A spokesman for Orange-based Avangrid’s Park City Wind project said the company remains committed to the renewable energy project and plans to redevelop a portion of Bridgeport’s waterfront as a staging area for the project, despite a delay of the completion date. Park City Wind’s announcement of the delay was made by Pedro Azagra Blàzquez, Avangrid’s chief executive officer. Blàzquez said the one-year delay in the Park City project as well as for Avangrid’s Commonwealth Wind project, which will supply renewable energy to Massachusetts, is necessary because the company’s focus “is on improving the project economics and renegotiating our PPAs (power purchase agreements) because of the difficult environment.” Word of the delay comes at time when the project should be moving ahead. Connecticut’s federal legislative delegation announced this week that the Bridgepport Harbor Authority will receive a $10.5 million grant for design and construction of the staging area. Park City Wind already has a construction office in the city and in 2021 announced it had leased space at Barnum Landing to use as a construction and staging area.

https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/business/article/Avangrid-reaffirms-Bridgeport-plans-amid-delays-17552928.php

A local developer has resubmitted plans to build an elderly housing complex on Sperry Lane and Foxon Road after appealing the town’s previous decisions to deny the project. The Planning and Zoning Commission has received another application from The Bluffs LLC proposing to build four residential buildings with 380 one- and two-bedroom units at the site of the former Girl Scout campsite. Conditions of the current proposal were stipulated as part of a Superior Court settlement between the town and the developer following an appeal of the PZC’s decision to deny previous applications for the project. Town Attorney Michael Luzzi said in a statement that settling litigation with the developer was in the town’s best interest. In lieu of fighting the case in court, the two sides settled on terms that allowed the developer to proceed with a modified version of the project. To enable development of the property, the parties agreed to approve a change in the zoning designation for 31 and 100 Sperry Lane and 161 Foxon Road. They also agreed to approve text amendments for zoning regulations pertaining to the Planned Elderly Facilities District.

https://www.nhregister.com/news/article/Elderly-housing-application-resubmitted-to-PZC-17549650.php

With less than $1 million remaining of $255.5 million of state and private funding for the New London State Pier redevelopment, it’s not clear how any additional costs will be paid for as crews race to finish the project in time for staging offshore wind construction scheduled for next spring. Just $334,138.29 was available for completing the project when the Connecticut Port Authority Board voted last month to move $3.7 million in lease payments out of escrow to cover escalating costs officials pinned on unexpected problems encountered during construction. Asked if the Eversource/Ørsted offshore wind partnership would consider providing more funding if it was needed to complete the State Pier renovations, Justin May, a spokesman for the partnership, said the companies are hopeful the project will continue on budget, and will work closely with the Port Authority. Despite the hurdles, delays and funding concerns, both the Port Authority and the offshore wind partnership say they are still on track to use the pier for the construction of South Fork Wind – a 132 megawatt offshore wind farm being built off the coast of Rhode Island.

Lamont Silent, Eversource and Ørsted Non-Committal on Added State Pier Funding

A study of the Route 161 corridor extending from the Flanders section of town to Main Street in Niantic reveals one of southeastern Connecticut’s busiest stretches, with traffic in the growing beach town threatening to get worse over time. A report on current and existing conditions administered by the Southeastern Connecticut Council of Governments (SCCOG) backed up what drivers already know: There is anything but a free flow of traffic in certain spots at certain times of day. The study is happening against the backdrop of a $142 million Interstate 95 project at exit 74 that went out to bid last week. Among the scheduled work is the replacement of the deteriorating Interstate 95 bridge to accommodate widening of Route 161 underneath and the addition of a new looping frontage road. Construction on the interchange could start as early as January, according to bid specifications. But while that state project will cover about a half-mile of Route 161, the regional corridor study takes a wider look.

https://www.theday.com/local-news/20221031/study-underway-to-reduce-traffic-along-route-161-in-east-lyme/

The U.S. Department of Transportation has awarded a $7 million grant to help fund the construction of a $18.5 million industrial marine complex along the banks of the Thames River. The money will benefit Mohawk Northeast, a heavy construction and engineering company with a marine services division based in Groton, which intends to build a marine terminal and metal fabrication facility just north of the Gold Star Memorial Bridge in New London. The $7 million for the project is part of $701 million being awarded nationwide to 41 projects in 21 states and one territory. The funding was made possible in part by an infusion of funds from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and other appropriations by Congress, Courtney said. Mohawk, which already has a fleet of barges, cranes and tugboats, services large clients that include the Connecticut, New York and Massachusetts departments of transportation, Electric Boat, U.S. Coast Guard, Amtrak and the U.S. Navy. Mohawk has pledged $11.5 million towards the project and is awaiting final approval of permits for the work from the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

https://www.theday.com/local-news/20221031/federal-funds-kick-start-marine-facility-project-in-new-london/

