CT Construction Digest Tuesday May 12, 2020
Lamont, knowing many still reluctant to return to work in CT, considers enhanced unemployment benefits
Ken Dixon
People who are anxious about returning to work, particularly those who could be vulnerable to the coronavirus, might get some relief that could allow them to remain at home and receive unemployment benefits, Gov. Ned Lamont indicated on Monday.
While Lamont said that he is looking into the issue and undecided, the governor agreed that it is a major concern for a section of the population, particularly teachers contemplating the reopening of schools in the fall.“People over the age of 60, 65, I really don’t want them going to work in the near term,” Lamont said. “People with pre-existing conditions should not be going back to work. If they’re a teacher and they can do a lecture because they’re in a community college, there are other ways they may be able to participate, but I believe going to a public place where you are natural liable to congregate is probably not a good idea, at least for the near term.” Safety in the pandemic is still the key to recovery.
“I want to make sure the store owners feel safe to open their store,” he said. “I want to make sure the customers feel safe going back in the store and I want to make sure everybody working at the store or the construction facility feels safe as well.”
Lamont stressed the need to support social distancing and other public health measures. “The scientists can tell you what the safety level is, and nothing is absolute,” Lamont said. “There’s nothing that’s 100 percent. We’re making judgments there. But it’s also important that people feel safe. That they feel that there are people looking out for them. This is not a light switch. Not everybody is going to pour back to work.”
During his daily news conference in the State Capitol, Lamont said he still wants dental hygientists returning to work when their dental offices resume normal business. “I’m inclined to let it play out a little bit,” Lamont said. “We never closed down dentistry. We at least kept it open for emergency purposes. I think a lot of hygientists who don’t want to go in, won’t have to go in because there won’t be demand at this point. If I find I’m wrong on that then we’re going to have to take a second look at it.”
Josh Geballe, Lamont’s chief operating officer and commissioner of the state Department of Administrative Services, said that the administration has heard from many about the issue and will put together a group to discuss the issues, including the Connecticut Dental Association and hygientists.
Lamont also held his position on restaurants reopening May 20 without indoor dining, but praised Greenwich First Selectman Fred Camillo for considering an idea to close off a downtown street such as Greenwich Avenue to allow restaurants to create an alfresco dining environment.
“I’ve been impressed,” he said. “Thinking about how more outdoor access for these tables and restaurants, I think, could help bring the towns to life, the cities to life and also make it much more viable for our restaurants. I am a little hesitant though, about just going right into indoor dining alongside outdoor dining. I think that’s going to take a little bit longer.”
The state’s fatalities on Monday in the coronavirus pandemic rose above 3,000, prompting Lamont to wish he had done more to prepare for the historic two-month wave, which now is on the decline since the first death on March 17.
“Shame on us for under-estimating, perhaps, what could have happened,” Lamont said. Another 41 fatalities brought the total to 3,008. “Could we have done everything sooner? I think so.” Net hospitalizations fell by 30, bringing to total to 1,212, the fewest since April 6, keeping the state on-track for the May 20 soft reopening.
He said that the latest testing data over the weekend indicated that positive cases were occurring at less than 10 percent of total tests. Hospital admissions have fallen sharply in the last week, he added.
Lamont said he joined a tele-conference meeting of the White House Task Force on the virus on Monday with other governors, and for a change, White House staff were social distancing. “There wasn’t 10 people sitting around a table,” he said. “Instead, it was the vice president, he walked in with a mask, sat down, took off the mask in there, took questions, giving a good update. Everybody is taking the social distancing more serious now, which I think is a very important trend.”
Lamont noted that while two-thirds of the state economy has kept working during the shutdown, many did not feel safe either opening or patronizing stores. About 450,000 people applied for unemployment benefits, including most of the 160,000 workers in the restaurant industry.
Two union leaders who are members of the governor’s advisory group on returning to work, joined the news conference said they are confident that workplaces will be different and safer.
Jan Hockadel, president of the American Federation of Teachers, including healthcare workers and state employees, said it’s important that the voice of workers are heard during plans for the phased-in reopening of the state. “When schools are reopened, teachers are not only concerned about their safety, but the safety of their students and everyone who works in the buildings,” she said. “nd they are also concerned about their families at home.”
She said that many educators are concerned about their health and don’t feel comfortable. “That’s why I think it’s so important that we get these plans right on how we are going to reopen, how we are going to protect our workers and the people they serve,” Hockadel said.
Dave Roche, president of the Connecticut Building Trades Council, said that back in March, union members had questions about staying on the job, even as many Connecticut sites remained open while similar jobs in Massachusetts and New York closed.
