CT Construction Digest Monday February 14, 2022
The ambitious plan to transform an aging New London pier into a hub for Connecticut’s offshore wind industry has long been besieged by delays and ballooning costs.
When Gov. Ned Lamont’s administration announced in 2019 that it had reached a harbor development agreement to redevelop the dilapidated State Pier, the initial price tag was $93 million, and officials aimed to complete it by March 2022.
Now, the project remains a year from completion, its estimated cost has swelled by 250%, and it has drawn the attention of federal investigators looking into spending projects overseen by Konstantinos Diamantis, the former deputy secretary of the Office of Policy and Management, who was fired by Lamont last year.
In October, the U.S. Attorney’s office in New Haven served a federal grand jury subpoena to the Lamont administration, requesting all communication dating to Jan. 1, 2018, connected to Diamantis’s involvement with school construction projects, hazardous materials abatement projects and the State Pier project.
The redevelopment of State Pier — which sits a few miles upstream from the mouth of the Thames River — involves dredging the surrounding riverbed and filling in the space between two existing piers to create a much larger area with upgraded heavy-lift capacity.
The new pier will be used to construct and stage wind turbines for Revolution Wind, Connecticut’s first offshore wind farm, as well as South Fork Wind and Sunrise Wind. Backed by a joint venture of Eversource and the Danish wind energy company Ørsted, the three projects will collectively provide enough clean energy to power more than one million homes in Connecticut, Rhode Island and New York.
For New London Mayor Michael Passero, the State Pier project represents “the first real opportunity for this harbor and that pier to be successful,” promising a slew of new jobs and economic stability for New London’s next generation of residents.
But over the past few years, delays, rising costs and claims of impropriety at the Connecticut Port Authority have tarnished the project’s shine.
In 2019, Diamantis was designated as the Lamont administration’s “point person” for the project, heading a team composed of OPM and Department of Administrative Services employees that “oversaw the procurement and construction activities and awarding of contracts,” David Kooris, chairman of the Connecticut Port Authority — a quasi-public agency that oversees the state’s ports — said in a statement.
“The thinking at the time was, he’s probably the most experienced in construction management in the administration, so adding the pier duties to his other duties seemed to make sense,” state Sen. Paul Formica, an East Lyme Republican, said of Diamantis. “But I guess there’s been some question as to how he conducted business.”
During a February 2020 press conference in which Lamont announced a final agreement on the harbor development plan, he painted a vision of a “a world-class port for the next hundred years” in New London. Referencing Diamantis, he said, “Now Kosta’s got to deliver the goods.”
Diamantis assured the crowd that the project would be on time and on budget.
“I’m very familiar with this particular project,” he said. “It’s a $157 million dollar project. There are no overruns in this project.”
But the project estimates continued to grow, rising from an initial estimate of $93 million to $235.5 million. Meanwhile, delays in obtaining required permits pushed the project deadlines further back.
“We were all very concerned about what was going on because we felt the oversight was not there and the costs were exploding,” state Sen. Cathy Osten, a Sprague Democrat, said of the project. “It seemed like every six months there was an increase in cost.”
Other issues abounded. At the start of the redevelopment project, Passero said that he initially felt “betrayed” by agreements between the Port Authority and other companies over the State Pier, which left New London in the dark.
“That was at the height of when the Port Authority had been operating in secret,” he said. “A lot of the trouble they’re in now stems from the actions taken then. The city was one of the victims.”
Eventually, though, Passero secured a host community agreement with Ørsted and Eversource, in which the city will receive $750,000 per year over a seven-year period.
As far as the federal investigation into Diamantis, Passero said he does not expect it to stall the project, saying, “Nobody really knows what they’re fishing for.”
Kooris said that the Connecticut Port Authority had not been contacted by, or received any requests for documents from, the U.S. Attorney’s Office investigating Diamantis.
Yet the Connecticut Port Authority has also been under increased scrutiny recently, following a report released from the State Contracting Standards Board alleging that the Port Authority did not have the authority to enter into a public-private partnership for the pier redevelopment and has “no accountability or transparency measures in place” for its procurement policy.
“We’re extremely disappointed in questionable dealings with the Connecticut Port Authority and possibly some school projects,” state Rep. Anthony Nolan, a New London Democrat, said, referencing school projects that Diamantis was involved in overseeing.
Legislators representing the region said last week that as the State Pier project develops, they are keeping a close eye on the Connecticut Port Authority, in light of past issues.
“I am a proponent of offshore wind,” Formica said. “I am an opponent of the shenanigans going on at the Port Authority.”
Following the release of the report from the State Contracting Standards Board, state Sen. Heather Somers, a Groton Republican, blasted the Port Authority, questioning “why a quasi-public entity cannot follow its own procedures” and noting that the organization has had longstanding issues with transparency.
“This is more than just not following simple procedures,” she said in a statement. “This is about a few individuals entrusted with millions of taxpayers’ money, making crucial decisions which have long-term impact on our region and entire state.”
