Meriden nearing final stages of $22M bridge reconstruction project in 100-year floodplain
MERIDEN — One of three bridges under reconstruction as part
of the Harbor Brook master plan to eliminate serious flooding
in the downtown area opened Monday, while another is close to
completion.
The one that opened is one of the two bridges at the Hanover
Towers complex on Butler Street. According to Meriden City Engineer
Brian Ennis, the parking lots around the towers flood
frequently. Part of the reconstruction of the bridges involves raising the
structures above base flood level elevation, according to an environmental
assessment from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
The goal is to dry out Hanover Street by the police station
and Banana Brazil restaurant, Ennis said.
Prep work on the Grove Street bridge on the property began
Monday. Ennis expects it will be blocked off to traffic Friday or early
next week.
“We couldn't demolish them both at the same time because
people still have got to get in and out. We filtered all the traffic down Grove
Street while we did the Butler Street bridge. Now we're going to move all the
traffic over to Butler while we do the Grove Street bridge,” he explained.
That phase of the project costs $14.9 million, Ennis said.
The city received a FEMA grant for $11.3 million for 75% of the project, and
the city is responsible for the remaining 25%, or $3.6 million, he added.
The entire project is approximately $22 million, Ennis
said
In addition to the bridges at Hanover Towers, the project
includes work on the Center Street bridge.
That
bridge is expected to reopen over the next couple weeks, Ennis
said. The two-year project was delayed some three months due to utility issues
involving electric, gas and water service, he added.
That part of the project, estimated at $7 million, the city
engineer said, is being funded by the city through a flood control bond.
With rain Monday and possibly more at the end of the week,
work on the bridge is weather-dependent, Ennis said.
“If we get the paving done Thursday and Friday as we're
scheduled to, we will be opening by the end of next week,” he said.
Worst-case scenario, he added, it will reopen the week of
Aug. 17.
Up next is Harbor Brook channel work from Cooper Street to
the Amtrak railroad bridge, part of the overall Harbor Brook master plan, which
can only be started when the bridgework is completed, Ennis said.
That portion is in the final design stage, he added. The
city will need to secure grant funding, which the city manager and grant
administrators are working on, Ennis said.
The hope is all work will be done by the completion of the
construction season in 2027, he added.
Amazon builder wages legal battle against Killingly over rejection of advanced-robotics warehouse
PUTNAM—Ryan Companies US Inc., which builds warehouses for
Amazon, and more than a dozen Killingly property owners have filed an
appeal of the Killingly Inland, Wetlands and Watercourses Commission's
denial of a proposed 1.3 million square-foot robotics warehouse.
The appeal, filed in superior court in Putnam, seeks to
reverse the commission's 3-2 vote in July that
prevents the $200 million project from moving forward. The appeal also asks the
court to direct the commission to approve the application.
Simultaneously, Ryan Companies has filed new applications with
the inland, wetlands and watercourses commission and the town's planning and
zoning commission. The wetlands application was received by the commission at
its Monday meeting and a date for a public hearing was set for Sept. 14. Evan
Seeman, an attorney with Robinson & Cole, told the commission that the
applicants will be prepared to make a presentation on the project at that
hearing.
In the complaint, the plaintiffs argue that the commission's
decision to deny the application was made because Ryan Companies did not seek
reasonable and prudent alternatives to reduce the square footage of the
building and reduce the size of impervious area caused by the parking lot.
However, the complaint claims that the company did reduce
the building size by 87,000 square feet during the months-long public hearing
and also investigated a suggestion that the company consider a parking
structure but determined that it would not result in any meaningful benefit in
terms of reduced impact to wetlands.
The complaint also claims that during the commission's
deliberations in July some of its members stated that they never asked the
applicant to further consider reducing building size or a parking structure
even after the town's third-party peer reviewer had examined the alternatives
analysis and it was satisfied that Ryan Companies had satisfactorily addressed
the issues.
The appeal also alleges members of the commission were
biased and illegally predetermined an intent to deny the application; the
commission was illegally constituted with some members who had undisclosed and
improper conflicts of interest; the commission was illegally constituted with
some members who engaged in undisclosed and illegal ex-parte
communications; the commission improperly applied Section 10.3 of its
regulations (relating to feasible and prudent alternatives) when voting to deny
the application; and that section 10.3 was not applicable because the
commission did not vote to conduct a public hearing on the ground that there
may be a significant impact to inland wetlands or watercourses but instead due
to public interest.