“Job sites, as everybody knows, aren’t the cleanest places in the world,” he said. “You felt it was going to be a lot of challenges to get this done.” He said that infection rates were low, however, after preparations were made during early phases of the Lamont’s executive orders.
“We’re going to have to get used to maybe staggered shift starting times,” Roche said. “Shift work more on the projects, wash stations more throughout the project. Our members are doing a great job of following the guidelines. We don’t want anybody to get lazy and say everything is good now.”
Roche acknowledged that some workers may balk about returning to work, but they should look at a site first. “If you’ve got an underlying condition, then certainly unemployment should have some guidelines here to protect them from going to work,” Roche said.
Torrington street resurfacing work begins May 18
TORRINGTON — As part of its continuing improvement projects in town, the public works department will begin surfacing work on the following streets, starting May 18 and continuing until at least May 29, depending on the weather.
Streets to be “microsurfaced,” meaning smoothing new pavement, include Liberty Lane, Carriage Lane, Cobblestone Court, Heritage Way, Wildwood Road, Settlers Lane, Allison Drive, Edan Boulevard, Mikelin Drive, White Pine Road, Mapleridge Drive, Hickory Road, Longmeadow Drive and Cookes Ridge. All roads will be open during construction but motorists should expect delays. No parking will be allowed on the street during the project.
Big Y to open Clinton store on old high school site
Luther Turmelle
CLINTON — Massachusetts-based grocery chain Big Y is expanding its presence on the Shoreline, opening a store on Route 81 near Clinton Crossing Premium Outlets sometime next year.
The new 55,000-square-foot store will be part of Indian River Shops, a 180,000-square-foot. mixed-use development that will be built on the former site of the Morgan School. Ken Navarro, a partner in the Mystic-based Greylock Property Group, said Monday that demolition of the old high school building is expected to begin this summer.
“We’re still waiting for a few approvals from the state Department of Transportation,” Navarro said.Indian River Shops, which will be located at 11 Killingworth Turnpike, will include an 80- to 100-room hotel and two or three restaurants on 37 acres, he said. Navarro said he believes having the restaurants as part of the new development will be beneficial because Clinton Crossing has no full service restaurants.
“To bring a supermarket like Big Y to Clinton will have a profound impact on the local community and economy,” Navarro said.
The construction of the supermarket will create job opportunities for local contractors, according to Big Y officials. When the store opens, it will employ more than 150 people in both full- and part-time positions.
Big Y has nearly three-dozen stores in Connecticut and 72 overall when the chain’s Massachsuetts stores are included. The new store will become the second in Middlesex County following the 2014 opening of a Big Y in Old Saybrook.
“We see this as an in-fill for us, both in terms of our presence on the Shoreline and the middle of the of the state,” said Matt D’Amour, Big Y’s vice president of real estate and store development. “We’re still looking for something in Middletown.”
D’Amour said he hoped construction of the new supermarket will begin by the end of this year.
Big Y began its Shoreline expansion in earnest during 2010 when it acquired A&P supermarket locations in Branford, Mystic and Old Lyme as well as a store in West Hartford. And now it appears the chain may be eying a presence along the western portion of the Shoreline, having opened a store in Milford last November.
The Morgan School had been located on the site for 65 years before it opened a new location farther north on Route 81 in Clinton in August 2016.
'Re-open, Renew and Revitalize' Campaign Tells Lawmakers: Economic Recovery Begins with Multi-Year Transportation Investment Package VIDEO
A coalition of 31 national construction associations and labor unions launched an advertising and grassroots campaign designed to encourage Congress to make new infrastructure investments as the major catalyst for economic recovery in the wake of COVID-19.
The primary message of the campaign by the Transportation Construction Coalition (TCC) is that re-opening, renewing and revitalizing the economy starts with passage of a robust, multi-year transportation bill that creates jobs and keeps goods and services like medical supplies quickly moving to their destinations - now and for decades to come.
The campaign's message is directed at two audiences: legislators and their staffs on Capitol Hill and the four primary leaders who are critical to final passage of infrastructure investment legislation: House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), House Minority leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), and Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.).
The campaign features four components: cable TV, digital TV, Facebook ads and digital ads.
The cable TV spots will run in the Nation's Capital and are designed to drive members of Congress, their staff and other policy influencers to the TCC website, "FundInfrastructureNow.org." There they find an opinion piece that underscores the urgency for action and lays out why investing in transportation infrastructure is vital to helping rescue America's economy from recession and double-digit unemployment.
