Numerous East Haven officials, first responders and residents denounced a recent FAA study at a hearing on Saturday that projected minimal harm from the proposed Tweed New Haven Airport expansion. The environmental assessment was co-signed by New Haven city staff who embraced the economic benefits of the plan. Residents cheered as Carfora called for an environmental impact statement which, under the National Environmental Policy Act, would provide a more detailed study of the expansion’s impact on the nearby environment and residents. Carfora said the estimated 61,300 cubic yards of fill required for the expansion construction would only worsen flooding in the flood-prone airport and surrounding neighborhoods, explained that the increase of 21.62 acres in impervious surface would mean large volumes of polluted stormwater runoff and pointed to impacts from heavy airport traffic on the local town green and beach.

East Haven Residents, Officials Oppose Tweed Expansion at Saturday Hearing — a Sharp Split from New Haven

The Water and Sewer Commission this week helped a 454-unit proposed senior housing development clear its first major hurdle. Members on Tuesday voted 6-1 to allocate a majority of the sewer capacity Pelletier-Niantic LLC estimates it needs for 160 condominiums, 144 apartments, and a 150-bed assisted living section, as well as urgent care and radiology facilities that would be open to the public. The company’s principal is listed as New York-based architect Eric J. Pelletier. The developer could begin filing permit applications with the land use department “maybe in a couple months,” according to Pfanner. Multiple public hearings will be required as the project moves through the regulatory process. Of the 1.5 million gallons per day allotted for sewer lines in East Lyme, 1.02 million gallons are for municipal use while the rest are reserved for the state at sites including York Correctional Institution and Camp Nett. The town averaged about 708,000 gallons per day in each of the past five years, according to North.

https://www.theday.com/local-news/20230329/east-lyme-sewer-commission-makes-room-for-senior-development/

At an eventful New London Landmarks annual meeting Tuesday, it was announced that Tox Brewing Co. is moving to Bank Street and the Garfield Mills project has begun remediation of its building. The meeting was held at one of the three adjacent historic buildings owned by developers High Tide Capital at 137, 133 and 123 Bank St. In a presentation, Lyman showed slides of what people can expect from Riverbank. He said the small building at 137 Bank St. would be home to the record store The Telegraph. At 123 Bank St., the site of the former New London Antiques Center, Lyman said Tox Brewing Co., currently situated at 635 Broad St., would move into the first floor and apartments would be on the top two floors. He said there will be a roof deck on top where residents will have “spectacular views of the harbor.”

https://www.theday.com/local-news/20230329/details-on-the-riverbank-and-other-projects-shared-at-new-london-landmarks-meeting/

The Planning & Zoning Commission approved the demolition and new construction of Washington School, the next step forward in bringing the 114-year-old school into the future. In a presentation by representatives from architectural firm Antinozzi Associates and engineering firm Stentec, commissioners reviewed plans for the two-story, 49,000-square-foot building that will accommodate roughly 438 students between pre-K and fourth grade and more than 70 staff members. Officials said that, although construction can be noisy, construction officials can reserve some of the noisiest functions for later than 7 a.m. Yates said the estimated $44.5 million construction project may begin once bids go out in the late summer and may be completed by March 2025. During construction, Washington students will attend school at the presently-vacant Molloy School.

https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/article/west-haven-approves-washington-school-demolition-17866754.php

The Biden administration wants to build 30 gigawatts of offshore wind energy by 2030 — enough to power more than 10 million homes. The turbines would be anchored to the seafloor. It wants to deploy another 15 gigawatts of floating wind turbines by 2035, enough to power 5 million homes. The first commercial scale offshore wind project in the United States is currently under construction off the coast of Massachusetts. With its Offshore Wind Energy Strategy, DOE lays out a plan for supporting offshore wind development to meet the 2030 targets. It was released during an offshore wind energy conference in Baltimore held by the Business Network for Offshore Wind. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm promised in a statement that offshore wind “will create tens of thousands of good-paying, union jobs and revitalize coastal communities.”

