The Board of Aldermen, at its meeting Thursday, voted to allow the city to apply for two Connecticut Community Challenge grants — the first for $2.2 million for Canal Street reconstruction projects, the second, $2.4 million for extension of Constitution Boulevard. As part of the grant, the city must put up 50 percent of the requested amount, meaning Shelton would provide $1.1 million for the Canal Street reconstruction work, bringing the total to $3.3 million for all the planned projects. The city would also put $1.2 million into the Constitution Boulevard extension work, bringing the total amount available for the project to $3.6 million. The city is also setting aside funds for engineering, design and construction of the Wooster Street railroad crossing, which has been closed for the past several years. All work on the reopening of the crossing would be done by the railroad company and paid for by the city.

https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/article/Shelton-CT-grants-Constitution-17498722.php

The city is seeking approval of a $25 million bond authorization request to fund five projects crucial to improving its water supply and distribution infrastructure. The projects would be completed over the next three years, Rob Langenauer, superintendent of water, wrote in an email last month to Mayor Neil M. O’Leary. The $25 million bonding request follows a $17.7 million bond authorization in 2015 that upgraded some of the city’s water infrastructure. Costs for each of the five projects were not included in Langenauer’s memo to the mayor. Pumps and motors provide drinking water, fire flow, storage capacity and pressures needed to meet “elevation challenges” throughout the city, Langenauer said. They carry electricity costs of at least $44,000 per month, he said. In his memo to O’Leary, Langenauer mentioned the water crisis in Jackson, Miss., which began in August after a river near that state’s capital city flooded due to severe storms. The flooding caused the city’s largest water treatment facility to stop treating drinking water, leaving roughly 150,000 residents without safe drinking water, according to national news reports. The facility had been running on backup pumps due to failures earlier in the summer.

https://www.rep-am.com/local/localnews/2022/10/10/waterbury-vote-focuses-on-upgrading-water-infrastructure/

A firm hired to provide oversight of the $179.5 million Torrington Middle/High School project is out of a job after the City Council and Board of Education voted to terminate its contract. The move follows a series of votes by the boards in recent weeks over a nearly $1 million contract with Construction Solutions Group, or CSG, of West Hartford. The company was hired last year to serve as an owner’s representative on the middle/high school building project starting to get underway at the site of the current high school on Major Besse Drive. An owner’s representative is someone hired by the owner of a project to manage and execute a construction contract project on their behalf. The school project building committee voted to remove CSG as the owner’s representative on Sept. 30 following an executive session. Arum said it’s up for discussion whether there will be a new owner’s representative hired to replace CSG.

https://www.rep-am.com/local/localnews/2022/10/07/torrington-officials-fire-school-oversight-firm/

The city of Waterbury, Conn., once known as America’s “Brass City” due to the many brass manufacturing plants located within it, is now, via its Waterbury Development Corporation (WDC), demolishing many of the factories and taking steps to clean up the contaminated sites to allow for future development. The WDC has hired Stamford Wrecking Company to complete the second phase of the demolition of the former Anamet site located at 698 South Main Street, which is currently owned by 698 South Main Street Inc., a single-purpose entity created to redevelop the property. To cover the cost of the demolition and clean up, the city was recently awarded $2 million in USRAP funding, as authorized by the State Bond Commission, to use toward Phase II of the Anamet project. It also was awarded $2 million in DECD Brownfield Municipal Grant Program funding and $200,000 in NVCOG EPA RLF funding to use at the site.

https://www.constructionequipmentguide.com/stamford-wrecking-eyes-brass-factory-demolition-completion-by-december/58194

Instructions for integrating President Joe Biden’s Buy Clean Initiative are on the way, compliments of an interagency task force overseeing the procurement program. Agencies will receive the instructions, which prioritize the purchase of steel, concrete, asphalt and flat glass that feature lower emission levels in their manufacturing, transportation, installation, maintenance and disposal. The group pointed out that last year’s infrastructure spending law included funds for GSA, Transportation and EPA to “designate and use construction materials and products that produce substantially lower levels of greenhouse gas emissions.” It also noted that the recently enacted Inflation Reduction Act provides funding for retrofitting industrial facilities and tax credits for clean technology manufacturing.

