The project to rebuild Roxbury Elementary School faced a roadblock last month when a local board denied two requests to advance the plan, but a recent legal opinion appears to have removed that obstacle. In September, the Board of Finance voted 2-4 on requests totaling $895,000 for contracts for both an owner’s representative and an architect for the work, which involves replacing the current 70-year-old elementary school with a new facility for students from kindergarten to eighth grade. The reason many of them chose not to support the measures was due to the ballooning budget for the looming Westhill project, they said. In July, members of the board expressed their frustration over the rising price tag for Westhill, which shot up from $301 million to $461 million, mostly from increased construction costs. The state agreed to pay for 60 percent of eligible expenses for the new Roxbury school in the summer of 2023. The initial plan was to open the new facility in 2027.

https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/education/article/stamford-public-schools-roxbury-bof-19857466.php

Drivers on Interstate 95 in Stamford can expect another year of construction on what was determined one of the busiest corridors in the country last year. The hope, though, is the construction will work to remove that title. An auxiliary lane will be built on both sides of I-95 in Stamford and connect Exit 6 and Exit 7, instead of the on ramp shooting cars directly onto the interstate. The goal is to give people more time to merge into or get off of the highway. Construction of the auxiliary lanes are expected to be finished by the end of 2025. The $76 million project is 90 percent funded by the federal government, which Lamont, alongside state, city and national leaders praised as funds that came through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.

https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/article/stamford-ct-interstate-95-lanes-exit-6-7-19863201.php

Engineers with the Interstate 95 construction project are promising a strong law enforcement presence over the next two months to enforce the work zone’s 50 mph speed limit as shifting lanes become increasingly tricky to navigate. Resident Engineer Robert Obey of the Glastonbury-based engineering firm GM2 said the realigned Exit 74 on-ramp that opened this past week is a temporary harbinger of a much larger change: The shifting by mid-December of northbound traffic all the way to the right so the rest of the span can be demolished and rebuilt over the coming year to improve sight lines. He said safe speeds and attention to the work zone will become even more important by the end of the year, when all northbound traffic is funneled into two, 11-foot lanes with 1-foot shoulders where the on-ramp currently exists. The impending traffic pattern change is predicated on the completion of the first phase of the bridge replacement project that will ultimately create a wider span over Route 161. Come December, vehicles will be directed over the first new section of bridge into the narrow lanes while construction crews address the rest of the highway.

https://www.theday.com/local-news/20241027/highway-officials-crack-down-on-speeding-in-east-lyme/

The city is seeking a $24 million grant to develop state-of-the-art facilities on the site of the former Torrington Company at 70 North St. and to expand Dymax at 318 Industrial Lane. The City Council on Monday authorized Mayor Elinor C. Carbone to submit a proposal for a $24 million grant application to the state Department of Economic and Community Development’s Innovation Cluster Program. The state will be offering $100 million in such grants over the next five years, Economic Development Director William Wallach said during a presentation. The $54.1 million project includes a one-to-one match from the city, which is a requirement of the grant, Wallach said. It will be achieved through an investment by IRG, a loan from Connecticut Green Bank – facilitated through Fuel Cell Energy – and DECD tax rebates.

https://www.rep-am.com/localnews/2024/10/23/torrington-seeks-grant-to-develop-state-of-the-art-industrial-facility/

Construction is underway at 491 and 519 Spring St. for the town’s new senior center and police station, with both facilities expected to be open by next summer. In January, the former first selectman Paul Harrington said that roughly $18 million will be used to build the 18,000-square-foot police station, and about $13 million will be used to build the senior center. The buildings will share a parking lot. The money was allocated for the construction after a referendum was approved at the beginning of the year to allow for up to $780,000 in additional bonds for the new senior center, and just under $4 million in additional bonds to build the new police station. First Selectman Scott Storms said in January that the current police station at 4 Volunteer Drive is too small of a space, and that an upgrade is “absolutely needed.”

https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/journalinquirer/article/ct-windsor-locks-senior-center-police-station-19857124.php

The Connecticut Proton Therapy Center will be 25,000 square-foot facility off Interstate 91 operated by Proton International. Located at 932 Northrop Road, the center is the first of its kind in Connecticut and one of only three in New England with others in New York and Boston. There are 45 operating centers in the U.S. and 93 worldwide. The central location in Wallingford, officials have said, is critical in allowing ease of access to everyone from across the state. Officials said that before it was prohibitive for many residents to seek treatment out of state, not only because of the travel expenses but with the uncertainty of being able to get treatment, given the wait to get into some facilities. They hoped that this facility would open the doors for those suffering with specific cancer diagnoses and allow them easier and cheaper care.

