With severe thunderstorms forecast for overnight Monday, state officials continue a cleanup and assessment of last week’s deadly flooding damage, which is expected to take months to and cost hundreds of millions of dollars. Teams of workers from the Federal Emergency Management Agency and federal Small Business Administration will start assessing storm damage to determine if it meets the requirements of a presidential disaster declaration. If it does, it will make storm victims eligible for federal aid that should greatly help them, Turner said. Such determinations usually take months. Exactly how much the recovery from this storm will cost taxpayers also won’t be determined for some time, but it will be a large figure, Turner said. Lamont visited Seymour on Monday with Department of Economic and Community Development Commissioner Daniel O’Keefe to announce his plan to allocate $5 million in state funding to a grant program for storm victims. Grants of up to $25,000 will be available for small businesses and nonprofit organizations in Fairfield, Litchfield and New Haven counties that had flood damage. The applicants must have fewer than 100 employees. Damage cleanup and inventory replacement are among the items the grants will fund, the governor said.

State Faces Long Road to Recovery as Flood Damage Assessment Begins

The town has secured $3.46 million in state grants thus far, has tentative approval for two additional $4 million grants and applied for $3 million more, all for a project to turn the Route 2A area in Poquetanuck from a speedway to nearby casinos or shoreline spots into an inviting village atmosphere. The town is ready to launch the first phase of the project from Preston Community Park to Poquetanuck Cove, which includes wide walkways, decorative lighting and crosswalks, traffic calming measures to slow down vehicles, public parking areas and a kayak launch at the cove. The state funding already secured by the town includes a $3 million Local Transportation Capital Improvement Program grant for construction costs, a $400,000 state Community Investment Fund grant for design and planning and another $60,000 from the Recreation Trails Program to enhance the project. Phase 1 is expected to go out to bid for construction next year. But first, the town agencies working on the project will hold three public forums next week to hear ideas from the public on what they would like to see included in the project.

https://www.theday.com/local-news/20240824/preston-to-hold-public-sessions-on-poquetanuck-cove-plans/

On Thursday, students will return to school in the old high school and in January, they will move to the new building. With most of the big jobs behind them, crews have begun working their way through punch list items, said Building Committee Co-Chair Edward Arum and Superintendent for O&G Industries Brian Pracuta. Ground was officially broken on the project in October 2022. Initial plans for the 310,000-square foot school, which will house students in grades seven through 12, were to complete the high school portion by December 2024 and bring students in by February 2025. The project, however, is ahead of schedule so students will be let into the high school in January. Middle School students are expected to be let in by September 2025. Major Besse Drive will be closed and only accessible for construction traffic until Aug. 27. Public can access the property via Daley Drive behind the school near the athletic fields.

https://www.rep-am.com/localnews/2024/08/25/torrington-students-to-begin-school-year-in-old-high-school-move-to-new-state-of-the-art-building-in-january/

Plans to update four schools in Lyme-Old Lyme may cost considerably more than anticipated, given bids discussed on Monday by the Board of Education’s Building Committee. CT Examiner reviewed a number of budget and bid documents prepared by Downes Construction, which is overseeing the project for the district. With bids for Mile Creek Elementary School, the largest single portion of the schools project, still outstanding, Downes told the committee that the total costs were already $7.7 million over budget. Voters in Lyme and Old Lyme approved $57.5 million in borrowing in 2022. So far, bids on the project have exceeded estimates by 27 percent. Planned projects include code upgrades, repairing HVAC systems, boilers, fire protection systems and other improvements at Lyme Consolidated School, Mile Creek Elementary School, Center School and Lyme-Old Lyme Middle School. At Monday’s meeting, Downes suggested that the scope of that work could be scaled back to bring down costs.

