First Selectman Fred Camillo said the town is working diligently to replace the rink, but they need to follow the proper process. Municipal Improvement status, commonly referred to as “MI,” is granted by the Planning and Zoning Commission. The Department of Public Works started presenting its rink replacement plan to the commission last year, but has not yet received MI. There are no rink replacement funds in the fiscal year 2024-2025 budget request, but there is $980,000 listed in the 2025-26 budget, which would be for architectural and engineering planning. Once MI is granted, the project will move to the Board of Selectmen for approval. Camillo said that could happen within the next month or so. Camillo previously helped secure a $5 million donation from residents Steven and Alexandra Cohen to help fund construction of the Cohen Eastern Greenwich Civic Center, which will open to the public later this year.

https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/article/greenwich-hamilton-rink-budget-18642092.php

A former factory site in the Hill section will soon be home to 150 affordable apartments. The city plans to use nearly $1 million in state grant funds to help a developer demolish four old buildings to clear the way. The $995,600 grant, which Gov. Ned Lamont announced in December, will pay a portion of the demolition and remediation costs for the former Electrix Illumination architectural lighting property at Liberty, Putnam and Spring streets. The developer, 10 Liberty Street Owners LLC, received City Plan Commission approval in 2022 to build a five-story apartment building at 10 Liberty St. It will have 150 units available to people who earn up to 80 percent of the area median income. Cortell, of Maplewood, N.J., said he expects the remediation and demolition covered by the grant to take about six months. Actual new construction is likely to begin in the spring of 2025 and take two years to complete.

https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/article/affordable-apartments-new-haven-liberty-street-18641475.php

The Connecticut Airport Authority has confirmed that a sinkhole formed at the perimeter of Bradley International Airport in December. In a statement provided to CT Insider, CAA spokesperson Brian Spyros said that the sinkhole had been “temporarily filled and stabilized.” According to agency officials, the sinkhole formed around Dec. 4. The 20-by-20 foot sinkhole grew to a depth of 35 feet, large enough to swallow a car or small truck. The sinkhole was caused by a failed underground storm pipe, agency officials said. The CAA had increased Bradley International’s capital improvement funds by up to $10 million while the agency looks into alternate sources of funding. The CAA will look for federal and other funding sources to cover repair costs. In September, the Windsor Locks airport got approval for $99.27 million in federal funds for construction projects. Of that, $76.14 million was for a new inline baggage screening building, $17.96 million for a vertical circulation project and $278,643 for a taxiway extension project.

https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/article/ct-bradley-international-airport-sinkhole-18641700.php

Workers, family members and elected officials honor the six workers who died in an explosion in 2010, according to Connecticut AFL-CIO Health & Safety Committee. The Connecticut AFL-CIO Health & Safety Committee will celebrate the lives of the six workers who died in the Kleen Energy explosion 14 years ago at 11 a.m. Sunday Feb. 4. The event will be held at the permanent memorial outside the Kleen Energy plant in Middletown, according to the union. The Kleen Energy power plant exploded in Middletown on Feb. 7, 2010, at 11:17 a.m. The initial blast killed five workers and injured dozens more, the union noted. One additional worker later died from his injuries. Some of the families of the deceased workers will attend the ceremony. The memorial service this year “will be a celebration of the lives of those we lost. Family members and fellow union members will tell stories about the six deceased workers,” according to the union.

Union to honor workers who died in an explosion at a CT job site

For years, Connecticut has struggled with a number of clean energy initiatives as the legislature has been reluctant to authorize policy or money for them. Nevermind just keeping pace with the neighbors, there are lessons for Connecticut in the region and elsewhere for innovative ways to tackle climate change from energy and emissions standpoints. Connecticut has had its eye on Colorado lately because of its approach to the thorny motor vehicle emissions standards issue. In Connecticut, the standards have become a flashpoint over how the state moves forward to meet the greenhouse gas emission goals it has set for itself, as well as limiting pollutants that create the smog that makes Connecticut air quality some of the worst in the country. The most recent groundbreaking move from Massachusetts is its future of gas initiative, which is starting the process to make the state the first to drastically reduce and potentially eliminate the use of natural gas. Rhode Island is among other states considering something similar. That outcome is not likely in Connecticut, if the recent failures are any indication.

