CT Construction Digest Wednesday May 18, 2022
With settlement, plans to build 20-megawatt solar farm on Candlewood Mountain in New Milford dropped
NEW MILFORD — After more than three years, litigation against controversial solar plant plans for Candlewood Mountain has concluded with settlement agreements that prevent a 20-megawatt solar farm from being constructed on the land.
The agreement not only ensures environmental preservation, but secure acres of open space for the town.
“It’s been a long haul, but the end result is a win — it’s an absolute vindication for the town’s position from the beginning,” said Cramer & Anderson attorney Dan Casagrande, who represented the town of New Milford and local citizens’ group Rescue Candlewood Mountain in lawsuits stemming from a 2017 Siting Council decision.
The parties filed appeals after the council approved plans by Candlewood Solar LLC to build a 20-megawatt solar photovoltaic electric generating facility on Candlewood Mountain.
Representatives for Ameresco Candlewood Solar LLC could not be immediately reached for comment by deadline Tuesday.
Casagrande said the project would have destroyed not only 80 acres of core forest land on the mountain, but a habitat for a threatened species called the northern slimy salamander — despite the Siting Council’s claims that it would not have a negative environmental effect.
Rescue Candlewood Mountain was the first to appeal the Siting Council’s decision, and the town of New Milford later brought its own appeal against a set of construction plans that the Siting Council had approved.
“We engaged in a lot of litigation in front of the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection,” Casagrande said. “Candlewood Solar could not construct the plant without getting either a general permit from DEEP or an individual permit, which is much more cumbersome when DEEP determines that the project is going to have a significant impact on stormwater.”
Based on affidavits and reports submitted into the record on behalf of the town, Casagrande said, DEEP rejected several sets of plans Candlewood Solar submitted.
Once it became clear that DEEP was not going to approve a 20-megawatt solar facility due to the “devastating environmental impact,” Casagrande said settlement negotiations commenced with Candlewood Solar and its attorneys, resulting in two agreements.
In exchange for the withdrawal of the appeals, he said Candlewood Solar has not only “obligated itself to never build more than a four-megawatt plant on the property,” but agreed to permanently conserve almost 90 acres of land on the property as permanent open space for conservation purposes.
Casagrande said the prevention of Candlewood Solar from ever seeking approvals for more than a four-megawatt plant will preserve nearly all of the property’s core forest land and slimy salamander habitat.
“The persistence of the town and Rescue Candlewood Mountain in fighting against the environmental devastation the original proposed plant would have caused has paid off handsomely,” he said.
As part of the settlement agreement, Casagrande said Candlewood Solar will create a public walking trail on the property that connects to the Blue-Blazed Hiking Trail.
“This will create opportunities for the public to enjoy the mountain on the property — and if Candlewood Solar ever sells the property to a third party, they will improve the public parking area at the corner of Route 37 and Candlewood Mountain Road that leads to the trail,” he said.
Because courts give substantial deference to Siting Council decisions, Casagrande said successfully appealing them is “a very difficult obstacle to overcome.”
In this case, though, he said efforts were concentrated not so much on the Siting Council, but getting DEEP to realize the “devastating environmental impact on stormwater management” that the originally proposed facility would have had.
“This is a project that was misguided from the start,” Casagrande said, “and as a result of our efforts to prevent it, we have a result which is really a win-win for the residents of the town and all other persons who want to protect the environment.”
Casagrande said he thanks Mayor Pete Bass, the New Milford Town Council and Rescue Candlewood Mountain for their perseverance in fighting against what he says would have been “an environmental abomination.”
UPDATED: Stonington PZC approves Pawcatuck affordable housing development
Stonington — The Planning and Zoning Commission on Tuesday night approved the permits needed to construct a 100-unit housing development, that would mix affordable and market-rate units, on the 2.4-acre vacant lawn in front of the Brookside Village complex on Route 1 in Pawcatuck.
Before the commission's vote to approve the project, it held a public hearing at Pawcatuck Middle School in which representatives of Brookside Associates Limited Partnership outlined the project, known as The Glennon.
Project attorney Bill Sweeney told the commission that 30% of the mix of 33 studio, 43 one- and 24 two-bedroom units in the four-story building would be dedicated as affordable for 40 years, which means they would be rented at below market rates to households earning 80% and 60% of the median area income, which is $90,000 a year. Seventy percent of the units would be rented at market rates.
