Tilcon, construction industry holding clothing drive for veterans

Maina Durafour

The Connecticut-born company Tilcon is organizing a clothing drive for veterans, accepting donations at a few of their different locations.

April 21 is the official deadline to bring to one of the four locations professional attire, suits, jackets and slacks for veterans who need these for job interviews. For this drive, they are working with the Connecticut Construction Industry Association to collect from employees and members of the community.

“Throughout the state of Connecticut and also at Tilcon, we have a lot of veterans that work for us in the construction industry,” said Janet Scalise, office manager at Tilcon. “We always try to give back to the veterans.”

According to her, the company is often involved in these charitable events, they previously have done Wreath Across America, but they have also organized food collections and clothing drives for flood victims in South Carolina.

When they came across the opportunity to collect professional clothes for veterans, they decided to work with others and be part of the drive.Scalise said although the drive ends April 21, if someone can’t make it in by that time, they could wait until April 25.

On April 26, all donations will be gathered in one place and brought to a suit company in Manchester to be cleaned and then given.

“We’re working with an organization that will collect all of these clothes, make sure they’re not over worn, they’re in good condition, they’re clean, and then they will distribute them,” she said.

The employees participating in the organization of this drive take time out of both their working and personal hours. Scalise said she has taken the lead on this, making sure all locations were aware of this and shared it on social media, hoping to reach as many people as possible, employees or not.

“One of the large drop-offs that we got at our location in New Britain, it wasn’t even from an employee, it was someone from the community that saw it on social media, called, asked if they could drop off some items and they actually dropped off a whole truckload of clothing,” Scalise said. “It was a retired man that doesn’t work anymore, and he decided to give all of his work clothes to this organization.”

She said her favorite part in doing this is to give back to the veterans and show them respect and recognition for their service for the country.

“Tilcon has over a 100 years in the state of Connecticut and we’re so big, I wanted to create partnerships with our community, be it the veterans, be it Klingberg Family Centers, be it Prudence Crandall Center, which is domestic violence,” Scalise said. “And create a presence in Connecticut, saying ‘all right, not only are we here taking up space and providing roadways and material for that, but we’re also an organization that wants to create partnerships and give back to the community.’”

The drop-off locations for the drive are Tilcon’s New Britain Headquarters, Tilcon’s Newington Office, Tilcon’s Wallingford Scale and Tilcon’s North Branford Scale. People can either call or email Scalise at janet.scalise@tilcon-inc.com for questions.

Work starts to replace West Haven I-95 bridge that carries 145,000 cars a day

Brian Zahn

WEST HAVEN — Work is beginning on a project to replace an Interstate 95 bridge in West Haven, due to be completed by the end of 2027.

In a parking lot beside the bridge at Exit 43, a 0.8-mile stretch of highway in West Haven that travels over 1st Avenue and Metro-North railroad tracks, a coalition of public officials welcomed the start of the $136.5 million construction project on Thursday.

“For anyone who goes southbound between 4 and 6:30 p.m,, you know exactly why we’re standing here today,” said West Haven Mayor Dorinda Borer. "One-hundred and forty-five thousand cars cross this bridge every single day and very often that traffic comes to a halting stop, which is not efficient and certainly increases the opportunity for safety challenges."

Currently, the interchange's short on-ramp is a major contributor to traffic, officials said.

In addition to replacing the bridges, the project includes extending the southbound lane from Exit 44 to create a continuous travel lane, which will ultimately serve as an exit-only lane for Exit 43. There will also be drainage improvements, officials said.

The improvements aim to reduce congestion, help traffic flow better and make the road safer, officials said.

"We often see congestion because the lanes are too short to allow for easy merging," said Department of Transportation Deputy Commissioner Laoise King.

Although bridge construction will require detours and lane closures, Borer said the public feedback has been clear.

"At the end of the day, that public input, they said get this done," she said.

Gov. Ned Lamont said the project will be done "safer, faster and less expensively" by working in phases.

The planned replacement bridge will have a minimum service life of 75 years, the state said.

