Darien’s $68 million in renovations for three elementary schools are on track after Planning and Zoning officials signed off on the latest plans with some small updates. Members of the town’s Planning and Zoning Commission have approved site plans for Hindley, Holmes and Royle Elementary Schools. Construction for the project is slated to begin this summer and is expected to be finished in time for the 2025-26 school year. The schools will remain open during the construction period, completed in phases to avoid disrupting school operations and with staggered hours so as not to conflict with school pickup or drop off. Based on prospective construction bids, the overall project appears to be close to the designated budget, with Hindley and Royle under initial estimates and Holmes slightly over. Official bids are expected in late April.

https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/article/darien-commission-approves-hindley-holmes-royle-17791177.php?src=sthpdesecp

State officials are seeking an additional $47 million in federal aid to build and complete Resilient Bridgeport, a significant flood control plan for the South End that was already awarded $40.8 million but is now estimated to cost much more. Given the uncertainty, Mayor Joe Ganim’s administration made a controversial decision to redesign the new Bassick High School being relocated from the West to the South End to withstand severe weather rather than wait for Resilient Bridgeport’s completion or settle on another site outside of a flood zone. “Until we go out to bid, we don’t know exactly what those numbers will be,” she said. Which is why the $47 million competitive grant the state is seeking from the Federal Emergency Management Agency includes a sizeable contingency to account for any future cost increases.

https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/article/bridgeport-ct-federal-money-flood-project-17791184.php

The numbers, compiled by Stamford Public Schools director of facilities Kevin McCarthy, showed that the price to rent standalone units for 200 rooms for just one month would be greater than the cost to buy 200 window units. In January, Mahoney had asked for an estimate of how much it would cost to rent air conditioning units for the two hottest periods of the school year: May and June at the end of the calendar and August and September at the beginning. The officials are hoping to add 200 window units to classrooms before the start of the next school year. Another 200 or so would be installed for the following year. The price tag for the entire rental would be $350,000 for one month. In comparison, buying and installing 200 window air conditioner units would cost $300,000, McCarthy said.

https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/article/stamford-finance-board-questions-school-s-ac-cost-17781777.php?src=sthpdesecp

The City Plan Commission voted unanimously during its latest online meeting Wednesday night to support a plan put forward by the Queach Corporation, a development firm run by Michael Giordano, to construct a new seven-story apartment building along 7 – 17 Stone St. The construction is contingent on the demolition of four single-family homes and the relocation of a fifth historic home to the right of the property. According to the developers’ site plan application, demolition is expected to begin in June 2023 and conclude in August. Construction should take about 14 months. Commission Chair Leslie Radcliffe applauded the project as an impressive undertaking that will ​“provide housing for a population we don’t always hear about.”

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

During its Wednesday night meeting, the Planning and Zoning Commission heard public comment on the proposed expansion and voted unanimously to approve the plans. The expansion encompasses 31-35 S. Main St. and will add nearly 50 rooms to the Marriott SoNo Residence Inn and a possible conference/banquet room, along with solar panels on the rooftop, according to the application materials. Peer reviews found the building without historic merit and not worth preserving, for several reasons, Suchy said. F.D. Rich Co., which owned the hotel and adjacent property, commissioned the report from Jan Hird Pokorny Associates, a New York City firm that focuses on the preservation of historic buildings.

https://www.ctpost.com/news/article/south-norwalk-hotel-tom-rich-udelman-17789018.php

The proposed new Connecticut River Bridge will feature a longer movable span that will improve navigational clearances for boaters and will open and close more quickly than the current structure, according to a presentation from Amtrak. Construction on the new bridge, between Old Lyme and Old Saybrook, is expected to start next year, with the total project, including the demolition of the existing bridge, slated to be completed in 2029, according to the presentation. Ryan Apanovitch, senior environmental project manager for AECOM, an infrastructure consulting firm, said the nearby Ferry Landing State Park boardwalk and fishing pier will be closed during construction. Amtrak is proposing to replace the existing boardwalk with a new, improved structure at the end of construction.

