Residents are set to vote Thursday on funding approval for the abatement, demolition and remediation of a blighted property where housing and retail space is proposed. A potable well sampling conducted at the site that year identified the dry cleaning solvent perchloroethylene in soil and groundwater, and the roughly 4,700-square-foot building on property — which was condemned in 2011 — has accrued over $80,000 in blight violation fines. With the current owner and other developers unwilling to do so, the town has teamed up with Unicorn Contracting Corporation — the same company that developed the Brookfield Village apartments at the corner of Federal and Station roads — to clean up and redevelop 20 Station Road.

https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/article/brookfield-20-station-road-contamination-develop-17838170.php

The state has awarded the borough a $3 million grant from Community Investment Fund 2030 to develop the former Uniroyal site. The award is part of a $98.5 million package doled out to more than two dozen municipalities and agencies, including $921,000 for Grace House Capital Improvements in Waterbury; $6.8 million for Route 72 corridor improvement in Bristol; $1.4 million for the Family Wellness Center of McCall Behavioral Health Network in Torrington and $250,000 for the Plymouth transformational plan. CIF works to foster economic development in historically underserved communities across the state.

https://www.rep-am.com/localnews/2023/03/15/naugatuck-getting-3m-grant-for-industrial-park-waterbury-torrington-agencies-also-aided/

A large group of residents are opposing plans by NE Edge, LLC to construct a data center on Millstone Nuclear Power station property. A petition opposing the project by the group “Protect Waterford” has collected nearly 700 signatures. The group is concerned about noise from the project, as well as what they say is NE Edge’s lack of experience and troubled background. First Selectman Rob Brule said he has heard the concerns of residents who have called and emailed him and that he will not act to the detriment of the town. According to the agreement, the town would receive more than $231 million in lieu of taxes over 30 years from NE Edge. This would make NE Edge the second-largest taxpayer in town behind Dominion Energy, LLC, the owner of Millstone.

https://www.theday.com/local-news/20230315/waterford-first-selectman-addresses-concerns-about-proposed-data-center/

Bowman, of Miller, Wolff, Napolitano LLC, says Monday night’s vote comes after “a long 20 years” of various efforts to transform several lots on the north end property into a complex that is now projected to feature a gas station and a convenience store, a hotel, a grocer, restaurants, and other anticipated retail uses, along with new housing already underway. Commission members were largely enthusiastic in their comments following the public hearings on a series of applications, which did not draw any public input. In a separate set of waiver applications, project engineer Darin Overton, of SLR Consulting, described some of the earthwork plans. In order to create a flat pad for the retail stores, the level of the development will be below the level of Route 10. The work will also involve disturbing more than five acres at a time, due to the scope of the project.

https://www.myrecordjournal.com/News/Cheshire-Citizen/Cheshire-News/PZC-approves-Stone-Bridge-Crossing-commercial-applications-in-Cheshire

A North Carolina-based real estate developer has purchased the southwest corner of the ex-Coliseum site for over $10.6 million — furthering an already-city-approved plan to build up that part of the property into a new 11-story lab and office building. The seller of that property is an affiliate of Spinnaker Real Estate Partners, the Norwalk-based firm that is overseeing the broader redevelopment of the former Coliseum site into hundreds of new apartments, parking spaces, and shops as part of a project called ​“Square 10.” The buyer of the property is an affiliate of Ancora, a Durham, N.C.-based science-focused real estate developer. “The project has been reviewed and approved by the Ancora L&G Investment Committee, and the company’s leadership remains supportive of the project,” Parker wrote. ​“Specifically, approval has included closing on the land acquisition of Parcel 1C and spending the necessary capital to advance the project to GMP and construction readiness. Construction is projected to begin this summer.”

https://www.newhavenindependent.org/article/coliseum_phase_1c

The town plans to borrow up to $10 million to repair roads and up to $5 million to fix roofs on several schools and municipal buildings over the next few years. By June 30, 2024, the town aims to repair Candlewood Lake Road North, Buckingham Road, Big Bear Hill Road and Little Bear Hill Road, officials said. That work will cost around $2.5 million. For roof repair, Hill & Plain and Northville Elementary Schools are on the list. The road work involves chip sealing, milling and putting new gravel down on dirt roads. It will begin when the asphalt plants open at the end of March, said Mayor Pete Bass, adding everything in regard to outside work is weather dependent. Bass said the roofs on Hill & Plain and Northville Elementary Schools are at the end of their life. He said roofs typically have a life span of 20 years.