U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., said 90% of the project is from federal funding and the federal government must maintain its commitment. He said billionaire Elon Musk, an adviser to President Donald Trump, has demonstrated a "slash and thrash" approach to government funding.

"This reconstruction is a very powerful reminder we must maintain that commitment," he said, adding that federal dollars are taxpayer money that is owed to residents for infrastructure upgrades.

Officials also urged motorists to be mindful of work crews as they work on the improvements.

State Rep. Bill Heffernan, D- West Haven, said that as a career fireman he'd spent a lot of time in the area because of how dangerous the interchange is.

"This is the spot where all the accidents happen," he said. "This is a great project."

What's Going On: Big project underway in Stonington

Lee Howard

It's funny how two towns that seem so similar on the surface can be so different in reality.

Take Stonington and Old Lyme, for instance. On the surface, they are similarly wealthy towns with a rich maritime history. But when it comes to development, Old Lyme is much more restrictive and Stonington a bit more commercial.

So perhaps it should be no surprise that one of the most extensive projects in the region just got underway off Route 2 in Pawcatuck, where Old Lyme developer Michael Lech is helping oversee a $50 million-plus plan to build about 500,000 square feet of apartments, retail, offices and commercial spaces expected to make a significant addition to Stonington's tax base while providing a good amount of affordable housing in a village atmosphere.

Meanwhile, Old Lyme residents are vigorously opposing a similar village-design proposal off Halls Road that would provide a small dose of affordable housing in town.

While Lech's massive Stonington Village project on Route 2 gained approval without too much gnashing of teeth, Old Lyme's proposed overlay zone appears to be in trouble even before a specific project is proposed.

Part of the issue in Old Lyme is that the new zone would be very close to Lyme Street, perhaps competing with the traditional town center. But many people think the real problem is the specter of affordable housing in Old Lyme, which always draws concerns about the effect on nearby property values, even if the opposition is couched in other terms.

There's no such problem in this part of Stonington, though, since it is already a pretty commercial area far removed from Stonington Borough and Mystic, with a McDonald's restaurant and a Stop & Shop supermarket already sited nearby. Lech said he's more than halfway through the demolition of a movie theater that will clear the way for the project to get under way in earnest starting sometime in May.

"There's a lot of activity on Route 2 right now," Lech, head of READCO Property Management LLC, told me in a phone interview from the construction site Wednesday.

Lech's company has combined forces with Trio Properties LLC of Glastonbury to complete Stonington Village, the first phase of which should be ready in a little over a year. They held a ribbon cutting last month with development partners Colliers Engineering & Design, KBE Building Corporation and Liberty Bank to celebrate the project's beginning phase with dignitaries including U.S. Rep. Joe Courtney, D-2nd District, and U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn.

Stonington Village is a designated Neighborhood Design District that attempts to promote designs that enhance walkability and encourages the combination residential, commercial, and recreational spaces. It is one of only five such districts in Stonington (visit www.re4.com for information).

In Lech's telling, the approval process in Stonington was a happy collaboration, thanks to the town Planning & Zoning Commission's clear guidelines emphasizing the importance of protecting groundwater and building something aesthetically pleasing

"The impact of this is going to be tremendous," Lech said. "We really like the market over there."

Lech cited a new warehouse being planned down the road by General Dynamics, as well as the site's easy access to downtown Westerly, which appears to be a small city on the rise, with lots of interesting shops and restaurants as well as a younger vibe.

"We're actually looking for more opportunities in that part of southeastern Connecticut that we think is on the rise," he said. "We want to set the standard for the whole area."

When completed, Stonington Village at 465 Liberty St. will include 232 apartments along with a clubhouse and outdoor pool, fitness center, patio, dog run, hiking trails, a fire pit, mail room, pickleball courts and a golf simulator. Spread throughout the 22 acres there also will be retail along the street as well as an office building. Twenty percent of the apartment buildings will be "workforce accessible," meaning priced moderately for the market, which in Stonington would be at least $2,000 a month, according to rental listings.