https://www.theday.com/local-news/20230216/amtrak-details-connecticut-river-bridge-replacement/#

The Norwich Public Utilities wastewater treatment plant on Hollyhock Island will be replaced with a new upgraded building, with work beginning in the fall. The new plant project went to out bid at the end of January and proposals are due March 29. Once a contractor is set, it’s expected that the approvals will be given late spring, and construction is expected to start in the fall. The utility expects to spend at least $167 million on upgrading the Wastewater Treatment Plant on Hollyhock Island. Most of the existing plant will be demolished and replaced, except for the sludge building, which will be renovated instead, The Bulletin reported in Nov. 2021. As of Friday, four large general contractors have expressed interest in taking on the project, and attended a required meeting. The contractor that will be awarded the job is the one that can satisfy all the parameters at the lowest cost, can secure the bonding, and has prior experience in large-scale projects. Whichever contractor wins, they’ll be hiring local trades people to fill roles, from truck drivers to carpenters, providing more jobs to the area, Sullivan said.

https://www.norwichbulletin.com/story/news/2023/02/16/167-million-norwich-wastewater-plant-project-is-out-to-bid/69904348007/

The deteriorating 135-year-old bridge will officially close for construction Feb. 20, according to a sign posted on nearby fencing. It had been labeled hazardous by city officials last July, with pedestrians advised to walk only on specific parts of the structure. And though city officials have yet to decide on how exactly to restore the historic bridge, construction on a $1.6 million stopgap will soon begin. A contractor is prepared to begin construction on a new, pre-fabricated steel bridge just north of the existing structure in the coming weeks. The contractor, ROTHA Contracting Company, was selected through a city bidding process. They intend to complete the project by July 4, city spokesperson Lauren Meyer said in an email. The new bridge is being paid for entirely through city funds, engineer Domenic Tramontozzi said in an email. Costs include the construction contract, and design and inspection work.

https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/local/article/west-main-street-bridge-close-feb-20-pedestrians-17781712.php

Data center developer NE Edge LLC has asked the town to serve as a host municipality for a two-building data center on Dominion Energy’s Millstone property. In a letter to the town, NE Edge Manager George A. McLaughlin III described one of the two proposed buildings as two stories high with a 568,000-square-foot footprint. More than 1 million square feet of space would be available for cloud and data storage servers. The on-site power generation will eliminate the need for diesel generators, which often create noise, a factor in Groton residents’ opposition last spring when NE Edge proposed a data center project for that town. The Millstone plant also provides redundant energy, meaning it has multiple power sources to rely on in the event one malfunctions. Sabilia said the project would involve a three-year construction plan under a labor agreement, meaning union workers and apprentices would be hired. She called the project a “great opportunity” to build career paths while providing approximately 1,500 construction jobs and 200 permanent data-center jobs.

https://www.theday.com/local-news/20230214/waterford-asked-to-host-data-center-project-at-millstone/

Frustrations over Connecticut’s high cost of electricity and concerns over its ability to adequately regulate Eversource, the state’s largest distributor of electricity, are fueling a bipartisan effort to revise the complex rules of utility regulation for the second time in three years. On Tuesday, the legislature’s Energy and Technology Committee will hold a hearing on two measures intended to give regulators more discretion over rate setting and to shift responsibility for some costs from ratepayers to shareholders, including compensation for executives and lobbying at the state Capitol. Gillett’s recent remarks to lawmakers made clear two things: She believes Eversource, which distributes electricity to all but 20 of Connecticut’s 169 cities and towns, needs far greater oversight than it has received during the administration that employs her; that view is not shared by her two colleagues at PURA. That seemingly put her at cross-purposes with Katie Dykes, the commissioner of DEEP. Dykes, who preceded Gillett as chair of PURA and played a role in recruiting her to Connecticut as her successor, played down any conflict.

CT legislators vow harder look at utilities, and a regulator applauds