Torrington’s Oliver Wolcott Tech get tips for a future in the trades

TORRINGTON — “Show you’re eager. Get there early. Wear a suit and tie.”

That was some of the advice from John Daddona, apprentice coordinator for IUOE Local 478 of Operating Engineers, that he shared with a group of Oliver Wolcott Tech seniors Tuesday.

Daddona was just one representative from the many trades that will open for OWTS graduates next year, and part of this week’s Connecticut Pre-Apprenticeship High School Training Program, held in shop classes at the high school.

The event was overseen by the school’s Dean of Students Stephanie Seitlinger, a former English teacher from Kaynor Technical High School who joined the school a year ago in December.

“There are 54 kids enrolled in the pre-apprenticeship program, which uses work-based learning to get them ready for a new career,” Seitlinger said.

The dean said Torrington’s approved plan to build a new middle-high school, which was approved in 2020, also will bring job opportunities to young people who are just entering the fields of construction and engineering. After receiving public input on using local companies and employees on the project, the Board of Education agreed to make it part of their contractor agreements.

During Daddona’s talk, he explained the importance of knowing basic engineering skills, such as measuring the amount of weight needed to raise a payload of concrete or dirt, how a crane works, knowing how to measure and dig a foundation.

“Anyone interested in mechanical engineering will need to learn this,” he said, using a computer screen on the wall to illustrate the discussion. “If you want to go into carpentry, you’ll need to know how to measure, and know your weights and measures. There’s a lot of math in what you’re doing.”

Local 478 was one of the many trade organizations that will visit OWTS this week. Students also will hear from electrical, carpenters and laborers unions. The students also were given hands-on training for work site or road flagging, and received certification, and education on Call Before You Dig, work zone safety, harnesses and ladders, and work fall protection and using fire extinguishers.

The topics, Seitlinger said, show the students practices and requirements they’ll need when they start looking for employment. Those studying electrical engineering and repair, for example, will begin as apprentices and, if they’re successful, could be hired by the same company teaching them the ropes.

Getting through the job interview, Daddona said, is one of the biggest steps toward employment. It was an obvious statement, but not all people follow the tried-and-true rules of making a good impression, he said.

“I hear from a lot of students, ‘I just want to go to work,’ and that’s good, but there are things you have to do,” he said. “Once you pass a mechanical aptitude test, for example, you’ll be called in for an interview. You have one chance to make a good first impression. Don’t worry about overdressing — wear a suit and tie. Be there 15 minutes early, and let (the employer) know you’re there. That’s a show of respect. Show you’re eager and you’re ready to work.

“I’ve seen people come in unprepared,” Daddona said. “Don’t come in with flip-flops, a T-shirt and a coffee.”

Job seekers must turn 18 by June of next year to be eligible for union apprenticeship programs, he said. “You’ll need your diploma ... a Connecticut driver’s license and be able to get your CDL; and pass the aptitude test and a drug test,” he said.

Oliver Wolcott Tech has about 650 students in grades 9-12. It is one of 17 technical high schools in the state, which also include Kaynor in Waterbury, Wilcox in Meriden, Wright in Stamford, Prince in Hartford, Bullard-Havens in Bridgeport, Goodwin in New Britain, Whitney in Hamden, Grasso Southeastern in Groton, O’Brien in Ansonia, Abbott in Danbury, Ellis in Danielson, Cheney in Manchester, Norwich Tech in Norwich, Platt in Milford, Vinal in Middletown and Windham in Willimantic.

Brookfield architect proposes apartment building in Newtown that will ‘exude high quality’

Rob Ryser

NEWTOWN - If any single stretch exudes Newtown’s New England charm and historical architecture it’s the stretch of Main Street that runs from the iconic flag pole south past blocks of Colonial and Victorian homes.

So it’s with special attention that Newtown leaders are weighing a proposal by a Brookfield architect to construct a three-story building with 27 apartments at South Main Street and Borough Lane.

At a recent review of the blueprints by the town’s Design Advisory Board, the developer was grilled over details ranging from roof pitches, color palettes and siding materials to his overall design inspiration.

“The building is right on Main Street,” said board member Agni Kyprianou at a meeting in late November. “That’s why we are bringing up these details.”

Board member Peter Cloudas agreed: “There is no other portion of town that has as much historical and architectural diversity,” he said.

The developer Robert Sherwood said he understood and agreed, noting that his designs are focused on giving the apartment building residential features “so it doesn’t look like a big box” and varying building materials “so that it doesn’t look like one big, massive structure.”

“I want the building to exude high quality,” Sherwood said during a Nov. 22 meeting.

First, Sherwood will need approvals from the town’s land use board.

