CT Construction Digest Wednesday May 22, 2024
City Council approves $25M for senior center and health campus in Meriden
MERIDEN — The City Council voted 7-5 to add $25 million into the city's capital improvement plan this week to build a new senior center and health department on Cook Avenue.
About 10 members of the public spoke in support of the new campus, and others submitted emails and letters touting the need. Council members agreed they supported the idea, but resisted the addition to avoid taking on significant new debt. Both those in support and in opposition crossed party lines in the final votes.
Voting in favor were Democrats Bruce Fontanella, Larue Graham, Joseph Scaramuzzo, Chad Cardillo and Michael Rohde, as well as Republican Ray Ouellet and We the People Councilor Bob Williams, who changed his vote from two weeks ago after hearing from members of the public.
Opposed to adding the funding were Democratic Majority Leader Sonya Jelks, Democrat Yvette Cortez and Republicans Dan Brunet, Michael Carabetta and Michael Zakrzewski.
Mayor Kevin Scarpati introduced the resolution to include the $25 million in the capital improvement budget after vetoing the council's approved spending plan two weeks ago. At that time, the council failed to garner enough votes to override Scarpati's veto leading to Monday's action.
"We are at the point where we can put the senior center, and health department on as construction projects" in the capital plan, Fontanella said. "What we're voting on tonight is putting $25 million, and fund the architect who will produce design documents, costs, and bidding documents. If we want to value engineer, we can vote again on what funding would be. A vote today isn't a commitment to building the building, it's a commitment to take the next step."
Several of the councilors wanted to wait to see if the project could secure grants or other funding to pay the design cost. Zakrzewski proposed there is a good likelihood that city will have leftover American Rescue Plan Act funding to put toward design specifications.
But Scarpati explained, there are still ARPA projects underway that may come in below or above estimates, so finalizing a precise figure on what, if anything, is available is not feasible and will delay the process.. Discussions of a new senior center have been underway for more than a decade.
The City Council approved establishing a steering committee more than a year ago tasked with surveying residents on their needs. The residents responded the old senior center lacked outdoor space, is on two floors has become crowded, and has entrances on two busy streets. Many of the people in Monday's audience repeated those concerns, and some described some close calls while trying to cross Hanover Street and getting out of the mini-bus on West Main Street.
More than a year ago, the committee brought forth two possible sites for the council to choose from as well as a projected price tag of $44.5 million for both buildings and a gymnasium.
Members of the public also discussed the Department of Health and Human Services need for new space to conduct public education, host the nutrition program, run the public and school nurse program as well as provide assistance in public emergencies. The department's current location on Miller Street is small, has no storage space for clinics, and is prone to flooding during heavy rains.
City councilors agreed with the need and public desire for both buildings but many wanted to wait for more time to secure alternative funding before increasing the capital improvement budget. According to finance officials, the addition would likely increase the tax rate by three-quarters of a mill in 2030. Scarpati said having the $25 million in city commitment improves its chances of securing state and federal funding.
Scarpati also mentioned the possibility of $10 million to $15 million in leftover funding from the city's two high school construction projects that, while the funds may not be used directly on the senior center and health department campus, may be used to pay down the city's debt spending thus lowering debt service costs.
Cortez wanted more evidence this could be a probability before approving the bonding proposal. She also wanted clarification over whether the finance department recommended securing grants for the architect and bonding the entire cost of the project.
The $25 million approved Monday will pay for the cost of hiring an architect to bring several design and cost options before the council to approve or disapprove.
"It's a first step," Ouellet said. "If not now, when is a good tine?"
New $1.3M Norwalk River dock allows Walk Bridge construction, local maritime business to continue
NORWALK — Salty sea air, the aroma of Seaside Sliders, and Billy Joel’s greatest hits mingled in the air as officials celebrated the new Water Street dock on the Norwalk River.
The new $1.3 million state-funded dock allows the Norwalk Seaport Association and Maritime Aquarium’s vessels to continue operating on the Norwalk River amid the $1 billion project to replace the 127-year-old Walk Bridge, according to Walk Bridge project manager Gus Melo. The bridge has failed dozens of times in the last decade to close properly over the waterway, halting marine and rail traffic.
“One of the no. 1 goals is to not interrupt their businesses as you move through all the complex processes on this project,” said Rory McGlasson from the Walk Bridge project’s public information team as a group of Norwalk schoolchildren disembarked from the Sheffield Island Ferry early Tuesday afternoon.
The seaport association hosted the Seaside Sliders food truck for free food at the celebration of the dock that comes with a new gangway and ticket booth, according to Mike Reilly, Norwalk Seaport Association president.
Mayor Harry Rilling honored the new dock with a ribbon-cutting and said the “well-done” dock is crucial to the local maritime economy in South Norwalk continuing uninterrupted.
Melo said the dock’s construction began in February and opened for use on May 1.
The Maritime Aquarium’s research vessel, R/V Spirit of the Sound, and the association’s Sheffield Island Ferry will both dock and depart from the new location without impeding the Walk Bridge project — a solution that has been in the works for over five years, Jerry Toni, business manager for the association said.
The floating concrete dock is bordered by piles that hold it in place and allow it to rise with the tide, Toni said. With a large gap between piles in the middle of the dock, Toni said it will also allow Eversource to move transmission lines underground to make way for the Walk Bridge project.
Mayor Harry Rilling said the new dock required collaboration between the association, aquarium, local and state government to allow for the Walk Bridge project and local business to continue.
