Greenwich's Glenville road improvement delayed again after bids came in more than $1M over budget

Andy Blye

GREENWICH — Officials have been talking about fixing up some of the intersections in Glenville for eight years, but the project is on hold again because construction costs have gone up.

The Department of Public Works was planning to start the work this year, but bids have come in more than $1 million over budget, officials said, which has caused them to shift the timeline back.

“We went out to bid with the intent to start this spring, but the bids came in too high and we do not have enough funding to award the contract,” DPW spokeswoman Renee Wallace said in an email. 

The project is supposed to stretch from Glenville Street, at the entrance of the former home of Stop & Shop, past the Glenville Fire Station and Glenville Pizza, to the intersection of Glenville Road and Weaver Street, according to the project website.

Crews will upgrade the traffic signals, add a new signal at the intersection of Pemberwick Road and Glenville Road, widen some lanes, add sidewalks and more, depending on discussions with the state Department of Transportation.

“DPW is in the process of coordinating a meeting with CTDOT," Wallace said. "DPW will have a better indication of the next steps after meeting with CTDOT.”

Greenwich appropriated $3 million for the Glenville corridor work when it set its budget in 2021. Some $2 million of that amount would be reimbursed through a federal Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality Program grant administrated by the state that the town received in 2016.

The project was first delayed because of the COVID-19 pandemic and then further held up after residents objected to the removal of mature trees along the roadway. The town said it would remove six trees but plant six new ones when the project went before the Planning and Zoning Commission in 2022.

DPW deputy commissioner Jim Michel told the Board of Estimate and Taxation that the upgrade is a priority project, but they are struggling to get the project done with the budget they’ve been given.

“We’ve gone back out to bid a couple times on this and each time the bids are not getting any better,” he said on Jan. 17. “We've really tried to downgrade the scope of the project in the past and try to meet the ($3 million) number that we've been told that we don't want to go above, but we're getting to a point where we're not sure that we're going to be able to do that project with that number.”

Michel spoke about the project again during a budget meeting on Feb. 6 and said “in reality, we need more money” to get the project done. 

Additional funds could come from the state or from the town. There is no additional funding for the Glenville corridor project in the town’s budget proposal for the coming fiscal year.

The Democratic Town Committee said that First Selectman Fred Camillo had reneged on a campaign promise of starting the work this year by not including more funding for the project in his budget request.

“How is it that a town of Greenwich’s means, which boasts the second lowest mill rate and richest property tax base in Connecticut, can’t fund an eight-year-old plan to improve safety along a major traffic corridor?” the DTC wrote in its Feb. 15 newsletter. “Why didn’t Fred Camillo follow through on his campaign promise?”

Camillo said in rebuttal that the DTC’s characterization of the situation is “completely inaccurate” and he noted that he asked for $150,000 to build a new sidewalk on nearby Weaver Street in his budget proposal. He also said that he will pursue additional funding for the larger corridor work with the BET if that is necessary.

Simsbury rejects 432-unit housing development proposal at The Hartford's former campus

Natasha Sokoloff

SIMSBURY — After months of back and forth on a massive development proposed at the former site of The Hartford insurance company, the Zoning Commission voted to reject a project that would have included 432 rental units.

The decision on Wednesday comes as a win to the many residents who had passionately voiced their opposition at numerous public hearings, saying that the construction of the project on Hopmeadow Street would ruin the area's rural character and was not needed or wanted in town.

First pitched over last summer by New Jersey-based developer the Silverman Group, the project was scaled down over the course of several meetings, reduced from 580 housing units, and modified to add commercial space and restaurant among other changes based on town and public input.

But commission members said Wednesday that these revisions were still not in line with what they pictured for the site subject to the Hartford-Simsbury Form-Based Code, which outlines specific requirements that the applicant must meet in terms of how they should be developing that parcel of land, and rejected it on that basis.

The purpose of the code is to encourage the reuse of what the town calls the "South Hartford site" for office, technology, health care, and support services with a mix of complementary uses, including housing, retail offices, commercial services, and supporting long-term attractiveness for both employment uses and neighborhood uses. The North Hartford site" has already been developed into a housing complex called The Ridge at Talcott Mountain.

Because the Silverman Group's proposal as revised remains overwhelmingly a residential project, it simply does not go far enough in establishing the integrated mixed-use redevelopment of the South Hartford site and achieving the vibrant community that the town envisioned, according to the draft denial.

“We have a round project trying to be fit into a square space," said alternate commission member David Moore. "It doesn't work."

But commission member Tucker Salls disagreed with the other members and urged them to still consider the proposal.

"I'll remind the commission that we are in a housing crisis," Salls said during the meeting.

He said while most of the concerns brought up, like impact on the environment, schools, and traffic, should be considered, they should be thinking about all of those issues in the context of Simsbury’s need for more housing.

