CT Construction Digest Thursday March 30, 2023
CT to experiment with speed cameras. Here’s what that means for drivers.
The unblinking eye of cameras will begin enforcing the speed limits at highway work zones in Connecticut in a tightly constrained pilot program that begins on April 10, the day after Easter.
To Carl Chisem, the experiment is long overdue. As the president of Connecticut Employees Union Independent, Chisem represents 3,600 state employees, including 1,500 at the Department of Transportation.
“The data does not lie,” Chisem said Wednesday. “In the last four years, there have been 3,674 crashes, resulting in 13 fatalities and 32 serious injuries in work zones alone.”
A simple memorial in the DOT lobby lists names of the 13 and 24 other workers killed in work zones. Where someone might ordinarily leave flowers, there are orange traffic cones marked CT DOT and wrapped in black ribbon.
Gov. Ned Lamont joined Chisem, DOT workers and others in a parking lot near the DOT headquarters in Newington to publicize the start of a pilot program that transportation officials hope will become a permanent check on reckless drivers.
“It’s gotten pretty dodgy since COVID,” Lamont said. “A lot of people driving like a bat out of hell. It’s these folks who are at risk.”
They stood by a white SUV equipped with cameras linked to automated systems that will issue tickets. Cars sped by on the Berlin Turnpike, occasionally drowning out the speakers.
“What if this press conference was scheduled for behind a set of cones on I-95 at midnight — or even better, after the bars get out?” asked Donald J. Shubert, the president of the Connecticut Construction Industries Association.
The highway construction season is a three-season affair, with overnight shifts common.
“Construction workers are going to be out there eight to 10 hours a night, spring, summer and fall, focusing on their fellow employees, the trucks, the heavy equipment and the quality of their work with their backs towards the traffic,” Shubert said. “Think about that. How would you feel?”
On the night of Nov. 16, 1995, David Ferraro was a construction inspector in a closed southbound lane on I-95 in Greenwich, about 1,000 feet from the New York border, when a motorist sent safety cones flying, struck a truck and sped away.
“It was at the beginning of the night at the point where all workers were preparing to start paving,” Ferraro said.
He felt the impact of the cones, not realizing he had been hit by the car until a trooper pointed to his torn and bloodied jeans. Troopers caught the driver in New York. He was drunk.
Ferraro said things only have gotten worse.
“Over my years on the job, I’ve seen it all,” he said. “People not just going five or 10 miles an hour over the speed limit, they’re going 30, 40 or plus miles an hour over the speed. So what can we do to slow people down? We do this by joining other states around the country and adding automated speed control devices and cameras to active construction projects.”
The General Assembly has placed tight limits on the DOT: Only three camera-enforcement vehicles can be used at one time, each limited to a work site posted with signage warning motorists of automated speed enforcement.
The cameras are unblinking, but they are programmed for leniency: They cannot issue a ticket unless someone is 15 miles per hour over the limit.“This is not that complicated. Don’t drink and drive. Don’t tweet and drive. Stop speeding,” Lamont said. “Look at the wrong-way deaths. We see what’s happening to pedestrians getting hit. And look at the folks behind me.”
Behind him were DOT employees and private-sector construction workers.
“These guys are going to be really busy for the next 10 years. We’re upgrading our roads and bridges in a way that the state hasn’t seen since Dwight Eisenhower,” Lamont said.
Eisenhower was the president who pushed for passage of the Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956 and the creation of an interstate highway system not deemed to be finished until 1992.
Garrett Eucalitto, the DOT commissioner, said the agency will compare speeds at work sites before and after the cameras are deployed to measure their effectiveness. He must report results to the legislature at year’s end.
The DOT currently is seeking authorization to use the cameras on local roads.
“We’ve seen it in New York City. We’ve seen it in Philadelphia,” Eucalitto said. “We don’t want to put them everywhere. But it’s a good tool to have to help save lives and reduce crashes.”
Speed traps seemed to have disappeared during COVID.
Col. Stavros Mellekas said staffing has limited their deployment, but they are out there. And in state police parlance, speed traps do not exist.
“We don’t call them speed traps,” he said. “We do motor vehicle enforcement.”
Construction employment increases in 45 states
Construction employment increased in 45 states in February compared with a year ago, according to analysis of federal employment data by the Associated General Contractors of America.
