Torrington school project ahead of schedule

SLOAN BREWSTER

TORRINGTON – The city is planning to sell $14 million in bonds Thursday for the new high/middle school and various road improvement projects.

Mayor Elinor C. Carbone said Tuesday she had received a call from the city’s bonds adviser letting her know he had spoken with Standard & Poor’s – the city’s bond rating remains AA- with a stable outlook. The mayor said she planned to offer feedback on a draft report about the rating.

The phone call, report and daily calls from the adviser this month are all precursors to the bond sales, Carbone said.

“I get daily communications from the bond counsel and bond adviser, just sort of framing what the market is demanding, how saturated is the market and what are they seeing in terms of the bonds,” she said. “It all leads up to (the bond sale).”

A bond sale is a loan from an investor to a borrower, in this case the city government.

The $14 million in general obligation bonds includes $10 million for high school construction and $4 million for roadwork.

The city also is issuing $34 million in bond anticipation notes – short-term notes the city is borrowing against upcoming bonds- to provide cash flow to continue paying construction costs for the high school, Carbone said.

The anticipation notes will cover the cost of monthly labor on the construction site, which fluctuates depending on what’s being done on a given month, the mayor said. For example, elements such as steel require highly skilled labor while electrical work can be done with fewer people.

“So those monthly invoices reflect the skilled labor that’s on site at that time,” she said.

Invoices have been ranging between $8 million and $9 million per month, Carbone said. As the building moves closer to completion and larger construction work is done, those costs will start to drop, reflecting smaller items inside the building.

“They’re starting to close the building in and we’re going to, over the next nine months, see this drop from $8 million a month down to $6, $5, $4 (million),” she said.

Ground officially was broken on the $179.58 million project in October 2022. Building committee Co-Chairman Edward Arum said the state will reimburse 85% of the construction costs and the city is responsible for 15%.

Initial plans for the 310,000-square-foot school, which will house students in grades 7-12, were to complete the high school portion by December 2024 and bring students in by February 2025. Middle school students are expected to be let in by September 2025.

Construction, however, is ahead of schedule and plans are to open the school a month early in January 2025, Arum said.

Brick is up on the exterior, glass is being installed, and the cafeteria and middle school gym are being constructed.

The $4 million in roadwork will pay for projects this spring, summer and fall, Carbone said. The list includes reclaiming and redesigning Migeon Avenue, the Riverview parking lot beside the library, as well as various other roads, curbs and sidewalks.

“It’s here, there and everywhere,” she said.

Aquarion, Eversource to restart work in Wilton on water pipeline, gas main near New Canaan border

Karen Tensa

WILTON — Work is expected to restart March 1 as Aquarion Water Co. and Eversource Energy return to their pipe installation projects in Wilton along New Canaan Road/Route 106, according to a statement from the town.   

The start date may depend on weather conditions and any remaining requirements from the state Department of Transportation, according to the statement. 

The Aquarion work is part of the southwest regional pipeline transmission water main, and the Eversource project is part of a New Canaan to Wilton gas main. 

The DOT issued a permit for Aquarion and Eversource to continue installing pipes in 2024 as the utility companies said they strive "to improve vital water and natural gas infrastructure for the area." 

The town reviewed the permit and required Aquarion and Eversource "to adhere to additional conditions regarding traffic flow and works hours," the town statement said.  

The DOT will oversee day-to-day operations of the project because New Canaan Road is a state roadway. 

Construction will resume in March with work to extend the 36-inch water main and 16-inch gas main westward along New Canaan Road/Route 106 from Old Boston Road to the New Canaan town line, Aquarion and Eversource said in a joint statement. 

A detour will send traffic along Old Boston Road and Old Kings Highway during work hours, according to the utility companies. 

The road surface will be temporarily restored with asphalt daily. Aquarion will install a temporary 1-inch asphalt overlay at the end of the 2024 construction season. In 2025, that asphalt will be excavated to install a new permanent pavement.

After both pipes are extended to the New Canaan town line, water and gas pipelines will be installed on Silvermine Road/Route 106 between Carter Street and Valley Road in New Canaan this year.

Here is what residents and motorists can expect: 

• Construction for this phase of the project is scheduled to begin March 1 and end in November.
• The roadway will be closed to thru traffic during the construction hours of 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays. The hours may be extended in the summer, upon approval of the town of Wilton and DOT.
• Traffic control, including police officers, flaggers and signs, will maintain safe work zones and ensure unobstructed passage for emergency vehicles. 
• All school bus stops will remain at their current locations. The roadway will remain open for school buses and emergency vehicles. All other vehicular traffic will follow traffic control and posted detour routes.
• Residents living within the project area should coordinate with traffic control for access to their property.
• Incidental work may also occur on Route 106 between Belden Hill and Old Boston Road. 
• Electronic billboards will inform the public of work details and provide daily updates.
• Project updates will be posted at www.aquarionwater.com/infrastructure-projects.

