A vision for the aging Community Center laid out by a team of specialists in architecture, landscape design and community engagement has given the Board of Selectmen a lot to consider as it weighs what the community wants against how much taxpayers can afford to pay. Consultant Brian Cleveland, of Brian Cleveland Architects, on Wednesday presented the feasibility study he was hired to produce with $38,000 in federal pandemic relief funding. Three options, costing an estimated $8.3 million to $17.5 million, represent what he described as “varying degrees of expansion or renovation” to the building built almost 35 years ago on Society Road. The lowest-priced option would reconfigure the layout of the building and update the grounds. The middle option, coming in at $11.1 million, would add a second floor over the library. The most expensive option would include everything in the first two options, plus the construction of a freestanding field house with interior basketball courts and an exterior climbing wall.

https://www.theday.com/local-news/20240321/small-medium-large-options-for-east-lyme-community-center-upgrades-run-the-gamut/#

For so many townspeople, the 1928-era building at Farmington High School is a landmark, a structure whose walls safeguard the memories of generations of residents. And in an April 2023 referendum, voters decided the fate of the nearly 100-year-old building, with an overwhelming consensus to save and renovate it. Now, what was once classrooms for generations of youth is being transformed into Farmington’s brand new Town Hall, a multimillion dollar project currently underway and on track for completion in fall 2025. And when the rest of the existing high school is demolished this summer for the new Farmington High School, which will be adjacent to it, renovation will take place on the 1928 building. Although the total project cost is $16 million, Farmington taxpayers will be responsible for about $9 million of the cost, offset by the use of $7 million in American Rescue Plan Act funds, according to town officials. The 1928 building renovation already has Plan and Zoning approval and is currently in the last phase of design, and the 1928 Building Committee anticipates putting this project out to bid later this spring, according to town officials.

https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/farmingtonvalley/article/farmington-new-town-hall-1928-building-19307582.php

The redevelopment of the now-demolished Bowles Park apartments in Hartford’s Blue Hills neighborhood will enter its fourth stage with the help of $5 million in state funding. At the site of the old Bowles Park, a 410-unit state housing complex, sits Willow Creek, a mixed-income housing facility with several community amenities. The most recent round of the Community Investment Fund grant money will help develop 50 additional affordable rental units as well as infrastructure improvements. CIF plans to provide $875 million to eligible municipalities and nonprofits within them by 2030. The eligible municipalities are “historically underserved.” The Hartford Housing Authority owns the land occupied by the first 135 units and several acres of the site remain vacant for additional phases of construction. The developer for the project is Overlook Development and the property is managed by Imagineers.

https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/capitalregion/article/hartford-ct-willow-creek-state-funding-19353069.php

With almost $79 billion earmarked for highway, safety and transit programs, the budget also adds $9.5 billion to support the resilience, safety and sustainability of the nation’s transportation network via the bipartisan infrastructure law. Enacted in late 2021, IIJA is the Biden administration’s outline for “building a better America,” according to the Federal Transit Administration. Capital investment grant program resources would total $4 billion for transit construction. That adds $2.4 billion in FY 2025 appropriations to the $1.6 billion earmarked in IIJA spending. Grants totaling $8.4 billion would go to improving airport facilities including runways, taxiways and terminals. The budget achieves “meaningful deficit reduction through measures that cut wasteful spending and ask the wealthy to pay their fair share,” said Buttigieg.

https://www.constructionequipmentguide.com/presidents-proposed-fy2025-budget-boosts-iija-transportation-construction-programs/64253

Legislation in Connecticut, the capital of the American insurance industry and home to several of its largest carriers, could make insurers pay for that contradiction. If passed, the bill, which just cleared a committee vote in the state Senate, would move toward imposing a fee for any fossil fuel projects companies insure in-state. That revenue would go into a public resilience fund that could underwrite sea walls and urban flood protection measures. The surcharge would apply only to fossil fuel projects these companies insure in Connecticut, avoiding that constitutional challenge.
The assessment would apply not only to new pipelines and fuel terminals, which require ample insurance to attract lenders and investors, but to current coverage for existing infrastructure as well. This means anyone covering the state’s dozens of oil- and gas-fueled power plants would be contributing to the resilience fund.