Texas saw the largest number of jobs added, increasing by 37,900, or 5%, from February 2022 to February 2023. West Virginia saw the largest drop, losing 2,200 jobs, or 6.5%, over that time period.
From January to February, construction employment increased in 24 states, held steady in six and declined in 20 and Washington, D.C. “Unfavorable weather may have held back construction in many states last month compared to January,” said Ken Simonson, the AGC chief economist. “But construction employment continued to expand almost everywhere in February compared to a year ago, despite a slump in homebuilding.”
Most construction firms report trouble finding enough workers to keep pace with demand. Many contractors are opting not to bid on projects as a result, because they simply do not have the staffing to complete and deliver the work, according to AGC.
AGC officials have urged Congress and the Biden administration to increase funding for career and technical education and to open doors to permit foreign workers with construction experience to more easily enter the country legally.
The Department of Labor has recently announced initiatives to train and employ women and minorities — underrepresented groups in construction — so that they can find a strong career path and fill the gap in demand. The agency hopes the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act will create an opportunity for workers seeking good-paying jobs, who then realize their future in construction.
Nevertheless, the gap is wide. The IIJA will likely continue to push demand higher. Even as large infrastructure projects come to town, builders are competing over a small pool of staff for their work.
Developer proposes larger Fairfield Metro multi-use project
FAIRFIELD — The developers of a massive mixed-use development in town are proposing changes to their project.
Accurate, the development company which bought the Ash Creek Boulevard property last year, presented its plans to the Town Plan and Zoning Commission in a meeting Tuesday night. The project has been stymied for nearly two decades, and Accurate has stated it will finally build the mixed-use residential and commercial development.
According to town documents, the concourse building, which was originally going to be a 30,000-square-foot commercial space, will now be expanded with plans to include a hotel. The proposal also calls for building 674 apartments, up from the original 357.
Accurate aims to create the "vibrant, transit-oriented community first envisioned several years ago a reality," according to the plan. In order to do that, plans say, it will submit several land-use applications and zoning amendments to the town, and is seeking a pre-review from the TPZ.
Commissioners asked about parking, stormwater drainage as well as what type of commercial businesses would fill the space.
The developers said there would be retail and restaurants, noting there would be a business center, stores and other types of companies.
Commissioner Lenny Braman said the new designs are an improvement on what was previously approved in many ways. Commissioner Daniel Ford shared similar sentiments, but said there might be objections from neighbors about the scale of the concourse building.
Commissioner Meg Francis also said she liked the plan.
"It's more attractive than it was and I really commend you for it," she said, adding it would not bother if they decreased the amount of the project dedicated to housing.
The proposal notes Accurate is seeking to reconfigure what was originally approved so that the apartments will be spread out across seven buildings ranging from three to five stories in height. As part of that, the plans call for a pedestrian plaza in front of buildings 6 and 7, which will be surrounded by 10,000 square feet of commercial or residential amenity space.
Accurate said it wants to make the concourse building a landmark building in the community, later adding it will be eight stories with a train depot for commuters, office space, a hotel and restaurant uses.
"The Concourse will contain approximately 41,400 square feet of office space, and 118 hotel rooms," it said. "Two below-grade parking levels are also contemplated."
In order to facilitate this, Accurate is proposing changing zoning regulations to allow for building heights of up to 125 feet on the property. For the apartments, it is requesting increasing the amount of bedrooms allowed per acre to 39 from 20.
To allow the increased number of apartments, Accurate is looking for the town to approve an increase in bedrooms per acre from 20 to 39. The proposal notes there will be 874 bedrooms in the development's 674 apartments. It also proposes that 80 of the units be restricted as affordable.
In the plan, Accurate notes that the town can use the affordable units to earn points under the 8-30g system. A state statute, 8-30g allows developers to bypass local zoning laws if building affordable housing in a town where less than 10 percent of housing stock qualifies as affordable.
The proposal said that 79 percent of the development will be residential while the remaining balance will be for non-residential use.
"The contemplated modifications to the approval and zoning regulations will help achieve the highest and best use of the property, provide much needed housing and support economic growth within the town," it said.
Shovels hit the dirt on the project last fall, after years of delays, with town officials and the developers expressing excitement at the time that work was underway. First Selectwoman Brenda Kupchick said she was on the Representative Town Meeting when the town entered into an agreement with the state and a developer for the property.
