The city of Chicopee is looking for the public’s feedback on the final plans for the future western Massachusetts Post-9/11 and Service Dog Memorial Park.
According to a news release sent to 22News, a regional Post 9/11 memorial space will be located at the Westover Industrial Gate Park at the corner of Westover Road and Honeysuckle Drive adjacent to Westover Air Reserve Base. The plans for the park began approximately five years ago through a collaboration between its Veterans Services Office, Department of Planning & Development, and Department of Parks & Recreation.
Mayor John Vieau stated, “the City is honored to be in a position to host this unique park dedicated to celebrating and memorializing military service in the Post-9/11 Era. We are excited to share the current concept plans and look forward to hearing your feedback.”
Chicopee’s Director of Veterans Services, Stephanie Shaw said the park will be different than most memorial parks.
“What makes this park unique is that it stands to celebrate the growth, service, and the experiences that all service members have had following the tragedy of 9/11,” Shaw said.
In May of 2018, Shaw’s efforts were supported by Senator Eric P. Lesser who secured $75,000 in state
funding for the planning of the new park. The 7.15-acre park will be the only park in the Westover neighborhood and the city’s first off-leash dog park. In its current configuration, it offers limited recreational opportunities to the neighborhood’s residents.
According to the news release the city has been working in partnership with regional engineering and landscape architecture firm, Milone & MacBroom (now SLR International) to advance the design of the project.
After multiple rounds of community input from residents of the Westover neighborhood, the city at large, and the regional veterans community, Milone & MacBroom has synthesized all comments into a final park concept.
The Grasmere Avenue and Post Road area could become safer with the help of a new plan.
The Board of Selectmen unanimously approved a $120,000 contract with Milone and MacBroom, Cheshire-based civil engineering and landscape architecture firm.
The firm will assess and draw out plans to improve pedestrians’ safety in the area, town Engineering Manager Bill Hurley said.
“It involves a survey, preliminary engineering and then preliminary, semi-final and final design,” he said.
The town will apply for any necessary permits once Milone and MacBroom start coming up with a design. The town will host a public information meeting when the design is 30 percent completed, most likely in the spring or early summer, Hurley said.
“Hopefully when (COVID-19) is in the rear view mirror,” he said. “If not, it will be a virtual one.”
Hurley said the town decided the area needed improvements after a road safety audit performed a couple of years ago. The audit highlighted the need to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act, as well as wider sidewalks, ADA ramps and additional signage and markings.
“What we also have them looking at is a large stretch from the Post Road circle all the way to Grasmere, because there is only one set of traffic lights,” he said. “So, anybody trying to cross the road, it’s a little bit difficult there. We’re looking at some sort of pedestrian crossing improvement there.”
After the public meeting is conducted, contractors will bid on the contract to implement Milone and MacBroom’s designs, Hurley said, adding the contractor would most likely be selected based on lowest bid.
The funding was approved last year and comes from a state grant, Hurley said.
“The neighborhood is excited to get some improvements in that area,” he said.
Milone and MacBroom’s project is scheduled to take about eight months, which Hurley called standard, noting snow could delay some of the early survey work. He said the town is hoping to be able to put a contract out on the construction work next winter.
“So that we could try for spring construction next year,” he said.
WESTON — The impact of the town’s rapidly improving housing market on long-term enrollment still remains too early to predict, according to a report recently presented to the Board of Education.
Michael Zuba, of Milone and MacBroom, said despite the sharp increase in home sales seen this year enrollment projections for the school year were still close. He said enrollment was originally projected to be 2,247 students from kindergarten to 12th grade on Oct. 1, two less than the 2,249 actually reported.
“By and large they performed pretty well,” Zuba said of the projections. “I think some of the areas where we had a disconnect were really pandemic driven.”
Zuba said three models were created with a medium model projecting 2,291 students from prekindergarten to 12th grade by the 2030-31 school year. Projections for the low model and high model range from 2,126 to 2,530 students for the same time period, he said.
“I think looking long-term — greater than three, four, five years down the road — should this robust housing market continue the high projection model may be the one that proves the most accurate over that 10-year horizon,” Zuba said.
Weston has seen an influx in new residents like neighboring towns due to the thriving housing market. According to the report, the town averaged 159 sales per year between 2015 and 2019. This year the town has already sold 153 homes and is on pace to sell 214 by the end of the year, the report said.
BOE members questioned if it could be determined whether or not the increase in housing sales contributed to permanent residents. Some members further questioned how the pre-kindergarten to 12th grade enrollment is projected to go from 2,273 students this year to 2,274 students next year, despite the booming housing market.
