Cromwell gets underway with $2 million road repair to improve safety
Jeff Mill
CROMWELL - Preliminary work has begun on a project to widen a portion of Coles Road.
The work will involve rebuilding a little more than a half-mile of the roadway, from Route 9 to Shunpike Road, and will include installation of new drainage as well as the construction of sidewalks along the east side of the road.
The project will cost $2.075 million and is being funded by a combination federal/state LOTIC, or Local Transportation Capital Improvement, grant. Town Engineer Jon Harriman, who is overseeing the project, said the roadway in the target area is 22 feet wide.
It will be widened to 30 feet, Harriman said.
Widening the road “will improve both traffic safety and sight lines,” Town Manager Anthony J. Salvatore said.
Some curves, particularly along the east side of the road, also will be modified as part of the project, “which is expected to be completed in this construction season,” Salvatore said.
Harriman emphasized that the work involves a full re-construction of the roadway and not just a re-paving.
The work is being done by Baltazar Contractors Inc., of Ludlow, Mass., Harriman said.
The same company recently completed the reconstruction of the lower portion of Willowbrook Road, he said.
Balthazar “has been able to get a jump on the project because the weather has been cooperative,” Salvatore said.
The preliminary work involves relocating utility poles and removing some trees in the area where the sidewalk will be installed.
As work was beginning, Eversource announced it is taking advantage of the project to “replace its entire gas main” under the roadway, an effort Harriman said is expected to take 40-60 days.”
“We literally just found this out at the last minute,” Harriman said.

New London wants payment, documentation of water use at State Pier
Greg Smith
New London — The city’s Department of Public Utilities is seeking a payment from State Pier operator Gateway following the discovery of an unmetered water line hooked up to a cargo ship last month.
City officials were tipped off about the use of the water from an anonymous person who snapped a picture of the water line attached to the ship, Yuanning Sea. The Yuanning Sea arrived in New London on Feb. 16 and was the last vessel at the state-owned port for the foreseeable future. It was carrying a shipment of salt.
The tip led to an investigation by city officials and questions about how often the unmetered line, historically a fire service line, was being used.
The explanation is simple, said Gateway President Jim Dillman. Ships normally fill up with potable water before leaving the port. On this occasion, he said, the normal metered line was frozen and the Yuanning Sea filled up with the unmetered line.
The amount of water used was clearly documented and the appropriate amount of money, he estimates to be less than $100, will be paid, Dillman said. He said the amount of water was 114.29 tons, or 27,429 gallons.
Dillman said it was the only ship filled from the unmetered line.
The $100 estimate is in line with what Public Utilities Director Joe Lanzafame estimated during an interview on Monday.
Lanzafame said that without looking at documentation from Gateway, it would be difficult to determine the amount of water being used from the unmetered line. It’s the reason he is asking Gateway to additionally install a meter. 
Not only is it not fair to residents paying their water bills, but Lanzafame said it is a matter of documentation. His department is constantly trying to track down unaccounted water - whether it is from customers stealing water or from leaks in the system.
Lanzafame plans to follow up with Gateway in the coming weeks and has set a deadline for payment and for discussion of the installation of the meter.
Dillman said he didn’t see the point in installing a meter since Gateway plans to vacate the premises by the end of the month. Gateway and the tenants of the pier are moving out to make way for the start of the $157 million construction project that is supposed to transform the pier into a wind turbine staging area for offshore wind partners Ørsted and Eversource.
Mayor Michael Passero said he expects the city to be made whole by Gateway without having to resort to any enforcement action.