Accurate is the third developer working on the project since Blackrock Realty proposed a massive development around Fairfield’s third train station with the goal of making it a hub of commuter and shopping activity. Blackrock Realty contributed $5.4 million to the construction of the station in exchange for the rights to build its initial commercial and residential project connected to the station.
Initially proposed in 2005, the development was to have roughly 1 million square feet of mostly office space with a mix of retail and a hotel elements.
Those developers had wanted to pre-lease a lot of that office space before beginning construction, but found the demand for it had dried up after the 2008 economic crash. Blackrock's project went through a number of revisions after that, including proposals for a five-story, 197-unit apartment building.
The site is the former location of a foundry, and development of the site had long been a topic of debate, with officials saying the property has been vacant for too long. Construction on Building 4, which will host apartments, started last year.
Connecticut commercial energy storage demand spurs government action
Connecticut has initiated the second tranche of its statewide commercial energy storage program, aimed at incentivizing 100 MW of battery deployments while continuing to support its residential program.
In the first round, 46.4 MW of commercial and industrial energy storage was approved, with a total energy capacity of 139.4 MWh. The projects average 3 hours of capacity per hour of peak power output.
The residential program recently surpassed the 1 MW sign-up milestone and has ample space in its first round, which targets 10 MW of deployed capacity.
The program is managed by Energy Storage Solutions and administered by the Connecticut Green Bank. The state aims to deploy 1 GW of energy storage by 2030, with interim targets of 300 MW awarded by 2024 and 650 MW by 2027.
Residential customers can receive an upfront incentive of approximately $200 per kWh of battery capacity, with the maximum incentive capped at $7,500. Multiple batteries can be combined to achieve up to 37.5 kWh. Several other factors affect the final value, which can be found here.
To qualify, batteries must be accessible by local power companies for use during peak demand periods. Residential battery owners will be compensated based on when and if their systems are used during high-demand periods. The summer season runs from June to September, and the winter season from December to March. The batteries are expected to be used between noon and 9:00 PM.
Batteries from Enphase, Generac, and SunPower have been approved for the residential market. These units can be managed by inverters from Enphase, Sol-Ark, GoodWe and Shenzhen Lux Power.
The legislation also stipulates that low-income, underserved, and “grid edge” located customers qualify for additional incentives. The state has released a detailed map that shows where the edges of the grid are located.
Research by Dr. Christopher T. M. Clack of Vibrant Energy suggests that putting additional solar and storage at the edges of the grid would generate $473 billion in benefits nationally, with $109 billion in California alone.
The first tranche includes 27 projects submitted by six developers, with projects located in 20 towns across the Constitution State.
Of the 1 GW of capacity to be deployed, the law states that at least 580 MW must be located at the point of demand.
The energy storage program is part of Connecticut’s broader goal of achieving 100% clean energy production by 2040. As of 2030, 48% of the electricity sold within the state must come from renewable energy resources.
The commercial portion of the program aims to deploy 100 MW of capacity. Hardware from six manufacturers are approved: Cadenza Innovation, Caterpillar, Tesla, ELM Fieldsight, Milton CAT and Socomec.
For more on solar policy in Connecticut, read 50 states of solar incentives: Connecticut.
CT Water plans to build solar array in Clinton
The Connecticut Water Co. said it will begin construction on a solar array installation at its corporate office and southern region work center in Clinton next month.
The solar array, a combination of roof and ground-mounted units, will completely offset electrical consumption at both facilities, the company said. It will also provide energy for two high-capacity electric vehicle charging stations, as the company electrifies part of its utility fleet.
Connecticut Water president Craig J. Patla said this is the company’s latest step toward its goal of reducing emissions by 50% from 2019 levels by 2030.
In addition to environmental benefits, the solar installation should help stabilize Connecticut Water’s energy costs and keep water costs stable for consumers, the company said.
The array is expected to be completed in June 2023 and will generate 275 kilowatts of power.
Connecticut Water has installed two other solar arrays, one at the Stewart Water Treatment Plant in Naugatuck, generating 25% of the power needed for that facility, and another in Colchester at the Westchester Village system, which nearly offsets power use for that system.
US energy officials release strategy to boost offshore wind
JENNIFER McDERMOTT
The U.S. Energy Department said Wednesday it has a new strategy to meet the goal of vastly expanding offshore wind energy to address climate change.