Proponents of the project say that the redevelopment of State Pier still holds great potential to bolster the Connecticut shoreline, positioning it to be at the forefront of renewable energy ventures in the Northeast. The only question is whether that vision can be executed.
“None of us are concerned about the mission of the project; we believe in wind energy,” Osten said. “We want to make sure it’s done right because it will impact a whole region.”
When the town of Tolland realized it had to build a new, $46 million elementary school three years ago, Kostas Diamantis, then a politically-influential, top state official, took control of the project.
Diamantis told the town who they were to hire as general contractor and the consultant the town was to hire as its owner’s representative on the project, according to four town officials closely involved the project. If the town objected, Diamantis replied that it could cost them millions in state financing, the officials said.
Superintendent of Schools Walter Willet said that Diamantis “routinely emphasized there would be detrimental effects to the project if Tolland were to chose contractors or consultants other than” those he chose.
When unanticipated expenses drove the cost of the Birch Grove Primary School up 8 percent or more, Diamantis told the town not to worry. Under an emergency declaration that exempted the project from bidding and other customary contracting requirements, Diamantis arranged for the state to pay the unanticipated costs, in addition to the financing his office was providing for the overall project, project records show.
One of those unanticipated costs in Tolland was a jump from $1 million to $9 million for the price of temporary, portable classrooms to be used while the school was being built. When Tolland no longer needed the portables, Diamantis pressed Danbury to buy or lease them for a school building project there, according to an exchange of text messages between Diamantis and a Danbury engineer.
When the Danbury engineer did not act on Diamantis’s instructions and begin talks with D’Amato Construction, which provided the portable classrooms to Tolland, Diamantis implied the state emergency certification that would expedite the Danbury project might be at risk, according to the text messages obtained by The Courant through a public records request.
“Hello my friend,” Diamantis texted on April 28. “No more emergency in Danbury, you guys are all good?? I drive people nuts on these portables, etc. Then I don’t hear from you or anybody.”
Diamantis’s lawyer, Norm Pattis, said he had no immediate comment.
“I need to know more,” Pattis said. “This certainly raises questions. We are willing to answer them when he understand the complete context.”
Tolland’s new Birch Grove school opened last year. Danbury’s ambitious high school project on the site of the former Union Carbide headquarters is still in planning. Both are now points on interest in an expansive federal investigation that appears from public records to be centered on Diamantis, who Gov. Ned Lamont fired on Oct. 28, a week after his administration was served with a federal grand jury subpoena that alerted it to the investigation.
As deputy secretary of the Office of Policy and Management, Diamantis ran a budget office that distributed hundreds of millions of state dollars on a variety of projects that included state-financed public school construction and conversion of the State Pier in New London to a hub for offshore wind energy development.
The federal subpoena demanded all records since 2018 “involving Konstantinos Diamantis, concerning: (1) the planning, bidding, awarding, and implementation (including the construction process) of school construction projects; (2) the planning, bidding, awarding and implementation of hazardous materials abatement projects; and (3) the Connecticut State Pier infrastructure improvements project.”
Correspondence associated with the subpoena indicates federal investigators are interested in records that document state decision-making and spending on dozens of pricey school projects, including Tolland’s, that stretch from Fairfield County in the state’s southeast corner to Windham County in the northeast.
Federal prosecutors have asked the state to search specifically for records pertaining to three contractors on the Tolland school: D’Amato Construction, JCJ Architecture in Hartford, and Construction Advocacy Professionals of Moosup, the owners representative known as CAP that Tolland was instructed to hire. The subpoena also asks the state for records about other construction-related businesses involved in school projects elsewhere in the state.
Attorney Craig Raabe, who represents Antonietta DiBenedetto Roy, owner of Construction Advocacy Professionals, declined comment. JCJ architects didn’t respond to messages seeking comment.
In Tolland, Willett said the town was forced to replace Birch Grove School after an insurer determined the school foundation had been poured with concrete that contained pyrrhotite, a mineral that causes cement to erode and crumble. Willett said he consulted with Diamantis, whose duties included director of the Office of School Construction and Grants.
On Jan. 16, 2019, Willett asked the state to declare Birch Grove an emergency project, which would waive the requirement for competitive bidding. Two days later, Melody Currey, then commissioner of the Department of Administrative Services, granted the request in a letter that concluded, “If you have any questions, please call Kosta Diamantis, office of school construction grants and review.”
Willet told The Courant on Thursday in a statement, “In meetings with State officials, I was introduced to consultants for the State, including D’Amato Construction, JCJ Architects, and Antoinette DiBenedetto from Construction Advocacy Professionals (CAP). As the reimbursement rates were established and Tolland had a successful referendum supporting the project, the bidding process was waived by both the State and the Town.
“While Tolland had some input into the selection of JCJ, the architect, representatives of the Town and the Board felt they had no real choice as to CAP and D’Amato because Mr. Diamantis routinely emphasized there would be detrimental effects to the project if Tolland chose contractors or consultants other than CAP or D’Amato. For example, he stressed that if we did not use D’Amato or CAP it would be unlikely that the project would finish on time and there could be other related financial implications to the project,” Willet said.