BOE member Ruby Hedge said she feels the projection for next year is also assuming a 100 percent normalcy rate.
“Meaning in nine months from January when we set the budget, or we look at the budget, this country will be back to normal or 100 percent,” Hedge said.
BOE member Hillary Koyner said she didn’t see the impact of housing sales on the projections.
“Everything you showed us does not reflect that huge increase of home sales,” she said.
Zuba said there was not a census of who bought a house and how many children they had. He added the assumption is when home values are elevated it is the core values of Weston that are driving people to the community, which includes the schools.
“I don’t have a definitive count for each of those sales (and) how many students they yielded in your community,” he said.
A number of students also withdrew at the beginning of the school year after enrolling, Superintendent William Mckersie said. There were 29 students from pre-kindergarten through fifth grade who chose to home school, he said.
“This is a far higher number than usual,” Mckersie said. “We’re looking across Fairfield County and we’re seeing a huge uptick in homeschooling.”
He said despite this some of these students will likely return to the school district throughout the pandemic.
“My hunch is that is not a long-term homeschooling group,” Mckersie said. “My hunch is that this is a crisis group.”
But BOE Chair Tony Pesco said he doesn’t believe it’s known yet what set of projections enrollment will truly follow with the influx of new residents.
“I don’t think that shock has been absorbed into the system enough to know where within that upper or lower bounds you’re going to actually lie,” he said. “I think time will tell.”
When the State of Vermont converted the Mount Mansfield Electric Railway to a road for cars in 1932, they left behind some of the infrastructure that supported the elevated tram as it crossed Graves Brook in Waterbury. Massive stone piers punctuated the landscape behind what is now Billing’s Mobil station, and they served as a reminder of the electric railway for nearly a century.
In the spring of 2019, heavy rains resulted in high water in Graves Brook, which cut behind one of the piers, leaving a collapsed heap of stone in the stream. A large section of Marion Germana’s backyard was washed downstream. Her son, Dick, reached out to the State for help, and they referred the Germanas to Friends of the Winooski River to try to stabilize the situation.
Friends of the Winooski River obtained State of Vermont Clean Water funds via a block grant from Watersheds United Vermont to hire engineering firm Milone & MacBroom, Inc, of Waterbury, to design a solution. Walker Construction, Inc, of Stowe brought in the heavy equipment needed to remove the massive stones from the middle of the stream, and contoured the streambank to prevent further undercutting. Removing the pile of stones from the stream and stabilizing the streambank will prevent further sediment from washing downstream.
This fall, Friends of the Winooski River staff joined Dick Germana in planting native perennial flowering plants, shrubs, and trees which will develop deeper root systems than the existing lawn, and help to prevent future erosion of his mother’s backyard. Dick says, “My mother is 96 years old, and she is delighted that someone cared about her backyard. She is going to love to see the flowers next summer.”
The Naugatuck Valley Council of Governments (NVCOG) recently received a Pre-disaster Hazard Mitigation Planning grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to prepare a regional, multi-jurisdiction Natural Hazard Mitigation Plan (HMP) that will update plans in all 19 municipalities in its planning region.
The project team will hold virtual public workshops where attendees can learn about hazard mitigation planning, possible risks they face from a natural hazard, and speak directly with the consultants developing the HMP update. The study team also wants to hear from residents about their concerns and opinions.
The first public workshop is scheduled for Nov. 18 at 5:30 p.m.
A Natural Hazard Mitigation Plan (HMP) is a tool that helps a community to understand risk and to take specific steps to reduce property damage, injury, and loss of life from natural disasters, such as Tropical Storm Isaias. The workshop will provide details on the hazards being addressed in the plan, the risks they pose, and the types of losses that can occur to life and property in the Naugatuck Valley region. Details of how to participate in the workshop are available at www.nvcogct.gov/HMP.
Public engagement is critical to the planning process, and a short online survey is also available for members of the public to provide information to project staff. The survey should take less than 10 minutes to complete and can be found on the project webpage. While the ongoing pandemic will limit typical public engagement forums, such as public meetings and in-person workshops, the webpage, survey and workshop provide key opportunities for residents to learn about the project and provide feedback.
A FEMA-approved Hazard Mitigation Plan is required for a municipality to be eligible for certain hazard mitigation grant funding. An approved HMP is not required, however, for a community to be eligible for relief funding after an event has occurred. The HMP helps public officials and residents understand vulnerabilities and will identify actions that communities can take to prevent or minimize future risk.