https://www.constructionequipmentguide.com/buy-clean-initiative-interagency-task-force-readies-to-issue-instructions/58184

The Enfield Planning and Zoning Commission is expected to vote next month on a proposed zone change that would allow the Felician Sisters group to partner with developers on a 250-unit multi-generational housing complex. The Felician Sisters would continue to own the 26-acre property, while partnering with The Community Builders on the project, which calls for senior and family housing units, 50%-55% of which would be age restricted to 62 years and older. The zone change would allow for a higher density than the existing regulations for the property, going from 5.3 units per acre to 9.3 units. A public hearing was closed on Sept. 8, and a vote must take place by Nov. 12. The commission has a regular meeting scheduled on Nov. 10.

Multi-generational housing project eyed for Felician Sisters’ Enfield campus

Economic Development Director Rista Malanaca has developed a robust list of projects and is hoping the city will receive more than $9 million for those endeavors from the Communities Challenge Grant program, overseen by the state Department of Economic and Community Development. The program is intended to potentially create approximately 3,000 new jobs; the DECD will allocate up to 50 percent of the funds to eligible and competitive projects in distressed municipalities such as Torrington. Torrington’s total grant request is $9.731 million. Torrington should know by early December whether it has received the Communities Challenge Grant.

https://www.registercitizen.com/news/article/Torrington-seeks-9-million-for-improvement-project-17486834.php

The firm chosen to develop a three-parcel plot behind Main Street has laid out a preliminary concept for a multi-level housing and retail complex on three-and-a-half acres of downtown land that eventually would connect to the riverfront. The Spectra Construction & Development Corp. concept calls for 277 market-rate apartments and townhomes, with 45 studio, 156 one-bedroom, 57 two-bedroom and 19 three-bedroom units, as well as 38,000 square feet of retail shops, President Daniel Klaynberg said. Construction on Middletown’s project would be done in phases, he said, with an estimated timeline for completion between 39 and 49 months, according to project figures.

https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/article/Firm-plans-retail-housing-in-Middletown-near-river-17490967.php

The state has terminated its contract to sell the Mystic Oral School to Respler Homes LLC, a deal that a number of residents have opposed since its inception in 2019. John Burt, manager of the Town of Groton, confirmed that the state had terminated the purchase agreement, which would have sold the 37 acres at 240 Oral School Road to Respler Homes LLC for $1. Also unknown is the status of the State Contract Standards Board investigation into Jeffrey Respler and the status of the Blue Lotus Group, which has said it would buy Respler Homes LLC and develop the Mystic Oral School Property. Somers said the state made it clear they want to sell the property and see it developed. “But they want to make sure that the property is developed in a way that the Town of Groton and citizens are happy and satisfied with it,” she said.

State Terminates Agreement to Sell Mystic Oral School to Respler Homes

Mayor Caroline Simmons has pulled a proposal to have the closed Glenbrook Community Center redeveloped into affordable housing, saying the plan doesn’t have enough support to pass the Board of Representatives. The board was set to vote on the proposed sale of the building Monday night. For months, elected officials, members of Simmons’ administration and residents have clashed over the proposal to allow JHM Financial Group and Viking Construction develop 51 income-restricted apartments, preserve the former community center’s facade and set aside space for public use. Before the committee met, the board received a petition calling for the city to “restore the GCC as a community center.” An accompanying letter stated that more than 1,100 residents had signed the petition. Board members questioned how much it would cost to get the community center back up and running, how “affordable” the proposed apartments would be and whether the city should receive a cash payment larger than $700,000 from the developers.

https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/article/Stamford-mayor-withdraws-proposed-sale-of-vacant-17484219.php