Willett said the state agreed to finance the project by reimbursing Tolland for 89% of the cost of the building and 100 percent of the cost of the portable classrooms. When the price of the portables jumped $8 million, Diamantis agreed to pay it.
“To the extent that Tolland’s cost projection of $9,000,000 accurately reflects final eligible project costs, you can forecast a state grant based on that figure,” Diamantis wrote Willett in a June 17, 2019, letter.
It is difficult to determine just what caused the increase in the portable classroom costs.
The state has not responded to a request more than three weeks ago by The Courant for project records. Tolland records show D’Amato leased the classrooms from WillScot, a Phoenix-based national supplier of portable buildings. The town records also show that Tolland paid about $9.7 million for the classrooms — $8.937 million of that to D’Amato — and was reimbursed the full amount by the state.
Tony D’Amato, who represented his firm on the Tolland project, said he obtained the classrooms from WillScott, but declined to discuss the job otherwise.
Beverly Bellody, who had supervised construction projects for the town until Birch Grove, said the initial $1 million estimate may have been faulty.
“I am not aware of how that number was determined, but I suspected as with most early cost estimates perhaps not all the costs were included,” she said. “For example, site costs, architect and other professional fees, legal, insurance, FFE (furniture, fixtures and equipment), contractor’s cost. The number may have just been for what others thought was a rental fee.”
Town Council member and state Rep. Tammy Nuccio, said she believes the town was bullied into approving decisions by Diamantis on the classrooms and other items and that may be responsible for confusion over some project details.
Nuccio said: “It was, ‘Do what we want or you are not going to have emergency status. Do what we want or you are not going to have funding. Do what we want or you are going to go over and you are going to have to pay that amount.’ Kosta said, point blank, ‘I own this project. He said specifically, at 89 percent, ‘I own this project.’ He was very adamant about that.”
The text messages obtained from Danbury show that Diamantis was offering the Tolland portable classrooms in April. After being chided for failing to move quickly on Diamantis’s advice to contact D’Amato Construction about the Tolland classrooms, the Danbury engineer explained that the city was studying a variety of construction options and was unsure what classrooms, if any, the city would need.
“I have to vet it out,” the engineer said. “I’ll know more by mid week next week and I will reach out to you.”
Diamantis replied, “While the contractor on the modules obviously needs to be arranged, I would suggest you make a call to the contractor who has the modules that can make it happen for you so that at least he knows what’s going on and can prepare in the event that you pull the trigger. Coordinating is key so that’s my advice to you is give them a call. I gave you his number.”
Danbury decided against using the classrooms and two city officials said, at that point, state approval of the project stalled.
Olson Drive Redevelopment A Step Closer To Reality In Ansonia
JEAN FALBO-SOSNOVICH
ANSONIA — A Bridgeport developer’s goal of building a $15.5 million indoor/outdoor sports complex on Olson Drive moved forward Tuesday.
The Board of Aldermen, during its meeting Tuesday (Feb. 7), unanimously authorized Mayor David Cassetti and his staff to “negotiate, draft, finalize and execute” a contract to sell vacant land on Olson Drive to the Primrose Companies for $510,000.
According to the resolution passed Tuesday, the city will offer a yet-to-be determined tax break on the property. The details of that agreement will come back to the Aldermen for approval.
One of the terms in a resolution the Alderman approved asks Guedes to work with the city to offer “facility space, financial discounts, or a combination of both,” to Ansonia residents.
John Guedes, president & CEO of the Primrose Companies, said Wednesday he is working to seal the deal.
The Olson Drive property previously housed an 11-building complex of 160 government-subsidized housing named Riverside Apartments, which the city demolished in 2016. The complex was outdated and had fallen into disrepair. It is owned by the Ansonia Housing Authority.
The Cassetti administration is working with the Ansonia Housing Authority to acquire the land for $510,000.
“The city contemplates purchasing the property from AHA just prior to selling it to Primrose,” Ansonia Corporation Counsel John Marini said. “$510,000 is both the purchase and sale price.”
The city will pay the housing authority in phases, starting first with a $300,000 payment. Primrose will pay the city the full $510,000 when it closes its real estate contract with the city.
The Cassetti administration also worked to have the department of Housing and Urban Development to remove a deed restriction from the land.
The vacant, fenced-in property is currently generating no taxes, but with a private development, city officials predict the project will generate six-figures in annual tax revenue.
Guedes wants to build a 39,000-square foot indoor soccer facility and a FIFA regulation-sized outdoor soccer field, as well as a second, 49,000-square-foot, multi-sports facility/and/or NCAA indoor skating rink. Guedes said he has lined up Ole Soccer, based in Fairfield, to occupy the soccer training space. He said Ole Soccer currently has 24 soccer teams from across Connecticut that train at the Fairfield facility. According to a letter of intent that Guedes accepted from Ole Soccer, both the facility and outdoor soccer field will be used “for soccer team sporting events, training and entertainment.”
Guedes said he’s also negotiating with a few different sports providers to take up shop in the larger building. He is confident the facility will be a major boon not only to Ansonia but the entire Naugatuck Valley.
