Darien-based real estate development and investment company V20 Group purchased four acres of the former shopping center from its owners, the Palmer family, to finally begin redevelopment on the empty shopping center after years of delays. The deal was finalized on March 1. With a prime location across from the Noroton Heights train station, the upcoming development — renamed Noroton Crossing — will become a mixed-use community geared toward local commuters, featuring apartment housing, restaurants and retail and a private preschool. The Palmer family is no longer involved in the redevelopment, but will maintain ownership of the remaining property, including Palmer’s Market. Construction is tentatively slated to begin in spring this year and take less than two years. Retail is expected to move in by early 2024 and apartment residents around late 2024 through early 2025. Demolition equipment is already onsite and could begin within the week, pending permit approval.

https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/article/darien-noroton-heights-shopping-center-17825170.php

Gov. Ned Lamont rejected calls Wednesday by business owners and House Republicans to pause the collection of a new mileage tax on tractor-trailers that raised $4.3 million in its first month, the majority from out-of-state truckers. “You got to pay your bills in life,” Lamont said. “We’ve got a lot of expense when it comes to roads and bridges.” Starting Jan. 1, carriers using tractor-trailers have to pay between 2.5 cents and 17.5 cents for every mile driven in Connecticut, with the fee dependent on the gross weight of the vehicle. The new tax is projected to eventually produce $7.5 million a month, or $90 million a year, for the special transportation fund, which collected about $2 billion in 2022, mostly in sales tax and fuel tax revenues. The Democratic-controlled legislature passed the truck mileage tax at Lamont’s request last year, two years after he failed to win approval of highway tolls, a far bigger revenue source pitched at a time when the transportation fund was approaching insolvency.

Lamont defends truck mileage tax: ‘You got to pay your bills’

State truckers joined Republican lawmakers on Wednesday to criticize the highway use tax that took effect in January, predicting higher consumer prices and financial burdens on their businesses. They stressed that the highway tax’s estimated $90 million a year was supposed to target out-of-state 18-wheelers, it seems the bulk of the charges will fall on state companies. In fact, of the $4.3 million collected by the state since January 1, $3.3 million came from out of staters, according to the state Department of Revenue Services. Candelora described Lamont’s position as “really dug in” in defense of the highway fee. “If we’re going into a budget cycle with surpluses and a transportation fund that currently has a surplus, we’re very well poised to put a pause on this program,” Candelora said. Gov. Ned Lamont stands by the new tax and the Democratic co-chairmen of the tax-writing Finance Committee supported the program that was adopted by the General Assembly in 2021, as a means to help support state transportation projects and was sold to state lawmakers as focused on out-of-state haulers to contribute to improving state highways.

https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/politics/article/gop-lawmakers-ct-truckers-slam-new-highway-use-17827093.php

The city presented a proposal this week to create a new Route 9 northbound off-ramp on River Road, which one day could lead motorists to a revitalized and redesigned riverfront. The goal, Florsheim said, is for the city to partner with the state in the “right way to get this project realized.” The off-ramp would be located in an industrial area near Walnut Street and Meadow Meat on Eastern Drive and eventually lead to Main Street. The area, which runs along the Connecticut River, is part of the city’s master plan of redevelopment. Another DOT project due to begin this week, according to signs on Route 9, would eliminate the stop sign at Route 17 — one of the deadliest highway on-ramps in the state, the mayor has said. The state will be undertaking a three-year project to build a 1,000-foot acceleration lane to replace the stop sign, the deputy director said. Kozikowski reviewed the city’s 2030 Plan of Conservation and Development and how it relates to the Return to the Riverbend master plan.

https://www.middletownpress.com/news/article/middletown-propose-dot-adding-downtown-exit-route-17824672.php

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/