The Biden administration wants to build 30 gigawatts of offshore wind energy by 2030 — enough to power more than 10 million homes. The turbines would be anchored to the seafloor. It wants to deploy another 15 gigawatts of floating wind turbines by 2035, enough to power 5 million homes. The first commercial scale offshore wind project in the United States is currently under construction off the coast of Massachusetts.
Capturing the power of strong wind does not contribute to climate change and can enable the shutdown of power plants that operate on combustion and do pollute, reducing the emissions that are causing the climate to change.
With its Offshore Wind Energy Strategy, DOE lays out a plan for supporting offshore wind development to meet the 2030 targets. It was released during an offshore wind energy conference in Baltimore held by the Business Network for Offshore Wind.
Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm promised in a statement that offshore wind "will create tens of thousands of good-paying, union jobs and revitalize coastal communities.”
The administration is attempting to lower the cost of fixed offshore wind by 30%, down to $51 per megawatt hour by 2030 and support a domestic supply chain for the industry. It also wants to establish the United States as a leader in floating offshore wind and lower its cost by nearly 70% to $45 per megawatt hour by 2035. Another goal is to figure out how to bring large amounts of wind energy onto the U.S. power grid, and advance technologies that use offshore wind to produce hydrogen and clean fuels. Among other uses those can be used to make power even when the wind is not blowing, making an intermittent clean source into one that is closer to 24/7.
To achieve all this, Jocelyn Brown-Saracino, the department's offshore wind energy lead, said DOE is bringing people together to solve offshore wind issues, working with the industry on technology demonstrations and offshore wind research, and financing clean energy projects.
“Our hope is that this outlines a really powerful contribution to advancing offshore wind in the United States,” she said. _______
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In Stamford, 8-month project to replace Cedar Heights Road bridge means detours for drivers
STAMFORD — Work to replace a bridge on Cedar Heights Road in the Turn of River neighborhood is scheduled to start next month and wrap up in November.
The bridge, which is south of the Merritt Parkway, near the intersection of Cedar Heights Road and Wire Mill Road, “is being completely removed,” according to a post on the city’s website that includes a link to a detour map.
Construction will begin April 3, unless the weather causes a delay.
Stamford officials have eyed the bridge over the Rippowam River for replacement since at least 2013.
The span was built in 1933 and is considered structurally deficient, said city engineer Lou Casolo. About 3,800 vehicles cross the bridge every day, Casolo said.
“The new structure will be capable of withstanding pressures, velocities, impact and uplift forces from a 100-year flood,” according to a project page on the city’s website.
The project is estimated to cost $2 million, with 80 percent to be covered by the federal government, according to the web page.
West Haven approves Washington School demolition, new design
WEST HAVEN — The Planning & Zoning Commission approved the demolition and new construction of Washington School, the next step forward in bringing the 114-year-old school into the future.
In a presentation by representatives from architectural firm Antinozzi Associates and engineering firm Stentec, commissioners reviewed plans for the two-story, 49,000-square-foot building that will accommodate roughly 438 students between pre-K and fourth grade and more than 70 staff members.
Architect Lisa Yates said the current structure, built in 1909, is out of compliance with accessibility requirements and many features of the current building — including narrow stairwells, wide hallways and masonry — make it so renovation is not a feasible option. The new site design notably includes updates expected to address traffic concerns in the area, which are exacerbated during drop-off and pick-up times as passenger vehicles compete with school buses and line Washington Avenue and Brown Street as children walk across oncoming traffic and doors open into the street. 00:00 / 00:32
Engineer Antonio DiCamillo said the new site plan implements a left-turn lane from Washington Avenue into a parking lot that can support about 30 cars queuing at a time; Principal Alicia Limosani said about 70 cars queue daily, but the entire operation moves quickly, taking place in the span of 15 minutes.
“We think you're still going to have traffic in this neighborhood,” said Yates, adding that there was no need to sugarcoat the issue. “We’re just doing everything we can within the context of this new project to do everything this project can do.”
Beyond the queue through the parking lot, the site design adds a separate bus loop on Brown Street and increases the total parking on-site from 52 spots to 74. Officials with the site design said it was the most they could manage on the four-acre parcel without causing other issues, such as reducing the size of a playground or encroaching farther into a floodplain.