A public hearing about Sherwood’s proposal is scheduled for Thursday before Newtown’s Planning and Zoning Commission.

Plans call for a three-story building, 39 feet high, that along with parking would cover 70 percent of a 1.6-acre residential lot. Sherwood would demolish the home, the detached garage and the collapsed barn on the property and screen the new building with “heavy landscape buffering.”

Among the proposed design elements are angled roof pitches, a cupola and “a mix of hardy plank, vertical plank and some shake (siding) to break up the look.”

Five of the 27 apartments will be affordable units, Sherwood said.

Among the approvals Sherwood seeks is a new zone “to permit the adaptive reuse of existing underutilized properties along South Main Street and promote businesses that support the character of Newtown.”

The property in question, which is across the street from the former Amaral Motors dealership, is the last residential lot before a string of commercial uses going south, including a fabric store, a strip mall, a restaurant and a Walgreens Pharmacy.

As such, the developer is tasked with creating a transitional design from residential to commercial, review board members said.

“The adjacent buildings like the strip mall, Walgreens and the service center across the street all kind of bring down the architecture in the area, which gives (you) some wiggle room,” Cloudas said at the November meeting.

Judge dismisses complaint over permit at State Pier in New London

Greg Smith 

New Britain — A Superior Court judge on Wednesday dismissed an appeal by a former State Pier tenant seeking to overturn the state’s decision to issue a permit for work at the pier in New London.

Judge John Louis Cordani ruled that DRVN Enterprises Inc., a road salt business that had operated at State Pier until earlier this year, lacks standing to appeal a decision by the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection to issue a permit to the Connecticut Port Authority for dredging in the Thames River and other work needed to complete the pier project.

DRVN's lease was terminated earlier this year, prior to the start of the $235.5 million project to transform and modernize State Pier into an offshore wind hub. DRVN argued in its complaint that the loss of the use of the pier to import salt has severely impacted its business.

John Casey, the attorney for the Connecticut Port Authority, at a hearing on Monday had compared DRVN’s argument to that of a former tenant at a shopping mall with an expired lease who had moved out but was trying to dictate mall renovations to the owner.

Judge Cordani, in his decision, agreed that DRVN had conflated issues of its lease and the issuance of the state permit.

“DRVN, as of February 28, 2021, has no ongoing right to use, possess or control any portion of the pier, and has no right to any particular relationship with the Port Authority. As of February 28, 2021, DRVN’s interest in the pier is no different than any member of the public in general, which is no specific interest,” Cordani wrote in his decision.

Cordani said DRVN’s desire to continue to use the pier, absent some legal right, was insufficient to establish standing in the case. DRVN, he said, had not directly challenged the termination of its right to use the pier.

DRVN attorney Keith Anthony did not respond to a request for comment on the decision. He has argued that DEEP’s decision to issue a permit “failed to give adequate protection to DRVN and other water dependent users.” The company also had argued that DEEP had failed to address adverse impacts of the pier renovations on “all interested parties, including DRVN, and failed to address the efforts to mitigate those adverse impacts and conduct a balancing test of all competing interests.”

DRVN has operated at State Pier since 2014, the year it signed a contract with former port operator Logistec USA Inc. In 2019–20, DRVN said in court documents it imported and distributed 198,000 tons of salt, employed 14 full-time employees and had revenues totaling about $13 million.

Gateway New London LLC took over operation of State Pier in 2019 and gave DRVN until this February to vacate the pier while the Connecticut Port Authority moved ahead with renovation plans, a project funded by the state and wind partners Ørsted and Eversource. DRVN claims its revenues, as a result of the loss of use of State Pier, have dropped to $4.5 million for 2021–22, it now has only five full-time employees and is projected to distribute just 60,000 tons of salt.

The Connecticut Port Authority, which still awaits a federal permit to be able to complete the work at State Pier, issued a statement in response to Wednesday’s dismissal.

“The Authority is pleased that the judge’s ruling concurred with our longstanding position that DRVN, as a prior customer of the facility, lacks standing to oppose the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection's permit for the project,” the statement reads in part. “The project will re-make State Pier as a modern, heavy-lift capable terminal as has been planned for decades. These improvements, paired with our agreement with our partners Orsted and Eversource, enable the burgeoning offshore wind industry to establish a base of operations in New London, resulting in significant economic development opportunities for the region.”

Noank resident Kevin Blacker, an opponent of the work at State Pier, said that prior to the ruling he filed a complaint against Judge Cordani with the Judicial Review Council.

His complaint provides a list of potential conflicts of interest, including the fact that Cordani, prior to becoming a judge, was a partner with Carmody, Torrance, Sandak & Hennessey, which represents Eversource, one of the partners funding the development at State Pier.

