Torrington Co. building to be demolished, site remediated

Emily M. Olson

TORRINGTON — Battered by rain, snow and wind, left with empty windows with tattered plastic coverings and crumbling bricks another Torrington Co. building is coming down this year.

The long, brick factory building sits at 70 North St., is visible from North Elm Street or Route 4 and is part of a collection of the company's buildings in the city, including those on Field Street and its adjacent side streets. Its crumbling facade soon will be replaced by piles of rubble and dust, and, eventually, something new will stand in its place.

According to Mayor Elinor Carbone, the city is working with the building's property owner, Torrington Standard, which in 2022 received funding for demolition and remediation. 

"At this point in time, the city, the state (Department of Economic Development) and the property owner are reviewing the contract for demolition and coordination of remediation efforts," the mayor wrote in an email. "It is our hope that the work can begin later this summer."

The City Council discussed the $2 million Brownfield Remediation Grant, allocated by the state Department of Economic and Community Development, which will be used to tear down areas of the property.

"(Torrington) received a $2 million grant to assist with the abatement and selective demolition of 70 North St.," city Director of Economic Development Rista Malanca wrote in a memo to the council. The estimated cost of demolition, she said, is more than $4 million. 

"Many aspects of the abatement and demolition work are intertwined; therefore, this grant is being managed as a pass-through grant," Malanca said. "As a pass-through, Torrington Standard is able to independently contract the remaining work in its entirety, and for the grant dollars to be applied to only portions of the work approved by the DECD."

Torrington Standard, represented by Glenn Carbone and Christine Bellucci on this project, has been working with the city and the state. After a project review, the agencies agreed to hire Manafort Brothers. A contract is being finalized, Malanca said, and all work is contracted directly with the property owner and Manafort.

Malanca told the City Council that the pass-through grant was an agreement that allowed the city to stay involved with a brownfields project, while not having to work one-on-one with the contractor.

"We didn't want to oversee this ($4 million) project," she said. "This way, the owner hires the contractor, and we say where the money can be used and make sure they're compliant with state regulations."

Torrington's brownfields 

In 2019, Torrington created and adopted a brownfield strategy,  written by then-Economic Development Director Erin Burnett. The city, according to the report, received its first funding from the EPA for brownfield assessments, and continued to apply for and receive funding to assist with evaluating and finding solutions for the city's many vacant factory buildings.

The city was also awarded a $1.0M EPA Revolving Loan Fund grant to provide loans or grants to support the cleanup of contaminated properties.

"Thus far, more than a dozen sites have been assessed by the city using DECD and EPA grant funds," according to the report. "The actual number of contaminated properties within the City’s limits is unknown but at least 25 potential brownfield sites exist. These sites can be found throughout neighborhoods, along the Naugatuck River and next to rail lines. The perception of contamination, as well as real contamination is stymying redevelopment and the blighted condition of many of the properties overshadows the positive achievements in the arts and culture being made in downtown Torrington, an authentic American downtown recognized for its remarkably intact Art Deco architecture."

Cleanup, development 

Once the sites are razed and cleared, the city invited developers to consider these spaces for housing, office and retail space, as well as manufacturing. The Torrington Co. buildings on Field Street, for example, house a variety of businesses and offices, including the Northwest CT Chamber of Commerce, a health club, small manufacturers and other companies. In addition to repurposing the company's existing buildings on Field Street, additional properties were demolished to make way for a new county courthouse, replacing the historic building in Litchfield, the former county seat. 

One example is the Torrington Manufacturing Co.'s Franklin Street plant. which was torn down in 2010. The city lost one of its largest former manufacturing giants and largest employers, making metal working machinery, spring coiling machines, air and water-cooled slab or billet molds, propeller fan blades, blower wheels, lubricators and condensers. The company's air impellers were used in aircraft heaters, including those flown during WWII, according to a story published in the Register Citizen in 2010.

Franklin Plaza, as the area is now known, provides outdoor space for the city's weekly farmers market and other events; it also connects visitors to restaurants and shops on East Main Street with downtown Main Street.

Housing projects such as the Pennrose Riverfront, an apartment building, were constructed on property once occupied by the Torrington Manufacturing Co.

Pennrose, the co-developer Cloud Co. and the city worked together for more than three years to create Riverfront, which has 60 one-, two- and three-bedroom units consisting of both affordable and market-rate apartments. Funding of more than $2 million for brownfield remediation and other cleanup of the site, including removing tons of soil contaminated with PCBs, came from the city and DECD.