https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/recordjournal/article/wallingford-proton-treatment-center-groundbreaking-19857506.php

While hydrogen has tremendous potential for helping with decarbonization in the fight against global warming, it is hindered by the cost of producing it cleanly — which makes an event held Wednesday in Wallingford a step in the right direction. Nel Hydrogen, a Norway-based company that produces clean hydrogen from renewable resources, hosted local, state and federal officials, and current and potential customers from around the world, to celebrate its newly renovated and expanded facility at 10 Technology Drive. The global company, which reported $333.7 million in revenue but a net loss of $104.8 million in the third quarter of 2024, invested about $30 million to renovate and modernize its approximately 100,000-square-foot manufacturing facility to increase its capacity for producing electrolyzers, which use electricity to separate hydrogen and oxygen from water. Sunita Satyapal, the director of the Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technologies Office of the U.S. Department of Energy, attended the event and praised Nel’s efforts to reduce the cost of clean hydrogen. She also said the federal bipartisan infrastructure law signed by President Biden in 2021 includes a National Clean Hydrogen Strategy.

Green hydrogen producer Nel debuts $30M renovation of Wallingford plant

Nine companies were cited last Thursday when a surprise state Department of Labor inspection determined that some appeared to be misclassifying workers as independent contractors and others were not providing workers compensation for employees. Belfonti Companies, the Hamden-based developer company doing the massive project, did not respond to a phone message Wednesday. A staff member would say only that Chief Executive Officer Michael Belfonti was away for the day. The stop-work orders apply only to the specific subcontractors cited, so work by other crews is allowed to continue. “The Wage and Workplace Standards Division rescinds the stop work orders when the employer resolves the violations,” department spokeswoman Juliet Manalan said Wednesday. “In these cases, the employer must show proof of sufficient workers compensation insurance for their employees and correct classification of workers.” “We’ve put a lot of state money into this, the town of Rocky Hill has put a lot of money into it with a tax abatement,” Lesser said. “All employers have to pay workers comp. We really need contractors to do the right thing and treat their workers fairly — that’s why this is such a disappointment.

Slew of ‘stop work’ orders hit CT signature housing project. Why and what’s being done.

Voters will consider whether Connecticut should amend its constitution to permit anyone to vote by absentee ballot, whether to renovate and expand 100-year-old Macdonough Elementary School, and whether to construct a new emergency operations center. Central Communications is the 911 service provider for Middletown and Portland. The anticipated project is a rebuild of the one-room public safety office at the Cross Street firehouse. If approved, the center would move to the emergency operations facility at 499 Mile Lane and co-located with the old U.S. Army Reserve Center. “There are questions that people need to understand that are going to have an impact on the long-term prosperity and future of our community,” Florsheim said during a news conference Friday at City Hall. “Voting is not the only part of civic engagement, but it is the fundamental basis for our democracy,” the mayor added.

https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/article/middletown-voting-election-bond-referendums-59m-19854522.php

Four local agencies are set to receive money from the State Bond Commission, which met Tuesday to approve a lengthy list of requests ranging from a designs for a new library, to supporting ongoing renovations and restoration of the Thomaston Opera House and renovations to the Warner Theatre. From the Department of Economic and Community Development’s Community Investment Fund, Torrington’s Warner Theatre is receiving $1.5 million for renovations and improvements to the Art Deco building on Main Street. The money will be used to improve the stage-level dressing rooms and the back of the house, to make it more appealing to national acts, according to theater administrators. The plan is to renovate the Warner’s historic building, lobby, and stage, including the HVAC and electrical systems, and to fix accessibility issues, according to theater co-executive director Stephanie Fried said. The theater will also modernize its sound, lighting, lighting control, security and smoke alarm systems. The Thomason Opera House is receiving $2 million from the Community Investment Fund to support its continuing renovation and restoration of the historic building. The phased renovation project began in early 2024, and is a collaboration between the town, Thomaston Opera House Commission, Friends of the Thomaston Opera House and Landmark Community Theatre.

https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/article/ct-bond-commission-torrington-area-projects-19851703.php