Killingly Town Manager Brian Palaia did not immediately
respond to a request for comment.
Amazon has said the advanced-robotics "first-mile"
facility would employ more than 500 people full-time and the building project
would create 200 construction jobs.
The company also plans to construct its own on-site sewage
treatment system in response to the town's moratorium on new customers for its
own system that could last a decade or more.
Details of the initial project include: 60 loading docks;
430 trailer parking spaces; 930 vehicle parking spaces; and two driveways
on Westcott Road, also known as Route 607, one for cars and one for
trucks.
Amazon warehouse proposal moves forward after July denial | Exclusive
Connor Linskey
A new application for a proposed Amazon
warehouse in Killingly is now moving forward after the
previous application for the project was denied on July 6.
The Killingly Inland Wetlands and Watercourses
Commission unanimously accepted Ryan Companies US, Inc.'s new
application for the project at their meeting on Aug. 3. A public hearing
on the proposed warehouse will take place at the commission's next meeting on
Sept. 14.
"As you recall, the motion to deny last month was
without prejudice on the grounds that the applicant examine additional
alternatives," Robinson+Cole Attorney Evan Seeman, who
was representing Ryan Companies, told the commission. "As
part of the application materials that have been submitted, there's
additional information and commentary on the alternatives. In addition to that,
the applicant is considering some potential design modifications and looks
forward to the opportunity to address the commission next month with
a full presentation."
Ryan Companies' new application entails construction
of a warehousing and distribution center totaling approximately
1,288,220 square feet on about 556 acres of
land. Located between I-395, Westcott Road and Mashentuck Road,
the project includes associated landscaping, stormwater drainage improvements,
parking, loading spaces and wetland crossings.
Differences between the new application and old
application
At their meeting on July 6, the Killingly Inland
Wetlands and Watercourses Commission denied Ryan Companies' application
for construction of a warehouse located between I-395, Westcott
Road and Mashentuck Road by a 3-2 vote without
prejudice.
The denied project proposed a 1.38 million-square-foot
warehouse and distribution center on 556 acres, about 87,000 square feet
smaller than the current proposal. Both plans include landscaping, stormwater
improvements, parking, loading areas and wetland crossings. The new application
also includes about 44,369 square feet of wetland mitigation, up from roughly
16,921 square feet in the project denied July 6.
The inland wetlands and watercourses commission denied the
project on July 6, believing that it would cause the
irretrievable loss of wetland resources. Since the vote was without
prejudice, Ryan Companies was able to submit a new application
to the commission that addressed their concerns about the project.
Another reason the commission denied the project on July 6
is because its reviewer Tighe & Bond suggested
that the size of the warehouse would cause wetland impacts. Tighe & Bond
also noted that other large, successful distribution facilities in Killingly
operate with much smaller footprints, such as the UNFI warehouse (approximately
447,270 square feet) and the Frito Lay facility (approximately 467,520 square
feet). The commission suggested that Ryan Companies reduce the size of the
warehouse in their next application. The company's compliance led the
commission to accept the application at their meeting on Aug. 3.
How can this project move forward if there is a moratorium
on warehouses?
At its meeting on June 15, the Killingly Planning and Zoning
Commission approved a moratorium on new applications for
warehouses and distribution centers. The moratorium is in effect from July
20, 2026 - June 30, 2027.
While the moratorium is in effect, no new applications for
the approval of a warehouse or distribution center may be
filed, processed or approved. This includes new distribution
centers, fulfillment centers as well as truck and freight terminals.
The purpose of the moratorium is to provide the commission
with time to consider and implement revisions to the town's current zoning
regulations concerning large commercial warehouses and distribution
centers and related uses. The moratorium was submitted to the
planning and zoning commission by former Killingly Town Councilwoman
Michelle Murphy and Killingly resident Lisa Danburg following the public's opposition to two distribution centers with an unnamed
tenant proposed at 90 Putnam Pike and
the proposed Amazon warehouse.
The new application for the Amazon warehouse was filed on
July 16, before the moratorium took effect, which is why the project can move
forward in the approval process despite the moratorium being in
effect.