Reaction was swift to the Board of Education’s vote last week to recommend to the Town Council to consolidate the town’s two high schools, building a new high school on the Lyman Hall High School campus and closing Mark T. Sheehan High School. On Feb. 27, the Board of Education voted 8-1 to recommend to the council that a new, 300,000 square foot facility be built on the Lyman Hall site that is estimated to cost $216 million, of which $122 million the town would be responsible for after the state’s 43% reimbursement rate. The school board’s argument for the one high school is that enrollment is dropping, with only 59% of the Sheehan building currently being used. While the Board of Education voted in favor of the one high school proposal, the majority of teachers who responded to a Wallingford Education Association survey feel otherwise. Of the 243 teachers who responded to the survey, 49% favored renovating both buildings “as new,” 21% were in favor of making “basic repairs” to the buildings, and 29% supported consolidation of the schools, according to union president Anne Varrone-Lederle.

https://www.myrecordjournal.com/News/Wallingford/Wallingford-News/Wallingford-school-merger.html

As multiple industries still face workplace shortages, one solution is emerging, especially in traditionally male-dominated fields like construction: recruit more women. According to recent data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, nationwide, the number of women in construction has hit an all-time high, with women now making up 11% of the construction industry. Women in the industry encourage others to try something new — because you may be surprised at your own abilities. “84 Lumber allowed me to expand my knowledge with multiple positions,” said Plant Manager Polly Jean (PJ) Miller. “Don’t be intimidated by work in the construction field. If it’s something that truly interests you, don’t be scared to step up and learn.”

https://www.newbritainherald.com/online_features/home_improvement/how-women-are-finding-rewarding-careers-in-the-construction-industry/article_fdaff7c2-efff-5f2c-8349-a791ebed4558.html

The architecture firm hired to design a new Central Middle School called the Board of Education’s current plan “unachievable” on Tuesday, saying it was impossible to fit the approved amount of classroom space into a 115,000 square foot building. The ed specs were approved in August 2022 and call for 88,300 square feet of learning space in a 115,311 square feet building. The SLAM Collaborative, the architects on the project, said that a school with 88,000 square feet of learning space would need to be at least 135,000 square feet when factoring in space for heating and cooling equipment, electrical closets, wall thickness and other required infrastructure. Laura Kostin, a member of the BOE that sits on the CMS building committee, said the committee needs to give specific revisions to get the building down to a workable size. SLAM is making adjustments to its proposed building designs and it will present a new design at 130,000 to 135,000 square feet to the CMS Design Review Committee at 4 p.m. March 8 during a virtual meeting.

https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/article/architects-plans-new-greenwich-school-lack-room-17824675.php

The town is one step away from gaining the approvals needed to build a new police station after the Planning & Zoning Commission reviewed plans for the proposed $16.4 million project. The discussion came during a virtual public hearing at a P&Z meeting on Feb. 27. Ultimately, the commission voted unanimously to close the public hearing and move the project forward for a final vote at a future meeting. The new police facility would be built on an 11.17-acre site at 238-240 Danbury Road. If the final approval comes as expected, the town of Wilton could break ground on the project as soon as late May or early June, officials said. Construction is expected to take about 20 months. At the meeting, the floor plans, site improvements and architectural drawings were presented by Rebecca Hopkins of Tecton Architects.

https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/article/new-wilton-police-station-17823878.php

The Department of Energy and Environmental Protection announced plans to open two procurements for zero-carbon energy this year, including one specifically for offshore wind. The department has authority to procure about another 1,200 MW of offshore wind, but said it hasn’t determined how much, if any, it will procure this year. Speaking to state lawmakers during an Energy and Technology Committee hearing on Tuesday, DEEP Commissioner Katie Dykes didn’t commit her department to selecting any bids, saying they want to evaluate how the costs would stack up against forecasts of future energy prices and see if they’re in the “best interests” of electric customers. Dykes also said she has heard anecdotally that developers have “a lot of interest” in using the New London State Pier, where the Connecticut Port Authority said last week that work has completed on the heavy-lift delivery platform that the offshore wind partnership of Eversource and Ørsted will start using this spring for staging in the construction of their South Fork Wind project. The last time DEEP took bids for offshore wind in 2019, it selected Park City Wind to sell power at $79.83 per megawatt-hour to Connecticut electric customers from Avangrid’s 804 MW project proposed to be built off the coast of Martha’s Vineyard.