Connecticut wants to penalize insurers for backing fossil fuel projects

Town officials say they are relieved a proposed solar facility on South Road has been denied for its potential adverse environmental effect after they questioned whether the property would eventually be returned to its current agricultural use. The Connecticut Siting Council on March 14 denied a petition by Santa Fuel Inc. to build and operate a facility spanning 22.1 acres on property the company would have rented at 159 South Road. In its ruling, the council said there would be “a substantial adverse environmental effect associated with the construction, maintenance, and operation” of the 3.85-megawatt solar photovoltaic electric generating facility. Several communities such as East Windsor are appealing decisions made by the Siting Council or weighing whether to appeal, as Fairfield officials are currently discussing.

https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/journalinquirer/article/somers-ct-solar-power-siting-council-19301768.php

Grove Court is receiving a $6.8 million state grant for various improvements, the second round of financing in the past few months to finance a series of substantial upgrades to the affordable housing complex. The state-funded complex received $2 million in August for other extensive repairs. That was in addition to $3 million in federal dollars for the same projects. The funding, through DOH, is part of a total of $13.8 million in financing for the creation of 139 housing units, including 116 total affordable units for low- and moderate-income renters. Along with $7.8 million in financing from the Connecticut Housing Finance Authority, the expanded affordable housing is expected to generate more than $18.5 million in private investments, according to state officials.

https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/journalinquirer/article/ct-vernon-grove-court-affordable-housing-19303675.php

A project to “lower” the highway system through Hartford that is expected to take some 25 years to complete got a $2 million boost from the U.S. Department of Transportation last week. The grant funding will enable preliminary engineering, environmental documentation, and public outreach for the River Gateway portion of the Greater Hartford Mobility Study. River Gateway would lower and cap a portion of Interstate 91, redesign the Whitehead Highway and Pulaski Circle, and create a new pedestrian bridge over the Connecticut River. DOT spokesperson Josh Morgan said the $2 million from the federal government is merely to start design phases and community outreach. The project itself has no specific timeline.

https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/capitalregion/article/hartford-ct-highway-i-91-federal-grant-dot-19196630.php

City officials are back to the drawing board after rejecting two requests for proposals from Cornerstone Realty and Industrial Realty Group, a Los Angeles-based developer, to redevelop the former Anamet factory site at 698 South Main St. City officials said Anamet, a 17-acre brownfield site, including a 180,000-square-foot high bay building, is crucial to revitalizing the South End. The Anamet site is owned by 698 South Main St. Inc., which was set up by the city to hold the property. Local city officials and experts said the time and development of such sites are not cut and dry, mainly due to their complexity, as contaminants can be found at later stages and the risk and liability of such sites. To date, $9.5 million has been received for work toward its rehabilitation, most of which has been spent, Hyde said. It will cost another estimated $5 million to clean up and remediate the site.

https://www.rep-am.com/localnews/2024/03/19/waterbury-rejects-developers-plan-for-former-anamet-factory-site/

Instead of cars whizzing through the waterfront area on multi-lane highways, traffic specialists envision two-way streets, walkways, roundabouts and even a pedestrian “Bridge of Roses” over the Yantic River. The City Council on Monday viewed concepts from a downtown Norwich mobility study that tackled how to fix the 1970s road patterns that raced traffic through Norwich on multi-lane roads with giant speedway signs overhead. Joseph Balskus and Daniel Amutz of VHB Engineers proposed dramatic changes to transform the Norwich Harbor area. The Southeastern Connecticut Council of Governments received a $212,500 grant from the state Department of Transportation, with the City of Norwich adding $37,500, to pay for the Chelsea Harbor/Downtown Norwich Mobility Study. Retired SCCOG Executive Director James Butler is managing the project that encompasses the waterfront area, downtown entrances from West Main-Route 82 and East Main-Route 2. Balskus said the group has not yet worked out cost estimates for any of the options. City Manager John Salomone suggested the project could be done in phases, with the Water Street-Chelsea Harbor Drive changes first.

https://www.theday.com/local-news/20240319/traffic-study-envisions-dramatic-transformation-of-norwich-waterfront-downtown-roads/