The site of the former Nathan Hale School, which closed in 2017, is being sold to a private developer who aims to redevelop the property to include residential units, an athletic facility, and a day care facility. Members of the Town Council voted unanimously on Monday to sell the property at 5 Taylor Road to Enfield-based The Court LLC for $750,000, which would place the property back on municipal tax rolls while providing more options for homes and recreation. Demolition of the school and construction of the new sports facility is expected to take between one and two years. Following completion, residential construction is expected to take roughly three years. Over the years, the building has deteriorated and the property has remained under the ownership of the school district and then the town, meaning it was not taxed as part of the town’s grand list.

https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/journalinquirer/article/ct-enfield-nathan-hale-school-19931798.php

The Representative Town Meeting, at its meeting Wednesday, approved spending $5.5 million to repair the failing structure, work on which would begin next October and be finished in mid-2026. Funds to cover the cost will come from the town’s remaining American Rescue Plan Act funds, some $3.3 million, with the balance covered with bond and note authorization to the Municipal Improvement Fund Account. The ARPA funds, according to the federal government, must be under contract to projects before Dec. 31, 2024, or the funds revert back to the government. The funds must be spent in two years. For the tide gate and walkway work, Director of Public Works Pete Ratkiewich said most marine structures that involve pilings or concrete in the water last 20 to 25 years. He believes that because the town has performed maintenance on the tide gate each summer, workers were able to expand the life by 11 years.

https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/article/westport-approves-5-5m-repair-40-year-old-pond-19929445.php

The Connecticut Port Authority said Friday it is working with State Pier contractor Kiewit to remedy what appears to be substandard soil used on a portion of the newly-constructed offshore wind facility. The remedy for the problem, the cost to fix it and who might pay remains in question. The problem was discovered by routine soil testing of the 100-foot long section at the south end of the pier where fill was used to expand its size. The area was once two piers. The soil contains excessive silty material and is not in compliance with the port authority’s contract with Kiewit, said Paul Whitescarver, chairman of the board of directors of the Connecticut Port Authority. Despite the problem, Whitescarver said operations at State Pier remain unaffected. The pier is loaded with parts ― wind turbine blades, nacelles and towers ― that are bound for the waters off Rhode Island as part of Orsted’s Revolution Wind project.

https://www.theday.com/local-news/20241122/contractor-discovers-substandard-soil-at-state-pier/

As construction chugs along to replace the 128-year-old Walk Bridge in the heart of South Norwalk, officials say the $1 billion project won’t face any winter delays. A crew of 85 to 90 workers has been working at the railroad bridge, moving transmission cables under the Norwalk River and installing structural supports, according to Rory McGlasson, public involvement manager at WSP USA, the program management consultant for the project. The new railroad bridge, which carries Metro-North and Amtrak trains over the Norwalk River, is slated to for completion by 2029. All work necessary for the bridges’ northern tracks to be operational will be done by October 2025, Bird said. As winter approaches, though, Bird said that crews have no plans of slowing down construction — except in the case of a major storm that makes conditions unsafe. But a little snow won’t stop construction, he said.

https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/article/norwalk-walk-bridge-construction-winter-19929421.php

The nine bids the town has received to build a new animal control facility are all more expensive than the money the town has for the project. The bids open Tuesday ranged from $2.74 million to $3.53 million. The town though has $2.67 million after receiving a $2 million state Community Investment Fund grant in June. This is the second time the town has asked contractors to submit bids to build a new facility to replace the current one at 225 Maple Ave., which has been cited repeatedly for violations of state animal shelter guidelines. Bunnell and May said the bids have been sent to Silver Petrucelli & Associates, which will evaluate them based on the cost and contractors’ ability to perform the work. If nothing were to change, the town would need to find at least $70,000 to pay a contractor to complete the project work. May said the town now has two options, either ask the contractors to provide a cheaper price or appropriate additional town money. The low bid, courtesy of Manchester-based Orlando Annulli and Sons Inc., was $2.74 million. The highest bid came in at $3.53 million from Griswold-based D/E/F Services Group. Ltd.