Blacker also mentions the fact that John Cordani Jr. is a partner with Robinson + Cole, the firm used by the Connecticut Port Authority, and that State Attorney General William Tong introduced the resolution to confirm Cordani as a judge. The attorney general’s office is representing DEEP in the case.

Spinnaker eyes February start to major Harford office-to-apartment conversion project

Michael Puffer

Spinnaker Real Estate Partners could begin physical work transforming a massive former state office building at 55 Elm St. in Hartford by February.

Spinnaker co-partner Matthew Edvardsen said demolition and abatement work in the building could begin in the next 30 to 45 days.

The Norwalk-based developer purchased the century-old, 200,000-square-foot office building in Jan. 2020 for $6.8 million. It also purchased a trio of nearby parking lots at 71 Elm St., 94 Hudson St. and 108-110 Capitol Ave.

The company plans to put 160 apartments in the historic office building and build multifamily buildings in adjacent parking lots.

Spinnaker currently has applications before Hartford’s Planning and Zoning Commission, seeking to create a “campus overlay” of the parcel and subdivide parking associated with the 55 Elm St. building.

This will split the “more complex” financial and ownership of the initial historic rehabilitation phase, better enabling future construction of new buildings planned for adjacent parking lots, Edvardsen said.

“It’s just keeping that hopefully separate ownership and making sure the complexities of a historic tax credit structuring of the 55 Elm deal doesn’t complicate the ability to go vertical on the rest of the parking lots,” Edvardsen said.

The State Historic Preservation Office has approved Spinnaker’s rehabilitation plan for 55 Elm St., as well as an overall development concept for addition of nearby buildings.

The state office maintains purview to review designs for new construction, ensuring the new buildings do not distract from the historic significance of 55 Elm St., Edvardsen said.

The Planning & Zoning Commission introduced Spinnaker’s request last week. Edvardsen said he is hoping to see it approved in January.

The developer already has city land-use approvals for 55 Elm St. but wanted to secure the subdivision to avoid complications with construction of new buildings on the lots, Edvardsen said.

“It’s been a long process putting all the pieces together, but I think we are finally there and hopefully in the next couple of months we see some progress and close all the financing and pull the building permit,” Edvardsen said.

37 apartments proposed on Oakland Street in Manchester

Skyler Frazer

Developers are expected to present detailed site plans for a projected 37-unit housing complex on Oakland Street in Manchester at the town's next Planning and Zoning Commission after requesting extensions this month.

Trivik Builders LLC proposes a six-building, 37-unit housing community at 321 Oakland St. and 27 Lillian Drive with associated parking and entrance drive, a fenced-in play area, and water quality and detention basins, per plans submitted to the town.

According to information from Wentworth Civil Engineers LLC, the multiple parcels would be combined into one, 4.17-acre site on the east side of Oakland Street. There are two vacant single-family homes that will be removed.

The project is designed as an apartment rental development under single ownership and management.

The Planning and Zoning Commission unanimously voted Nov. 15 that the proposed activity at the site would not have a significant impact on the wetlands in the area so it wouldn’t require a public hearing.

David Laiuppa, environmental planner and wetland agent for the town, said there are no direct, temporary, or permanent impacts to the wetland as part of the project.

He said 0.25 acres of the upland review area would

be affected by the construction of a water detention basin.

“I think it’s pretty straightforward what is happening where,” Laiuppa said. “There’s nothing directly impacting the wetland itself.”

Last year, the commission approved the zone change from a “Residence A” zone to a “Planned Residential Development” zone and an accompanying preliminary site development plan from developers.

While the commission determined the project wouldn’t have a significant effect on wetlands, Trivik Builders requested and was unanimously granted an extension to apply for an inland wetlands permit, a detailed site development plan, and an erosion and sedimentation control plan.

The extension allows them to present at the next Planning and Zoning Commission meeting, scheduled for 7 p.m. Monday, Dec. 13.

Also on the horizon for the commission are a series of proposed regulation amendments related to legal cannabis businesses.

One proposed change would revise the zoning regulations to add definitions for “Cannabis establishment” and other related terms.

Another amendment would add cannabis retailer, dispensary facility, hybrid retailer, cultivator, and micro-cultivator as special exception uses in the Comprehensive Urban Development zone.

Cannabis cultivator or micro-cultivator are proposed to be added as a special exception use in the industrial zone, and cannabis retailer, dispensary facility, or hybrid retailer are proposed to be added as a special exception use in the general business zone.

The town’s Economic Development Commission discussed some of the potential regulation amendments with town staff in November.