The building would have an elevator, fitness center, club room and business center available for tenants.
"You will not be able to tell if you are living in a market-rate unit or an affordable unit," Sweeney said, adding the quality will be the same.
Sweeney explained that because just 5.7% of the town's housing is dedicated as affordable, short of the 10% goal set by the state, the project does not have to conform to local zoning regulations because the project has an affordable component. The only way the PZC could have refused to grant a permit for the project is if the commission could prove the project jeopardizes the health, safety or welfare of the community and those reasons outweigh the need for affordable housing in the community. Sweeney estimated the town would have to build an additional 400 units of affordable housing to reach the 10% mark and be exempt from the state's affordable housing law.
The project is not allowed in the zone where the land is located and its design does not comply with many aspects of the town's zoning regulations, such as lot density and the number of units.
But Sweeney said Brookside has tried to work cooperatively with town officials on the design and has received approval from the Architectural Design Review Committee. Sweeney said the design is not only compatible with the community but superior to proposals for other affordable housing projects in town over the past few decades.
He added the project is being privately financed and Brookside will not be asking for any tax abatements from the town. Brookside's parent company is Gilbane Building Co., which built and manages the existing Brookside Village and was the construction manager for the Stonington High School, Deans Mill School and West Vine Street School renovation and expansion projects.
Sweeney said state traffic officials would have to approve a major traffic generator permit for the project because tenants' vehicles will be using the Brookside Village driveway onto Route 1. The project traffic study found the roads can handle the additional traffic, which it expects will have a negligible impact on delays. It also suggested a traffic light signal change at Route 1 and Pequot Trail.
Some members of the Board of Police Commissioners criticized the project's traffic study last week, saying it did not consider the impact on some nearby intersections. Members also expressed concern about adding more vehicles on Route 1, which in the morning is backed up with students and staff trying to reach the high school and residents leaving other nearby housing developments. A sidewalk is planned for the front of the property.
The PZC attached several stipulations to its approval. One will require Brookside to have a sidewalk installed along Route 1 before tenants can occupy the units. The town plans to use state funding to extend sidewalks from the high school to downtown Pawcatuck including the section in front of the Glennon. PZC member Lynn Conway unsuccessfully pressed her fellow members to have Brookside pay for its section of sidewalk. Brookside could end up paying for the sidewalk if the town does not extend the sidewalk.
The commission also stipulated that Brookside must dig additional test pits along the southeastern portion of the Glennon site to determine where lead and any other possible contaminants in the soil begin and end and then submit a certified plan on how the contamination was remediated.
The commission attached the stipulation to its approval after former PZC Chairman David Rathbun spoke during the public hearing and said there used to be a junkyard on the site, where oil and antifreeze were poured out on the ground. He said a more detailed groundwater study should be done. Sweeney said test pits had been dug on the site and a study was done.
The only other resident to speak during the hearing was Carlene Donnarumo of Pawcatuck, who said the proposed 146 parking spots were not enough to accommodate both residents and visitors.
The Glennon will become the latest project with affordable units in Pawcatuck, which has become a hotbed for affordable housing over the past several years. Currently there are four projects recently completed, under construction or approved in the village.
These include a total 126 units at the Spruce Ridge, Spruce Meadow and Birchwood Farms projects, all located a short distance from Brookside Village. In addition, a project with 82 units, 70% of which would be affordable, has been approved for the former Campbell Grain building site in downtown Pawcatuck but residents rejected a tax abatement for that project.
East Hartford launches $42M fiber optic infrastructure project
Construction on a $42 million, privately funded infrastructure project meant to bring fiber optic internet access to all homes and businesses in East Hartford is underway, public officials announced Tuesday morning.
The East Hartford FiberCity project will provide the town’s 19,046 households, 4,649 businesses and institutions with high-speed, affordable internet service, they said.
Fiber optic infrastructure developer SiFi Networks is installing the state’s first open access network, meaning its cables will be shared by multiple internet service providers to offer the best speeds at competitive prices. Speeds of up to 1,000 megabytes per second will be offered initially, increasing to 10 gigabytes per second over time.
The concept began several years ago when East Hartford leaders issued an RFP to create a town-wide network, with the caveat that it could not afford to pay for it.
