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CT Construction Digest Friday April 22, 2022

2 Stamford Reps. wanted to stop all BLT projects temporarily. The city law department had an answer for that.

Verónica Del Valle

STAMFORD — As the engineering investigation into Stamford’s biggest developer pushes forward, efforts from city Representatives to force a stop on the company’s construction projects didn’t survive the night.

Public Safety Committee Chair Jeff Stella, D-9, and board President Jeff Curtis, D-14, at a Board of Representatives meeting Wednesday floated the possibility of suspending all projects spearheaded by dominant Stamford developer Building and Land Technology until engineers complete their investigation into the partial collapse at one of its high rises.

The city’s attorney said that kind of regulation wasn’t possible.

“In terms of a legal mechanism for this to happen, I'm not aware of one,” Law Department head Doug Dalena told the board Wednesday.

Part of a fifth-floor outdoor terrace at Allure — a 23-story waterfront high-rise that opened in 2019 — caved in to the parking garage in February. Engineers hired by the city concluded that missing structural supports within one of the garage’s concrete slabs caused the concrete to fall. The city has yet to complete its investigation into Allure and, after extending its reach, other Harbor Point properties.

Despite the ongoing investigations from independent engineers, Stella in particular pushed to have something more done.

“It makes me a little fearful that the same people ... might be building something now and still putting Stamford at risk,” he said.

Rep. Bobby Pavia, D-17, a teacher with Stamford Public Schools, agreed, drawing a parallel to his own profession.

“If I'm under investigation, I'm not allowed to teach — no matter what I'm being accused of — until the investigation is cleared,” he said.

BLT is actively building two developments in the South End — Opus and the yet-unnamed Parcel 6. Between the two structures, the developer has 360 units pending. And the company’s footprint in the neighborhood is poised to grow still more.

After winning a years-long battle through Connecticut’s court system, the developer will build 714 apartments across two buildings on the former B&S Carting site.

Yet, despite any concerns city Representatives may have moving forward, their options are slim, according to Stamford’s chief lawyer. The board cannot outright ban a business from legally operating and putting in place a moratorium for a single developer could trigger “emergency” legal action by that developer to challenge the city’s actions, Dalena said.

City representatives have flirted before with a building moratorium. Former Rep. Carl Franzetti, a District 14 Republican, in 2017 proposed a citywide moratorium on building permits for multifamily development.

The Law Department's special counsel James Minor shot down the ordinance. Minor argued that the ordinance sought to govern zoning regulations, something that only the Zoning Board can do.

However, the zoning board has "the power to impose a moratorium that is limited in scope and time," according to Minor.

Even a “temporary stop order for one or two months” like Stella suggested, comes with legal limitations, according to Dalena. If the developer challenged a potential action from the Board of Representatives in court, the board would have to prove that stopping BLT construction was the best option.

Dalena said that courts would likely ask two questions: “Was such a broad and sweeping measure justified based on what you know and the concerns you had?” and “What other options did you have available to address that concern?”

Given the city’s ongoing investigation into the infrastructure at Allure and other structures built by BLT, Dalena argued that other actions underway are sufficiently thorough.

Going to court is something the city should avoid, Rep. Mary Fedeli, R-17, argued.

“I think we should wait for the full investigation to be had,” she said. If the city sees the need to stop BLT’s construction projects after the findings are released, then action would be more appropriate.

“I just don't want to jump the gun and make the city liable in any way to get sued on the other side of it,” she said.

Despite the skepticism from some board members, BLT spokesperson Rob Blanchard said in a statement that the company “continues to work closely with the city on both their inspection of Allure and any further inspections they require.”

“Both the third-party engineers hired by the city and by BLT have agreed on the cause of the issue at Allure, believe it is isolated, and have found no other issues in the building,” he wrote. “Attorney Dalena indicated that the city plans to ‘go the extra mile’ and inspect some of our other buildings and we are working closely with the city to facilitate this.”


Winsted selectmen take first step to repair roads, fix lake drainage

Emily M. Olson

WINSTED — Voters will soon be asked to approve an ambitious spending proposal that will launch road repair projects, repair drainage around Highland Lake, provide a new ladder truck for the fire department and begin payments on Hinsdale School’s renovation.

Town Manager Josh Kelly and Public Works Director Jim Rollins first presented the road repair proposal in December 2021, targeting five areas of Winsted with roadways in dire need of resurfacing and other repair work. Kelly added a plan to repair drainage around Highland Lake, and to buy a new ladder truck, for total of $18.3 million.

