State Comptroller Sean Scanlon announced legislation on Monday that would target companies that are under investigation for wage theft by empowering his office to cut off payments for state contracts. The bill would create a system in which the comptroller would be notified when a company with state contracts comes under investigation for violating wage law. The comptroller could then choose to stop payments for that project until an investigation has been completed and penalties are finalized. Scanlon was joined by Rep. Julie Kushner, D-Danbury, who co-chairs the Labor and Public Employees Committee, Rep. Darrell Wilson, D-Norwich, Sen. Jorge Cabrera, D-Hamden, Sen. Joe Toner, executive director of the Connecticut State Building Trades Council, and Kimberly Glassman, the director of the Foundation for Fair Contracting.

Comptroller vows to fight wage theft with proposed bill

Joined by members of the legislature’s Labor Committee and representatives of organized labor for a news conference in the Legislative Office Building, Scanlon said the bill, if approved, would allow his office to take action against companies and contractors who are violating the state’s prevailing wage law. “As the CFO for the state of Connecticut, we sign every check,” Scanlon said. “If this bill passes, I will make sure that if there’s a company or a contractor out there that’s shortchanging workers, we’re going to shortchange them.” Scanlon was joined at the news conference by Kimberly Glassman, director of the Wethersfield-based Foundation for Fair Contracting. The organization’s mission is to promote compliance with laws and regulations related to public works construction. Glassman applauded both Scanlon and the Labor Committee for agreeing to raise and support the bill. Joe Toner, executive director of the Connecticut State Building Trades Council, said the bill would not affect the more than 30,000 unionized construction workers in the state, because they work under collective bargaining agreements. “This is for the unrepresented worker,” Toner said. “We want to make sure the unrepresented workers are being represented so they could enjoy the standard of life that we have in the unionized construction industry.”

Bill would allow CT comptroller to halt payments to state contractors accused of wage law violations

Programs that carve out participation goals for traditionally underrepresented workers on federal construction contracts may be under fire, but they’re not dead yet. That was the take from an attorney who focuses on these kinds of government initiatives after President Donald Trump issued several executive orders this week to eliminate diversity, equity and inclusion efforts in the federal government and revoked a ban on discrimination in federal contracting. The Small Business Administration’s 8a program and the Department of Transportation’s Disadvantaged Business Enterprise program set aspirational goals for women and other traditionally underrepresented groups to receive portions of government construction contracts. Those programs have faced legal challenges since the Supreme Court banned affirmative action in university admission practices in 2023. While the challenges put the programs under fire, they also prompted changes that could give them stronger legal footing.

https://www.constructiondive.com/news/trump-impact-dbe-construction/738159/

A proposed development with a hotel, restaurants and retail at the corner of Bridgeport Avenue and Long Hill Cross Road now includes housing. Crown Point Associates — owned by Jim Botti, Jr. and his brothers Travis and Trevor Botti — presented the updated plans to the Planning and Zoning Commission Wednesday during a public hearing on the application for a Planned Development District for the 18-acre lot. The public hearing was continued to a future date. Attorney Brian McCann, representing the Hawks Ridge Association, told the commission that the plans presented at the public hearing were a result of extensive talks between the developer and the homeowners. Botti was also the developer behind many other Bridgeport Avenue projects, such as the King Point shopping plaza and a restaurant and bank complex at 828 Bridgeport Ave., as well as founder of nearby Fountain Square, which is now under new ownership.

https://www.nhregister.com/news/article/shelton-developer-adds-housing-hotel-restaurants-20051664.php

Plans to build 112 units of housing at the site of a former health and rehabilitation center will be the subject of a Town Council public hearing on Tuesday. It’s the latest housing development proposal to come West Hartford’s way, which has so far been amenable to making zoning changes to allow for multifamily housing to be built across town, including facilitating the recent groundbreaking of a synagogue that will be converted into affordable housing. Other communities have been less agreeable to doing so, leading to thousands of homes being denied across the state in 2024. The public hearing on the proposal is set for Tuesday, Jan. 28 at 6:30 p.m. at the town hall. A Town Council vote on the development could potentially following at the group’s meeting later that night.

