CT Construction Digest Friday April 3, 2020
City Hall restoration work continues in New London
Greg Smith
New London — The general public is not allowed into City Hall these days but that hasn’t slowed construction activity.
Work crews have spent the better part of two months in the century-old State Street building performing restoration and repair work.
Otis Elevator is working to rehabilitate a broken elevator, while separate crews are restoring historical areas of the third and first floors. Skilled tradesmen and construction companies are exempt from the governor's executive order requiring the closure of nonessential businesses to slow the spread of the coronavirus.
The broken elevator, the only handicapped-accessible way to reach Council Chambers on the third floor, led the council and other boards and commission to shift their meetings to other venues late last year. That was before the coronavirus pandemic moved meetings online.
Tom Bombria, community & economic development project coordinator, said work to rehabilitate the elevator should be completed by the second week of April. He anticipates the work to be $60,000 less than an initial $250,000 estimate.
Valley Restoration was contracted for the work on the third floor and partnered with plaster and painting experts John Canning Company for repair of damaged and deteriorating plaster in the Council Chambers, chamber lobby, anteroom adjacent to Council Chambers and a council office.
There is also work to reopen a first-floor room that will be used as a conference room.
Other work involves restoration of the cork flooring and woodwork, asbestos abatement and electrical work.
Workers also will be painting. Research by Canning had uncovered the original color of the Council Chambers walls when the building was constructed in 1912. Bombria said painters revealed the color in a 14-foot swatch painted on the wall.
It was not a hit. “Way too much mustard,” was one response, Bombria joked. The color has since been tweaked a bit.
Xerox was contracted to work with the city’s informational technology staff to develop a scope for updated video and audio equipment in Council Chambers. The city is getting estimates for HVAC work in the chambers and restoration of historical murals in the anteroom.
The City Council in December approved $425,600 for the repairs. Bombria said that work appears to be under budget.
A consultant for the city is now completing an application to the State Historic Preservation Office to determine eligibility for up to $500,000 toward the work.
The City Council in 2015 authorized $3 million toward City Hall restorations, though an initial estimate proved to be too costly for all the work to be completed at the same time, as was planned. The city has since been chipping away at different projects.
Work left to be done includes lighting upgrades, expansion of the city clerk’s vault, bathroom renovations and finish work.
Felix Reyes, director of the city’s Office of Development and Planning, said the work on the Council Chambers is impressive.
“I’m confident in saying what we’re doing there is putting together something pretty spectacular,” Reyes said. “When the chamber is completed, we will have a meeting place New London will be proud of for generations.”
Old Lyme water main projects put on pause
Mary Biekert
Old Lyme — The Connecticut Water Company announced this week it is suspending water main projects in the Sound View and Wildwood neighborhoods in response to Gov. Ned Lamont’s ‘Stay Safe, Stay Home’ orders issued in March.
The projects, which began last month, had outlined bringing new water lines to several beach communities in town this year, including Old Lyme Shores. The company recently completed improvements in the White Sand Beach area.
The plan was to install full-depth water main lines to replace seasonal shallow-depth lines that are, in some cases, more than 90 years old. The improvements would allow for consistent, year-round water supply to hundreds of homes — many of which only receive water seasonally, Connecticut Water had told The Day last month. The project was planned as part of the company's merger with San Jose Water and was set to be completed by the end of 2020.
The company did not specify when project work would begin again but said in a news release that it would notify residents when work is set to resume.
Connecticut Water will continue to perform essential construction activity, such as repair of water main breaks and tasks needed to continue to provide a reliable supply of safe drinking water to customers and the community. Included are critical maintenance tasks, such as water main flushing.
Though not related, the water line projects were planned to coincide with sewer projects taking place in several beach neighborhoods, including Miami Beach, Old Lyme Shores Beach and Old Colony Beach associations — all chartered neighborhoods considered independent municipalities — and the town in Sound View. Those projects tentatively are scheduled to begin later this year, and it is not yet clear whether they will be delayed.
CT maintains funds for transportation, port development, amidst pandemic
Keith Phaneuf
State government will put its credit card to work next week for the first time since the coronavirus pandemic hit Connecticut.