Lyme-Old Lyme School Construction Hit With Higher Costs, Possible Cuts

There will be no referendum in November to change either the price or the scope of the $385 million school construction project, leaving project planners with a mandate to complete it for the price approved by voters. The City Council on Monday withdrew two competing ordinances, one to raise the price by $50 million and one to cut the scope of the project to $342 million. Both the School Building Committee and the Board of Education last week voted to recommend no new referendum, affirming they could revise the project to meet the $385 million approved by voters in 2022. The biggest revision so far was to correct a mathematical error that overestimated middle school enrollment by 200 students. The correction allowed a reduction in size for the middle school, dropping the projected cost from $99 million to either $72.5 million for a new school or $69.27 million for extensive renovations.

https://www.theday.com/local-news/20240821/norwich-schools-project-to-stay-within-385-million-budget/

Sunday’s downpours resulted in flooding that killed two women in Oxford, compromised or destroyed 27 state bridges and dozens more local bridges, culverts and road shoulders. “Until we clear all the debris out, we don’t know if those wall structures are able to be saved or not,” Eucalitto said, pointing to a nearby storm water catch basin. “This must have gotten clogged with debris, so the water just found its way around that way instead,” describing the way the flood changed the course of the brook, now making rebuilding even tougher. “We’re looking at tens of millions of dollars in roadway repairs and reconstruction,” he said during a brief tour and interview. Above, as a reminder, a little gray cloud in the otherwise sunny afternoon dropped some drizzle. “Right now, we’re reallocating resources that we have available. Moving funds around.” Department workers were on duty nonstop from Sunday night through Tuesday and now they’ll be stationed full-time at places where traffic needs to share the road, which in some cases, like along Route 34 in Newtown, is a single lane.

https://www.nhregister.com/news/article/ct-flooding-southbury-roads-19715581.php

President Joe Biden on Wednesday approved a federal emergency declaration that Gov. Ned Lamont requested for Fairfield, Litchfield and New Haven counties after heavy rainfall Sunday and ensuing flooding caused widespread damage and two deaths. A White House announcement said Biden authorized the Federal Emergency Management Agency to supplement state and local response efforts and coordinate disaster-relief efforts. The president’s approval came one day after Lamont requested the emergency declaration. The governor’s office said state agencies can now coordinate with FEMA on the deployment of federal personnel and equipment to augment emergency recovery efforts already underway by the state and its municipal counterparts. This includes actions to protect lives and property, and restorative efforts that defend public safety.

https://www.rep-am.com/localnews/2024/08/21/biden-approves-federal-emergency-declaration-for-fairfield-litchfield-and-new-haven-counties/#google_vignette

The so-called “Tyvek temple” on Wall Street has secured financing and construction will begin again after more than a decade on hold to complete a six-story mixed-income apartment building. “Getting the green light to begin construction after so many years of preparation is always the best time for everyone who works on a project like Wall Street Place,” said Todd D. McClutchy, president of JHM Financial Group, which is managing this redevelopment project. Throughout the years, the large half-constructed building at 61 Wall St. wrapped with the Tyvek covering has been an eyesore in the Wall Street neighborhood. When the entire project is complete, there will be two apartment buildings: one at 61 Wall St. with 105 units, and one at 17 Isaacs withe 50 units. The timing of this project moving forward coincides with a $27 million investment by the city of Norwalk to improve the streetscapes in the Wall Street neighborhood.

https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/article/norwalk-tyvek-temple-finish-apartments-project-19665136.php

City leaders voted earlier this week to send a $59 million, two-question bond referendum to voters in November to pay for the construction of a new 911 dispatch center and reconstruction of a 100-year-old North End neighborhood school. Common Council members met Aug. 19 to hear presentations on both proposals: a $48.9 million renovation and expansion of Macdonough Elementary School on the existing property at 66 Spring St. and $10 million rebuild of the tiny, one-room public safety office at the Cross Street firehouse. Michael Scott, from TSKP Studio architects of Hartford, presented the results of a feasibility study. The proposed new school could serve almost 350 students instead of the current 230, he said. The feasibility study for Central Communications, which also handles calls for Portland, was paid for with ARPA funds, according to Director Wayne Bartolotta.

https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/article/middletown-referendum-911-center-macdonough-school-19666180.php

Construction on a new 29-residence townhouse community in Bloomfield began last week. The community, called Abby Court, will contain seven triplex and four duplex buildings. The homes are on a 9.5-acre property at 1120 Blue Hills Ave. The developer is Rehoboth Court LLC, an affiliate of T & M Building Co. Inc. of Torrington. The road construction contractor is Compass Enterprises of Simsbury. Abby Court is near Interstate 91 and is less than a 15-minute drive from Bradley International Airport. The town celebrated a groundbreaking for the project on Aug. 7 with members of the Town Council, construction contractors and the developers.

Construction begins on new townhouse community in Bloomfield