https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/westhartford/article/west-hartford-ct-vessel-affordable-housing-20053488.php

City officials have been discussing the 125-foot West Main Street bridge, built in 1888 and listed on the National Register of Historic Places, for a quarter century – most intensely in the last half-dozen years. The bridge is so deteriorated that it has been closed even to foot traffic. The city engineer said last week that the historic bridge “is in a state of failure.” A temporary bridge has been installed alongside it for the many West Side pedestrians who need to cross Mill River to get downtown. Members of the Board of Representatives’ Operations Committee discussed the three projects last week. The double-span, wrought-iron lenticular truss bridge was built by a Connecticut company, Berlin Iron, that was known nationwide for the design. The Stamford bridge is one of only eight left in Connecticut, and one of the last historic structures in the downtown.

No Easy Fix For Three Stamford Bridges

State officials have allocated resources for the renovation of the Veterans Terrace housing development to the tune of an anticipated $25 million in financing and tax credits. The state-sponsored 150-unit affordable housing project, located on Columbus Circle in East Hartford, has been under renovation for years by the East Hartford Housing Authority, which operates a handful of public housing projects in town. The DOH announced it would provide $4.5 million in financing to the town’s Housing Authority. CHFA said it will allocate tax credits that will generate $12.83 million in private investment along with $6.43 million in taxable bonds and $1 million from the authority’s Opportunity Fund. East Hartford officials said no municipal funding is included in the project.

https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/journalinquirer/article/ct-east-hartford-veterans-terrace-renovation-20038442.php

As promised, President Donald Trump dealt a blow to the offshore wind industry on his first day in office Monday by signing an executive order that halts new leases for offshore wind farms in federal waters. The commissioning of Sunrise Wind, a 924-megawatt wind farm off the coast of Montauk, N.Y., and one of three offshore wind projects to be staged and shipped from State Pier, will be delayed until the second half of 2027, Ørsted said. A representative from Ørsted said the company is in the process of reviewing Trump’s executive order “to assess the impact on our portfolio,” but declined further comment. Ørsted has used State Pier to stage offshore wind components for South Fork Wind and Revolution Wind. The latter is under construction off the coast of Rhode Island and will be the first and only wind farm to produce power for Connecticut. Shaffer said he thinks Trump’s executive order and others that could follow might serve to provide headwinds and uncertainty for future wind projects, some of which are in the permitting stages. Part of Trump’s executive order pauses permitting for onshore and offshore wind farms while they are under review.

https://theday.com/news/695703/trump-deals-blow-to-future-of-local-offshore-wind-projects/

The committee leading the project to convert the former Academy School building into a community center concluded that keeping the project as it was originally envisioned would require at least $8 million more than the original budget. First selectwoman Peggy Lyons told the audience last week that the bids received in December were between $5.2 million and $7.6 million over the original budget. Given the escalating costs of the project, blamed on inflation and certain technical contingencies such as the need to replace the septic system, the selectmen expressed their intention to call for a new referendum on May 6 to increase the budget and maintain the project as it was originally proposed to the community. Lyons proposed that at the next board of selectmen’s meeting, a vote be taken to set the date of the new referendum for May 6. She clarified that they would have until April 9 to determine the final amount the town would request for the community center.

New Estimates Push Madison Community Center Cost $8 Million Over Budget

As the state Department of Transportation designs a $32.8 million rehabilitation of the Mohegan-Pequot Bridge, town officials have sent a letter to Gov. Ned Lamont saying the span needs to be wider. The DOT’s current plan to rehabilitate the bridge, which is in a design phase and not scheduled to begin construction until 2027, does not include bridge widening, only the replacement, rehabilitation or upgrading of certain components, and painting. But officials from Montville and Preston, along with local legislators, in meetings with the DOT, have urged that the bridge be widened, and that a bike or pedestrian lane be added. DOT officials indicated they had considered widening the span as part of the project, but it had been a much costlier option. Superstructure replacement, which would allow the widening, would cost about $206 million, while replacing the bridge would cost about $227 million.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/montville-officials-urge-lamont-widen-013100857.html