NVCOG and project consultant Milone & MacBroom, Inc. of Cheshire will be working with all 19 regional municipalities over the next year to develop the multi-jurisdictional HMP. Developing a multi-jurisdictional plan is a more cost-effective approach than each community creating its own HMP. However, understanding that each community is unique and has its own specific risks, hazards specific to each municipality will be addressed in separate municipal sections in the regional plan.
The plan will take recent major events into account and will investigate risks from floods, winter storms, tornadoes, hurricanes, wildfires, earthquakes, and dam failure, among others. The HMP will also identify activities that can be undertaken by each community to prevent loss of life and reduce property damages associated with the identified hazards. Public safety and property loss reduction are the driving forces behind this plan, but careful consideration will also be given to the preservation of history, culture and the natural environment of the region.
Future virtual public meetings will focus on specific communities in the region. For more details, visit www.nvcogct.gov/HMP.
Heavy rain and wind, debilitating snowstorms and flooding are three natural events faced by towns in the Northwest Corner. The affect of recent Tropical Storm Isaias, which downed trees and power lines and left many without power, is just one example of how a weather event can affect a community.
The Northwest Hills Council of Governments, comprised of 21 towns in the Northwest Corner, has put its energy into creating hazard mitigation plans and reports over the years. This year, the NHCOG decided to take that work a step further and create a multi-jurisdictional Hazard Mitigation Plan that would include individual assessments of each of the 21 towns, since each has its own unique challenges in storm management and recovery. The project is funded by the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
“The plan will incorporate existing, separate hazard mitigation plans covering the NHCOG municipalities, with updates based on recent disasters, changes in risk and public input,” said Executive Director Rick Lynn.
The plan, he said, will include the risk from floods, winter storms, high winds from tornadoes, hurricanes, wildfires, earthquakes and dam failure, and identify actions communities can take to prevent damage from these natural hazards. It also will identify recent changes in local hazard risk, vulnerable elements in each community and hazard mitigation capabilities, Lynn said.
“We’ve prepared natural hazard mitigation plans in the past but this version is the first time we’re linking all 21 towns of the COG into one plan,” he said. “So there’s a basic plan, and then individual plans for each town, based on its own challenges. It’s a way to better identify risk and vulnerabilities.”
The NHCOG’s regional planner, Janell Mullen, is working with the engineering firm Milone & MacBroom on the plans. “It’s never been done for all 21 towns,” she said. “We’re doing separate plans for each town, updating recent disaster reports, and getting public input.”
The COG’s website offers a full review of the plans, Mullen said. “The visual component of this is very helpful, for people to understand the lay of the land and where your town fits in,” she said. “It’s a great resource.”
For Torrington, flooding makes the city vulnerable, Lynn said. “The Naugatuck River floods, or another smaller stream in the same area floods, and any homes or businesses or facilities that are in the flood plain become vulnerable,” he said. “If a major windstorm is coming through, and there’s an ice storm, that’s often when trees come down. The plan finds ways to quickly respond to wind damage, such as carefully pruning trees near power lines or critical facilities.”
Lynn said trees are a problem everywhere in the Northwest Corner. “It’s a tough one, because people love trees and want to keep them,” he said. “But when power lines come down and hit those trees, it’s a big problem.”
Mullen said the plan can help provide funding the next time a storm hits a small community and leaves it in the dark, for example. “The goal of this is to identify risks and mitigating measures, to lessen the severity and help towns be a little bit better prepared, and more proactive,” she said. “The next time, a town might have purchased generators to have backup power, and once the plan is prepared, there are opportunities for federal funding to support those types of things.”
NHCOG is asking for public participation in the planning process to make sure it addresses the needs of residents and visitors. There are a few opportunities for participation.
An interactive online Story Map has been designed to take residents through the hazard mitigation planning process and help visualize risks and adaptation options in the region. The Story Map can be accessed at https://arcg.is/0Tr80f
An online survey is available for the public to give input. The survey is expected to take about 10 minutes to complete, and survey-takers may skip any questions they don’t wish to answer. Residents can visit www.surveymonkey.com/r/NHCOGHMP to take the survey.
The region will hold virtual public workshops where attendees can learn about hazard mitigation planning and speak directly with the consultants working on developing the HMP update. The first is scheduled for 6 p.m. Nov. 5. A link to the meeting will be available Nov. 4 at northwesthillscog.org/emergency-planning.