Neighbor Henry Manoni said he has ongoing concerns about traffic, and the plan as presented likely still would lead to cars stopping on the road. He also asked whether any consideration had been taken to preserve a memorial bench on the streetcorner. DiCamillo said the bench would get "special treatment" and would be removed and placed upon a newly-paved area.
The design plans show the exterior of the building will include terra cotta brick and gray stone, materials that officials said were intended to match over civic buildings, such as City Hall and the First Congregational Church.
At Tuesday's meeting, a day after six were killed in a Nashville school shooting — including three children — some commissioners raised concerns about the security of the entrances. Limosani said school staff are "actually pretty neurotic" about ensuring that the doors are secured; the approved new design would create vestibules at entrances with reinforced glass that is expected to protect against break-in attempts for an estimated six minutes.
Neighbor Thomas Sciarappa said the addition of a gymnasium to the building years ago created loud noises that disrupted the neighborhood most mornings around 7 a.m.
"We're people who live there," he said. "I know projects in West Haven do take longer than normal, but God built the world in six days and rested on the seventh. When I get up in the morning this is what I'm going to hear for two years."
Officials said that, although construction can be noisy, construction officials can reserve some of the noisiest functions for later than 7 a.m.
Commissioners said they were pleased with the presentation; the use of materials intended to match the facades of other civic buildings was applauded by several.
Vice Commissioner John Biancur said the application is "certainly not perfect" because of constraints related to the size and location of the parcel, but "it looks as if the applicant is doing as much is possible with everything possible for them.”
"It meets everything as much as is humanly possible to do,” he said.
Commissioners Greg Milano and Gene Sullivan said the building is likely to be in the spirit of the city's Plan of Conservation and Development by attracting new residents.
Yates said the estimated $44.5 million construction project may begin once bids go out in the late summer and may be completed by March 2025. During construction, Washington students will attend school at the presently-vacant Molloy School.
Details on The Riverbank and other projects shared at New London Landmarks meeting
Johana Vazquez
New London ― At an eventful New London Landmarks annual meeting Tuesday, it was announced that Tox Brewing Co. is moving to Bank Street and the Garfield Mills project has begun remediation of its building.
The meeting was held at one of the three adjacent historic buildings owned by developers High Tide Capital at 137, 133 and 123 Bank St. The buildings are being restored and turned into luxury apartments and space for businesses to create a collective development called The Riverbank.
High Tide Capital was this year’s recipient of Landmarks’ Restoration Award for its work on Bank Street and its most recently completed work at the Manwaring Building at 225 State St. where Connecticut College students are being housed.
Landmarks Executive Director Laura Natusch said for many years developers have not taken part in the costly effort to restore historic buildings. She said she hopes High Tide Capital’s work inspires others to do the same.
“These buildings have been vacant for so long,” she said. “It feels like we are finally turning the corner.”
Historian Tom Schuch received the Cliff Stone award for his years of research and work on the Black Heritage Trail. Constance Kristofik received the Volunteer of the Year Award for her documentary about the history of New London’s LGBTQ+ community called “Holding Space for Each Other.”
Landmarks Intern Leslie Ann Melendez presented a video montage as a preview to a project called “Bridging the gap with stories” that will feature the oral histories of two dozen people who grew up in the city’s income-restricted housing projects.
Natusch said she and Melendez would also be working on a documentary in the summer about Puerto Rican migration into the city.
The meeting’s featured speaker was Brian Lyman, the managing broker for Parker Benjamin, a real estate advising and development firm. The firm has renovated 38 Green St. into small studio apartments and is working for High Tide Capital on the Riverbank development and construction. Lyman accepted the restoration award on behalf of High Tide.
Lyman said his firm only works on buildings that have existed pre-1936 and are typically blighted in order to receive certain tax credits to help fund the renovation. He said a lot of infrastructure work goes into the projects with new electric, gas service and sewer systems.
In a presentation, Lyman showed slides of what people can expect from Riverbank. He said the small building at 137 Bank St. would be home to the record store The Telegraph.
At 123 Bank St., the site of the former New London Antiques Center, Lyman said Tox Brewing Co., currently situated at 635 Broad St., would move into the first floor and apartments would be on the top two floors. He said there will be a roof deck on top where residents will have “spectacular views of the harbor.”
At the former site of Jason’s furniture, or 133 Bank St., commercial space for a restaurant is still available on the ground floor and the top three floors will have apartments. Between both buildings there will be 32 one- and two-bedroom luxury apartments.