SiFi Networks, with its construction partner Lat Long Infrastructure, plans to phase in the fiber optic network by neighborhood, with town-wide completion in 2024.
“Introducing a 100% in-the-ground fiber network to East Hartford will be a game changer for economic development,” Mayor Michael P. Walsh said. “It will give us the fastest Internet in the nation and bridge the digital divide, providing equitable access to all of East Hartford.”
The program is intended to help bridge the digital divide, including students who began to rely more heavily on broadband internet during remote learning amid the COVID pandemic.
Doug Casey, executive director of the Connecticut Commission for Educational Technology, said the initiative will “help guarantee that students have an equal opportunity to learn outside of school, that access to high-speed Internet becomes a gateway to the learning tools and opportunities that break down barriers of opportunity.”
Flume Internet will be the first internet service provider on the network. The network will also enable East Hartford to offer Smart City services, such as traffic monitoring, greater public safety connection, public Wi-Fi and water leak detection.
For more information, visit www.easthartfordfibercity.com.
As Ned Lamont promotes clean energy, Bob Stefanowski wary on cost
Gov. Ned Lamont and his Republican challenger, Bob Stefanowski, clashed last year over the tabled Transportation and Climate Initiative, disagreeing over what it would have meant to Connecticut’s environment and the price of gasoline.
But the extent of their differences on climate change is only now being explored: As Lamont aggressively promotes his record, Stefanowski is non-committal regarding his support for meeting clean-energy goals set by the governor.
On Tuesday, Lamont conducted a ceremonial signing of two bipartisan clean-energy bills near a solar array in Bloomfield, a predominantly Black suburb chosen to underscore the racial justice component of curbing greenhouse emissions.
One sets a goal of 2040 for all electricity supplied to Connecticut ratepayers to be carbon free, codifying in law an executive order issued by Lamont in 2019. The other increases the market for electricity generated for commercial customers by small-scale renewables, generally solar and fuel cells.
The ceremony was about more than two bills: It also is an element of a campaign to reboot an energy debate in which concerns over costs have overwhelmed consideration of environment needs and benefits.
“I don’t want an opposition between ratepayers and environmentalists. I want to show how we’re able to do this together,” Lamont said. “We’re able to save you money and save the environment.”
With inflation rampant and Connecticut’s electricity costs the highest in the continental U.S., Lamont and Stefanowski each stepped warily around the prospect of doing anything that would raise the cost of gasoline or electricity.
“This was Ned Lamont’s pivot after people rejected his gas tax initiative that would have added nearly twenty-six cents per gallon to the price of gas,” Stefanowski said in a text message.
The “gas tax initiative” was a reference to the TCI, the regional Transportation and Climate Initiative, a complicated cap-and-invest plan that would set limits on carbon emissions from motor vehicles, initially estimated to add 5 cents to the cost of a gallon of gasoline. A Tufts University study projected the costs eventually could go as high as 38 cents by 2032 as the limits fall.
On the broader questions of the state’s role in combating climate change and his support for the current clean-energy goals, Stefanowski indicated support for alternative energy — so long as there was no cost.
“I believe the future has to be in alternate energy sources, we see the opportunity for new energy sources like green hydrogen to bring jobs and support a cleaner environment, but we cannot do that at the cost of residents and taxpayers,” Stefanowski said by text.
Stefanowski will hold a press conference Wednesday, his first since accepting the Republican nomination on May 6. He spoke against TCI last year, long before formally opening his second campaign for governor.
TCI would require fuel wholesalers to purchase, at auction, allowances permitting them to sell gasoline — essentially putting a price on carbon pollution. The intent was to raise money for green-energy investments while pushing consumers away from fossil fuels.
While Lamont and Katie Dykes, the commissioner of the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, spoke Tuesday about Connecticut’s progress towards a carbon-free electric grid, they acknowledged that transportation emissions are increasing — and they are the largest source of greenhouse gases.
Despite that trend, Lamont displayed no appetite for another debate on TCI. He was noncommittal when asked about its possible resurrection.
“It’s one step at a time. I think we’re making incredible progress here right now,” Lamont said, “And frankly, gasoline prices are pretty darn high.”