During Monday’s Board of Selectmen’s meeting, Winsted’s bond attorney, Glenn Rybacki, explained that because Winsted is about to begin repaying for the $6 million Hinsdale renovation, it made sense to combine that debt into the bonding proposal, bringing the total bonding amount to $24.700 million.

Rybacki brought a complete proposal with four resolutions as a way to consolidate the process of approving the road repair project, primarily.

“The Board of Selectmen can vote to approve this bond resolution (for $24.700 million) and set the town meeting and referendum dates,” Rybacki said. “What this resolution does is appropriates the money for bonding, giving you the authority to spend the money.”

The approval vote also began the process of applying for the money, he said.

“I’m here to help put these authorizations together ... when you’re ready, I do all the paperwork (that) validates the borrowing and makes sure it complies with federal tax rules,” Rybacki said. “If you get any grants for these projects, it reduces the (amount of the) bonds, so you don’t double up.”

Money will come to Winsted as the projects progress, the bond attorney said.

“Borrowing mirrors cash flow need, so if you’re spending a certain amount across a four-year period, the federal government doesn’t want you to borrow it all and sit on it for three years. That’ll just cost you more money,” he said. “I protect you in that regard. If you approve this tonight, it sets the town meeting and the referendum date.”

Selectwoman Candy Perez asked if the board absolutely had to vote Monday night. “We’re seeing these numbers for the first time tonight; we could meet Thursday to decide. Or do we have to do it now?”

Rybacki said, “By setting everything tonight, we get it on the calendar, but you can always pull back.”

The tax rate impact hasn’t yet been determined and wasn’t discussed at the meeting. It’s likely that when the proposal goes to the town meeting, those questions could be answered.


Rentschler redevelopment: Builder predicts 2,000 jobs, $4 million in new taxes for East Hartford

Don Stacom

With a major municipal review completed, East Hartford officials are hoping to see construction begin on the redevelopment of Rentschler Field as soon as this fall.

Raytheon Technologies last year agreed to sell the old airfield to National Development, which this month won city approval of its master plan to build on the 300 acres.

“I’m told concrete could begin to be poured in October,” Mayor Michael Walsh said Wednesday. “National Development is a known developer to Raytheon and has been pleased with its experience with East Hartford.”

Developers predict the project will bring hundreds of construction jobs for more than a year, and ultimately up to 2,000 permanent jobs at a massive logistics center and accompanying high-tech research and development buildings.

The planning and zoning commission this month unanimously approved National Development’s plan to create two mega-warehouses of more than 1 million square feet each on the former airfield.

National Development isn’t publicly naming the two prospective tenants it’s negotiating with, but said they are well-known industry leaders drawn partly by the site’s proximity to I-84 and I-91.

“Access to a regional highway network is exceptional. Being able to get on and off the highway without going through neighborhoods is the gold standard,” Ed Marsteiner, manager partner of National Development, told city planners.

The two warehouse buildings will take up a combined 2.5 million square feet of space, and the property will have also have two 100,000-square-foot buildings for research and development, he said.

“The (Greater Hartford) workforce is also a huge benefit. It’s hard to find talented employees today, and there are going to be 1,800 to 2,000 jobs created out of the projects here,” he said.

Construction of the warehouses will take about a year and a half, and each one will require 300 to 400 construction workers, Marsteiner said. When it’s fully built out, the project will generate about $4 million a year in new taxes, he estimated.

Marsteiner said National Development’s Forge Park in Franklin, Massachusetts, has much of what the company envisions for Rentschler.

“It’s a very well-located site near a regional highway network. We developed a mix of R & D and technology buildings and logistics buildings,” he said.

National Development describes Forge Park as a mixed-use project with 2.75 million square feet of commercial space, a retail center, a child care center, a hotel, a commuter rail station and residential development.

New housing on the heavily industrial East Hartford site doesn’t work because of the expense of environmental remediation, according to the company. And large-scale retail development isn’t financially feasible now, even though the roughly 200,000-square-foot Cabela’s currently on the Rentschler site will remain, Marsteiner said.

“Cabela’s is doing well there. In the foreseeable future there’s no goal of moving them along,” he said. “But retail was really struggling pre-Covid, and Covid accelerated shopping at home — which further hurt the bricks and mortar retail stuff.”