That same primary message also is driven home in a series of Facebook and digital ads, each directed to the home districts of House Speaker Pelosi, House Minority Leader McCarthy, Senate Majority Leader McConnell and Senate Minority Leader Schumer. The ads invite constituents to communicate their support for infrastructure legislation to each of those lawmakers via an easy-to-use digital grassroots action platform.
About the Transportation Construction Coalition
Established in 1996 and co-chaired by the American Road & Transportation Builders Association (ARTBA) and the Associated General Contractors of America (AGC), the 31 associations and labor unions that make up the TCC have a direct market interest in the federal transportation program. A complete list of members can be found at: www.transportationconstructioncoalition.org.
Construction loses record-breaking 975K jobs in April amid pandemic
The construction industry lost 975,000 jobs in April, according to the most recent report from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, as contractors experienced less demand for their services amid the pandemic. This drop represents approximately 13% of the country's construction workforce, said Associated General Contractors of America.
The overall U.S. unemployment rate increased by 10.3% to 14.7%, the biggest month-to-month increase since the government began keeping track of employment figures in 1948. The construction industry unemployment rate was 16.6% in April, up from 6.9% in March and 4.7% from April 2019. Ken Simonson, AGC's chief economist, said the March-to-April 2020 drop in jobs is the industry's largest ever. The dismal April numbers are proof, the AGC said, that the federal government should introduce new measures to help the construction industry recover. This includes infrastructure funding, as well as safe harbor provisions and more clarity from the Treasury Department regarding the rules for eligibility and forgiveness of Paycheck Protection Program loans. The AGC has been petitioning Treasury to provide more detailed guidance for the PPP program, which is being administered by the Small Business Administration through traditional lenders. The loans are meant to help business owners continue to pay employees rather than lay them off and cover payroll and other specific expenses for eight weeks after receiving the loan proceeds.
However, the guidance that the federal government has issued thus far regarding which firms are eligible for loans and exactly how that money can be used has been vague, according to the AGC, and has led some companies, including those in the construction industry, to either return or consider returning the money they received through the PPP to avoid potential punitive action.
In fact, according to the AGC's latest survey of more than 800 members, 2% returned their PPP loans and 18% are considering returning their loans.
“Without new federal help, it is hard to see a scenario where the construction industry will be able to recover any time soon," Simonson said.
The AGC survey conducted May 4 to 7 also reveals that contractors feel pinched by the coronavirus. Of members surveyed:
Some takeaways from Procore's calculations from the week of March 1 to the week of April 26 include:
Ken Dixon
People who are anxious about returning to work, particularly those who could be vulnerable to the coronavirus, might get some relief that could allow them to remain at home and receive unemployment benefits, Gov. Ned Lamont indicated on Monday.
While Lamont said that he is looking into the issue and undecided, the governor agreed that it is a major concern for a section of the population, particularly teachers contemplating the reopening of schools in the fall.“People over the age of 60, 65, I really don’t want them going to work in the near term,” Lamont said. “People with pre-existing conditions should not be going back to work. If they’re a teacher and they can do a lecture because they’re in a community college, there are other ways they may be able to participate, but I believe going to a public place where you are natural liable to congregate is probably not a good idea, at least for the near term.” Safety in the pandemic is still the key to recovery.
“I want to make sure the store owners feel safe to open their store,” he said. “I want to make sure the customers feel safe going back in the store and I want to make sure everybody working at the store or the construction facility feels safe as well.”
Lamont stressed the need to support social distancing and other public health measures. “The scientists can tell you what the safety level is, and nothing is absolute,” Lamont said. “There’s nothing that’s 100 percent. We’re making judgments there. But it’s also important that people feel safe. That they feel that there are people looking out for them. This is not a light switch. Not everybody is going to pour back to work.”
During his daily news conference in the State Capitol, Lamont said he still wants dental hygientists returning to work when their dental offices resume normal business. “I’m inclined to let it play out a little bit,” Lamont said. “We never closed down dentistry. We at least kept it open for emergency purposes. I think a lot of hygientists who don’t want to go in, won’t have to go in because there won’t be demand at this point. If I find I’m wrong on that then we’re going to have to take a second look at it.”
Josh Geballe, Lamont’s chief operating officer and commissioner of the state Department of Administrative Services, said that the administration has heard from many about the issue and will put together a group to discuss the issues, including the Connecticut Dental Association and hygientists.
Lamont also held his position on restaurants reopening May 20 without indoor dining, but praised Greenwich First Selectman Fred Camillo for considering an idea to close off a downtown street such as Greenwich Avenue to allow restaurants to create an alfresco dining environment.