Residents with questions about the project can contact Frank Smeriglio, director of public works and town engineer for Wilton at 203-563-0153; Hadley Boyd, coordinator of communication and community relations for the Office of the First Selectman, at 203-563-0129, ext. 1146; Dennis Fields, Aquarion Water project representative, at 203-258-6139; or Ken Zembrzuski, Eversource project representative, at 860-665-3452.

Reopening North Stamford's Cedar Heights Road bridge delayed again: 'An extremely complex process'

Brianna Gurciullo

STAMFORD — The completion date for a bridge replacement project on Cedar Heights Road has been pushed back another month.

The bridge project was initially expected to be completed November 2023. But City Engineer Lou Casolo said last year that plans for water handling, bridge demolition and supporting utilities went through “multiple rounds” of review, resulting in delays.

Then, the goal was to accomplish “substantial completion” by the end of May. 

Now, the date is June 31, according to a presentation Casolo gave to the Board of Representatives’ Operations Committee on Monday about bridge projects in the city.

Reps. Don Mays, D-19, and Carl Weinberg, D-20, specifically requested a discussion about projects in and around their districts, which cover parts of North Stamford. Weinberg said their constituents are “clamoring for accurate information” about each project’s status. 

The Cedar Heights Road bridge replacement “is an extremely complex project due to the utility relocations that are involved,” Casolo told city representatives. “But with all of that said, we continue to move the project along, although it’s moving slowly.”

A bridge on Wire Mill Road is also slated for construction work, Casolo said, but the detour route for the project depends on the Cedar Heights Road bridge being open.

“So the contractor who’s working on Cedar Heights is impacting our ability to move (the Wire Mill Road) project forward,” Casolo said. “I’m currently working with the administration to resolve this issue.”

Casolo has previously said that the contractor is A. Vitti Excavators, which has continued work during the winter months. A request for comment from the company wasn’t immediately answered.

On Monday, Mays asked Casolo if contractors face penalties when they miss project deadlines.

“There is a provision in the contract for liquidated damages, and it’s a daily penalty if they don't deliver the project on time,” Casolo said.

He said city and state officials are looking at a contract extension for the Cedar Heights Road project.

If an extension “can be justified ... the liquidated damages don’t apply to those days that are given to the contractor,” Casolo said. “But if it can’t be substantiated, then the liquidated damages are basically taken out of the invoices from the contractor.”

Casolo has said that the Federal Local Bridge Program, which the state Department of Transportation administers, is funding the project. It involves a split of 80 percent federal funding and 20 percent city funding.

The bid cost of the project was about $2.8 million, Casolo has said.

Potential Manchester warehouse is likely to face 'very big' public hearing

Joseph Villanova

MANCHESTER — A potential warehouse project on the East Hartford and South Windsor borders could face pushback from residents if the developer moves forward with an application.

New Fairfield-based TRAC Consulting submitted a "pre-application review" for a 150,800-square-foot distribution warehouse with 30 loading bays at 71 and 81 Commerce Road, located within an existing industrial park. The site is currently vacant but lies next to a residential subdivision in East Hartford.

The developer has not yet filed an application for the project and sought feedback from town staff and Planning and Zoning Commission members at a meeting last week.

Tom Riley, architect with TRAC Consulting, said last week that the warehouse would be a speculative construction with no occupants planned ahead of time, but could host up to three tenants.

Riley said the developer does not own the property yet, but is in a pre-purchase agreement for both parcels.

PZC Chairman Eric Prause said last week that although the property lies within an industrial park, the proximity to a residential zone could lead to a "very big" public hearing if TRAC Consulting moves forward with an application.

"It's probably an inevitability that it's going to turn into a very tough hearing," Prause said.

Prause said the application would have to be approved by special exception, meaning that members of the public would likely testify about concerns like noise pollution.

The application could run the risk of rejection "if the commission feels swayed by the testimony," Prause said.

Riley said the developer understands and does not discount the residential area in its plan.

"We have to consider that in our design, and we believe we have," Riley said.

Riley said any potential disturbances to nearby homes should be mitigated from the proposed lighting plan, the height difference, and vegetation that would help screen the building off, and the placing of loading docks away from the residential border.

Riley said TRAC Consulting had concerns about wetlands that had formed on the site.

"Unfortunately, we started this project in October," Riley said. "Between rain and snow, it's been difficult to go through everything."

Environmental Planner David Laiuppa said last week that he recently walked the site a few times and found wetlands that were "tricky" to properly determine.

"There's a lot of small questionable areas," Laiuppa said. "It's something that should be reviewed again in the spring."

Laiuppa said there will also be a study conducted to see if there is a vernal pool on site.

The PZC's feedback on the project is non-binding, as no application has been filed yet.

PZC Secretary Michael Stebe said last week that the site feels appropriate for the potential development, as it's down the road from the Winstanley Logistics Property and has easy access to Interstate 291.

"This makes logical sense that it'd be where it is," Stebe said.

PZC Vice Chairman Patrick Kennedy said last week that the proposal seems like a "relatively conventional" warehouse development, other than the wetlands concerns.