“It's going to be great for us during the summertime,” Toni said. “We've already done probably 25 school tours already this year.”
The association will continue to do school tours throughout the remainder of the school year and will open tours to the public on Wednesday, when the regular season starts, Reilly said.
Toni said the new dock is “temporary,” as the aquarium and association will resume use of the former dock after the Walk Bridge is complete — which is anticipated in 2029.
The former dock is over 20 years old, Toni said, and will be replaced before the association and aquarium resume use. The state has yet to determine what the 70 Water St. dock will be used for after the Walk Bridge is complete, McGlasson said.
To learn more about the seaport association or get ferry tickets, visit seaport.org/ferry-schedule. To get tickets for the Maritime Aquarium's R/V Spirit of the Sound, visit maritimeaquarium.org/about-our-vessel.
DANBURY — The state has promised millions more dollars to the city to help cover the increased costs of building the new career academy.
Local leaders applauded the new funding for the high school, as well as $1.9 million to replace the roof at Ellsworth Avenue Elementary School and $10.43 million to renovate the Danbury High School science labs. Lawmakers also touted a $7.54 million increase in the city’s share of state Education Cost Sharing grant monies.
“I think the biggest win is the building of the new high school,” said state Sen. Julie Kushner, D-Danbury, referring to the 1,400-student career academy that’s expected to open in fall 2025.
Now, the city will earn 80 percent reimbursement on up to $179.5 million of eligible costs, a $25.5 million increase from what the city initially anticipated, officials said.
“We will get reimbursement on a much higher project,” Kushner said.
The estimated cost when Danbury voters approved the project in 2022 was $164 million.
Antonio Iadarola, the city’s public works director, said since the project began, some cost escalations have occurred, including contractors' bids that “came in over budget.” Cost increases since the COVID-19 pandemic have also impacted the project’s cost, he said.
“We also had a significant number of unforeseen conditions that we had to deal with,” Iadarola said.
The project is still on track to open for the 2025-26 school year, Iadarola said. He said he does not anticipate the total project cost will exceed the $179.5 million level that was set for state reimbursement.
The only way the city could ensure it would get 80 percent reimbursement on all its costs related to the school's construction was through special legislation at the state level, he said, “to make sure that the special legislation language raises the overall potential cost of the project to a level where it would qualify for reimbursement.”
One item for which the city received reimbursement is toward the purchase of the Cartus offices where the academy is being built. Last year, the state agreed to reimburse the city $10 million for the purchase of that building. That was because the state recognized only the city’s appraisals, which valued the Cartus property at $36 million, and not the $57 million that appraisers hired by the property’s former owner valued it at. The latter figure was the total the city paid for the property.
The purchase price became a point of contention between former Mayor Dean Esposito’s administration and local Democrats, including now Mayor Roberto Alves, who maintained that the city overpaid to acquire the 24-acre site.
“This was a great win for Danbury,” state Rep. Farley Santos, D-Danbury, said of the new funding. “We were saddled with Esposito’s overpayment.”
Esposito, in a statement to Hearst Connecticut Media, blamed the cost of the property on what has been “an incredibly strong sellers market” in real estate,” which the former mayor said, “became even more powerful since the onset of COVID pandemic.”
“The property we negotiated and purchase(d) was premium real estate, nearly 30 acres, in the perfect location for not only serving our current students' population, but (to) provide for Danbury students' population for decades to come,” Esposito said.
“This unprecedented educational project, first of its kind to utilize old commercial space for a public school, actually save(d) the taxpayers construction dollars,” he added.
Iadarola agreed.
“You’re buying a large building, in a market that was incredibly unstable,” he said. Both the city and the property’s former owner hired their own appraisers. Ultimately, there was a $21 million difference between the city’s appraisal and the owner’s appraisal, he said.
“That’s what left us in the position we were in. … The city’s appraisers came in lower than the property owners were willing to sell,” Iadarola said. “It’s hard to buy a building from somebody that doesn’t want to sell it to you for that price.”
The city was informed at the time that special legislation would be needed to get reimbursed on the higher number, he said.
“That was done in two parts,” Iadarola said. “We picked up $10 million in the last legislative session, and we picked up the balance of it this special legislative session.”
The proposal to change from a middle school and high school program to one that will just serve high school students means there will be some modifications, he said.
“The change is not drastic,” Iadarola said. It involves “tweaking” a door, modifying storage closets and taking areas that were previously designed to be offices and turning them into classrooms, he said.
Other state funding
School infrastructure needs will be addressed in other funding that the city will received. One $16.5 million project aims to update and reconfigure Danbury High School’s science labs, located on the fourth and fifth floors of the school’s C Building. In addition to the labs themselves, other areas, including prep rooms, work rooms and storage areas, will also be updated, and brought to building code compliance.
A separate $3 million project, the Ellsworth Avenue School roof replacement, seeks to eliminate existing leaks.
The current roof at the elementary school will be replaced by new metal roofing, Iadarola said.
The school’s solar panels, which have long been inactive, will also be removed.
State Rep. Rachel Chaleski, R-Danbury, was focused on the $7.54 million increase in ECS funding.
“As a member of the Education and Appropriations Committees, I am proud to say that legislators on both sides of the aisle worked to pass a bipartisan biennium budget last session that finally accelerated the Education Cost Sharing formula — something the Danbury Board of Education has been advocating for years, including when I was chair of the BOE,” said Chaleski. “There’s more work that needs to be done to create policy that gets Danbury its fair share.”