The region is saturated with warehouse clubs and home improvement stores, and there’s little market for new office space because of the uptick in people working at home, he said. That leaves other commercial development as the best use of the sprawling Rentschler property, he said.

“The warehouse distribution side has really taken off,” he said.

The new buildings would cover about 20% of the 300 acres, with large tracts of wetlands used to shield them from the surrounding neighborhood.

“This site is incredibly well buffered from existing businesses and residents. The buildings will be a quarter to a half a mile away from the nearest businesses and residences — that’s unheard of,” he said.

National Development emphasized that all traffic will reach the property from East Hartford Boulevard, with no access from Brewer or Main streets.

The planning and zoning commission voted 7-0 to approve the master plan. National Development still needs to get wetlands approval as well as an OK for a detailed site plan.


Touching the Surface — Federal Highway, Bridge Funds Steadily Increase Due to IIJA

LUCY PERRY

Funding for America's surface transportation needs has increased markedly over the past two years — that's due in large part to the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA).

In 2021, approximately $53 billion in highway formula funds were made available to states. The DOT FY 2023 budget includes $68.9 billion for the Federal Highway program, representing a $19.8 billion increase from the 2021 enacted level.

"The investments in the president's budget make traveling safer, easier, cleaner and more affordable for the American people," Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said of the funds.

"From roads, tunnels and bridges, to airport and port improvements, electric vehicle chargers, safe bike lanes and more, we are building a first-rate transportation system for all Americans."

The transportation research non-profit TRIP logged several key facts about the benefits of funding the U.S. surface transportation system:

Investments in surface transportation boost the nation's economy in the short-term by creating jobs and in the long-term enhance economic competitiveness, stimulate sustained job growth, improve access and mobility, improve traffic safety, reduce travel delays and improve road and bridge conditions.

Roads and highways allow the nation's motorists to travel 2.9 trillion miles annually and move a significant portion of the $18.7 trillion worth of commodities shipped around the country each year.

Vehicle travel in the United States dropped by 40 percent in April 2020 due to the pandemic, but by November 2021 rebounded to 3 percent above November 2019 levels.

The design, construction and maintenance of transportation infrastructure in the United States supports approximately 4 million full-time jobs across all sectors of the nation's economy.

Approximately 62.9 million full-time jobs in key industries like tourism, retail sales, agriculture and manufacturing are completely dependent on the transportation network.

The IIJA, signed into law last November, will provide $407 billion in funds for highway, bridge and transit investments in the United States over the next five years, including a 39 percent funding increase in FY 2022.

IIJA investment in the nation's roads and transit system will add an additional $82 billion in GDP per year over the next five years.

"The increased economic activity due to the IIJA will benefit U.S. residents – increasing disposable income by an average of $232 per household," according to TRIP researchers.

Recap of 2021

ARTBA reports that in 2021, states leveraged $31.4 billion in federal funds for federally supported projects.

Included were those projects covered by formula funds, discretionary grants, COVID relief funds and supplemental appropriations for years 2018 to 2021.

Basing formulas on real-world outcomes, states also obligated funds toward eligible projects already under way.

Beyond those figures, some $14 billion in more than 5,000 projects approved using future federal funds, were not included in the total.

According to the road builders association, federal investment over the past decade has accounted for more than 50 percent of state highway and bridge capital outlays.

Of those outlays, nearly half were for repair or reconstruction of highways. Existing roadway capacity was added through an additional 20 percent of funds in the form of new lane or major widening jobs.

"This investment has supported the repair and reconstruction of structures on the National Highway System [NHS], which includes the Interstate Highway System and the major roads that connect U.S. airports, ports, rail and truck terminals, pipeline terminals, and intermodal facilities," reports ARTBA.

Just 6 percent of funds were invested in new roads or bridges, stated ARTBA.

"One of the most attractive benefits of major public investments in transportation infrastructure is they foster immediate economic growth and create tangible capital assets that are long-lived," said ARTBA Chief Economist Alison Premo Black. "In addition to creating jobs and generating tax revenues throughout the economy during the construction cycle, infrastructure improvements also foster economic growth and efficiency over many years beyond the initial investment."

FHWA maintains that for every $1 billion in highway and bridge infrastructure investment at least 13,000 jobs throughout the U.S. economy are supported.

This includes work in retail, manufacturing, transportation and warehousing, food services and other industries.