Norwich Public Utilities working to ensure 100-year-old systems last into the future
Claire Bessette
Norwich — Working at a century-old public utility with some systems that go back into the 19th century can feel like being in a museum one moment and a space-age computerized control room the next, with all eras in between included in the mix.
Norwich Public Utilities crews face those challenges daily, General Manager Chris LaRose said, as they try to ensure today’s customers receive service with as few interruptions as possible.
To that end, Eric McDermott, NPU electric division integrity manager, presented the Board of Public Utilities Commissioners with a summary of projects either recently completed or underway to upgrade electric systems that date back to the 1920s, '50s and '60s to increase power capacity and improve reliability of service.
NPU has a 20-year electricity upgrade plan that calls for spending $2 million per year on system upgrades with a long-term goal of ensuring that major components are no more than 30 to 50 years old. The plan helps reduce surprises and costly emergencies that could cause a spike in electric rates, LaRose said, as well as maintain NPU’s high service reliability record.
NPU has replaced a 50-year-old substation on Dudley Street and a 30-year-old substation on Providence Street in Taftville with smaller but more powerful units that will save substantially on annual operations and maintenance costs, McDermott said.
NPU also recently finished replacing the last 1,200 individual electric meters throughout the city with so-called smart meters. The new units use a radio system to report electric usage directly to NPU and send alarms if power is cut off. In an emergency, NPU can even shut off the power remotely from its main control room at the utility’s headquarters in Greeneville, LaRose said.
“It’s part of the technology in improving response time,” McDermott said. “When a meter loses power, it sends an alarm to the control room and plots where the outage is contained to.”
The control room can track outage problems and give line crews much more exact information on where problems have occurred along the wires or at the substations, LaRose said. “We are getting people out to the outage problems quicker than before,” he said.
Electric system upgrade projects now underway include replacing a 40-year-old substation in Bean Hill near the entrance to the Norwich business park and upgrading 60-year-old electric and mechanical systems in a North Main Street substation, again cutting down on maintenance and operations costs, McDermott said.
Part of the system upgrade is replacing old 4.8-kilovolt power distribution circuits to 13.8-kilovolt circuits, including the upgrade of power systems crossing the Shetucket River to the East Side and Laurel Hill. In short, LaRose said, power travels much more efficiently at higher voltage.
Sometimes, electricity service reliability comes down to something as mundane as the need to trim trees and brush back from power systems, McDermott said. A system reliability chart showed NPU slipped slightly in some categories in 2019 compared to 2018. The system average interruption duration went up from 71.78 minutes to 94.71 minutes, but customer average interruption duration dropped from 117.4 minutes to 91 minutes.
McDermott said NPU has hired an additional tree trimming crew for one month to address high-risk areas and has revised bid documents to call for a 40% increase in efficiency in trimming. More pole replacements are planned, and older equipment will be replaced.
When it comes to hydropower technology, NPU officials have learned that the best technology can be over 100 years old. NPU budgets $100,000 annual maintenance on the Greeneville Dam and $50,000 for the canal offshoot from the Shetucket River that runs through the hydropower unit.
The Greeneville Dam was constructed in 1882, and significant repairs were made in 1886 and after the 1938 Hurricane, NPU spokesman Chris Riley said. When the dam needs repairs, NPU sticks with the proven 19th century technology of rocks encased in wooden boxes.
“We looked at modernizing, and that is still the best technology,” Riley said.
But in September, a 1923 hydropower generation shaft and impeller — the device with blades that spins as water rushes through — at the Second Street hydropower unit broke. The blades had become lopsided and sheared off, McDermott said. The half-megawatt generating plant was shut down, and the equipment stripped to the foundation.
No replacement parts are available, so NPU has enlisted a Midwest firm to replicate the antique impeller using a cast model of the original. The $500,000 repair is funded in the capital budget. When operating, the hydropower plant saves NPU $750,000 per year by lowering the purchased power requirements.
The Second Street hydropower system produces enough electricity to power several hundred homes, Riley said. It also is certified by the Low-Impact Hydropower Institute as a green renewable energy facility, which gives NPU environmental credits it can sell to fossil fuel companies to meet environmental regulations, LaRose said, so NPU wants to keep it going through the 21st century.

Hartford’s draft master plan calls for infill development, renewable energy and 'college town' atmosphere
Joe Cooper
draft of Hartford’s next master plan lays out an ambitious plan to promote equity, renewable energy and economic growth in the region ahead of the city’s 400th birthday in 2035.
The city’s Planning and Zoning Commission developed the 71-page plan relying on feedback from about 2,000 people that participated in public meetings and surveys tailored to asking residents how they view Hartford today and how they want the city to evolve over the next 15 years.
A new city plan must be developed every decade, according to state law. The city’s drafted plan builds off the “One City, One Plan” adopted in early 2010.
[Read the 15-year city plan here]
The plan, supported by nonprofit iQuilt’s “Hartford 400” initiative, also establishes goals to cut gun violence in half, grow the city’s grand list, build on vacant and underutilized surface parking lots, convert closed schools to community centers, attract new grocery stores and restaurants, and brand Hartford as a "college town" by housing an additional 1,000 higher education workers and 1,000 students.
“To become more equitable and prosperous, we need to grow. To grow we need to attract new businesses and create jobs,” the plan says.
Other notable recommendations include:

• Expand Bradley International Airport in Windsor Locks by promoting more domestic and international non-stop routes.
• Modernize the aging XL Center for “financial sustainability.” 
• Retrofit all city and school buildings to renewable energy sources.
• Plant and maintain 3,000 new trees a year and expand solar usage by 300%.
• Promote Hartford as a sports city marketing the Yard Goats, Hartford Athletic, Wolf Pack and college teams.
• Create a regional tourism agency.
• Expand the CTfastrak bus service in an effort to create more access to job opportunities.
• Reconnect Hartford to the Connecticut River.
• Eliminate and move Hartford’s trash incinerator plant outside of the city to allow for redevelopment opportunities.
• Build high-speed communications infrastructure.
• Remediate 100 acres of brownfield sites to unlock redevelopment potential.
• Attract independent research institutions.
• See 10% of workers commute with bikes to reduce the number of cars on the road and to improve air quality.

Residents are urged to share feedback online or during public meetings scheduled throughout March. Additional information can be found here.