Lamont will hold another ceremonial signing at a time to be determined for Senate Bill 4, the Connecticut Clean Air Act. It is intended to accelerate Connecticut’s embrace of electric vehicles with investments in charging infrastructure, tax rebates for e-bikes and electric motor vehicles, and tighter deadlines for electrifying transit and school bus fleets.
Unlike the bills celebrated Tuesday, its passage was partisan.
On Tuesday, the emphasis was on the progress in generating electricity from renewable sources. Today, the electric grid is 65% carbon free, Dykes said.
A commitment to the purchase of electricity generated by off-shore wind turbines scheduled to come on line off Martha’s Vineyard in 2026 will put the state’s 100% carbon-free electricity goal in reach, Dykes said.
“When those turbines start spinning off the coast of Martha’s Vineyard, we’ll be at 92%,” she said.
The cost of reaching a carbon-free grid by 2040 was deemed to be “indeterminate” by the legislature’s non-partisan legislative analysts.
With settlement, plans to build 20-megawatt solar farm on Candlewood Mountain in New Milford dropped
NEW MILFORD — After more than three years, litigation against controversial solar plant plans for Candlewood Mountain has concluded with settlement agreements that prevent a 20-megawatt solar farm from being constructed on the land.
The agreement not only ensures environmental preservation, but secure acres of open space for the town.
“It’s been a long haul, but the end result is a win — it’s an absolute vindication for the town’s position from the beginning,” said Cramer & Anderson attorney Dan Casagrande, who represented the town of New Milford and local citizens’ group Rescue Candlewood Mountain in lawsuits stemming from a 2017 Siting Council decision.
The parties filed appeals after the council approved plans by Candlewood Solar LLC to build a 20-megawatt solar photovoltaic electric generating facility on Candlewood Mountain.
Representatives for Ameresco Candlewood Solar LLC could not be immediately reached for comment by deadline Tuesday.
Casagrande said the project would have destroyed not only 80 acres of core forest land on the mountain, but a habitat for a threatened species called the northern slimy salamander — despite the Siting Council’s claims that it would not have a negative environmental effect.
Rescue Candlewood Mountain was the first to appeal the Siting Council’s decision, and the town of New Milford later brought its own appeal against a set of construction plans that the Siting Council had approved.
“We engaged in a lot of litigation in front of the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection,” Casagrande said. “Candlewood Solar could not construct the plant without getting either a general permit from DEEP or an individual permit, which is much more cumbersome when DEEP determines that the project is going to have a significant impact on stormwater.”
Based on affidavits and reports submitted into the record on behalf of the town, Casagrande said, DEEP rejected several sets of plans Candlewood Solar submitted.
Once it became clear that DEEP was not going to approve a 20-megawatt solar facility due to the “devastating environmental impact,” Casagrande said settlement negotiations commenced with Candlewood Solar and its attorneys, resulting in two agreements.
In exchange for the withdrawal of the appeals, he said Candlewood Solar has not only “obligated itself to never build more than a four-megawatt plant on the property,” but agreed to permanently conserve almost 90 acres of land on the property as permanent open space for conservation purposes.
Casagrande said the prevention of Candlewood Solar from ever seeking approvals for more than a four-megawatt plant will preserve nearly all of the property’s core forest land and slimy salamander habitat.
“The persistence of the town and Rescue Candlewood Mountain in fighting against the environmental devastation the original proposed plant would have caused has paid off handsomely,” he said.
As part of the settlement agreement, Casagrande said Candlewood Solar will create a public walking trail on the property that connects to the Blue-Blazed Hiking Trail.
“This will create opportunities for the public to enjoy the mountain on the property — and if Candlewood Solar ever sells the property to a third party, they will improve the public parking area at the corner of Route 37 and Candlewood Mountain Road that leads to the trail,” he said.
Because courts give substantial deference to Siting Council decisions, Casagrande said successfully appealing them is “a very difficult obstacle to overcome.”
In this case, though, he said efforts were concentrated not so much on the Siting Council, but getting DEEP to realize the “devastating environmental impact on stormwater management” that the originally proposed facility would have had.
“This is a project that was misguided from the start,” Casagrande said, “and as a result of our efforts to prevent it, we have a result which is really a win-win for the residents of the town and all other persons who want to protect the environment.”
Casagrande said he thanks Mayor Pete Bass, the New Milford Town Council and Rescue Candlewood Mountain for their perseverance in fighting against what he says would have been “an environmental abomination.”