Missouri, with more than 1,000 projects, lead the way in highway and bridge improvements for 2021. Michigan at 903; Ohio at 796; Indiana, 731; and Tennessee, 663, followed close behind.

ARTBA's Federal Highway Investment Benefits by State dashboard data show how each state deployed federal funds. It also tracks the top projects to receive federal support.

"We expect to see even more projects in the coming year as states work to obligate the record increase in FY 2022 federal funding available through the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act that was approved by Congress earlier this month," said Premo Black.

The five largest projects were earmarked by federal, state, local and private funds, including $3.8 billion in Georgia for the SR 400 North Sprints Marta Station to McFarland Road Express Lane; $899 million in Arizona for the I-17 Split; $715 million in Texas to construct new roadway lanes on IH 35E, and $524 million to Louisiana for Phase 2 of the LA 1: Leeville to Golden Meadow project.

State transportation departments have until Sept. 30 to obligate the highway funding, according to ARTBA. Bridge formula funds can be spent over five years.

Status Report for 2022

The $52.5 billion earmarked for FY 2022 is an increase of more than 20 percent over 2021 for federal highway apportionments.

Distributed annual by FHWA for the Federal-aid Highway Program, the funds are based on a statutory formula contained in the IIJA.

"We are committed to delivering on the promise of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, and putting people to work modernizing our infrastructure and making it safer, more sustainable, and more efficient," said Buttigieg.

Through IIJA's implementation, the Department of Transportation and FHWA believe the apportionments, additional Highway Infrastructure Program monies, and grants will address critical safety and performance needs of America's roads, bridges and highways.

"Today's funding will help reduce the backlog of major repairs for highways and bridges and increase the number of communities that have strategies to reduce traffic deaths and serious injuries," according to a DOT announcement.

Additional funding to be announced in 2022 will contribute to:

fixing up to 10 of the most economically significant bridges and more than 15,000 smaller bridges across the country;

reconnecting as many as 20 communities by removing portions of interstates and redesigning rural main streets; and

spurring the creation of a nationwide network of 500,000 electronic vehicle chargers by 2030.

"Providing states with information on their apportioned funds today is an important first step in using the resources provided in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to make transportation systems across the country safer and more resilient," said Stephanie Pollack, deputy federal highway administrator. "We look forward to working with transportation agencies and the communities they serve to use these resources to build a better America."

DOT explained that Federal-aid Highway Program funds are authorized periodically by Congress in multi-year laws "to assist the states in providing for construction, reconstruction, and improvement of highways and bridges on eligible Federal-aid routes and for other special purpose programs and projects."

The IIJA establishes or continues FHWA programs and authorizes funding for those programs from the Highway Trust Fund.

FHWA is distributing funds through the apportionment process, using a statutory formula to determine the amount available to each state.

The agency also issued obligation limitation, allowing states to commit part of their apportioned funding, for the period through Feb.18, 2022, when the current Continuing Resolution for Federal Fiscal Year 2022 appropriations ended.

"Obligation limitation represents the ability of a state or other entity to enter into a project using Federal funds, with the federal government making a binding promise to pay or reimburse the state or other entity for the Federal share of the project's eligible costs," according to the DOT.

Wish List for 2023

In late March, the Biden administration submitted to Congress its FY 2023 proposed budget. Including $27 billion in guaranteed IIJA advanced appropriations, the DOT reports its total budget will be $142 billion.

The department noted that FY 2023 will be the second year of the implementation of the IIJA, which "provides a once in a generation opportunity to modernize our transportation infrastructure and build the foundation the American people need to compete and win in the 21st Century."

The president's budget makes critical investments in the American people that will help lay a stronger foundation for shared growth and prosperity for generations to come, stated the department.

Advance safety on highways is an aim of the Biden administration, which has earmarked funds accordingly. Some $3 billion is set aside for FHWA's Highway Safety Improvement Program, which seeks to reduce the number of lives lost on our nation's highways, bridges, and roads.

The DOT budget also supports transportation projects designed to lower commute times, improve safety, reduce freight bottlenecks, connect communities and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Those investments include $4 billion for the National Infrastructure Investments grant program to support transportation projects with significant benefits across multiple modes. This figure is $3 billion above the 2021 enacted level.

The budget also earmarks $1.64 billion for the Infrastructure for Rebuilding America grant program, which has a focus on reducing freight and highway bottlenecks. CEG