Environmental Monitor
October 16, 2012 
   1.  State Buildings Space Needs, Hartford
   2.  NEW!East Lyme - New London Interconnection Revision
            
  
   1. NEW! 40 - 44 - 48 Dayton Rd., Waterford
   
  
       No Environmental Impact Evaluations were submitted for review and comment
    1. Connecticut National Guard Armory, Manchester  
         

          

The next edition of the Environmental Monitor will be published on  November 6, 2012.
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Scoping Notices

"Scoping" is for projects in the earliest stages of planning.  At the scoping stage, detailed information on a project's design, alternatives, and environmental impacts does not yet exist.  Sponsoring agencies are asking for comments from other agencies and from the public as to the scope of alternatives and environmental impacts that should be considered for further study.  Send your comments to the contact person listed for the project by the date indicated.

The following Scoping Notices have been submitted for review and comment.

1. Notice of Scoping for State Buildings Space Needs in Hartford

Municipality where proposed project might be located: City of Hartford

Addresses of Possible Project Locations: Due to the nature of the project involving property acquisitions and leases, the sponsoring agency has determined that disclosing specific property locations, and associated real estate material, would not be in the best interest of the State under Connecticut General Statute Section 1-210(b).  However, the sponsoring agency wishes to strike a balance between providing as much information as possible to receive meaningful comments on this proposed action without compromising real estate negotiations and transactions.  Therefore, the project description and project maps below provide information to assist in collecting comments on the potential environmental impacts.

Project Description: The Department of Administrative Service (DAS) (sponsoring agency) intends to implement a long-term plan to consolidate various leased space into state-owned property and/or existing leased space within the City of Hartford.  As part of this plan, DAS envisions acquiring additional real property to house state agencies and relocate agencies from existing state buildings to other state buildings.  Currently, the effort is to consolidate leases within the Greater Hartford area and relocate State agencies that are located in those leased space into the City of Hartford.  Due to the need of office space, DAS is only considering acquiring property that is currently developed and zoned as “B-1 Downtown Development District” and “B-2 Downtown Perimeter District” according to the City of Hartford’s Adopted Zoning Map (City of Hartford Planning Department, February 11, 2008).  To further narrow the potential locations within the City of Hartford and provide as much information as possible without disclosing specific acquisition sites, the following criteria are guiding the decision-making process:

  • property owner must be a willing seller (no use of eminent domain);
  • must be existing office space and use;
  • areas zoned or used as residential, commercial, industrial, parks, designated open space, public venues, cemeteries, places of worship, schools, and areas generally outside of the B-1 and B-2 zones are excluded; and 
  • no zone change.

The plan does not include or contemplate construction of new buildings; however, renovation of existing buildings may be necessary.  Consolidation of leases may also occur by co-locating agencies, as may be appropriate, in currently leased space to maximize usage of the leased space; however, the overall intent is to vacate leased spaces as leases expire. 

The overall magnitude of the project envisions space programming and planning to relocate approximately 3,000 state employees into 720,000 – 975,000 net useable square feet (NUSF) or 875,000 – 1,115,000 gross square feet.  As part of the space planning, DAS is considering increasing the space efficiency standard from 250 NUSF per employee to 200 NUSF.  It is anticipated an equal amount of parking spaces to the number of employees will be associated with each agency relocation site.  To accommodate parking, DAS is considering maximizing existing state owned or leased parking areas, as well as augmenting parking through purchase or lease spaces, as appropriate within the relocated agency areas.

The project would involve multiple phases that could span over 3-5 years.  It is anticipated that the work would be done with multiple schedules and phases since agency relocations will be phased in as leases terminate.

Project Maps:  Click here to view the General Location and here for the Potential Acquisition Areas.

Written comments from the public are welcomed and will be accepted until the close of business on:  November 1, 2012.

Any person can ask the sponsoring agency to hold a Public Scoping Meeting by sending such a request to the address below.  If a meeting is requested by 25 or more individuals, or by an association that represents 25 or more members, the sponsoring agency shall schedule a Public Scoping Meeting.  Such requests must be made by October 12, 2012 by 5:00 PM.