What CT could learn from other states’ climate change policies

The collaborative, first announced last October, will be a nonprofit tasked with working with the government, industry, labor and academia, along with neighboring states, to help drive offshore wind toward becoming a major economic driver in the state. It will be housed in offices at the Southeastern Connecticut Enterprise Region in Groton, an agency that serves as the area’s Economic Development District. In a statement, Gov. Ned Lamont said the Connecticut Wind Collaborative would help guide the development of offshore wind statewide. The collaborative is one leg in Connecticut’s Offshore Wind Strategic Roadmap, which will work to create a regional supply chain and develop the workforce required to meet the needs for the wind industry. The idea is to create a wind industry cluster in New England that will create a “critical mass of expertise” to boost domestic wind power. The state announced Wednesday that Paul Lavoie, the state’s chief manufacturing officer, was voted in as chairman and treasurer of the collaborative earlier this month. Other board officials named at the time were Andrew Lavigne, manager of the state’s Clean Economy Program at the Department of Economic and Community Development; Kate Aufhauser, the governor’s strategic adviser for economic development, and Paul Whitescarver, executive director of seCTer.

https://www.theday.com/local-news/20240131/state-launches-effort-to-keep-connecticut-at-forefront-of-the-wind-industry/

State utilities regulators urged Connecticut’s second largest electricity provider to use the same safety precautions for work at office buildings as a public street or highway after a land surveyor was struck and killed in Fairfield last year. The Public Utilities Regulatory Authority issued its recommendation in a recent decision, following an investigation into the death of 59-year-old Stephen Brynn, a Colchester contractor hired by United Illuminating Co. The ruling is likely to draw attention to safety procedures for work done on entrances and exits on commercial properties. During the investigation, UI told PURA that no matter the location, risks to workers must be fully assessed and safety measures put in place. Some measures could include signage, a barricade protecting the worker or assigning a second person as a “spotter.” In a statement, UI spokesman Sarah Wall Fliotsos said: “Safety for all our workers is our number-one priority at UI, and we appreciate PURA’s attention to worker safety reflected in their decision last week.”

After death of worker, CT utility should step up certain safety precautions, state report finds

Ten rural Connecticut communities are receiving their portion of more than $9 million in state grants to improve safety and transportation, with upgrades including sidewalks, trails, and roads. The grants — released through the Transportation Rural Improvement Program, or TRIP — are designed to direct funding to rural towns that are often ineligible for many federal transportation programs, according to the office of Gov. Ned Lamont. The largest grant is going to Salisbury, which will receive about $1.15 million for sidewalk construction on Main Street. The TRIP program is a new competitive grant program funded through state bonding. Last year, towns with half of their population living in rural areas were eligible to apply for the funding. While the Department of Transportation will cover the entirety of construction costs, municipalities are required to cover the cost of designs.

https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/journalinquirer/article/ct-transportation-safety-upgrades-rural-towns-18637357.php

The $16.5 million plan is among the projects that made the School Construction Project Priority List put forth by the state Department of Administrative Services, according to an announcement issued by State Sen. Julie Kushner, D-Danbury. DAS’ School Construction Project Priority List Review Committee approved the project’s consideration last week. Kushner’s office stated the project will update and reconfigure 28,400 square feet of science labs, located on the fourth and fifth floors of Danbury High School’s C Building. The project will also affect other interior spaces, including the labs’ prep rooms, work rooms and storage areas. The labs themselves will receive new doors and equipment, and classroom doors will be modified for building code compliance. The state is expected to cover nearly $10.43 million, or 63.21 percent of the project’s total $16.5 million cost. A timeline for when the project would be completed wasn’t immediately available.

https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/local/article/danbury-hs-science-lab-project-advances-ct-18637863.php

A bridge spanning the Pomperaug River along Route 172 in South Britain received a clean bill of health following an inspection Tuesday morning, one of thousands of bridge inspections done by the state every two years. The snooper Tuesday was provided by state contractor McClain & Co. of Middletown, which specializes in the support of engineering companies and government agencies for the inspection and maintenance of bridges. Workers used a device called a snooper, a cranelike apparatus that allows for access to the bridge’s underside. There, inspectors applied various techniques, including a simple tap of a hammer, to determine the bridge’s structural integrity, much of it based on sound. A state Department of Transportation engineer on scene said the inspection focuses on a bridge’s steel super structure and underside concrete decking.

https://www.rep-am.com/localnews/2024/01/30/route-172-bridge-in-southbury-gets-green-light-from-inspectors/