An anticipated $2 million renovation of the city’s 62-year-old public pool will not only equip the facility with state-of-the-art technology and make it ADA-accessible, but help preserve the recreation area for generations to come.
Funding will come from a portion of the remainder of the $33.5 million parks bond voters passed in 2015.
City officials, along with representatives of Milone & MacBroom, the EDM architectural firm and Aquattica Pools & Water Parks, met Tuesday afternoon to kick off the project’s first phase, which includes a site investigation. The assessment of the aging facility is expected to be complete within three weeks.
The project involves renovations and possible changes to the large pool, and wading pool for children, as well as the field house’s lockers, showers and changing rooms.
Middletown Common Council Minority Leader Phil Pessina recalled the fun he had there as a boy. “For the first time, we had a centralized pool that friends could socialize at, and enjoy, as well as the park, which has significantly changed,” he said.
“Now we are going to be able to provide a facility [for] the next generation. It’s important, because a lot of [families] can’t afford pools,” Pessina said.
“We’re not evaluating the pool itself, because it’s being scrapped,” said Milone & MacBroom Project Manager Michael Doherty. He and his staff will be evaluating the parking situation, water circulation pattern, accessibility and other facets of the upcoming work.
Veterans Memorial Pool was dedicated in 1958 to the memory of Dionigi Arrigoni, who, with his brother, Frank, owned the former Hotel Arrigoni, now The Buttonwood Tree on Main Street.
Plans, which include the creation of a splash pad, are in the infancy stage, Doherty said. Some of the attractions possibly could be relocated on the property, and work could include expansion into the surrounding land, he said.
The pool is surrounded by the Greater Middletown Military Museum, Connecticut Trees of Honor and a year-round skating rink.
“Two million is fairly tight for a pool this size,” Doherty said, adding those gathered would be surprised to learn the true price tag of building a pool such as this one nowadays.
Public Works Director William Russo will be looking to have as much demolition and possibly other tasks completed by in-house personnel in order to save as much money as possible.
The “$2 million concerns us all, but we’re thrilled that we have it to improve this facility, which is long overdue. I would not want to see us compromise the scale of what we need,” Middletown Common Council Majority Leader Gene Nocera said. “We have the ability to enhance this facility down the road with the parks money.”
The youth soccer fields and multi-use trail are among projects drawing upon the remaining funds, he said. “It’s possible, at the end, to recoup money to bring in here,” he said.
Work is anticipated to begin the day after Labor Day 2021. “That’s a fairly aggressive schedule, but certainly doable,” Doherty said.
GORHAM — The town is gearing up to design a new industrial park at the large land tract voters approved buying in a $5.9 million referendum in November.
The referendum authorized the town to borrow $4 million to buy 141 acres from the M.P. Rines Trust and spend up to another $1.9 million to transform the former cow pasture into an industrial park. The project is aimed at broadening the town’s tax base to ease property tax burden on homeowners.
Milone & Macbroom in Portland, which has designed several industrial and business parks, will be paid between $245,000 and $288,000 to provide the engineering services for the park, according to Town Manager Ehrem Paraschak.
The town, in its first foray into the real estate business, will invest the $1.9 million for design, surveying, permitting and building roads and other infrastructure at the site.
Town Councilors Lee Pratt and James Hager, and Owens McCullough, an engineer appointed by the Gorham Economic Development Corp., have been appointed to the project’s steering committee. A Gorham business person and a resident of the abutting residential Shamrock Drive neighborhood will also be appointed to the panel.
The committee will meet with Milone & Macbroom once everyone has been confirmed, Hager said.
The entire site is near the Gorham Industrial Park.
FAIRFIELD, CT — The relationship between housing developments planned for Fairfield and the shape of the school district was a major topic of discussion when the Board of Education considered redistricting options at a recent meeting.
"I don't think it's a conversation that anyone is excited about. Redistricting is emotional," board Chair Christine Vitale said after a presentation Feb. 11 from engineering firm Milone and MacBroom, which was recorded by FairTV. "... We're really just looking for a long-term solution for the overall wellbeing of our district."
The board asked the firm last summer to come up with redistricting scenarios that would alleviate racial imbalance at McKinley Elementary School and present a variety of options for the district's early childhood center, while maintaining neighborhoods and class size guidelines.
In Connecticut, schools with a population of minority students that varies by 25 percent or more from the overall district minority population for the same grades is considered racially imbalanced and requires the submission of a correction plan to the state. McKinley has been not complied with the law since 2007 and the district last updated its racial balance plan in 2016.
