The Planning and Zoning Commission has approved the phased construction of a 22-unit townhouse style condominium project on Route 32 while tabling discussion of a proposed 16-unit apartment complex on Route 32. The commission last week unanimously approved a request by Western Group LLC, to build the 22 condominiums in four phases, with no other changes to its final plan. Though the commission already approved the development at its March 22 meeting, it needed to approve the new conditions. The commission also received an application for a two-building apartment complex with 16 units. Because the developer still needs to address comments on the plan, the commission voted to table discussion on the application until its next meeting, at the applicant’s request. Lombardi Gravel, LLC is looking to convert two old commercial buildings at 303, 307 and 309 Norwich-New London Turnpike ―directly across the street from Town Hall ― into apartments. The one-story building at 303 is it’s own building while numbers 307 and 309 share the same two-story building.

https://www.theday.com/local-news/20221219/montville-approves-phase-construction-of-condo-project-receives-application-for-apartment-project/#

With the Candlewood Lake Elementary School now slated to be finished in late May or early June, the plan is to move students and staff into the new 139,000-square-foot facility next fall for the new school year. The school, which will accommodate more than 1,000 students and 200 staff, was originally expected to be ready by the end of the year, with students and staff starting to move in by early January. But material delays have pushed back those plans, school officials said. A driving factor behind the delays stem from Armstrong Flooring’s filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection earlier this year, which forced the school district to find another flooring manufacturer for the $78.1 million project. The Candlewood Lake Elementary School project has been plagued with delays. In November 2021, school officials announced three- to four-month delays in the delivery of essential roofing materials for the project.

https://www.newstimes.com/news/education/article/Delays-at-Brookfield-s-Candlewood-Lake-School-17658474.php

After hearing six hours of back and forth about the plan last week, West Hartford’s town council is expected to decide Wednesday night whether developers can put up a six-story condo building and mixed-used complex in the town center. The decision on The Arapahoe Group’s proposal is certain to disappoint plenty of people regardless of which way the vote goes. Developers consider the land some of the most under-used real estate in town, largely because much of it is a simple parking lot. Arapahoe would put up a six-story building with 58 condominiums along with a five-story building of 25 apartments above a ground-floor restaurant or store. The council will meet Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. at town hall to decide the matter.

https://www.courant.com/news/connecticut/hc-news-connecticut-west-hartford-lasalle-20221220-bhzmur45dzad7eepstw5vlzjfu-story.html

Environmentalists and river advocates received an early Christmas gift after the Naugatuck Valley Council of Governments secured $15 million in federal funding for the removal of the Kinneytown Dam. The U.S. Department of Commerce announced Wednesday the NVCOG, in collaboration with Save the Sound, has been recommended for funding for removal of the Kinneytown Dam through the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Restoring Fish Passage through Barrier Removal grant program. Kinneytown Dam is a hydroelectric facility on the Naugatuck River consisting of two dams with powerhouses in Seymour and Ansonia. Chairman of the NVCOG and Waterbury Mayor Neil M. O’Leary said the removal of the dam has been a seven-year project for NVCOG and the eventual elimination of the dam will have life-long everlasting impacts on the Naugatuck River.

https://www.rep-am.com/local/localnews/2022/12/18/local-leaders-praise-15m-to-remove-kinneytown-dam/

State officials recently announced a list of towns receiving grants to redevelop brownfield sites into apartments, including the $990,000 for Ansonia and $650,000 for Derby. The money comes from the state’s Department of Economic and Community Development Brownfield Remediation and Development Program. Some of the units will be set aside as affordable housing — a requirement of the grant — and while both sites have developers linked to the projects, the money would help with clean up costs and demolition. Both locations are considered brownfield sites, which are properties or locations that have soil contamination such as chemicals. Derby’s project will be developed by Cedar Village Minerva Square, LLC which will build a four-story, 90-unit, mixed-income apartment building.

https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/article/Ansonia-and-Derby-affordable-housing-brownfields-17650994.php