“This is going to be a facility that currently doesn’t exist in the Valley,” Guedes said. “It will be a fantastic addition to the Ansonia downtown, and the Valley, in general, and will bring a lot of good people in and help the local business economy.”
While nearby Shelton’s Sports Center on River Road serves as a major source of recreation for the area, Guedes said that facility is primarily “retail,” whereas the Ansonia facility will be focused on sports training.
“Ansonia is a sports town, it’s a city that was built up around sports, so this (Guedes’ proposal) is a natural fit,” said Economic Development Director Sheila O’Malley.
Guedes said he has architects and engineers in place working on a site plan, which he’ll submit to the Ansonia Planning and Zoning Commission.
Guedes said he’s hoping to get the facility up and running by spring 2023.
Work Set To Begin At Former Coliseum Site
MAYA MCFADDEN
With the long-delayed redevelopment of the former Coliseum tentatively set to begin this coming spring, the developer clued local contractors about how to seek a piece of the work.
The Norwalk-based developer, Spinnaker Real Estate Partners, announced the plan to finally get started building Thursday evening at a virtual outreach meeting for small contractors.
The project’s redesign plans were approved more than a year ago.
The project, called “Square 10,” encompasses the blocks bounded by George, State, MLK, and Orange, where the New Haven Coliseum once stood.
Spinnaker is beginning its bid process for local contractors interested in civil/site work, ground improvements, and cast-in-place concrete disciplines.
At the virtual meeting Thursday night, Spinnaker Assistant Project Manager Kevin Paucar walked a group of 15 participants through the project’s new document control system, known as IngeniousIO. The system will allow contractors to review the project’s workforce requirements, project description, and insurance requirements documents for phase one and submit a request for proposal (RFP).
Bidding is scheduled to remain open until Feb. 24.
“We’re looking for detail on the proposal,” said Spinnaker Vice President of Construction Barry White.
Interested contractors looking to get a personalize invite to the IngeniousIO system should email Kevin Paucar at Kevin@spinrep.com or Craig Pinney at Craig@spinrep.com.
Phase one of the project calls for construction of a mixed-use five story residential building that will include amenities and retail space on the ground level. The second floor will include apartments and additional amenity space.
The building will house 200 apartments, 16,000 square feet of retail space, and a gym, elevated courtyard, enclose garage, and pool.
The work is slated in early April and continue for 23 months.
Attendees at the Thursday meeting included Miller Rebar LLC, Tri Con Construction, C J Fucci Construction Inc, and New Haven Regional Contractors Alliance.
Contractors were encouraged to “submit the proposals after you’ve reviewed all the documents and understand that you can meet the goals of the documents,” White said.
RFPs can be submitted for contractors looking to offer installation and/or materials. Once bids close, the team plans to “marry vendors” looking to offer materials or labor, White said.
Another outreach meeting for small contractors will be hosted once bids open for proposals of buildings interior work, White said.
New Haven school project frustrates preservationists
NEW HAVEN — The old Sacred Heart Church convent and rectory are gone, demolished as part of St. Martin de Porres Academy’s plan to give its students a safer area to play basketball and more room for people to park.
The academy, an independent Roman Catholic institution, has gained a sterling reputation in its 17 years on Columbus Avenue for a tuition-free, extended-day education for fifth- through eighth-graders, rigorous academics, social support of its alumni through college and a strong connection to the Trowbridge Square neighborhood.
The plan to raze the convent and rectory, while maintaining the 127-year-old school and the 171-year-old church, which the Archdiocese of Hartford closed in 2009, was supported by Alder Carmen Rodriguez, D-6, the Hill South Community Management Team, the since-disbanded Trowbridge Renaissance and residents of the neighborhood.
The New Haven Preservation Trust, however, while supporting St. Martin de Porres’ desire to keep basketball players from having to share their court with a parking lot, took the position that the same goal could have been accomplished while retaining a developer to restore the convent and lease it to a nonprofit organization that might have provided income to the school.
Susan Godshall, a preservation trust board member, sees the project as an example of how there is no formal role for considering historic preservation in the approval process for new projects.
“The buildings were in pretty progressed, deteriorated state,” said Allison Rivera, president of St. Martin de Porres Academy, which bought the block from the archdiocese in 2017 for $900,000. “Our parking lot doubled as our basketball court. It’s a focal point for youth in the community.” “This is going to allow for us to have a designated basketball court … where the rectory stood,” behind the church at Portsea and Liberty streets. She said said more parking space was needed to keep cars from parking on the streets. The convent site will provide that space.
On the back of the block, lining Portsea Street, “the whole area is going to be a big field. That’s where we’re putting the green space” that eventually will serve as a field for soccer, lacrosse and field hockey.
The church, the interior of which was damaged when it was closed and the religious items taken out, will be preserved, Rivera said, with the hope of someday raising money “so eventually we can have a multiuse space” for performances, a chapel and a gym. “We have four basketball teams, no gym space,” Rivera said.