The apartments are expected to open its doors to its first residents this summer. More information on the development can be found at its website.
Lyman said his firm is also working with Litchfield-based Park Lane Group on the renovation of the Garfield Mill complex at 90 Garfield Avenue into workforce and affordable housing. He said building material at the site will be undergoing abatement for a few months before construction can start.
After the meeting, a group of attendees participated in a tour led by Lyman of the construction underway at 123 Bank St. and stood among exposed steel framing of what will be future apartments.
The attendees talked about how the building once served as the location of Olympic Sporting Goods where they would try on new shoes. Felix Reyes, the city’s director of Planning and Development, reminded everyone that 133 Bank St., the building with the “gorilla” mural in the back, was the subject of a fire last year.
He said the developers called the next day after the fire to re-instate their commitment to the development.
East Lyme sewer commission makes room for senior development
Elizabeth Regan
East Lyme ― The Water and Sewer Commission this week helped a 454-unit proposed senior housing development clear its first major hurdle.
Members on Tuesday voted 6-1 to allocate a majority of the sewer capacity Pelletier-Niantic LLC estimates it needs for 160 condominiums, 144 apartments, and a 150-bed assisted living section, as well as urgent care and radiology facilities that would be open to the public.
The company’s principal is listed as New York-based architect Eric J. Pelletier.
Pelletier’s application asked for 110,000 gallons per day of sewage flow. The request came as officials warned the town is close to capacity in the system designed to send 1.5 million gallons of sewage per day from East Lyme to New London’s Piacenti Water Treatment Facility.
The commission granted a reduced 75,000 gallons per day, which was a more generous number than the 55,000 gallons per day recommended by utilities engineer Ben North.
Civil engineer J. Robert Pfanner, representing the project, described the amount approved by the commission as “fine.”
“We'll never go over that allocation,” he said in a phone interview Wednesday.
The developer could begin filing permit applications with the land use department “maybe in a couple months,” according to Pfanner. Multiple public hearings will be required as the project moves through the regulatory process.
North at a public hearing earlier this month said the project would likely be “one of the last major developments” in town until officials figure out where to find additional capacity for its sewer system.
The commission on Tuesday considered either approving the reduced amount or denying the request. The decision hinged on different interpretations about how much capacity would be available going forward.
Officials said it’s a difficult number to predict because there are potential customers along the town’s sewer lines who are entitled to connect if they choose. That means there’s a pool of customers on septic systems currently who may decide to tie into the sewer system in the future, as well as vacant lots that may eventually contain buildings.
But it’s unknown how many of those possible ratepayers will actually connect.
North estimated there would be approximately 882 gallons per day of capacity left if he factored in all the properties that may or may not connect to the system. If he only looks at existing sewer customers and projects under construction, there would be 137,000 gallons remaining.
Commission member David Zoller said the focus needs to be on the amount of capacity actually being used instead of unreliable projections.
“We can’t stop the growth of this town because of some phantom number,” he said.
But he said the commission has to get serious about looking at ways to find more capacity before it runs out.
Of the 1.5 million gallons per day allotted for sewer lines in East Lyme, 1.02 million gallons are for municipal use while the rest are reserved for the state at sites including York Correctional Institution and Camp Nett.
The town averaged about 708,000 gallons per day in each of the past five years, according to North.
The state used only about 200,000 gallons per day of its 478,000-gallon-per-day allocation, which it currently shares with the private beach communities of Pine Grove in East Lyme and Point o’ Woods in Old Lyme.
Member Carol F. Russell, the lone opposition vote, said she didn’t believe the commission should immediately approve an allocation without having more solid information about where additional capacity might come from and how much it will cost.
Officials at the public hearing said options for increasing capacity could include renegotiating agreements with New London and Waterford or working with the state to access some of its unused allotment.
“We need a new policy in terms of other revenue to help pay for that,” she said, adding one option could be for developers to pick up some of the cost. Another would be for taxpayers to chip in if expanding capacity is going to foster economic development.
Commission Chairman and First Selectman Kevin Seery said the need for additional capacity is clear, but said he didn’t believe it was an emergency situation.
He said the eligible households along the town’s sewer lines would have to connect “abundantly” and in consistent numbers to max out the system over the next few years, which he didn’t foresee happening.
“So I don’t think we’re putting ourselves in a position where, within the next six months or couple of years, we’re going to have a problem with capacity,” he said.