New power lines could be coming to Weston, Fairfield, Easton and Bridgeport after a no-decision discussion with Eversource at Thursday’s Board of Selectmen meeting. Abigail Bowersox, project manager for the 1714/1720 line rebuild project with Eversource, said that the project will rebuild a 9.4-mile long section of power lines between Old Town Substation in Bridgeport and the Weston Substation. The project would replace the existing lattice towers with weathering, steel monopolies and the existing conductors with upgraded wires of the same voltage, she said. One ground wire will also be replaced with a fiber optic ground wire. The construction is expected to begin in the third quarter of 2023, Bowersox said. 

https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/westport/article/Eversource-new-power-lines-CT-towns-17659063.php

Starting in Spring of 2023, the city utility will begin work on an estimated five-year, $5.65 million project to replace the estimated 800 private water lines already identified. A survey of the lines to be conducted early in 2023 likely will identify several hundred more such lines that need to be replaced, NPU officials said. Last week, the state Bond Commission approved a $600,000 state grant through the state Department of Public Health Drinking Water Revolving Fund to jump-start the project by replacing the first 70 lead pipes that run from curbs into residential and commercial homes. According to information on the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website, prolonged exposure to lead over time could pose several health risks, including abdominal pain, constipation, depression, distractedness or forgetfulness, irritability or nausea.

https://www.theday.com/local-news/20221216/norwich-public-utilities-jump-starts-lead-pipe-replacement-project-with-state-grant/

The Hartford Planning & Zoning Commission on Tuesday gave its final approval to a $280 million expansion plan that will reshape Connecticut Children’s Washington Street campus in Hartford. Currently, Connecticut Children’s Hartford facility measures about 321,000 square feet with 187 beds. The new tower will be anchored to the existing building. A groundbreaking will take place in the spring of 2023, officials said, and the new tower is expected to be completed by the end of 2025. Connecticut Children’s had originally submitted a master plan that included construction of a new parking garage and pedestrian bridge. But that was taken off the table, at least for now, after the Planning and Zoning Commission raised some concerns. 

CT Children’s massive Hartford campus expansion gains approval

Developer Randy Salvatore’s ongoing effort to build around 1,000 apartments just north of Hartford’s downtown was buffeted in 2022 by labor shortages, supply chain difficulties and interest rate hikes. A court challenge has stopped him from breaking ground on the next phase of development. The first phase of Salvatore’s broader North Crossing development around the ballpark was initially expected to debut before the first pitch of the Yard Goats’ 2022 spring season. Instead, supply chain holdups and labor shortages delayed the opening of the first 270-unit apartment building — dubbed “The Pennant” — until August. Centerplan’s suit — which contends it was unjustly fired and still has rights to build on the lots — gained new life in May, when the Connecticut Supreme Court ordered a new trial. Centerplan has sought an injunction against additional construction, at least temporarily delaying further progress on the North Crossing development.

Despite supply chain, other issues, Salvatore remains bullish on Hartford as North Crossing development’s first phase debuts

After a public hearing that lasted just over six hours, the Town Council voted Tuesday to delay its decision on a proposed housing development in West Hartford Center. A valid protest petition, which requires signatures from 20 percent of landowners in the 500-foot radius impacted by the development, would trigger a supermajority voting requirement. The town’s corporation counsel, Dallas Dodge, recommended the town council delay its vote until Dec. 21 to allow town staff time to validate the petition signatures. The developer’s attorney, Robin Pearson of Alter & Pearson, responded to traffic concerns by saying that the developer would be open to installing traffic calming measures to help impacted neighborhoods. Pearson also added that any development, whether it’s theirs or another one, would add more traffic to the area. While the town’s Planning and Zoning Commission voted four to one to recommend approving the project, the town’s Design Review Advisory Committee voted four to one recommending the Town Council not approve the project. The Town Council will consider approval of the development at a special meeting Dec. 21 at 6:30 p.m.

https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/article/west-hartford-center-ct-arapahoe-lasalle-housing-17654001.php