https://www.theday.com/local-news/20241120/montville-animal-control-facility-bids-are-more-than-what-the-town-has-for-the-work/#

Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont announced Friday that the state has been awarded $291 million in federal grants to improve the rail network via President Joe Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. Projects to be funded by the grants include track improvements on the Hartford Line and New Haven Line; the replacement of railroad bridges in Greenwich and Windsor Locks; and a study on rebuilding Hartford’s Union Station. According to the governor’s office, the state will match $210 million of the federal grant funding, and Amtrak will contribute an additional $11.7 million. “We know [trains] don’t pay for themselves on a per-rider basis, but when you get people out of their cars, and you take wear and tear on the streets and the roads, and less traffic, you get way more economic vitality, and it is worth it,” Boughton said.

CT awarded $291M for rail improvement projects

A Dutch provider of cleanroom and controlled environment facilities, SRBA Group, has acquired a majority interest in a Brookfield-based commercial construction company. The local company, Corporate Construction Inc., is headquartered at 101 Commerce Drive and has about 50 employees. It has been in business for 25 years and specializes in building cleanrooms, as well as lab, medical and industrial facilities. SRBA Group, short for Smart Reliable Building Achievements, announced in October that it would acquire a 60% stake in Corporate Construction. SRBA Group said Corporate Construction has “proven itself” as a “general contracting partner for the specialized CE (controlled environment) market,” which has seen strong growth in recent years.

Dutch company acquires majority stake in Brookfield construction firm

Three years into the five-year federal law, $568 billion, or 47%, of Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act funds have been announced, per a White House fact sheet released Nov. 15. Announced funds are up about 25% from $454 billion for 56,000 projects disbursed as of May — the law’s halfway mark — and up 42% from the year-ago period. The law, however, faces an uncertain future as the Trump administration prepares to take office. Biden officials are rushing to get infrastructure funds out the door ahead of the incoming Trump administration, AP News reported. On Nov. 15, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg announced over $3.4 billion in IIJA grants to expand passenger rail, make roads safer, improve ports and otherwise strengthen supply chains, according to a U.S. DOT news release. Although 19 Republicans voted for the IIJA, President-elect Donald Trump has pledged to scale back the government and dismantle parts of Biden’s bills. Experts say that federal support for public transportation, Amtrak, high-speed rail and electric vehicles may be at risk.

https://www.constructiondive.com/news/iija-progress-year-three-trump/733228/

Bridgeport Station Development LLC was introduced Tuesday by the administration of Gov. Ned Lamont as the new owner of Bridgeport Harbor Station Unit 3, which was the last of Connecticut’s coal-fired generators of electricity when PSEG closed it in 2021. The Community Investment Fund, a competitive grant program overseen by lawmakers and the Department of Economic and Community Development, already has committed $22.5 million for the demolition of the plant, essentially making the state a broker in the deal. While the grant offsets the costs of demolition, the $1 purchase price indicates that PSEG is selling the liability for any required environmental remediation along with the potential for waterfront development. The state’s financial commitment is limited to the demolition grant. Bridgeport Station Development is responsible for any other costs, as well as redeveloping the land under conditions outlined by the state.

New life promised for an old coal-fired plant in Bridgeport

The land also lies in a flood plain and will, according to the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, need to be raised before anything new is constructed there to avoid future flooding during severe storms. Parks said Bridgeport Station Development is responsible for the underground clean up costs, the extent of which are still being determined, thus the $1 purchase price. Meanwhile the state last fall committed $22.5 million toward razing the plant through the new Connecticut Community Investment Fund. That pot of money is administered by a board consisting of state legislators and various department heads. A few of Bridgeport’s other requests for CIF dollars have been rebuffed in recent years, but Lamont noted his administration had no qualms about investing in taking the plant down. The plant was decommissioned in 2021 under an agreement initially forged under Ganim’s predecessor, Mayor Bill Finch, who was not in attendance Tuesday, and continued when Ganim took office in late 2015. In exchange PSEG built a new natural gas-fired facility next door that came online in 2019 and was sold in 2023.

https://www.ctpost.com/news/article/lamont-bridgeport-pseg-power-plant-redevelopment-19926499.php