Carbone said she was glad to see the North Elm Street factory building project move ahead. 

"I for one am glad to see this project come to fruition," she said. "This is a gateway area of Torrington. Hopefully, we'll see progress in the next few months."

Many Greenwich residents oppose teardown and rebuild of Old Greenwich School, prefer $42M renovation

Robert Marchant

GREENWICH — While the funding for renovations at the Old Greenwich School is still being deliberated, the approval process is moving ahead.

The proposal to renovate the school and make it handicap accessible was reviewed at the Planning & Zoning Commission's Tuesday meeting, where the upgrades and preservation of the 1902 structure were endorsed by a number of community members.

Speakers in favor of the renovation said they opposed any plan to tear down the old building and build a replacement, an alternative that has recently been aired at the Board of Estimate and Taxation as a more cost-effective plan.

The expected cost of the renovations is in the $42 million range. The Board of Estimate and Taxation in June rejected an appropriation for the renovations, in a split vote, but the committee working on the project has been moving ahead and submitted the proposal to the Planning & Zoning Commission for approvals.

A number of speakers at the meeting said they favored the renovation plan.

"Our iconic school has stood as a landmark on Sound Beach Avenue for over a hundred years. I know there has been discussion by some members of the public to consider knocking the school down in lieu of renovation. I would ask that this not be a consideration of the commission," said the principal of the school, Jennifer Bencivengo.

"It is absolutely worthy of preservation," said Jenny Larkin, a local resident who works on historic preservation in the community. She said town leaders should take steps to create a designation for the school so that it would be preserved "in perpetuity." 

Planning and Zonning Commission Chairperson Margarita Alban said it was not for the Planning & Zoning Commission to decide whether the building should be torn down, as it was the Board of Education and the building committee who had authority over the project.

"If it is the decision of the building committee, in conjunction with the Board of Ed, if you all came to us and said, take down the building, we would respect your decision," she said. "All we can do is act on what's before us now."

Alban said the goal of preservation was a worthy one that aligned with the community's master plan for overall development.

She said it appeared there was strong community support in favor of preserving the school and that the feedback the commission had received was that local residents "were looking to preserve this New England feeling, this New England character" that the building represented.

A consultant working on the design, David Stein, walked the commission through the plans, which include a new entrance, a new elevator, an addition with four new classrooms to relocate learning space lost to interior renovations, and other upgrades. The enrollment at the school is around 400 students.

The commission said it would like more information on the design of the entrance, which is still being worked out, as well as data on flooding and drainage. The application is still in the preliminary stages, and a formal site plan has not yet been submitted for approvals.

James Waters, who heads the building committee, said the group is continuing with the planning process despite the uncertainty over funding. He said the aim was to complete the design development process by the end of the year. Waters said there was broad public endorsement of the renovations.

"Scores of members of the community have repeatedly stressed their strong support for the renovation and preserving the iconic structure at multiple public meetings," he said. 

Waters said the need to create handicap access was an urgent concern, one that the renovation would fix "in the near term."

As to the cost of the project, Waters said the renovations were in line with typical school construction: " The project cost estimate of $41.9 million,  $524 per square foot, which is well within today's average cost for school renovations in the state of Connecticut," he wrote in an email.

The planning application was left open for additional review.

Middletown close to sealing deal with developer on housing, retail, public parking downtown

Cassandra Day

MIDDLETOWN — The city is close to crafting an agreement with a Hartford developer to build a housing and retail development off Main Street in a public-private collaboration that would include municipal parking spots to replace those lost when the arcade was razed in 2018.

The project is a partnership with Spectra Construction & Development Corp., which has proposed building the Village at Riverside, a block-size complex downtown in full view of the Connecticut River. It calls for 277 market-rate apartments and town homes on a 228,000-square-foot lot behind the police station.

The city’s former multi-level parking arcade, located behind Middletown Superior Court on Court Street, was demolished because it posed hazards that arose from the nearly 50-year-old structure. The majority of the garage’s lower level was closed to the public in December 2013.

The planning portion of the project has been held up for some time, Mayor Ben Florsheim said Wednesday.

“This has been a process that ... encountered some unexpected delays, but, unlike the canoe club, unlike the parks projects, these are things getting resolved through dialogue, compromise and negotiations between the city and developer,” he said. “It’s not infrastructure or labor challenges."

Other recent city projects pushed off by pandemic-related issues, such as supplies and lack of workers, as well as unforeseen costs, include the recently opened Veterans Memorial Pool and splash pad, and the city’s portion of renovations to the old canoe club, soon to be occupied by Tate’s restaurant, a combination casual seafood restaurant, brewery, ice cream shop and snack shack.