Under each of the redistricting options presented, McKinley would no longer be considered imbalanced. Instead, both McKinley and Holland Hill elementary schools would be classified as impending imbalance, meaning their minority populations would vary from the overall population by 15 percent or more, but less than 25 percent.
Milone and MacBroom's first redistricting scenario involved repurposing Jennings Elementary School as a districtwide early childhood center and pre-kindergarten facility. The second option called for pocket redistricting to reduce racial imbalance at McKinley and keeping pre-kindergarten at Stratfield Elementary School and Fairfield Warde High School. Scenario three would see five pre-kindergarten classes each moved to Holland Hill and North Stratford elementary schools. The fourth option would feature six pre-kindergarten classrooms at Warde, two at Holland Hill and two at North Stratfield.
Planner Pat Gallagher told the board that Fairfield has 11 projects, each with 40 residential units or more, in the planning or approval stage, and that the developments are geographically concentrated near McKinley and Holland Hill. He added that since the units are expected to be mostly small apartments, he projected that more than 1,000 units will yield a mere 136 students.
Board member Jennifer Jacobsen asked if the firm expected the planned developments on the east side of town to result in a greater racial imbalance, but planning director Mike Zuba said such trends were difficult to predict.
"There's just really no way to grapple with it. It's dynamic," he said.
Vice Chair Nick Aysseh asked if there was a way to further break up the minority populations at Holland Hill and McKinley, but Gallagher said the trade off was compromising the district's neighborhood school model.
"Right now it just so happens that those neighborhoods are near McKinley and Holland Hill," Gallagher said.
Board members also noted that the numbers in Milone and MacBroom's projections assumed students who attend schools outside their neighborhood to participate in special programs would return to their neighborhood school in a redistricting.
"Many — most — of these utilization numbers are inaccurate and I think that's very important for the public and for other town bodies to understand," board member Jennifer Maxon-Kennelly said.
Vitale concluded the discussion by emphasizing that any redistricting is at least a few years away and that much discussion will take place in the interim.
To view Milone and MacBroom's presentation, visit bit.ly/37NCH3n.
The city has started getting the word to neighbors about how to prepare for increased anticipating flooding in areas near the water.
Neighbors were presented with flood protection tips Tuesday evening during the East Shore Community Management Team’s monthly meeting, from Stacey Davis, City Plan commission staff member, and David Murphy, Milone & Macbroom manager of water resources planning. The meet took place at the Lighthouse Road firehouse.
Residents were informed that 1,901 acres of New Haven are within the city’s Special Flood Hazard Area (SFHA), East Shore being one of five areas determined by the Federal Emergency Management Administration (FEMA). The other SFHAs are West River, Quinnipiac River, Mill River, and the Harbor.
Murphy told residents to anticipate higher sea levels, more severe hurricanes, and more frequent floods, amid global climate change.
Murphy’s tips for its residents in the flood-prone Morris Cove and Annex neighborhoods included raising the foundations of homes and business, and avoiding walking or driving through waters during flash floods and immediately moving to higher ground.
The management team also unanimously voted at the meeting to host an outdoor summer movie night at Lighthouse Point Park on June 5, as part of the city’s community outdoor summer movie series.
BEACON FALLS — The town has a new engineering firm as well as new legal counsel.
The town has contracted with Milone & MacBroom, a civil engineering and landscape architecture firm based in Cheshire, for engineering services. Paul DeStefano, lead project engineer for transportation with the firm, is the town’s contact.
Milone & MacBroom will provide on-call engineering services for the town for three years, under the agreement. The firm’s fee is $175 per hour. Sometimes it may charge the town a flat rate for work on some projects.
“It does come down to hourly, but sometimes it may just be because they’re going to look at a project and they’re going to flat rate it for whatever that project might be,” First Selectman Gerard Smith said.
The town must give a 30-day written notice if it wants to cancel the agreement with Milone & MacBroom.
The town received eight bids for the job. Smith said he chose Milone & MacBroom because the firm is best suited to serve the town. He added the firm offers a broad range of services and can be a single point of contact for the town’s engineering needs.
If there were ever any doubts that enrollment in the Princeton Public Schools is on the upswing, those doubts were squashed by the findings released by a consulting firm at a special community meeting.
Milone & MacBroom, the consulting firm that was hired by school district officials to figure out how to handle anticipated growth, shared its findings at the Jan. 25 forum at Princeton High School.
