought the land last year, would
build a new playground at Mohegan School.
“This is an opportunity for a significant investment,” Solli
said.
Changes in accessing Mohegan Elementary School
Chief of Police Wilfred Blanchette endorsed the project in a
February memo to Bunnell, saying he believes it aligns with the town’s goals.
However, Blanchette wrote, “the closure of PTA Lane would
eliminate a key access route to the school, leaving Golden Road as the primary
entrance exit.”
Blanchette said this could create several safety risks,
including limited access for emergency vehicles, traffic congestion, risks to
pedestrian and child safety, and an increase in 911 calls from the area.
A town review said that if PTA Lane is closed, traffic on
Golden Road, which would take the diverted traffic, could get backed up.
To alleviate this, Superintendent of Schools Diane Vumback
has suggested that Golden Road be widened to accommodate buses and vehicles
during peak hours, in the morning and in the late afternoon.
Golden Road should be redesigned with a right turn lane for
staff members and buses, a middle lane for student arrivals and departures, and
a left lane for exiting school property, Vumback said.
Vumback also suggested adding and expanding parking areas
and converting the school’s rear parking lot into a designated pickup and
drop-off area.
Vumback and the Board of Education asked that the district’s
needs “be carefully considered to ensure the continued safety and wellbeing of
our students and families, as well as the efficient and effective execution of
our daily operations.”
Lamont, Elliott talk housing, transportation and energy in online forum
Mark Pazniokas
Josh Elliott used an online policy forum Monday to frame his
Democratic primary challenge to Gov. Ned Lamont as the choice between the
status quo and a gamble on radical change.
Elliott, 41, a state representative from Hamden, sketched in
broad strokes his aspirational vision of a very different Connecticut: a state
with no property tax, sharply higher income taxes on the wealthy, and possibly
highway tolls.
“I would eliminate the property tax entirely, have one tax
and one tax alone, and that would be the income tax,” Elliott said. “Everything
else is regressive, and I want to move away from regressive taxation.”
Lamont and Elliott had separate 45-minute conversations
Monday with Pete Harrison, the Connecticut director of the Regional Plan
Association, the research and advocacy group for the New York metro area.
The governor, who is seeking his third term, went first in
an appearance that exposed the pros and cons of incumbency: Lamont has a
record, and his focus seemed to rest more on defending the past than outlining
a future. Elliott was free to riff on possibilities.
The Regional Plan’s housing campaign in Connecticut, which
originally was branded as Desegregate CT and now is called Pro-Homes CT, put
the group in conflict with Lamont. He vetoed a housing reform measure it
sought, then he negotiated a revised version with broader support.
“This bill had buy-in from mayors and first selectmen,”
Lamont said, his oft-repeated rationale for the veto and revisions. “I just
think that it’s very important that the folks who are going to be implementing
this are at the table. You know, the first round we really didn’t have mayors
or first selectmen on board.”
Lamont’s view of Connecticut’s progress on increasing the
stock of housing at all price points during his eight years in office is rosier
than Harrison’s or Elliotts. In one question, Harrison noted that realtor.com gave Connecticut a grade of F
when it comes to balancing affordable housing against the high the cost of
living.
“Other states — red, blue, purple — are driving
ambitious pro-homes agendas with substantive zoning reform laws,” Harrison
said. “realtor.com just gave Connecticut an F grade for the second year in a
row and categorized us as the ‘stagnant bottom.’”
What additional zoning reforms are needed to “move the
needle?” he asked.
“Well, let’s start with what we did in the housing bill,”
Lamont said. “We’re speeding up permitting and making real reforms that make it
easier for you to build housing, especially in commercial areas, as of right.”
Lamont’s use of the phrase “as of right” means a property owner can act without
obtaining special approval from local land use boards.
Neither candidate had a detailed response to Harrison’s
question about how the state would better provide transit to the 30% of
households where no one owns a car.
“RPA believes buses should be the top priority for enacting
this vision, but currently we have a very disjointed network of 17 systems with
limited frequency connections and unintegrated fare boxes,” Harrison said. “How
will you create a fast and fair bus network?”
Elliott talked about bringing local leaders and agencies
together. Lamont said his commissioner of transportation is currently trying to
do just that.
Throughout his conversation with Harrison, Lamont ignored
Elliott.
But the challenger mentioned the incumbent in his first
minute, faulting Lamont for vetoing the first, stronger version of the housing
bill. Elliott said it was emblematic of their differences.
“Ned Lamont is a status quo manager, where I am a reformer,”
Elliott said.
Elliott did not offer a framework for how he could eliminate
the property tax, the primary source of revenue for cities and towns. His pitch
for a 4% increase in the income tax on millionaires would not come close to
covering the lost revenue.
To increase funding for transportation, the challenger
adopted a proposal the governor made in the disastrous opening months of his
first term: highway tolls. Lamont pitched the idea without a fully fledged plan
for what it would accomplish, and his approval rating dropped to the bottom
rank of U.S. governors.
Elliott, as it turns out, thought it was a good idea, if
poorly conceived. Like Lamont, Elliott likes the idea of relying on
out-of-state truckers and motorists passing through the state to pay for a
portion of the upkeep on its highways and aging bridges.
“So, I’m pro-tolls. I’m still pro-tolls, even 10 years,
eight years later, however long it is, because what I think it needed was a
better messenger,” Elliott said.
Elliott said tolls are regressive and would be considered
only as part of a larger tax reform package.
While the governor has abandoned tolls, he told Harrison the
state still is making progress on speeding up rail travel using funding
obtained through the $1.2 trillion bipartisan infrastructure law passed during
the first year of the Biden administration.
Connecticut is replacing rail bridges whose conditions
forced trains to slow their speeds.
“Thanks to the bipartisan infrastructure bill, we’re redoing
most of these major rail bridges and car bridges,” Lamont said.
Both candidates said the political environment for
addressing climate change has grown more complicated, given the Trump
administration’s opposition to green energy. Lamont touted Connecticut and
Rhode Island prevailing in fending off the president’s efforts to kill the
nearly completed off-shore Revolution Wind.
“We got it open, so those turbines are beginning to turn,”
he said. “We’re making enough carbon-free power for about 300,000 homes between
us and Rhode Island.”
But Elliott criticized Lamont for not going forward with the
purchase of power from another wind project with Massachusetts and Rhode Island
because of its high price.
“Now both of those states kept on moving forward, and
they’re bearing the benefit of that, and we aren’t. We need to be willing to
make these investments now,” Elliott said.
Ryan Fazio, the Republican nominee for governor, will take
questions from Harrison on the same topics at 11 a.m. on July 9. To
watch, register
with the RPA or watch on CT-N.
The conversations with Lamont and Elliott were live-streamed
on CT-N and are available to watch on the site’s archive by clicking on Lamont or Elliott.
The Democrats are scheduled to debate on July 22 on WTNH.