Written comments and/or requests for a Public Scoping Meeting should be sent to:

Name: Shane Mallory, RPA, Administrator, Leasing and Property Transfer
Agency: Department of Administrative Services
Address: 165 Capitol Avenue, Room G-1
Hartford, Connecticut 06106
Fax: 860-713-7355
E-Mail: shane.mallory@ct.gov

If you have questions about the public meeting, or other questions about the scoping for this project, contact:

Name: Jeff Bolton, Supervising Environmental Analyst
Agency: Department of Construction Services
Address: 165 Capitol Avenue, Room 482
Hartford, Connecticut  06106
Phone: 860-713-5706
Fax: 860-713-7250
E-Mail: jeffrey.bolton@ct.gov

The agency expects to make a determination on whether to prepare an Environmental Impact Evaluation for this project after receiving written comments.

Other information:

City of Hartford Adopted Zoning Map

Department of Administrative Services website


2. Notice of Scoping for the East Lyme-New London Interconnection Revision to Scoping Notice Posted on May 17, 2011

Municipalities where proposed project might be located: East Lyme, Montville, New London and Waterford

Addresses of Possible Project Locations: The project will begin between the northern terminus of the East Lyme water main on Route 161, run along Route 161 to Butlertown Road, from Butlertown Road veering behind an industrial lot on the corner of Butlertown Road and Sachatello Industrial Drive to Sachatello Industrial Drive, from Sachatello Industrial Drive to Route 85 and from Route 85 to New London’s Water Treatment Plant.

Project Description: The project will involve installing a 16 inch transmission water main from the existing northern terminus of the Town of East Lyme’s water main on Route 161 to the City of New London’s Water Treatment Plant near Lake Konomoc. The project is designed solely to transfer water between the Town of East Lyme and City of New London in order for the Town of East Lyme to meet summertime peak demands of their current service area, address other public health and water system operational needs within the Town of East Lyme and provide fire protection for enhanced public safety along the transmission water main. The project will include the installation of a 400,000 gallon water storage tank in the Montville Industrial Park, a booster/pressure reducing station, meter and manhole structures and appurtenances and necessary improvements to the New London Water Treatment Plant. The project will also include hydrants along the entire length of the transmission water main and individual fire service connections to certain lots as identified within the attached letter to the Department of Public Health from the Town of East Lyme for public safety purposes. There will be no domestic water supply provided to any properties along the entire length of the water transmission main.

Project Map:  Click here to view a map of the project area.

Written comments from the public are welcomed and will be accepted until the close of business on: Thursday, November 15, 2012

Any person can ask the sponsoring agency to hold a Public Scoping Meeting by sending such a request to the address below.  If a meeting is requested by 25 or more individuals, or by an association that represents 25 or more members, the sponsoring agency shall schedule a Public Scoping Meeting.  Such requests must be made by Friday, October 26, 2012.

Written comments and/or requests for a Public Scoping Meeting should be sent to:

Name: Mr. Cameron Walden
Agency: Department of Public Health
Drinking Water Section
Address: 410 Capitol Avenue, MS #51WAT
PO Box 340308
Hartford, CT 06134-0308
Fax: 860-509-7359
E-Mail: DPH.CTDWSRF@ct.gov

If you have questions about the public meeting, or other questions about the scoping for this project, contact:

Name: Mr. Cameron Walden
Agency: Department of Public Health
Drinking Water Section
Address: 410 Capitol Avenue, MS #51WAT
PO Box 340308
Hartford, CT 06134-0308
Phone: 860-509-7333
Fax: 860-509-7359
E-Mail: DPH.CTDWSRF@ct.gov


Post-Scoping Notices:   Environmental Impact Evaluation Not Required
This category is required by the October 2010 revision of the Generic Environmental Classification Document for State Agencies. A notice is published here if the sponsoring agency, after publication of a scoping notice and consideration of comments received, has determined that an  Environmental Impact Evaluation (EIE) does not need to be prepared for the proposed project.

The following Post-Scoping Notice has been submitted for publication in this edition.

1. Post-Scoping Notice for 40 - 44 - 48 Dayton Rd.

Municipality where project will be located: Waterford

CEPA Determination:  On September 4, 2012 the Department of Economic and Community Development (DECD) published a Notice of Scoping to solicit public comments for this project in the Environmental Monitor.  The DECD has taken those comments into consideration and has concluded that the project does not require the preparation of Environmental Impact Evaluation under CEPA.