Florsheim hopes to see the proposed agreement sent to the Economic Development Committee by its September meeting. It then would go to the Common Council for =approval.

The mayor declined to provide any more specifics on the project before it is considered by the EDC, a request made by Spectra. “It’s a process we want to respect,” he said.

The city is waiting on an environmental assessment of the site to be complete, said the mayor, who spoke from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency brownfields conference in Detroit, Mich. The environmental consultant who has worked with city officials on many remediation projects was also in attendance, Florsheim added.

“One of the key reasons we chose the developer is, there is a potential to get most of the public parking and parking to serve the development itself underground,” the mayor said. “The environmental condition is going to be a factor in what can be accomplished.”

When the evaluation is complete, Florsheim said, he doesn’t foresee that it would affect the project’s future. “Once this is moved to the council, we all want it to be very clear that the project is starting.”

He attended a discussion at the conference Wednesday morning with mayors from all over the country who have taken on similar projects, Florsheim said. “They were talking about community input, they were talking about making sure we have all the funding partners at the table."

Acquiring the Attention to Detail property next door, off deKoven Drive, remains in discussions, but Florsheim said, it’s not “integral” to the project. The auto customization shop wants to stay in Middletown, but it’s having some difficulty finding a suitable place. 

“If there’s a win-win outcome, that’s what we’re looking for,” the mayor added. What entity will manage the garage portion is yet to be determined.

The city also is in the process of determining the number of municipal parking spaces at the Village, which the mayor envisioned being on a separate level.

The public would also be able to enjoy the courtyard at the center of the development. “This needs to be a public space first and foremost, and feel that way to residents,” Florsheim said. “Our goal is not to have this be a cloistered-off space in the downtown."

Adding more market-rate dwellings along the main corridor encourages walkability, the demand for which became evident when the Midd-Town Apartments were built on College and Broad streets about five years ago, the mayor added.

Ever since the high rise opened, the mayor said, there has been a waiting list of potential tenants. Those living there who have more than one vehicle have had to make sacrifices due to limited on-site parking, Florsheim said.

More housing would allow those who work and eventually live downtown to patronize the many restaurants and “thriving nightlife,” Florsheim said. “If we want to see smaller-scale retail come back, having residents in the area supporting that on a 24-hour basis is going to be helpful." 

Affordable housing is a big component of the Return to the Riverbend master plan, as is a more diversity of shopping. With more housing options, many considering living close to the action “just might be the factor that makes them pull the trigger,” Florsheim said.

As part of the master plan, the city is intent on not having new apartments and condominiums supplanting existing neighborhoods, he added. The goal is to not “price or force people out by dramatically changing the character of one neighborhood by making improvements in another.”

Wallingford school officials consider options with delays to Sheehan track, field project

Kate Ramunni

WALLINGFORD — A delay in the estimated completion date of the Mark T. Sheehan High School track and field renovation project has Board of Education members struggling to find ways to keep the delays from affecting student athletes.

The Town Council approved bonding $2 million for the project in late April, and the school board estimated the work would be completed in early September. But the combination of a mandated 30-day waiting period before the purchase order could be issued to the contractor and continued supply distribution issues has pushed that completion date out to October, forcing all sporting events scheduled to take place on the field in September to be rescheduled.

"COVID and the war in Ukraine has done things that we could have never imagined and it still affects it today," said Supervisor of Buildings and Grounds Marc Deptula at the board's July 24 meeting.

The contractor, HI Stone, is "doing a fantastic job," Deptula said, but because of the supply problems, and the fact that the funding was approved later than anticipated, the work is now expected to be completed the first week of October. 

"It's going smoothly and we should have a nice new track and field for next season," he said. "I'm looking forward to it. It's been a long time coming."

But student athletes are not looking forward to not being able to play on their home field in September.

"My high school years began with COVID restrictions, with people in your positions throwing up their hands and saying, 'well, what can we do about it?'" said Sheehan rising senior Erin Villano, who is the captain of the girl's field hockey team. "The answer then was nothing, but that is not an acceptable answer now. It's time to say 'lets fix it,' not 'we're stuck,' because you really aren't."

Out of the team's eight scheduled home games, five are scheduled to take place before Oct. 4, she said.

"Just over 63% of my home games would have to be played somewhere else," she said. "Field hockey may not be a super popular sport, but we are an up and coming team that has qualified for the Class S tournament. Our fans and spectators consist of our parents and grandparents. My grandparents only have three grandchildren and they have been our biggest supporters throughout our sports careers." 

