As the Town Council learned Sept. 1, some projects that should be moving forward have been hit with a few steps back.

The delayed projects include the new Town Center development negotiations, Totoket Valley Elementary School's (TVES) roof installation and state fixes to problems left by recent Route 80 construction.

TOWN CENTER "PREFERED DEVELOPER" PREFERS NO RESIDENCES:

As reported previously at Zip06, in July, based on the Economic Development Commission's (EDC) recommendation, the Town Council voted to approve Center Plan of Middletown as the "preferred developer" of the town's old Wall Field and former Town Hall/Community House parcel on Foxon Road.  At the time, the EDC recommended Center Plan as the best candidate to create a Town Center mixed-use development along the lines of the vision created during two public-input charrettes.   An initial design proposal from Center Plan in July showed the parcel incorporating green space and buildings including retail, restaurants and residences.

On Sept. 1, councilman Joseph Faughnan, a member of the negotiation team assigned to work with Center Plan, said the group met only once in six weeks' time, and no plan or contract had resulted as yet. Faughnan said continued efforts by Town Manager Michael Paulhus and Zoning Enforcement Officer Carey Duques to work with the company recently got a response: Center Plan wants to make some changes.

"What they're talking about right now is their preference would be to eliminate all residential components of the project and perhaps relocating some of the buildings on the site," said Faughnan.

Councilman Al Rose said he wasn't present when the council voted to grant "preferred developer" status to Center Plan. He asked what the designation meant.

"It means we negotiate with them exclusively to try to come to a contract," said Faughnan.

"So why would we do that when they don't have a dog in the fight?" asked Rose. "In the business world, there's no such thing as tying up a million-dollar property for six weeks with zero dollars."

The town property has an estimated market value of $1.8 million. Rose said the property should instead by cleared of current buildings and put on the market.

"They're rotting there. They're a disgrace to drive by," said Rose. "Go in there, do the remediation, knock them down and put a clean piece of property for sale. If you don't want to do that, you're just spinning your wheels with a dog and pony show."

Councilman Dan Armin, who worked on the EDC's charrette effort overseen by Yale Urban Design, said working with a preferred developer will help incorporate charrette results in the new Town Center.

"And look what happened to your residential already," answered Rose.

"I'm discouraged by that, yes," said Armin, "(but) you put a for sale sign on the property (and) you level everything, you're going to have a Rite Aid there. And then all the effort we went through for the past two and a half,  three years--  of determining what the town wanted and respecting that --  you lose that."

While the town has agreed to open negotiations with Center Plan, it's not tied to selling the property to the developer, noted councilman Donald Fucci.

Center Plan was expected to bring a new design to the town team within several days of the Sept. 1 Town Council meeting.

"If we don't get something in a week to 10 days, I think it's appropriate to say '...we're going to terminate our negotiations with you' (and) consider the alternatives," said Faughnan.

TVES ROOF PROJECT SLOW TO FINISH

A $2.48 million school roof replacement project approved in May and expected to be "substantially complete" by August 21 is running behind and won't near completion until early October, the council learned Sept. 1.

As previously reported at Zip06, in May, project architect Thomas Hibbard (Hibbard & Rosa Architects,　Middletown) told the council the project contractor, Titan Roofing (New Haven) would be at the point of clipping sheet metal finish panels onto the new sloped roof by the first week of school.

However, in his update to the council on Sept. 1, Hibbard explained the steel frames needed to hold those panels were not yet installed.  Still, in his opinion, Hibbard said he did feel the job was "substantially complete" as of Aug. 21, noting it also included the installation of 22 rooftop ventilators. The town has a contract clause that could charge Titan $1,000 a day for every day of construction exceeding the "substantially complete" deadline. But on Sept. 1 the council determined that, given the specifics of the work undertaken to date, pursing that contractual fine point was not worth the legal investment.

"In fairness, when we met (in May) you did say it was going to be a tight schedule and difficult to meet," Rose said to Hibbard.

Work on the project began June 23 after the last day of school. Rose said his concern was that the job was being "frontloaded" so that the contractor received the greatest payments at the beginning of the work, diminishing the incentive to complete the work.  Hibbard said he did not feel that was the case; saying if anything the delay could be contributed to industry labor shortages, especially during the summer roofing season.

"I think that we can all learn from this to set a deadline (when) we're going to go out for work to be done in the summer; and do not pass it, and it isn't the last day the kids are in school. Probably it should be no later than February or March," said Rose.

DOT STALLS ON PROMISED ROUTE 80 FIXES

Although the state Department of Transportation (DOT) notified the town it would return the contractor in July to fix two problems left by the second phase of the Route 80 widening project, neither fix has been made. Now, the hope is it will be taken care of this fall, Town Engineer Kurt Weiss reported to the Town Council on Sept. 1.

"That was supposed to happen in July but it got pushed out, supposedly until September," said Weiss.  "I've asked the field representative to get me some confirmation."

The corrections needed include mitigating a steep entrance to Central Plaza off Route 80 where vehicles regularly bottom out; and to improve a tight corner radius and relocate a section of grass and sidewalk at the Route 80/Route 139 intersection; where larger trucks are currently prone to jump the curb and approach the sidewalk.

Weiss said it appears the delay lies with decision-makers at DOT headquarters in Newington.

"I think what happened is more at the Newington level of the DOT in terms of not awarding the contract," he said. "So I don't have a firm date, and that's what I've been asking for from the DOT. We're trying to make that happen this fall.  It should have happened a while ago. "

Mayor Anthony Candelora as well as council members Armin and Rose noted the grass and plantings installed on the side of Route 139 are dead and/or dying, creating an eyesore. Rose said the contractor likely has a one-year replacement agreement, and if so, that deadline has passed.

"I'm sure the time has run out where contractor would have been responsible (but) the side hill on the left, maybe they planted 20 trees; and 15 were dead a month later," said Rose. "They're still dead, it's really an eyesore. Do the DOT inspectors ever look?"

Weiss said there had been a "preliminary walk through," but added, "I'll have to follow up with them," saying he agreed something needs to be done in an area that's "the heart of the town"

"When they came to the council, there was a nice planting plan," said Weiss of the DOT's initial overview of project. "That was a big issue with the council, that it looked good. I'll follow up and try to get an update where they stand."

The council also asked Weiss to follow up on residents' complaints of red light lag-time for traffic attempting to enter Route 80 from Route 139. Weiss said he'd also received complaints and contacted to the DOT a while back.

"Someone came down from Newington," said Weiss. "At this point, on a preliminary basis, they said everything is working the way it's supposed to be. But that doesn't mean it's the right way. We can monitor it with the police...a lot of times, there are some adjustments (the DOT) makes further down the road."