https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/article/us-energy-officials-release-strategy-to-boost-17866325.php

Connecticut has initiated the second tranche of its statewide commercial energy storage program, aimed at incentivizing 100 MW of battery deployments while continuing to support its residential program. The program is managed by Energy Storage Solutions and administered by the Connecticut Green Bank. The state aims to deploy 1 GW of energy storage by 2030, with interim targets of 300 MW awarded by 2024 and 650 MW by 2027. The energy storage program is part of Connecticut’s broader goal of achieving 100% clean energy production by 2040. As of 2030, 48% of the electricity sold within the state must come from renewable energy resources.

Connecticut commercial energy storage demand spurs government action

Accurate, the development company which bought the Ash Creek Boulevard property last year, presented its plans to the Town Plan and Zoning Commission in a meeting Tuesday night. The project has been stymied for nearly two decades, and Accurate has stated it will finally build the mixed-use residential and commercial development. In order to do that, plans say, it will submit several land-use applications and zoning amendments to the town, and is seeking a pre-review from the TPZ. The proposal notes Accurate is seeking to reconfigure what was originally approved so that the apartments will be spread out across seven buildings ranging from three to five stories in height. As part of that, the plans call for a pedestrian plaza in front of buildings 6 and 7, which will be surrounded by 10,000 square feet of commercial or residential amenity space.

https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/fairfield/article/fairfield-metro-development-accurate-17863072.php

Norwich Public Utilities presented a $107.8 million proposed 2023-24 budget Tuesday that is being impacted by the cost of energy and major capital projects, and supply chain problems. NPU administrators presented the budget to the Board of Public Utilities Commissioners. The board will vote on the budget in April or May. The $107.8 million budget, with a $6.6 million, 6.5% increase over this year’s budget, covers all four of NPU’s services _ electric, natural gas, water and sewer. Wholesale natural gas prices are budgeted to drop by $1.8 million. The total gas budget of $20.7 million is down by $2.5 million from this year. The water division budget of $11.2 million has a $180,546 increase over this year, and the sewer budget is up by $189,131 over this year to a total of $9.28 million.

https://www.theday.com/local-news/20230328/norwich-public-utilities-proposes-107-8-million-budget/

The Board of Education made its pitch for closing both Mark T. Sheehan and Lyman Hall high schools in favor of a new, state-of-the-art high school on the Lyman Hall campus during a marathon Town Council meeting that lasted more than five hours. But many parents and students don’t agree that decision. After about an hour and a half of public comment, council members had their turn questioning school officials. It became clear that councilors weren’t sure what was being asked of them — whether the board wanted the council to vote on consolidating the schools. The school board has been working on finding solutions to facility issues for years. While the middle school buildings are in worse shape than the high school buildings, the board decided to take on the high schools first, Raccio said. A survey done at the time, to which 2,294 responded, found that 44% of residents preferred to renovate the town’s two middle schools and two high schools at a cost of $78 million.

https://www.myrecordjournal.com/News/Wallingford/Wallingford-News/Wallingford-council-to-take-on-high-school-consolidation-proposal.html

A judge refused to reconsider denying a pretrial probation program for former Fairfield officials charged in the illegal dumping case. More than 40 truckloads of debris and dirt were removed from the Stratfield Road pond during a three-week period in 2018. The newly obtained report, done by the Yale School of Medicine in July 2020, refutes findings in later arrest warrant affidavits that Fairfield town employees were put at risk, handling contaminated material they were assured was safe. Superior Court Judge Kevin Russo acknowledged he previously made his decision to deny accelerated rehabilitation, a pretrial diversionary program, to the defendants based on the claims in the warrant affidavits that town workers were put at risk. He said the Yale report does not change his decision though.

https://www.ctpost.com/news/article/fairfield-officials-denied-accelerated-rehab-17865033.php?src=rdctpdensecp