With three years left on a 20-year lease, “we always dreamed that we’d be at this place,” Rivera said. “We spent a lot of time strategically looking at what a master plan would be for this. The timing was right.”
Reaching out to the community
Angela Hatley grew up a block-and-a-half from St. Martin de Porres and said she supports the school’s plan. “That’s still my community,” Hatley said. It’s where her mother still lives. “I actually am very impressed with St. Martin. They communicate regularly with the community. They left those basketball courts up” when the city closed parks to avoid people congregating during the pandemic.
Rivera “reached out to the community. What do you think we should do?” Hatley said. “They’ve had to park in the children’s playground. I know those buildings have been empty for umpteen number of years. All I can see is the beneficial aspects of what’s going in their place. … I get it that people are upset and want to preserve things, but the community got together and we discussed this. It didn’t happen in a vacuum.”
Rivera said the local preservationists are “very well-meaning folk who we resonate with, wanting to preserve the amazing history of the neighborhood. Unfortunately, it wasn’t viable for us as a school that fundraises our entire operating budget of $1.8 million” and charges no tuition. She said the State Historic Preservation Office chose not to object to the plan.
Trowbridge Square Historic District
While the convent and rectory were not on the National Register of Historic Places, they were contributing structures to the Trowbridge Square Historic District.
Such districts are “rare and valuable,” Godshall said. “Trowbridge Square is especially important because it was built in the 1840s and ’50s as working-class neighborhoods, not elitist fancy mansions. The church, the convent, the school and the rectory were the main social strong points of that community.”
To Godshall, the convent, which was situated between the church and school, “was one of three buildings that held down the streetscape of Columbus Avenue and gave it a very sophisticated urban look.”
Plans set before trust heard
Godshall said when the project came up on the City Plan Commission’s agenda in August 2019, “that was really the first time that the New Haven Preservation Trust had become aware of it.”
“Even then the academy had done a lot of work in the community, built up support and they had the City Plan Commission approval,” she said.
“For those children to have a full-size basketball court is a wonderful thing,” Godshall said. “The trust has always believed there were alternative layouts that could have done that and kept at least one of the buildings.” The academy could have leased the convent to a developer, who would have rehabilitated it, found a tenant, such as a nonprofit organization and provided income to the school.
“From a preservation point of view, it was a great loss, but it was an uphill fight from the beginning, because their goal, better recreational facilities for the students, is a great goal,” Godshall said.
“The development community really took a look at things,” Rivera said. “It was never an ideal plan. Quite frankly, the people in the Hill don’t want any more nonprofits in their neighborhood either.”
Buildings had a negative effect
Leslie Radcliffe lives in the neighborhood and also is chairwoman of the City Plan Commission. She said the nonprofits that come into the neighborhood tend to be those serving the homeless or drug-addicted. The empty buildings drew squatters and illicit activity, she said.
“The people in the community aren’t dumb,” Radcliffe said. “We know the value of the future. We’re looking toward the future of our children. Just because someone believes something is beautiful and valuable doesn’t always translate into the needs of the future.”
The underlying problem is twofold, Godshall said. “All the Preservation Trust has is the power of persuasion,” she said. And there is no provision for bringing in the trust when a plan is proposed that involves a historic site.
The Sacred Heart convent isn’t the only historic building scheduled for demolition that the trust is trying to save after plans have been approved. Yale New Haven Hospital plans to demolish two neighboring houses, including an 1880 Queen Anne Victorian house at 131 Sherman Ave. that is eligible for the National Register, Godshall said.
Built by Rufus G. Russell and known as the Pierce N. Welch house, “it’s going to be demolished as part of the driveway” of the $838 million neuroscience center that is going to take up much of the St. Raphael campus’ block,” Godshall said. “It’s not actually on the National Register. It’s eligible for it; it has a number. ... The convent declined the listing.”
The Hospital of St. Raphael was served by the Sisters of Charity, who occupied the house before Yale New Haven bought the hospital. According to the State Historic Preservation Office, it’s listed on the State Register of Historic Places and New Haven Historic Resources Inventory and is in excellent condition.
Godshall said the house could be moved but it would need money to move it, a site and an owner. She said a nonprofit agency is interested but the hospital has only offered the money it would have cost to demolish it.
The trust has suggested rerouting the driveway around the house or moving the house to the corner of Sherman and George streets. Another site is a parking lot next to the Plymouth Medical Building at 175 Sherman Ave.
Vincent Petrini, senior vice president for public affairs for Yale New Haven Health, said access to underground parking runs along Sherman Avenue, “so keeping it on that site would be impossible. The area also will be a staging area for construction. He said the house wouldn’t fit on the corner and the 175 Sherman lot is where patients park going to the medical building.
“There’s some considerable debate about the historic nature of those houses,” Petrini said. “I know there were some concerns with whether it would be stable enough to survive any type of move.”
Manwhile, time is running out. The neuroscience building’s construction, delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic is nearing. “Summer would be ideal,” Petrini said.