And while the State Bond Commission will consider $5 million for emergency supplies for state and municipal public health agencies, most of the $1 billion in new financing is aimed at transportation infrastructure, economic development and long overdue municipal aid.
The meeting of the 10-member panel, which is chaired by Gov. Ned Lamont, will meet next Wednesday via teleconference at 1 p.m. The proceeding also will be aired and streamed on The Connecticut Network, the state’s public access cable channel.
“Even during this unprecedented pandemic, state government and its operations must continue to operate, and the state has an obligation to ensure proper investments are being made, and the timing could not be more crucial,” Chris McClure, spokesman for the governor’s budget office, said Wednesday.
The commission agenda also includes $30 million to support ongoing efforts to transform the port of New London into the green energy capital of the Northeast.
Lamont announced on Feb. 11 that the authority had reached a deal with Eversource and its Denmark-based partner, Ørsted North America, to develop an offshore wind turbine farm expected to create 400 jobs and generate as much as 4,000 megawatt hours of electricity. Part of that initiative includes redesigning State Pier and the surrounding area in New London into a heavy-lift capable port that can accommodate wind generation equipment and other related cargo.
The bond commission also is expected to release more than $106 million in grants to cities and towns — some of which is nine months overdue.
The agenda includes the first $30 million installment of this fiscal year’s $60 million Town Aid Road grant.
The funds, which help communities pay for road repairs, tree-clearing and snow removal, normally is delivered in two installments: half in July and half in January.
The governor, who first asked for tolls on all vehicles and then shifted to large trucks only, had insisted he wouldn’t support a new two-year bond plan until the tolls issued was settled. But Lamont relented in February, conceding legislators would not order tolls. The governor and General Assembly finally agreed on a new two-year bond package on March 11.
Next week’s commission agenda does include the full $76 million pledged to towns this fiscal year through an omnibus public works grant.
Funding for a third bonded grant, $30 million for the Local Capital Improvement Program, is not on the agenda.
Greg Smith
New London — The general public is not allowed into City Hall these days but that hasn’t slowed construction activity.
Work crews have spent the better part of two months in the century-old State Street building performing restoration and repair work.
Otis Elevator is working to rehabilitate a broken elevator, while separate crews are restoring historical areas of the third and first floors. Skilled tradesmen and construction companies are exempt from the governor's executive order requiring the closure of nonessential businesses to slow the spread of the coronavirus.
The broken elevator, the only handicapped-accessible way to reach Council Chambers on the third floor, led the council and other boards and commission to shift their meetings to other venues late last year. That was before the coronavirus pandemic moved meetings online.
Tom Bombria, community & economic development project coordinator, said work to rehabilitate the elevator should be completed by the second week of April. He anticipates the work to be $60,000 less than an initial $250,000 estimate.
Valley Restoration was contracted for the work on the third floor and partnered with plaster and painting experts John Canning Company for repair of damaged and deteriorating plaster in the Council Chambers, chamber lobby, anteroom adjacent to Council Chambers and a council office.
There is also work to reopen a first-floor room that will be used as a conference room.
Other work involves restoration of the cork flooring and woodwork, asbestos abatement and electrical work.
Workers also will be painting. Research by Canning had uncovered the original color of the Council Chambers walls when the building was constructed in 1912. Bombria said painters revealed the color in a 14-foot swatch painted on the wall.
It was not a hit. “Way too much mustard,” was one response, Bombria joked. The color has since been tweaked a bit.
Xerox was contracted to work with the city’s informational technology staff to develop a scope for updated video and audio equipment in Council Chambers. The city is getting estimates for HVAC work in the chambers and restoration of historical murals in the anteroom.
The City Council in December approved $425,600 for the repairs. Bombria said that work appears to be under budget.
A consultant for the city is now completing an application to the State Historic Preservation Office to determine eligibility for up to $500,000 toward the work.
The City Council in 2015 authorized $3 million toward City Hall restorations, though an initial estimate proved to be too costly for all the work to be completed at the same time, as was planned. The city has since been chipping away at different projects.
Work left to be done includes lighting upgrades, expansion of the city clerk’s vault, bathroom renovations and finish work.
Felix Reyes, director of the city’s Office of Development and Planning, said the work on the Council Chambers is impressive.
