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Waterbury restoration appears to gain key lawmakers favor by wgre ethbtn
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Waterbury restoration appears to gain key lawmakers favor |
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Business,Business News,Business Opportunities
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To use March Madness metaphors, it s not a slam dunk, not evenhalftime. Call it, maybe, jumping out to a good lead. For the town ofWaterbury, that s a great start to the contest. The day after legislators on the Institutions Committee in theVermont House got a full rundown on plans for the flood-damagedWaterbury state office complex, they spent the morning discussingthe four options detailed in a massive feasibility study releasedlast Friday.
The state-contracted study was begun in January byBurlington architectural firm Freeman French Freeman with partnerGoody Clancy. The House panel, which oversees state construction monies and statebuildings and has a major role in building policy, will be the oneto put the proverbial game ball on the floor and run with it at thestart. The Senate Institutions panel will also weigh in after theHouse makes a decision. While there was no straw poll taken and two of the 11 panel memberswere missing, the results of the discussion were unanimoussentiment for rebuilding in Waterbury with what s called PlanB with a caveat that a lot of questions remained to be askedand dollar signs yet to be adjusted.
I had a gut feeling maybe the committee would do that, saidChairwoman Alice Emmons, D-Springfield, who said she reached thesame conclusion last week after she attended the release of thestudy on Friday. I feel very very good that every member of the committee came tothat decision on their own and Option B seems to be where we arecoalescing around, she said. Plan B is one that brings smiles to the hard-hit community ofWaterbury, which not only suffered severe flooding in TropicalStorm Irene but lost some 1,200 of the 1,500 state workers whofloated its economic base. Plan B calls for a new $34 million office building at the statecomplex, restoration and modernization of the historic main spineof the buildings on the site, building a new biomass power plant,and demolition of many of the 48 buildings that are in thefloodplain, in poor shape or not very functional.
It calls forhousing 1,024 state workers, primarily in the Agency of HumanServices. The other three options call for a full restoration of the complex;a new $62 million, 227,000-square-foot office building in the statecapital, and a brand-new building if a site was available, as abenchmark option to compare costs. The total costs of the fouroptions, when everything from permitting and demolition and parkingare added in, range from $108 million to $142.7 million. Several members said the historic nature of the buildings, whichdate back to 1890 as a state asylum, and the state s long historyin the Waterbury community, weighed in their thinking. I think on a number of levels it s essential to go back toWaterbury, said Joan Lenes, D-Shelburne, mentioning that thestate had a long relationship with Waterbury and that she wanted to honor the historic nature of the complex and make it functionalonce again.
Rep. Mary Hooper, D-Montpelier, who just stepped down as thecapital s mayor, cautioned that the panel was way way far fromsettling on Plan B but that the discussion served to get someconsensus on the options and dig into the one that makes the mostsense on the surface. Rep. Emmons said the panel met with Secretary of Administration JebSpaulding Tuesday and agreed to work collaboratively and said shesensed that the governor had not yet chosen a direction. They re probably still working this through, she said.
Spaulding has described his sticker shock at the pricetags forthe four options. Insurance and FEMA monies are expected to helpoffset the costs but those figures remain elusive at this point,though Spaulding has said the Waterbury options seem assured ofsome funding. Emmons said the committee will be working the next few weeks tohone a legislative approach to backing one of the options in theso-called capital bill that appropriates funds for statebuilding projects. She noted that it was critical to give FEMA asense of the state s direction before FEMA will pay for floodingdamage at the Waterbury site. Panel members said they expected to look at a host of issues thatcould cut the cost of restoring Waterbury, from changing some ofthe proposed building materials to downsizing buildings or scalingback the schedule of restoration work.
Rep. Robert South, D-St.Johnsbury, said the plans proposed were a gold standard andsaid there was sentiment they could be lowered to reduce costs. Hesaid the panel hoped to call Freeman French Freeman officials backfor further discussions. Emmons agreed there was a lot that could be tweaked in theplans, citing the proposed use of slate and granite andVermont-made products Do you want to do that or not? sheasked, as an example.
Hooper agreed. Obviously the big question is money, she said,noting that Plan B is among the more expensive options at $134.2million. The panel will continue to try to gather information and work onthe legislative process of how it will authorize one of the optionsin the remaining weeks of the session, Emmons said. The most important part right now is to settle on a direction anda plan, she said. I am Construction & Real Estate writer, reports some information about door threshold seal , finolex pvc pipes.
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