“This is a case where if we had known ahead of time, I mean a year ahead of time ... we could have said, ‘hey, could you orient the driveway toward George Street instead of Sherman?’” Godshall said. The trust did make the suggestions, “but they had no reason to revise their very, very extensive and complicated plans that covered the entire development on the whole block and they already had City Plan approval.”
There needs to be more notice and a chance to intervene before a project gets to City Plan, Godshall said. “It had already gone too far before the public became aware of it,” she said of the neuroscience center.
“The City Plan Commission puts out an agenda a week ahead of time,” she said. “You can relate the addresses on that agenda … to see if those addresses are in historic districts.” The plans for the agenda come out just a day before the commission meets, too late for the trust to have much input, she said.
“We’ve actually proposed a change to the zoning ordinance that would have given notice, but that didn’t go anywhere,” Godshall said.
Another way to intervene is in the 90-day holding period when someone takes out a demolition permit. Usually that is done before City Plan approves of the site plans, but St. Martin de Porres didn’t apply for a demolition permit until long after its plan was approved, Godshall said.
The city has a Historic District Commission, but it only has authority over the three local historic districts: Wooster Square, Quinnipiac River and City Point, not over state or national districts.
“We had hoped to work with City Plan staff this winter on coming up with a way to provide advance notice and/or to incorporate historic merit as part of the site plan review. It’s not there,” Godshall said.
Mayor Justin Elicker named Laura Brown on Feb. 4 as new City Plan director, replacing Aïcha Woods. Brown starts Feb. 28.
“If you drive around the Dwight neighborhood, it’s striking,” Godshall said. “All around Sherman, an awful lot of houses on Norton and Elm are lovely.”
The house at 131 Sherman “has become very important to the trust because it would be another in a now alarming sequence of demolitions of some pretty valuable properties,” she said.
‘A better process’ possible
“There could be a better process,” Radcliffe said of St. Martin de Porres’ plans. “All the parties involved would have to be on the same line. I do understand the historic trust’s focus and their priorities … and what their mission is. That doesn’t always line up with the vision and the focus of the city of New Haven.”
Radcliffe added, “Would giving the historic trust more notice of what the intentions were for those buildings, would that have been a good thing? It would have been good for the historic trust. They could have presented some alternatives to the school and the school would say yes or no.”
Godshall said it’s difficult for the preservation trust because “we have no stake or role. We’re not the owner. We’re not an oversight agency. We have no negotiating position.”
When the trust sees a historic building is at risk, “sometimes there’s an opening to talk to the owner and they say, ‘we’ll get back to you,’ and then usually they don’t.”
Officials explore ideas for North Stonington Road Bridge in Old Mystic
Officials are exploring ideas for the North Stonington Road Bridge in Old Mystic, which has been out for more than a decade.
In their annual budgets over the years, Groton and Stonington have considered funding the replacement of the bridge, which is located in both towns, but their plans were never in line, local officials said.
The Old Mystic Fire Department has long raised concerns that the closure of the small bridge creates a safety hazard.
The bridge was found to be in poor condition following a 500-year storm in March 2010, Groton Town Manager John Burt said. A safety check after the storm and subsequent inspection revealed several issues, according to a document from the Town of Groton. Groton and Stonington agreed to fund repairs to the bridge, but the repairs were stopped when it was discovered that the bridge deck would need to be replaced.
The cost to replace the bridge is estimated at $1.24 million, Burt said. A grant will cover about half of the cost, with the towns of Groton and Stonington needing to pick up the rest. Groton is responsible for about 58% of the towns' share, though Groton and Stonington could enter into an agreement to change the cost-sharing formula if they wish, according to a town document.
This past Tuesday, Groton invited Stonington First Selectwoman Danielle Chesebrough and Stonington Board of Finance member Lynn Young and Old Mystic Fire Chief Kenneth Richards Jr. to the Groton Town Council Committee of the Whole meeting.
The Groton Town Council met about a year ago with Stonington to discuss the possibility of funding the bridge in this year's budget but that didn't work out, so the council wanted to re-engage in time for the upcoming budget process for next fiscal year, Burt said.
Chesebrough said there is no money in Stonington’s proposed 2022-23 Capital Improvement Plan budget to replace the bridge. She said the town is doing an assessment of its bridges to see what projects need to be done and that will be presented to the Board of Finance after budget season.
While several Groton Town councilors vocally expressed support for addressing the bridge at Tuesday's meeting, Chesebrough explained that Stonington has a lot of bridges facing the end of their useful life, as well as other infrastructure challenges. She said Stonington will have a better understanding of the needs once the assessment is completed.
She said Stonington has collaborated with Groton on a project to address a lack of hydrant access on the Groton side of the bridge. The $30,000 project calls for placing a pipe over Whitford Brook, which will allow for one side to be hooked up to a fire hydrant in Mystic and for a fire apparatus to hook up to it on the Groton side, Burt said. Stonington completed the design and Groton is providing the labor to construct the pipe, which is expected to be completed by the end of the month.
Chesebrough said Stonington is trying to be a good neighbor, such as by collaborating on that project, but raised a fiduciary duty question regarding Stonington taxpayers paying for a bridge for Groton residents.