For member David Bond, reserving capacity for customers that may or may not end up connecting is a waste of space.
“As a commission, we’re a business. We’re paying for capacity, we’ve paid for the sewage treatment plant, and now we have all this capacity that we can’t get paid for because people aren’t tied in,” he said.
He said maxing out capacity makes financial sense.
“We need customers,” he said. “All we’re doing every year is going up on our rates.”
225 Middlebury residents show up to stop distribution center
STEVE BIGHAM
MIDDLEBURY – An estimated 225 residents, most of them clad in red, packed the Pomperaug High School auditorium Tuesday night to express their opposition to a proposed distribution center.
The developer, Drubner Equities of Waterbury, is looking to build a 750,000-square-foot “Amazon-like” distribution facility on the 112-acre Timex Corp. campus off Christian and Southford roads, which is for sale, town officials say.
Resident Stacey Brooks said the “monstrosity” being proposed would destroy the town.
The plan is before the Middlebury Conservation Commission, which held its third hearing Tuesday. Another is scheduled for April 4.
If approved, the facility would have 66 loading bays to accommodate as many as 106 tractor-trailers at a time.
Drubner’s attorney, Edward G. Fitzpatrick, told the commission the plan would have little impact on wetlands, just one half of 1%.
“That’s like having 3,000 school buses and only one of them being impacted,” he said.
The applicant brought in several environmental experts who expressed their support for the plan, including herpetologist Dennis Quinn, who said the wetlands on the site have little value, with nearby Interstate 84 and Route 188 having all but eliminated the salamanders, tree frogs and snakes. Most wetlands there are infested by non-native earthworms that do more harm than good, he said.
But residents fear the massive distribution center, with trucks rolling in 24-7, would destroy their community’s small-town feel.
“You are here to protect us. We’re scared and angry. You have the legal authority to stop this,” said resident Sam Dexter, who appealed to the commission’s “conversation consciousness” and to reject the application.
Fitzpatrick pointed out, however, the commission cannot deny the application simply based on a wetlands impact.
“There needs to be a balance between wetlands and economic growth,” he said.
Resident Jennifer Mahr said air, light and noise pollution from the trucks would have an adverse impact on the natural habitat.
“Diesel exhaust creates a cocktail of air pollutants,” she said.
But Commission Vice Chairwoman Mary Barton said those concerns would need to be addressed by the Zoning Commission.
Barton said the issue at hand is to determine if the plan has a net-zero impact on the wetlands and, if so, regulations state the application must be approved.
Environmental experts for the applicant went into detail about the plan to mediate any wetlands impact or water runoff through the use of sophisticated storm water drainage, bio-retention basins and systems.
But resident Bill Pizzuto said no amount of wetlands remediation is as effective as Mother Nature.
“We can’t let enticement of profit supersede our quality of life,” he said.
Resident Terry Jack agreed, noting “man-made wetlands are no substitute.”
Keith Ainsworth, an attorney representing Middlebury Small Town Alliance, which has intervener status, reminded the commission the applicant’s plan constitutes 58 acres of total disturbance.
The 100-acre Timex property is zoned “light industrial,” which does not specifically identify a “distribution center” as a permitted use, though “warehouses” are an allowable use.
Drubner had sought to have Middlebury’s zoning regulations amended to allow for “a specialized warehouse that serves as a hub to store finished goods, facilitate the picking, packing and sorting process, and ship goods out to another location or final destination.”
It also wanted to raise the cap on the permitted height of buildings from 35 to 55 feet.
However, it has since withdrawn those requests, opting to eventually seek zoning approval, even without the text amendments.
Zoning enforcement officer Curt Bosco said the applicant could seek almost the exact same size distribution center, “with almost the same intensity,” under the current zoning regulations, even without any text amendments.
“They allow warehousing in the current regulations in Middlebury. Warehousing is almost the exact definition of a distribution center. Stuff goes in, they store it and stuff goes out. That’s what warehousing is,” Bosco said.
Mahr disagreed, saying Middlebury’s “light industrial” zone prohibits trucking terminals, except for the transportation of goods manufactured on the premises.
“The LI-200 zone is all about the creation of new goods and is not a transportation zone,” she said. “E-commerce is light years ahead of zoning regulations and developers are taking advantage of regulatory gaps to build whatever they want, wherever they want.”