During her older sister's senior season in 2020, they lost all spectators due to COVID-19 regulations, she said. "There were no families in the stands, there was a police presence to keep people off the grass, and no one but her parents to walk her out on senior night," Villano said

Her grandparents also lost the opportunity to watch her brother's last season on the football team, Villano said, because of COVID-19.

"As their final grandchild, it would be devastating if they were unable to watch me play my main sport," she said. 

Because of their physical limitations, her grandparents have been able to watch games and matches from the handicapped parking spaces in front of the field, which would not be possible for games played at other schools. "Sheehan has a unique layout which allows for viewing directly from the handicapped parking spaces," Villano said.

"I'm one of those grandparents, and I know what you're talking about," board member Mike Votto said. "From what I heard tonight, I don't think we're stuck. I think we are going to try very hard to satisfy you guys."

Board member Ray Ross said he's heard from parents and students about the situation.

"I've been fielding a lot of complaints and a lot of questions," he said.

While it's the football team that gets the most attention, they are not the only team affected by the delay, he said. Boys soccer starts on Sept. 12, he said; varsity field hockey Sept. 14; varsity football Sept. 15, and varsity girl's soccer on Sept. 18.

The delay also affects those team's practices that are now relegated to grass fields.

"The problem I have, and the coaches have, is they're practicing on grass and then go to play on turf," he said. "They're at a definite disadvantage."

The field will be done before the track, Deptula said, but it still can't be used until the track is completed.

"They can't use the field until the track is done because they have to cross the track to get to the turf," he said. The site belongs under the control of Stone until the entire project is complete, he said.

"Right now it's the contractor's liability," Superintendent of Schools Danielle Bellizzi said. "If we midway allow them to use the turf because that piece is finished, the liability still exists for the contractor until the job is complete." 

"I know it's a massive, massive scheduling thing," Ross said. "I feel sorry for the kids. It's a big, big, big deal for them to run down that hill and come onto the field like they're in the World Series every time they do it, and I feel terrible that they're not going to be able to do it especially since when we originally looked at this project it looked like we would be able to have this season." 

The delay also will have a negative impact on fundraising for the football team, grandparent Mike Rappuno said.

"Every home game, Sheehan has a very successful concession stand that makes a substantial amount of money to fund what we're trying to do with the football program," he said. "If we don't have those two home games, we are talking several thousand dollars, multiple thousands of dollars. That's another big factor."

Parent Michael Larson said he had a potential resolution to the problem - if the contractor were to hold off on putting the asphalt down on the track until the end of October, the field, anticipated to be done in early September, could be used for home games the first two months of the school year, something the board said it is willing to consider. 

"Sheehan home game Oct. 27 and then doesn't come back until Nov. 16," he said, during which time the track could be completed. "There are avenues to remedy this, and I'm sure in the year 2023 we can figure this out."

Killingly town meeting to vote to sell vacant land for data center - what you need to know

Sandy Meindersma

Voters in Killingly will have a chance to change the town's landscape and finances at a special town meeting on Tuesday.

Following a Town Council public hearing at 7 p.m., voters will be asked to approve the sale of 39.1 acres of town-owned vacant land at 125 Alexander Parkway to NE Edge, LLC, who plans to use it, along with two other adjacent parcels to build a three building campus for a hyperscale data center which would support some of the world's largest data companies, like Apple, Google, Microsoft, IBM and Meta.

The special town meeting will take place at 8 p.m. on Aug. 8, and any registered voter as well as individuals who have owned property valued at least $1,000 on the town's Oct. 1, 2022 grand list may vote.

What to know about the vote

The 125 Alexander Parkway is one of three parcels required by NE Edge to build the data center. The town-owned land currently has an assessed value of $106,890. The purchase and sale agreement lists the purchase price as $5,004,800.

"This is a very beneficial development for the town," Town Manager Mary Calorio said. "It activates a long-standing vacant property and will provide good paying jobs for the community.:

The other two properties are located at 145 Alexander Parkway, which is currently a gravel operation and 141 Louisa Viens Dr., which is also vacant land. The town currently collects $1,845.84 in taxes for the gravel operation and $5,262.84 for the vacant land.

Should the town meeting approve the sale, $100,000 would immediately be placed in escrow for the town, with a second $100,000 placed in escrow 365 days later, followed by a $50,000 escrow deposit two years after the approval, if the sale has not been finalized. These deposits are non-refundable, but allow NE Edge to do its due diligence in terms of verification that the property is suitable for the project.