The agency's conclusion is documented in an Environmental Assessment Checklist and

Memo of Findings and Determination.

If you have questions about the project, you can contact the agency at:

Name:

Mark Hood

Agency:

Department of Economic and Community Development

Address:

505 Hudson Street
Hartford, CT 06106

Phone:

860-270-8089

Fax:

860-270-8157

E-Mail:

mark.hood@ct.gov


What happens next:
The DECD expects the project to go forward. This is expected to be the final notice of the project to be published in the Environmental Monitor.


EIE Notices

After Scoping, an agency that wishes to undertake an action that could significantly affect the environment must produce, for public review and comment, a detailed written evaluation of the expected environmental impacts. This is called an Environmental Impact Evaluation (EIE).


No Environmental Impact Evaluation notice has been submitted for review and comment.



Connecticut General Statutes Section 4b-47 requires public notice of most proposed sales and transfers of state-owned lands. The public has an opportunity to comment on any such proposed transfer. Each notice includes an address where comments should be sent. Read more about the five-step process...


The following State Land Transfer Notice has been submitted for publication in this edition.

1. Notice of Proposed Land Transfer, Manchester

Complete Address of Property: 330 Main Street, Manchester


Commonly used name of property or other identifying information: CT Army National Guard Armory


Number of acres to be transferred: 1.5


Click to view map of property location (4.5 MB)


Description of Property


Below is some general information about the property.  It should not be considered a complete description of the property and should not be relied upon for making decisions.  If only a portion of a property is proposed for transfer, the description pertains only to the portion being transferred.

Brief Description of Historical and Current Uses: Used by the CT Army National Guard as an armory.

The property to be transferred contains the following:

Structures:             Buildings in use   Buildings not in use       No Structures

Other Features:    Wooded land    
 Nonagricultural fields    
 Active agriculture

                          Paved areas       Ponds, streams, other water, wetlands

Water Supply:       Public water supply    On-site well                 Unknown
Waste Disposal:   Served by sewers      On-site septic system    Unknown


Click to view aerial view of property (5.5 MB)


The Locational Guide Map of the Connecticut Conservation and Development Policies Planidentifies the property as being in the following category(ies):
Regional Center Neighborhood Conservation Area Growth Area
 Rural Community Center  Rural Area
 Conservation Area
 Preservation Area  Existing Preserved Open Space

The property is in the following municipal zone(s):

Residential Industrial  Commercial  Institutional
 Other:  Design Overlay District

Not zoned  Not known


Special features of the property, if known
:

Value of property, if known:
If checked, value is not known.

Type of Sale or Transfer:

Sale or transfer of property in fee

Sale or transfer of partial interest in the property (such as an easement).  Description of interest:

Proposed recipient, if known: TBD

Proposed use by property recipient, if known: TBD

The agency is proposing to transfer the property with the following restrictions on future uses:
If checked, the state is not currently proposing restrictions on future uses.

Reason the State of Connecticut is proposing to transfer this property:  The State has deemed the property surplus, since the property is no longer needed for State use and no re-use proposals were received by other State agencies.

Comments from the public are welcome and will be accepted until the close of business on Novermber 1, 2012. 


Comments may include (but are not limited to) information you might have about significant natural resources or recreation resources on the property, as well as your recommendations for means to preserve such resources.


Written comments* should be sent to
:

Name:

Patrick O'Brien

Agency:

Office of Policy and Management

Address:

450 Capitol Avenue MS#52 ASP
Hartford, CT 06106-1379

E-Mail:

Patrick.Obrien@ct.gov


*E-Mail submissions are preferred. 

(Comments from state agencies must be on agency letterhead and signed by agency head.  Scanned copies are preferred.)

Please send a copy of any written comments to:

Name:

Shane P. Mallory, RPA

Agency:

Department of Administrative Services

Address:

165 Capitol Avenue, G-1

Hartford, CT 06106

E-Mail:

shane.mallory@ct.gov


What Happens Next?

To find out if this proposed transfer is the subject of further notices, check future editions of the Environmental Monitor.Sign up for e-alerts to receive a reminder e-mail on Environmental Monitor publication dates.

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Copyright 2012, Connecticut Council on Environmental Quality