Connecticut Opens Bidding for New Offshore Wind Projects

A Branford-based engineering and construction company contracted to perform work at State Pier in New London has filed a lawsuit claiming it is owed more than $800,000 for extra work it performed during the demolition stage of the massive rehab project. Blakeslee Arpaia Chapman, Inc. filed the suit in November against Kiewitt Infrastructure Co., the project manager of the $255.5 million State Pier project being overseen by the Connecticut Port Authority. Kiewit disputes the claims in legal filings related to the case, which is pending in New London Superior Court. Kiewitt subcontracted Blakeslee in March, 2021 to perform work demolishing clusters of concrete mooring blocks atop piles, called dolphin moorings. Kiewit agreed to pay $1.877 million to Blakeslee for the work but, the suit alleges, refused to pay Blakeslee another $838,422 it requested. The additional money includes $763,497 requested for extra work and $79,925 in retainage, a withheld portion of a final payment. The lawsuit was initially filed in November of 2022 and the two sides have each traded motions in New London Superior Court. Earlier this week, Kiewit filed a motion to move the case from the New London Superior Court to the state’s complex litigation docket.

https://www.theday.com/news/20230307/contractor-sues-over-unpaid-work-at-state-pier/

During a Monday news conference, Tong, the state’s top civil lawyer, said that about $181 million in fraud has been recovered by state and federal authorities among the nine state agencies he is allowed to monitor. There are more than 100 such state departments, offices and quasi-public agencies, though, while attorneys general in neighboring states, have broader authority. “Every public dollar is entitled to strong, robust protection from waste, fraud and abuse,” Tong said. Hawthorne, the state’s top union official, said that wage theft and other kinds of worker exploitation, could be pursued by Tong’s office. “It provides a further level of trust from the public with our state government, so we know that our tax dollars are spent wisely. It will help us continue to distance ourselves from the corrupt days of Gov. Rowland.”

https://www.sfgate.com/politics/article/attorney-general-tong-wants-expand-investigative-17824266.php

Technological trends in large firms include building information modeling (BIM), the use of advanced building materials and construction robotics. Safety continues to be at the forefront of the industry no matter the size of the firm, with technological advances in tools such as construction wearables to keep workers safe. Technology has not scaled as quickly in construction as it has in other industries, such as automotive or aerospace, but it still has an impact. Technology has changed the construction process from the earliest phases of planning through to a project’s completion. Gone are the days of thick binders filled with paperwork that are handed over to the client at the end of a project, only to sit on a shelf and collect dust. The more sophisticated firms deliver those closeout packages digitally now.

https://www.constructionequipmentguide.com/technology-levels-playing-field-among-construction-firms/60192

The proposed development of a 40-unit apartment building on Mohawk Drive, not far from the landfill, has nearby residents concerned about increases of levels of methane in the area. The Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection presently oversees the landfill. “The gaseous ‘burping’ that results from the breakdown of trash has reduced, though still needs to be managed,” said DEEP Director of Communications Will Healey. Dozens of residents appeared at a recent Planning and Zoning Commission public hearing to oppose this apartment application. During the hearing, the developers’ representatives suggested blasting may be necessary during the construction process. The methane collection system is also visually inspected weekly, and routine repairs are made when necessary, he said.

https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/article/shelton-apartment-plans-residents-concerned-17813738.php

After nearly five years, construction may begin this spring on The Wellington, a planned 31-unit affordable housing development at 131 Cottage Road. The financing is set to be finalized for the $11 million project and a general contractor, Haynes Construction of Seymour, has been hired. The architects are Schadler Selnau Associates of Farmington. Two nonprofit agencies, Hope Partnership LLC of Essex and the Caleb Group of Boston, the majority owner, are overseeing the project, from garnering financing to construction. Hope Partnership bought the land and buildings as an unfinished multifamily development in 2018. The Caleb Group joined the effort in 2020.

https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/shoreline/article/construction-begin-madison-affordable-housing-17818353.php