During the meeting, Groton Town Councilor Melinda Cassiere read aloud part of a February 2020 letter from the fire department's lawyer that said: "The continued delay in the replacement of this bridge perpetuates a potentially life-threatening hazard to citizens of the Town of Groton." The bridge closure creates longer response times, the intersection of Main Street and Route 27 is a "major traffic hazard" for the emergency vehicles, and the closest fire hydrant is blocked by the bridge being closed.
Old Mystic Fire Department's Station 1 is located on North Stonington Road, near the bridge. When the bridge was open, emergency vehicles from Station 1 used to take the bridge to go into Groton, but they now make a turn at Route 27 and Main Street by the Old Mystic Country Store.
The Old Mystic Fire Department responded to 1,315 calls for service last year, Richards said. Of those calls, 460 were in the town of Groton, and for about 80% of them the engine had to make the turn at the general store.
The department has had several "very close calls" at that intersection, Richards said. Vehicles coming from the Groton side — though not everybody — have a tendency to run the stop sign, he said. When vehicles are parked at the general store, the engine can't see drivers coming down that way, he added.
He said there were numerous times in the last year that the intersection was so bad, the engine driver went down Route 27 and then took Interstate 95 to the Groton side.
Young suggested other solutions, such as installing a traffic light, and Chesebrough said she would follow up with the Stonington Board of Police Commissioners and the state Department of Transportation.
Groton Town Councilor Portia Bordelon suggested creating a working group — including local officials, the fire chief, community members and perhaps a representative of the general store — to keep the dialogue going and report ideas back to both Stonington and Groton governments.
Burt said Groton also is looking at what federal funding possibilities might exist, while state legislators are looking for state grant opportunities.
As far as the next steps, Burt told The Day that he will have to decide what to do for his budget recommendation to the council.
Other than that, he said, at this point the town will wait for Stonington to complete the review of its bridges in the next few months, to see whether Stonington officials have any interest in partnering at that time.
$250M redevelopment vision emerges for Hartford's Parkville neighborhood
Hartford is preparing an ambitious $250 million redevelopment of the commercial core of its Parkville Neighborhood.
The plan centers on a $50 million application for state development dollars, which would be leveraged with $200 million from other sources, including possibly from the city, private investment and elsewhere.
Broadly, the plan would boost residential development, job training and new manufacturing development. Many of the finer points of the plan are not being released yet by officials, or are still under development.
But some recently announced projects would find support, particularly those of developer Carlos Mouta, a Parkville native. These include:
· A $72.8 million transformation of an industrial building at 237-245 Hamilton St., into 189 apartments and 80,000 square feet of commercial space.
· A $4.6 million expansion of the Parkville Market
· A 57-apartment development at 17 Bartholomew Ave. Capital Community College is interested in bringing an advanced manufacturing or training center to the “Parkville Arts and Innovation District,” City Economic Development Director Erin Howard told members of the City Council’s Planning, Economic Development & Housing Committee during a Feb. 2 meeting.
The effort will also target redevelopment of a 33-acre property south of Bartholomew Avenue that the city acquired last summer, Howard said.
“It is also significantly contaminated but at the same time it offers an amazing opportunity for growth in the Parkville community,” Howard said.
The initial project area is bounded by Park Street, Hamilton Street and Bartholomew Avenue, said Elizabeth “Liz” Torres, a member of Vita Nuova, a consultant hired to help with the application.
On Monday, the full council will be asked to endorse the $50 million application to the Department of Economic and Community Development. That grant requires a four-to-one match, meaning the city must find $200 million in other sources of investment in the Parkville Arts and Innovation District, Torres said.
Organizers have identified “five or six” shovel-ready projects in the target area, Torres said.
Combined, these will result in 246 units of new housing and 333,000 square feet of commercial space, Torres said. Plans include a workforce development hub and “innovation center,” where international companies can introduce the latest technology to smaller companies in their manufacturing supply chain, Torres said.
Bristol, West Hartford among 10 munis sharing $24M in federal transportation funds
Michael Puffer
The Connecticut Department of Transportation has awarded $24 million in federal funds to 10 Connecticut communities for projects ranging from updating antiquated and outdated traffic signals to improving traffic flow and purchasing charging stations.
Part of the goal of the federal funds, which were announced by Gov. Ned Lamont Thursday, is to lessen vehicle exhaust emissions in certain communities.
Of the funding, $3.37 million went to the town of Bristol to improve traffic operations and pedestrian crossings in the downtown area.
Other funding went to:
Ansonia: $427,600 for non-automobile transportation and EV charging in the town’s transit-oriented development train station enhancement initiative
Bridgeport: $4 million to improve traffic flow, reduce delay, and alleviate congestion along the Park Avenue corridor
Canton: $40,000 to install half-a-dozen dual EV charging stations
Danbury: $1.25 million to provide signal coordination to improve traffic flow, lessen congestion and delays along State Routes 39 and 53
Greenwich: $4 million to install adaptive signal control technology to adjust signal timing on Route 1 in town
Hamden: $3.8 million to update substandard and outdated traffic signal equipment
Norwalk: $3.4 million to upgrade outdated traffic signals, and extend the adaptive traffic control system, among other initiatives
Stamford: $3.4 million to upgrade old signal equipment at six intersections that are within the existing city signal systems
West Hartford: $20,952 to support the purchase of the town’s first EV vehicles and charging station at the Town Hall
The money was part of the federal Highway Administration’s Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality Improvement Program.