Once the buildings are completed, the Host Fee Agreement is triggered and the town will receive as much as $165 million over the 30 life of the agreement.

The host fee agreement

The host fee agreement supersedes all of the town's rights to tax the property, both real and personal. The first payment to the town will be made within 30 days of the issuance of the first building permit, and will be for $2.5 million.

The first annual payment of $3.5 million is due 365 days after a temporary certificate of occupancy for the first building is issued. The fee will increase annually, and there will be an additional $2.5 million due to the town at the end of the fifth, tenth, fifteenth, twentieth and twenty-fifth year of the agreement.

"This will be substantial revenue for the town, which will assist the town for many years," Calorio said.

The data center

It is expected that the data center will provide between 80 and 100 high paying jobs, once it is completed. While the buildings are under construction, there are expected to be 1,500-2,000 construction jobs.

Located in the Industrial Center, the building is expected to be quiet and not disturb residents. Air conditioning units will be placed on the roof with sound barriers to mitigate noise.

The data center is proposed as a clean energy building, and certification as such is included in the purchase and sale agreement. The center is expected to be fully electric, and Calorio said that there is plenty of capacity available on the grid to support the center.

The developer is required to pay all permitting fees without a discount, and be in compliance with all state and federal regulations. All costs to upgrade utilities will be done at the developer's expense.

Other benefits to the town

In addition to the $5.5 million per year the town is expected to receive from the host fee agreement, the upgrade to fiber connectivity will give area residents a better high-speed internet experience.

DOL to update prevailing wage laws

Jennifer Goodman

The Department of Labor announced Tuesday that it will publish a rule updating the Davis-Bacon Act, which sets the prevailing wages contractors must pay workers on federal projects.

The rule, first announced in March 2022, will restore the DOL’s definition of prevailing wage to make it equivalent to the wage paid to at least 30% of workers, rather than 50% of workers, in a given trade in a locality, according to a White House fact sheet.

The move is aimed at raising the hourly earnings of workers for prime contractors and subcontractors on projects that receive federal funding through legislation such as the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and the CHIPS Act, but construction groups said it will raise the cost of infrastructure projects for taxpayers.

The Davis-Bacon Act, originally passed in 1931, uses pay surveys administered by the DOL to set the prevailing wage in a federally funded project’s location. The process can be complicated and cumbersome for contractors and has elicited concerns that it skews wage rates.

Under the current process, at least 51% of surveyed wages need to be within a “same or similar” margin. If they’re not, the weighted average — as opposed to a simple average — of all wages is used. That means more frequent occurrences of low wages could drag down the overall rate.

To remedy that, DOL’s rule returns to the system used until 1983, when the last changes to the act were made during President Ronald Reagan’s first administration. At that time, the overhaul was viewed as a major blow to organized labor.

Process changes

The new rule also makes the process of updating prevailing wage rates easier, according to the DOL, by giving the department the authority to adopt prevailing wages determined by state and local governments, issue wage determinations for labor classifications where insufficient data was received through its wage survey process and update outdated wage rates. 

Lastly, it adds an anti-retaliation provision in contract clauses to protect workers who raise concerns from being fired or punished. It also strengthens DOL’s ability to withhold money from a contractor in order to pay employees their lost wages. 

The new rule is sure to face legal challenges, according to Roll Call.

The announcement was made Tuesday morning in Philadelphia by Vice President Kamala Harris and Acting Labor Secretary Julie Su, who also met with union construction workers and national and local union leaders. 

Later, the officials were expected to receive an on-site briefing at a construction site at the I-95 interchange with the Betsy Ross Bridge, near the site of a major roadway collapse earlier this summer.

Strong reaction

Contractor groups voiced strong opposition to the announcement. Associated Builders and Contractors, which asked the administration to withdraw the proposed rule shortly after it was announced, said it increases regulatory burdens on small businesses, new industries and public works projects.

Ben Brubeck, ABC vice president of regulatory, labor and state affairs, called Davis-Bacon rules a “regulatory boondoggle” known for increasing the cost of construction, discouraging competition from small businesses and diminishing the value of taxpayer investment in government infrastructure projects, in an email to Construction Dive.

The DOL said it will mean thousands of extra dollars per year for more than 1 million workers and noted its far-reaching effects.

“These numbers will continue to grow given that nearly all of the significant construction programs contained in the IIJA, CHIPS and Science Act and Inflation Reduction Act require or strongly incentivize the use of Davis-Bacon prevailing wages,” the White House statement read.