Simsbury’s current affordable housing stock is at 5.1 percent.

But other members said they still couldn’t support the project in its current state.

“I think the developer did make a significant move from the initial application to the revised application. And my hope was that there would be a further revision,” said Vice Chairman Tony Braz.

The commission voted 5-1 to reject the proposal, but the Silverman Group still owns the land on Hopmeadow Street. Commission Chairman Bruce Elliott said Wednesday night he hoped to see them come back with a proposal that was more consistent with the zoning code.

Loading dock takes center stage as contractors tour Garde Arts Center expansion project

John Penney

New London ― A two-pronged plan to reconfigure Governor Winthrop Boulevard and renovate the Garde Arts Center’s loading area took a step forward Thursday as contractors toured the future construction site.

The site walk attracted representatives of several development companies interested in tackling one or both parts of the projects. Though the road and theater projects are being bid separately, city officials said they hoped the same contractor will be awarded both jobs.

The goal of the project is to expand space behind the 325 State St. theater to make it easier for touring productions to load and unload gear, costumes and large set pieces.

Garde Executive Director Steve Sigel said he hopes the expanded loading space will lead to more diverse acts coming to New London.

“Over time, shows have gotten bigger, even musical events with their new technology,” he said. “And those acts look at ease of access before deciding to go to a venue. These projects will make those national tours take New London more seriously.”

The narrowness of the boulevard currently precludes direct backstage loading, Sigel said. The building renovation work will transform a rolling rear door into a true loading dock with space for large trucks to enter and unload inside.

“We’re basically taking one lane of the street and creating an off-stage dock platform,” Sigel said. “In the past we’ve had to hire forklifts since there’s no ramp there now.”

The city plans to deed to the theater about 23 feet of municipal property abutting the rear section of the playhouse extending out into Governor Winthrop Boulevard, city Public Works Director Brian Sear said.

Crews will be tasked with realigning roughly 250 feet of the street by adding a new sidewalk and curbing, removing a grass median strip and eliminating parking on the theater side of the road. The opposite boulevard lanes running toward Huntington Street will be narrowed.

The work will require shifting several underground utility lines and removing the left turn lane at the intersection of Union Street. A median running near that intersection will be widened and landscaped.

A portion of a $2.7 million state Communities Challenge Grant funding, which the city received to boost downtown projects, will be used for the theater work. In order to receive the grant, the theater is required to provide $1 million in matching funds.

The road project, which Sear said will not necessitate traffic detours, is expected to be paid with infrastructure bond money recently approved by the City Council. There was no cost estimate for that work.

City Engineering Technician Tom Quintin told the group of contractors Thursday he envisions an “aggressive” project schedule with the road work beginning within weeks of a bid award and all phases of construction completed before October.

The Garde and the city are scheduled to open bids for the work on March 15.

Torrington apartment complex getting $16M renovation

SLOAN BREWSTER 

TORRINGTON – More than $16 million in state financing has been earmarked to renovate the 55-year-old Northside Terraces apartment complex at 4 Terrace Drive.

Northside Terraces LLC will get $4 million in state Department of Housing financing, $12.08 million in Connecticut Housing Finance Authority financing and 4% in low-income housing tax credits that will attract approximately $8.3 million in equity proceeds, according to a release from the two state agencies issued Thursday.

Kristin Anderson, senior development project manager for The Community Builders, said renovations at Northside Terraces – a six-building, 92-unit complex built in 1968 – started in January and include updating apartments with new kitchens, bathrooms and flooring, and converting 10 units so they are fully compliant with the American with Disabilities Act.

“So that’s a really great upgrade,” Anderson said, noting work will be completed by July 2025.

Some of the units that will be renovated have been occupied by the same residents since 1970, she said.

“Most of our residents have been there for a very long time,” Anderson said.

People stay because of the location behind Torrington High School and the affordability, she said.

“I think it’s just a really nice community,” Anderson said. “It’s a very nice, sort of quiet neighborhood. … Families can afford to stay there, raise their kids there and then as their kids move out, they stay there.”

The work includes significant remediation, Anderson said. Similar to other buildings constructed in the late 1960s, Northside Terrace has a number of environmental issues, including polychlorinated biphenyls. The owner is working with the EPA to do the PCB abatement, she said.

The project also includes constructing a community room attached to one of the buildings on the campus, where residents will be able to gather for parties and meetings.

Anderson said getting the funding to start construction has been a 10-year effort. She credited the property’s former owner, nonprofit John Kelly Housing, as the visionary.

Mayor Elinor C. Carbone said she has been to Northside Terraces with former Director of Economic Development Rista Malanca and State Rep. Michelle L. Cook, D-Torrington, a number of times to offer support for the project.

“It’s a great opportunity for an apartment complex that is getting a little tired, and certainly will benefit from a facelift and some infrastructure improvements,” Carbone said.