Nieves, Mayor Joe Ganim, U.S. Rep. Jim Himes and others gathered to tout the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ issuance last Wednesday of a permit that will allow the final five-percent worth of design to be completed and the city to seek bids for the installation of a new Congress Street span. The Congress Street drawbridge got stuck in the open position in 1997, during Ganim’s first tenure in office. He was re-elected in 2015. The rusty hulk was demolished in 2010 under Finch, who called it “the city’s most visible reminder of infrastructure neglect. The army corps could not immediately be reached for comment. But Shannon King, a spokesperson for that federal agency, in an Oct. 21 emailed statement following release of the state DEEP permit wrote, “We expect the Army Corps of Engineers’ permit to be issued over the next few weeks. Design for the project will be completed by the end of 2022. Construction is set to begin in spring 2023 and completed in fall 2024.” Himes earlier this month said he would not be shocked if, given the passage of time, it winds up costing more than $24 million. But that will not be known until the city solicits prices from contractors.

https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/article/Bridgeport-officials-Congress-St-Bridge-to-be-17546824.php

The Board of Aldermen has approved an agreement between the city, Waterbury Development Corp. and environmental engineering firm Tighe & Bond, kicking off the investigation process for the city-owned 170 Freight St. property, part of a broader plan by the city to revitalize the downtown area. With the agreement, Tighe & Bond now have 180 days to complete their initial investigation of the 170 Freight St. property. This will be followed by preparation for the demolition, then the actual demolition itself, and the subsequent cleanup, said Thomas Hyde, interim director of Waterbury Development Corp. For all three properties to become ready for development, the timeline may be extended significantly longer, due to the Environmental Protection Agency considering the some of area a hazardous site under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, requiring the city to apply for a stewardship permit, a process which can take up to a year, Hyde said. Funding for the project comes from a $200,000 grant the city received from the Connecticut Department of Economic Community Development (DECD), as well as money from the $10 million the city received from the state’s Community Investment Fund, spreading across all three sites.

https://www.rep-am.com/local/localnews/2022/10/30/agreement-approval-moves-forward-plan-to-revitalize-waterbury/

New England may not have enough power if a severe cold spell hits this winter, the President and Chief Executive Officer of Eversource Energy warned in a letter to President Joe Biden. “I write to you today to ask for your Administration’s leadership again to swiftly address the growing concerns about winter electric reliability in New England,” wrote Joseph R. Nolan, Jr. “As both an energy company CEO and a lifelong New Englander, I am deeply concerned about the potentially severe impact a winter energy shortfall would have on the people and businesses of this region.” He added that both the region’s electricity grid operator and the federal Energy Regulatory Commission worry New England won’t have enough natural gas to meet power needs during a stretch of bitter cold weather.
Nolan mentioned several emergency authorities the federal government has at its disposal, including the Federal Power Act, the Jones Act, the Natural Gas Policy Act, and the Defense Production Act as potential tools to help.

https://www.wmur.com/article/eversource-ceo-deeply-concerned-new-england-winter-power-capacity/41807945

Complaining of decades of decay at the Silver Lane Plaza, a series of East Hartford residents on Friday praised town government’s progress toward acquiring the property through eminent domain. A town panel voted unanimously Thursday night to pursue seizing the half-empty shopping center, and the reaction on social media was overwhelmingly positive the next day. Eminent domain allows the state or individual communities to take private property when there is a strong public interest being served. The government must be able to demonstrate that interest, and has to pay the owner a reasonable price in compensation. Don Poland, a senior planner with the Goman+York consulting firm, said Thursday night that the town’s redevelopment plan for the Silver Lane corridor includes less retail and more multi-family housing and mixed-use development. The plan clearly cites the plaza as one of the three key properties that need remediation, he said.

https://www.courant.com/news/connecticut/hc-news-connecticut-east-hartford-eminent-domain-20221029-hvvaz3lvzndznb5hwgee7fsyxu-story.html

Fifteen years after the city imploded the New Haven Veterans Memorial Coliseum, construction of the first of three buildings in Phase 1 of the site’s redevelopment — to be known as “Square 10” — is about to begin, Mayor Justin Elicker and the developer announced Friday. The first building will consist of 200 apartments. “The transfer of the Coliseum site to LWLP New Haven LLC marks a major milestone in the Downtown Crossing infrastructure and development project that took patience, perseverance, and the right partner to reach,” Elicker said in the release. “We are thrilled at last to be moving forward with construction on this site, and to be a partner in a project that is transforming New Haven,” said Clay Fowler, founding partner of Spinnaker Real Estate Partners, based in Norwalk, and a principal of LWLP New Haven LLC. A groundbreaking event to kick off Phase 1A construction is scheduled for Nov. 10, officials said. A community meeting on the project has been tentatively set for Nov. 17.

https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/article/Work-to-begin-on-former-coliseum-site-17541109.php