“I’m confident in saying what we’re doing there is putting together something pretty spectacular,” Reyes said. “When the chamber is completed, we will have a meeting place New London will be proud of for generations.”
Old Lyme water main projects put on pause
Mary Biekert
Old Lyme — The Connecticut Water Company announced this week it is suspending water main projects in the Sound View and Wildwood neighborhoods in response to Gov. Ned Lamont’s ‘Stay Safe, Stay Home’ orders issued in March.
The projects, which began last month, had outlined bringing new water lines to several beach communities in town this year, including Old Lyme Shores. The company recently completed improvements in the White Sand Beach area.
The plan was to install full-depth water main lines to replace seasonal shallow-depth lines that are, in some cases, more than 90 years old. The improvements would allow for consistent, year-round water supply to hundreds of homes — many of which only receive water seasonally, Connecticut Water had told The Day last month. The project was planned as part of the company's merger with San Jose Water and was set to be completed by the end of 2020.
The company did not specify when project work would begin again but said in a news release that it would notify residents when work is set to resume.
Connecticut Water will continue to perform essential construction activity, such as repair of water main breaks and tasks needed to continue to provide a reliable supply of safe drinking water to customers and the community. Included are critical maintenance tasks, such as water main flushing.
Though not related, the water line projects were planned to coincide with sewer projects taking place in several beach neighborhoods, including Miami Beach, Old Lyme Shores Beach and Old Colony Beach associations — all chartered neighborhoods considered independent municipalities — and the town in Sound View. Those projects tentatively are scheduled to begin later this year, and it is not yet clear whether they will be delayed.
CT maintains funds for transportation, port development, amidst pandemic
Keith Phaneuf
State government will put its credit card to work next week for the first time since the coronavirus pandemic hit Connecticut.
And while the State Bond Commission will consider $5 million for emergency supplies for state and municipal public health agencies, most of the $1 billion in new financing is aimed at transportation infrastructure, economic development and long overdue municipal aid.
The meeting of the 10-member panel, which is chaired by Gov. Ned Lamont, will meet next Wednesday via teleconference at 1 p.m. The proceeding also will be aired and streamed on The Connecticut Network, the state’s public access cable channel.
“Even during this unprecedented pandemic, state government and its operations must continue to operate, and the state has an obligation to ensure proper investments are being made, and the timing could not be more crucial,” Chris McClure, spokesman for the governor’s budget office, said Wednesday.
Among the projects earmarked for funding are:
- Widening of Interstate 84 in southwestern Connecticut between exits 3 and 8;
- Continued improvements to the “Mixmaster” interchange of I-84 and Route 8;
- And the purchase of 72 new rail cars for the Shoreline East line.
The commission agenda also includes $30 million to support ongoing efforts to transform the port of New London into the green energy capital of the Northeast.
Lamont announced on Feb. 11 that the authority had reached a deal with Eversource and its Denmark-based partner, Ørsted North America, to develop an offshore wind turbine farm expected to create 400 jobs and generate as much as 4,000 megawatt hours of electricity. Part of that initiative includes redesigning State Pier and the surrounding area in New London into a heavy-lift capable port that can accommodate wind generation equipment and other related cargo.
Municipalities get long overdue state aid — but not all
The bond commission also is expected to release more than $106 million in grants to cities and towns — some of which is nine months overdue.
The agenda includes the first $30 million installment of this fiscal year’s $60 million Town Aid Road grant.
The funds, which help communities pay for road repairs, tree-clearing and snow removal, normally is delivered in two installments: half in July and half in January.
This grant, along with other aid financed with bonding, was held up since last summer as Lamont battled with legislators over whether to adopt highway tolls.
The governor, who first asked for tolls on all vehicles and then shifted to large trucks only, had insisted he wouldn’t support a new two-year bond plan until the tolls issued was settled. But Lamont relented in February, conceding legislators would not order tolls. The governor and General Assembly finally agreed on a new two-year bond package on March 11.
Next week’s commission agenda does include the full $76 million pledged to towns this fiscal year through an omnibus public works grant.
Funding for a third bonded grant, $30 million for the Local Capital Improvement Program, is not on the agenda.
Other items on next week’s bond commission agenda include:
- $37.5 million for various state agencies for information technology improvements;
- $31 million for clean drinking water projects.