“I’ve been impressed,” he said. “Thinking about how more outdoor access for these tables and restaurants, I think, could help bring the towns to life, the cities to life and also make it much more viable for our restaurants. I am a little hesitant though, about just going right into indoor dining alongside outdoor dining. I think that’s going to take a little bit longer.”
The state’s fatalities on Monday in the coronavirus pandemic rose above 3,000, prompting Lamont to wish he had done more to prepare for the historic two-month wave, which now is on the decline since the first death on March 17.
“Shame on us for under-estimating, perhaps, what could have happened,” Lamont said. Another 41 fatalities brought the total to 3,008. “Could we have done everything sooner? I think so.” Net hospitalizations fell by 30, bringing to total to 1,212, the fewest since April 6, keeping the state on-track for the May 20 soft reopening.
He said that the latest testing data over the weekend indicated that positive cases were occurring at less than 10 percent of total tests. Hospital admissions have fallen sharply in the last week, he added.
Lamont said he joined a tele-conference meeting of the White House Task Force on the virus on Monday with other governors, and for a change, White House staff were social distancing. “There wasn’t 10 people sitting around a table,” he said. “Instead, it was the vice president, he walked in with a mask, sat down, took off the mask in there, took questions, giving a good update. Everybody is taking the social distancing more serious now, which I think is a very important trend.”
Lamont noted that while two-thirds of the state economy has kept working during the shutdown, many did not feel safe either opening or patronizing stores. About 450,000 people applied for unemployment benefits, including most of the 160,000 workers in the restaurant industry.
Two union leaders who are members of the governor’s advisory group on returning to work, joined the news conference said they are confident that workplaces will be different and safer.
Jan Hockadel, president of the American Federation of Teachers, including healthcare workers and state employees, said it’s important that the voice of workers are heard during plans for the phased-in reopening of the state. “When schools are reopened, teachers are not only concerned about their safety, but the safety of their students and everyone who works in the buildings,” she said. “nd they are also concerned about their families at home.”
She said that many educators are concerned about their health and don’t feel comfortable. “That’s why I think it’s so important that we get these plans right on how we are going to reopen, how we are going to protect our workers and the people they serve,” Hockadel said.
Dave Roche, president of the Connecticut Building Trades Council, said that back in March, union members had questions about staying on the job, even as many Connecticut sites remained open while similar jobs in Massachusetts and New York closed.
“Job sites, as everybody knows, aren’t the cleanest places in the world,” he said. “You felt it was going to be a lot of challenges to get this done.” He said that infection rates were low, however, after preparations were made during early phases of the Lamont’s executive orders.
“We’re going to have to get used to maybe staggered shift starting times,” Roche said. “Shift work more on the projects, wash stations more throughout the project. Our members are doing a great job of following the guidelines. We don’t want anybody to get lazy and say everything is good now.”
Roche acknowledged that some workers may balk about returning to work, but they should look at a site first. “If you’ve got an underlying condition, then certainly unemployment should have some guidelines here to protect them from going to work,” Roche said.
Torrington street resurfacing work begins May 18
TORRINGTON — As part of its continuing improvement projects in town, the public works department will begin surfacing work on the following streets, starting May 18 and continuing until at least May 29, depending on the weather.
Streets to be “microsurfaced,” meaning smoothing new pavement, include Liberty Lane, Carriage Lane, Cobblestone Court, Heritage Way, Wildwood Road, Settlers Lane, Allison Drive, Edan Boulevard, Mikelin Drive, White Pine Road, Mapleridge Drive, Hickory Road, Longmeadow Drive and Cookes Ridge. All roads will be open during construction but motorists should expect delays. No parking will be allowed on the street during the project.
Big Y to open Clinton store on old high school site
Luther Turmelle
CLINTON — Massachusetts-based grocery chain Big Y is expanding its presence on the Shoreline, opening a store on Route 81 near Clinton Crossing Premium Outlets sometime next year.
The new 55,000-square-foot store will be part of Indian River Shops, a 180,000-square-foot. mixed-use development that will be built on the former site of the Morgan School. Ken Navarro, a partner in the Mystic-based Greylock Property Group, said Monday that demolition of the old high school building is expected to begin this summer.
“We’re still waiting for a few approvals from the state Department of Transportation,” Navarro said.Indian River Shops, which will be located at 11 Killingworth Turnpike, will include an 80- to 100-room hotel and two or three restaurants on 37 acres, he said. Navarro said he believes having the restaurants as part of the new development will be beneficial because Clinton Crossing has no full service restaurants.