https://www.newstimes.com/news/article/new-milford-borrow-15m-roads-roof-repair-17838765.php?src=nthpdesecp

On Monday night, Superintendent Tamu Lucero hosted a virtual public meeting about the proposed new school — to be split between a new school building at the current location of K.T. Murphy Elementary School and a building at 83 Lockwood Ave. that used to house Rogers Magnet Elementary School. Officials have long discussed opening a new school in the under-served portion of the city south of Interstate 95, but finding a spot with enough space for a K-8 school proved challenging. The plan is to start construction on a K-4 school at the Lockwood site in the summer of 2025, with an expected opening for the 2028-29 school year. Students from Murphy and fifth-grade students would be moved to the new facility that school year. Construction on a new Murphy school would begin in the summer of 2028 at the current site, with the new building opening in 2030 as a school for students from fifth to eighth grade. At that time, the Lockwood building would eliminate its fifth grade.

https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/article/one-school-two-campuses-south-stamford-school-17838886.php?src=sthpdesecp

A second Norwich business park, a New London community center and improvements to Poquetanuck Village in Preston were the recipients of $19 million in state grants Tuesday through the Community Investment Fund 2030. The local approvals were among 28 grants totaling $98.5 million approved by the Community Investment Fund Board Tuesday and will be forwarded to the State Bond Commission for approval. The Norwich Community Development Corp. received the second-largest overall grant with $11.3 million to fund 2,700 feet of a new access road into the 384-acre second business park in Occum. NCDC President Kevin Brown said the money will pay to build the road and install utilities from Route 97 near the Interstate 395 Exit 18 ramp to an intersection with Canterbury Turnpike. Felix Reyes, director of the city’s Office of Development and Planning, said the project is now fully funded, but the city will continue to raise funds to leverage the bond money. He said the $7.2 million grant will go towards the construction of the project.

https://www.theday.com/local-news/20230314/norwich-new-london-preston-to-receive-19-million-in-state-grants/

The Connecticut Port Authority reached a milestone last month with the completion of one of two delivery berths at State Pier, which means incoming vessels carrying offshore wind turbine components will be able to offload their cargo at the pier. The wind turbines are expected to arrive next month. They are associated with the ongoing work at South Fork Wind, a 12-turbine wind farm 35 miles east off Montauk Point that will supply power to an estimated 70,000 homes in East Hampton, N.Y. on Long Island. South Fork Wind is just one of three projects by Eversource/Orsted expected to use State Pier for staging and assembly. The others are the larger 704-megawatt Revolution Wind and 924-megawatt Sunrise Wind projects. The final price of the ongoing construction at State Pier, which has risen from $93 million to $255.5 million, had been an ongoing source of controversy and is not yet known. Connecticut Port Authority Executive Director Ulysses Hammond, at the port authority’s meeting in February, said there are ongoing negotiations about costs with the construction administrator AECOM, construction manager Kiewit, Orsted/Eversource and terminal operator Gateway.

https://www.theday.com/local-news/20230314/port-authority-announces-completion-of-state-pier-delivery-berth/

Electric Boat and Connecticut’s vast submarine industrial base could stand to greatly benefit from Australia’s acquisition as one of the primary manufacturers of the Virginia-class model. A security pact between Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States (AUKUS) could have wide-ranging international and domestic implications on security as well as shipbuilding in eastern Connecticut. The deal could be significant for companies like General Dynamics’ Electric Boat and the suppliers that make up the multibillion-dollar industry. At Monday’s event, Biden gave a shout out to Rep. Joe Courtney, D-2nd District, who also attended the event and has been a strong supporter of the pact. Courtney, whose eastern Connecticut district includes Electric Boat’s Groton facility, founded the AUKUS Working Group in Congress and has been an advocate through his role as the top Democrat on the House Armed Services’ Seapower Subcommittee.

CT could see major boost from nuclear submarine deal