Lech said he would start taking requests for apartments next month, but hadn't yet finalized the rental price points. He said renters were expected to be an eclectic group, including Electric Boat engineers, empty nesters and young professionals.

Meanwhile, stay tuned to the Halls Road controversy, which recently brought out more than 500 townspeople for a public hearing. Driving through town, signs are out everywhere saying "Overlay? No way!"

Mostly, people seem worried about the potential scale of the project. But those who support the village overlay zone to create a more attractive, walkable commercial district may want to keep an eye on Stonington Village to point to the positives of a development that has the potential to create a more Lyme Street-like atmosphere on Halls Road while offering more options for workers to find places to live.

Plainfield opposing plans for a trash to energy plant in a residential zone

Alison Cross

Plainfield — Local opposition is growing against a proposed trash-to-energy plant that would process 1,800 tons of solid waste per day on an 81-acre parcel within a residential zone.

Taking to local Facebook groups, residents aired their frustrations and concerns after receiving invitations this week to a May 7 public information meeting at Town Hall to discuss the construction of a “first-in-the-country, next-generation Municipal Solid Waste management, recycling and power generation complex” in their neighborhood.

In the letters, addressed to residents “near the intersection of Norwich Road and Black Hill Road,” Attorney Lee Hoffman of Pullman & Comley said his client Smart Technology Systems, LLC is in the process of submitting project applications to the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection.

Hoffman said the plant would produce roughly 45 megawatts of electric power each day by recycling refuse-derived fuel and “recycled commodities.” Hoffman said the project would include a “bulk waste handling facility for material separation, a gasification system, anaerobic digester, boiler system and steam turbine generator for electric generation.”

The project’s manager, William Corvo of Smart Technology Systems did not respond to a request to comment.

The proposal comes at a time when the state is seeking solutions to its waste crisis.

According to a 2024 report from the DEEP, 40% of the state's municipal solid waste is being shipped out of state for disposal, raising costs for consumers as the state’s aging infrastructure fails to keep pace with local needs.

Karla Desjardins, the chairwoman of the Planning and Zoning Commission, said Wednesday that the state “should not be sacrificing residential neighborhoods, conservation (and) preservation” to resolve its trash problem.

Desjardins said approval of the trash plant is up to the Connecticut Siting Council. She explained that the proposal is out of the town’s control after the commission denied a request to rezone the property for industrial use in 2023.

While Desjardins said that the commission “will have no decision or authority on this project” she said it still has “a role to play” in future Siting Council decisions.

At a meeting Tuesday night, the commission unanimously voted to draft an advisory letter to the Siting Council opposing the project based on the property’s background and the town’s plan for conservation and development.

“One of the big concerns was that you would be putting a pretty intense industrial use in the middle of incredible residential properties,” Desjardins said, explaining that the site of the proposed plant “is surrounded on all sides by residential properties.”

She said the surrounding area is also home to nesting bald eagles, an aquifer protection zone, the Quinebaug Valley State Trout Hatchery, Cedar Swamp, and the Sugarbrook Field Trial Area.

Desjardins said the proposed location is classified as an RA-60, low-density residential zone. She said the area is identified in the town’s Plan of Conservation and Development as land intended for preservation, residential and agricultural purposes — not commercial and industrial use.

“The state shouldn't override our plan for our town,” Desjardins said.

On Nov. 13, 2023, the commission unanimously denied an industrial rezoning application for the proposed incinerator plant after several residents raised quality-of-life concerns, including potential impacts on the environment, drinking water, health, traffic, noise and property values.

In its rationale, the commission added that the current owners received a gravel excavation permit for the property with the intent to restore “the land back to original habitat for wildlife.” The commission felt “rezoning for industrial development moves away from that goal,” according to the meeting minutes.

On Tuesday, commission member John “Bart” Haskell said the commission has not waivered in its stance on the plant since the 2023 vote.

“That position has not changed, and I think the presence here tonight signifies that our decision at the time was correct,” Haskell said. “I would prefer that we err on the side of caution, come out strong, submit our letter, and make our case, because I understand the siting council can make a determination without our input — I don't want to leave the table without input.”