“To bring a supermarket like Big Y to Clinton will have a profound impact on the local community and economy,” Navarro said.
The construction of the supermarket will create job opportunities for local contractors, according to Big Y officials. When the store opens, it will employ more than 150 people in both full- and part-time positions.
Big Y has nearly three-dozen stores in Connecticut and 72 overall when the chain’s Massachsuetts stores are included. The new store will become the second in Middlesex County following the 2014 opening of a Big Y in Old Saybrook.
“We see this as an in-fill for us, both in terms of our presence on the Shoreline and the middle of the of the state,” said Matt D’Amour, Big Y’s vice president of real estate and store development. “We’re still looking for something in Middletown.”
D’Amour said he hoped construction of the new supermarket will begin by the end of this year.
Big Y began its Shoreline expansion in earnest during 2010 when it acquired A&P supermarket locations in Branford, Mystic and Old Lyme as well as a store in West Hartford. And now it appears the chain may be eying a presence along the western portion of the Shoreline, having opened a store in Milford last November.
The Morgan School had been located on the site for 65 years before it opened a new location farther north on Route 81 in Clinton in August 2016.
'Re-open, Renew and Revitalize' Campaign Tells Lawmakers: Economic Recovery Begins with Multi-Year Transportation Investment Package VIDEO
A coalition of 31 national construction associations and labor unions launched an advertising and grassroots campaign designed to encourage Congress to make new infrastructure investments as the major catalyst for economic recovery in the wake of COVID-19.
The primary message of the campaign by the Transportation Construction Coalition (TCC) is that re-opening, renewing and revitalizing the economy starts with passage of a robust, multi-year transportation bill that creates jobs and keeps goods and services like medical supplies quickly moving to their destinations - now and for decades to come.
The campaign's message is directed at two audiences: legislators and their staffs on Capitol Hill and the four primary leaders who are critical to final passage of infrastructure investment legislation: House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), House Minority leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), and Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.).
The campaign features four components: cable TV, digital TV, Facebook ads and digital ads.
The cable TV spots will run in the Nation's Capital and are designed to drive members of Congress, their staff and other policy influencers to the TCC website, "FundInfrastructureNow.org." There they find an opinion piece that underscores the urgency for action and lays out why investing in transportation infrastructure is vital to helping rescue America's economy from recession and double-digit unemployment.
That same primary message also is driven home in a series of Facebook and digital ads, each directed to the home districts of House Speaker Pelosi, House Minority Leader McCarthy, Senate Majority Leader McConnell and Senate Minority Leader Schumer. The ads invite constituents to communicate their support for infrastructure legislation to each of those lawmakers via an easy-to-use digital grassroots action platform.
About the Transportation Construction Coalition
Established in 1996 and co-chaired by the American Road & Transportation Builders Association (ARTBA) and the Associated General Contractors of America (AGC), the 31 associations and labor unions that make up the TCC have a direct market interest in the federal transportation program. A complete list of members can be found at: www.transportationconstructioncoalition.org.
Construction loses record-breaking 975K jobs in April amid pandemic
The construction industry lost 975,000 jobs in April, according to the most recent report from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, as contractors experienced less demand for their services amid the pandemic. This drop represents approximately 13% of the country's construction workforce, said Associated General Contractors of America.
However, the guidance that the federal government has issued thus far regarding which firms are eligible for loans and exactly how that money can be used has been vague, according to the AGC, and has led some companies, including those in the construction industry, to either return or consider returning the money they received through the PPP to avoid potential punitive action.
In fact, according to the AGC's latest survey of more than 800 members, 2% returned their PPP loans and 18% are considering returning their loans.
“Without new federal help, it is hard to see a scenario where the construction industry will be able to recover any time soon," Simonson said.
The AGC survey conducted May 4 to 7 also reveals that contractors feel pinched by the coronavirus. Of members surveyed:
- 67% reported having at least one project canceled or delayed, forcing some to reduce staffing.
- 30% reported that their projects have been stopped by government mandate. This figure was at 35% two weeks ago, according to AGC.
- 37% responded that owners have voluntarily halted work because of the pandemic.
- 31% said owners have canceled projects because of the likelihood they will experience decreased demand.
- 21% said some of their privately funded projects have been canceled due to a loss of funding.
Some takeaways from Procore's calculations from the week of March 1 to the week of April 26 include:
- Construction worker hours declined by 13%.
- The smallest contractors had the biggest decline in worker hours.
- The Northeast saw the sharpest decline in worker hours, while the Southeast saw the smallest reduction.
- The decline in worker hours for noninfrastructure and infrastructure projects have been about the same.