For several years now, the buildings that made up the former University of Connecticut campus in West Hartford have stood vacant — and dilapidated by time — as new uses for the expansive property have been considered time and again by the site’s various owners. Now, with the portion of that property that served as the school’s parking lot already receiving the green light for developers to build 322 new homes, the western portion of the former college campus, where the same developers want to build hundreds more homes plus space for commercial uses, will be the subject of a wetlands hearing July 17. It’s the first hurdle for the development, named Heritage Park, as the site rests on and around a complex wetlands network. The most recent plans submitted to the town have developers seeking to build 211 housing units on the site. Those homes would be split between 93 apartments, 28 townhouses, and 90 assisted-living units. In total, between both portions of the property, the development would add 533 total homes in West Hartford, by far the biggest housing development to be proposed over the last decade.

https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/westhartford/article/west-hartford-ct-uconn-campus-housing-wetlands-19548880.php

A new Hillcrest Middle School took another step toward fruition after the Town Council authorized the distribution of future bonds for the project during a recent meeting. The project will go to a referendum in November, as required for projects that exceed $15 million. The cost to the town is now projected to be $81.7 million, a reduction of about $27.8 million drop from the original $109.5 million projection. The state reimbursement rate was expected to be 24.29 percent, but Wyszynski said the state approved a 44 percent reimbursement rate instead, saving the town almost $27.8 million. “We should thank Rep. Sarah Keitt for her hard work in Hartford to help us get that 44 percent rate,” said council Democrat Kevin Shively.

https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/article/trumbull-town-council-hillcrest-middle-school-19553350.php

Improvements and adjustments to Norwalk’s Calf Pasture Beach Road are slated to begin after Labor Day. Part of the road leading residents to Norwalk’s Calf Pasture Beach is on the Gardella family’s property, who issued a deed agreement with the city in 1922. Now, a century later, both the park and Gardella’s marine businesses are thriving community staples in East Norwalk. After seven years of discussion, the city and the Gardellas came to an agreement last fall to add three connections from the road to the Gardella property and reconfigured the exit lane to help facilitate traffic flow in and out of the beach. If the Gardellas wanted to improve their property in the next six years, they would be required to gain approval from the Planning and Zoning Commission, which approved the easement plan. As a part of the Marine Commercial Zone, the Gardellas’ property must have a water dependent use like the marina that is currently there. The Public Works Committee moved forward with a contract with FGB Construction Company, which also worked on the skate park for the city, to the full Common Council.

https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/article/improvements-norwalk-calf-pasture-beach-gardella-19560716.php

As Canton nears completion on constructing of a firehouse in the Collinsville section, voters recently decided to finalize the old firehouse’s demolition. Destroying the old firehouse has been planned since 2021, when residents approved the Canton Volunteer Fire and EMS Department’s new firehouse and associated construction in a referendum, which included razing the old facility located at 50 River Road next door to where it will be built. With a project cost at $5,400,000, the approximate cost of this new debt to a taxpayer owning a median assessed house in Canton ($255,100 assessment) would be $85.41 for the first year, decreasing slightly annually thereafter over the 20 year life of the bond, according to the town. In November 2021, the new firehouse vote was passed by residents by 2,061 to 834.

https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/farmingtonvalley/article/canton-firehouse-collinsville-project-19560772.php

The replacement of two bridges on Interstate 95 in West Haven is slated to begin later this summer, officials said. Connecticut Department of Transportation officials held a meeting in West Haven City Hall late last month to discuss plans to replace Bridges 161 and 162, which carry the highway over First Avenue and Metro North railroad tracks near Interchange 43. The department announced this week that the design phase is in progress and construction is slated to begin soon after. The construction is expected to last three years, until 2027. Bridge 162 has been considered structurally deficient for years, with officials estimating in 2021 that the bridge could be replaced by 2025; officials today have added two years to the estimated time of completion.

https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/article/west-haven-i-95-bridges-replacement-19560993.php

An appointee of Gov. Ned Lamont is proposing that Connecticut’s contracting watchdog panel not publicly discuss its work — which includes investigations of Executive Branch agencies — without clearing it with him. The contracting board, which grew out of the scandal that ultimately sent former Gov. John G. Rowland to federal prison, performs sensitive work. The language restricting the communication of board members, he said, was meant to ensure the board was not sharing confidential information that it comes into possession of. In hindsight, Daniels said the sentence that would block board members from engaging in “any communication” without the permission of the executive director was overly broad. Daniels said he and the staff had “no intent” to limit communications by the board with members of the media or the public.

CT contracting watchdogs asked not to talk without director’s OK

The Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection is working on a plan to demolish the now-obsolete dam and open up the river for fish passage. But project officials must contend with the historical aspects and impacts of any potential removal, which they discussed at a public information meeting in Avon on July 2. And for the dam removal project, which has construction costs estimated at $5 million, DEEP has to comply with state regulations and go through the federal regulatory process just as any other entity would, said Ramona Goode, the project manager and state dams sanitary engineer for DEEP Water Planning and Management Division, at the meeting Tuesday. Both DEEP and the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration, which is funding the project and serving as the lead federal agency for it, have been consulting with the state’s preservation office for the last few years to ensure the proposed dam removal is in line with the National Historic Preservation Act.

https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/farmingtonvalley/article/collins-company-dam-removal-historical-mitigation-19553044.php

Dakota Partners, Inc., Massachusetts-based developer, proposed to build 202 apartments, some of them affordable, and 68 condominiums while keeping about 22 acres of the property as open space. The state offered to sell the property to Hamden for $1.3 million. Instead of buying it, the town issued a request for proposals that carried an asking price of $1.5 million for the property, allowing Hamden to profit $200,000 from the sale. The developer’s plans, which still need to be approved by the Hamden Legislative Council and Planning and Zoning Commission, also call for 34 duplexes that would yield 68 for-sale condo units. Construction is expected to start in August 2025, according to a schedule posted on the Hamden Economic and Neighborhood Development’s website.

https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/article/hamden-high-meadows-affordable-housing-apartments-19551197.php

Efforts to improve Connecticut’s position as a potential host for data centers appear to be stuck in neutral at the moment, despite an increased focus on artificial intelligence and how the two are intertwined. To qualify for the 20-year term of incentives, data centers must make a qualified investment in the site of $50 million if the site is in an opportunity zone or $200 million if it is not. For a 30-year term, the investment must be $200 million in an opportunity zone and $400 million elsewhere. Fred Carstensen, who is a professor at the University of Connecticut School of Business and the director of the state Center for Economic Analysis, is troubled by the lack of emphasis state officials have on data centers. We don’t have a cohesive strategy for this (data centers),” Carstensen said. “Connecticut was the most important state in the industrial revolution. But we’ve lost our mojo.”

https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/business/article/efforts-to-develop-ct-data-center-hug-in-limbo-19542976.php

The $5.725 million grant, from the Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity fund, was awarded to the Central Naugatuck Valley Metropolitan Planning Organization for planning and designing a segment of the Naugatuck River trail, according to a statement. The non-motorized, multi-use trail being developed will follow the river for 44 miles through parts of the Fifth District, including Litchfield, Harwinton, Thomaston, Watertown, and Waterbury, according to Hayes. The grant funding will be used to complete final design, environmental review, and preparation of construction documentation of a roughly 6-mile section between the northern point of downtown Thomaston to the southerly point of downtown Naugatuck, connecting through downtown Waterbury and Watertown.

https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/article/naugatuck-river-greenway-trail-expand-grant-19556068.php