Preston to resume review of controversial RV park Tuesday
Preston — Town agencies this week will resume their review of a controversial luxury RV park on 65 acres of land owned by the Mashantucket Pequot Tribe at the junction of Routes 2 and 164 and abutting Avery Pond.
Maryland-based Blue Water Development Corp. has proposed the RV park and campground under the name Blue Camp CT LLC, on three parcels to be leased from the Mashantuckets. The plan includes about 300 camping spots, a welcome center, three bathhouses, a swimming pool, splashpad, playground, volleyball, tennis, squash and bocce areas, a floating dock and an elevated boardwalk at Avery Pond. The developer has called the site ideal for the proposed RV park.
The facility would be called Bluewater Recreational Campground Resort at Avery Pond. Todd Burbage, CEO of Blue Water, said the company learned of the property when Mashantuckets advertised nationally for a resort campground developer for the site.
Burbage told The Day on Friday that the property has several features that make it ideal for a luxury RV park, both for the development and nearby residents. Having the entrance on Route 2 would mean the town would not have RVs driving along narrow side roads. Access to municipal water and sewer lines is another asset, he said.
Burbage also argued that the engineered systems to collect stormwater runoff would improve water conditions in the pond, compared to the decades of farm activity on the property.
“It’s completely founded that farm runoff is much more responsible for degradation to pond water, with pesticides and herbicides,” Burbage said. “That’s been a parcel of farmland that has been farmed for generations.”
He added that the seasonal resort would be closed for nearly half a year with no planned activities.
The proposal has been sharply criticized by residents living on several streets near Avery Pond, including two Lynn Drive residents who have filed for intervenor status in the town’s review process, submitting their own reports and testimony.
The Inland Wetlands and Watercourses Commission will hold its third night of public hearings on the project at its 7:30 p.m. meeting Tuesday at Preston Plains Middle School before beginning its deliberations on the wetlands permits needed for the project. The Planning and Zoning Commission will begin its public hearing on the broader special exception permit the project needs at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 23 at Preston Plains Middle School.
Burbage said he will attend Tuesday’s wetlands hearing, along with project wetlands experts to respond to concerns of residents.
At the previous wetlands hearings in December and January, the commission heard a lengthy presentation by project attorney Harry Heller and project engineers and architects. At the January session, most residents who addressed the commission opposed the project.
Residents Susan and Timothy Hotchkiss of 20 Lynn Drive and Jennifer Hollstein of 12 Lynn Drive have hired attorney Richard Cody and filed petitions to become intervenors in the inland wetlands application.
The two residents submitted written reports to challenge the voluminous technical documents the Blue Water Development team has filed with the application. Much of the expressed opposition at the wetlands hearing centered on the proposed use of Avery Pond as part of the luxury facility. Plans call for a 118-foot-long, T-shaped floating dock in Avery Pond and a 12-foot-wide golf cart boardwalk across wetlands to reach an area reserved for safari tents at the pond shore.
At the Jan. 18 hearing, Heller said plans were revised to address some concerns of the town’s wetlands expert. Most roadways and parking lots would be switched to gravel to allow rainwater penetration, reducing the size of stormwater collection systems needed. The boardwalk footings would be installed using an excavator with a 75-foot reach, perched on a ridge outside the wetlands.
During the public hearing, much of the opposition centered on proposed activities in and near the pond, especially anticipated heavy use by kayakers, which they said would destroy the area as a favored fishing spot. Residents fear the kayaks would damage lily pads and fish habitat and scare fish in the shallow pond.
Burbage on Friday said Blue Water is “flexible” to possible downscaling of the project, including directing patrons to use the existing public boat launch instead of building a new dock. He said most Blue Water campgrounds are located on waterfronts, hence the name, and patrons would be invited to use the pond for passive recreation and fishing, as all state residents are encouraged to do.
“It’s a public pond that has a public boat launch that the state encourages for recreation,” Burbage said. “If Todd Burbage wants to go up there and fish on that pond, he can get a fishing license, and he can go do it. It’s not their private pond.”
Much of the property is situated in the Resort Commercial zone, where campgrounds are allowed by a special exception permit. The PZC will have the authority to review the plans for factors such as compatibility with the neighborhood, lighting and traffic impacts.
Blue Water’s special exception permit application described the project as “compatible with the purpose of the Resort Commercial Zoning District.” The application cites the project's low-profile buildings, retention of existing vegetation along the Avery Pond shore and buffers between the project and nearby residential neighborhoods.
“Down lighting is proposed throughout the site and building design incorporates classic New England architectural features,” the application stated. “Due to the lack of verticality in the project, it is a most appropriate type of resort commercial development at the periphery of a residential zone.”