Superintendent of Schools Steve Cochrane set the stage for the forum, stating that “we are here because of the students currently in the system and who we know are coming (in the next five to 10 years).”
The question is how to accommodate the students “in the most educationally and economically viable way” for the community, Cochrane said. It may mean additions to some schools, re-districting the four elementary schools, or adjustments in schedules, he said.
“We are here to figure it out together,” Cochrane said, as he handed over the meeting to Michael Zuba, the principal in charge at Milone & MacBroom, and project manager Rebecca Augur.
Zuba told the approximately 200 attendees that the objective is to look five or 10 years down the road and to present a range of options to accommodate the surge in student enrollment. Through such community forums, a preferred recommendation will be made, he said.
“It is still early in the process. There is still a lot of planning ahead for us,” Zuba said. He turned over the presentation to Augur, who explained what the consultants had discovered in demographics, housing and enrollment projections.
Roads aren’t designed safely. Cops don’t enforce traffic laws. The laws are unclear. Traffic culture is broken.
New Haveners confronted officials with that withering assessment of the city’s streets, where drivers struck and killed nine pedestrians last year and another two so far this year.
The occasion was a Safe Streets New Haven meeting Tuesday night that drew 50 people from throughout the city Safe Streets New Haven to the Betsy Ross Parish Hall on Kimberly Avenue in the Hill.
Organized in large part by local traffic engineer Ryan O’Hara, the nearly two-hour meeting saw pedestrians and cyclists and bus riders and car drivers voice their concerns directly to Mayor Justin Elicker, Police Chief Otoniel Reyes, City Engineer Giovanni Zinn, Transportation, Traffic & Parking Director Doug Hausladen, State Rep. Roland Lemar, and a half-dozen alders who participated in the discussion.
The group focused its ire on the legal, structural, and cultural problems that make moving around this city so dangerous.
Click here to download a police crash data handout that notes that 186 pedestrians were struck by vehicles citywide in 2019. That’s 71 more than the 115 pedestrians who were struck citywide the year before.
Tuesday night’s gathering heard residents call for a panoply of traffic fixes: more and better lighting on the city’s darkest speedways, the enforcement of “vulnerable user” laws designed to protect pedestrians and cyclists, state legalization of red-light cameras, the narrowing of urban mini-highways like Whalley Avenue and Whitney Avenue, and the installation of speed bumps, raised intersections, protected bike lanes, and signalized crosswalks throughout the city.
“We’re here tonight not to point fingers but to help the city move forward and make this place we call home a lot safer,” O’Hara said at the top of the meeting. “We’re here as a group of advocates because we care.”
Participant after participant after participant also stressed that, in New Haven, people simply do not follow traffic safety laws. That’s true for pedestrians and drivers and cyclists alike.
On behalf of Milone & MacBroom, Inc. (MMI) and our 185 employees, we are pleased to announce that on January 6, 2020, we were acquired by and merged into an international consulting firm known as SLR. SLR is a UK-based environmental engineering and consulting firm with over 1,500 employees located in offices throughout the UK, Ireland, Australia, South Africa, New Zealand, Namibia, Canada, and the US. SLR delivers advice and technical support on a wide range of strategic and project-specific issues to a diverse base of business, regulatory, and government clients.
The foundation for this decision was based on an extremely unique cultural connection between our firms where our relationship with our clients, our commitment to our communities, and collaboration among technical groups form the basis of our practice.
MMI brings to SLR an experienced and extremely talented team with extensive skills in civil engineering, transportation, landscape architecture, community planning, and water resources. SLR expands MMI's existing operations and capabilities in permitting and compliance, air and noise quality, acoustics and vibration, land remediation, transactional due diligence, industrial hygiene, and solid and hazardous waste management. With the enlarged technical service offerings and broader geographic coverage in the US and throughout the world, it is exciting to reflect on the new opportunities that this acquisition provides for all of our employees and how we can support your operations and businesses going forward.
This is truly a unique partnership, and we are extremely excited about our future together. If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out to me or any of our staff.
Hill residents Yousufu and Mikiri Sheriff received a helping hand from the Neighborhood Housing Services (NHS) to celebrate Martin Luther King Jr. Day with a community service project of fixing up the family’s basement.
On Sunday evening Yousufu received a last-minute call from Stephen Cremin-Endes, NHS director of community building & organizing, who offered to lend a helping hand from the nonprofit housing builder and Milone & MacBroom civil engineers and landscape architects.
The volunteer team of 15 began working at 9 a.m to help the Sheriff family clear out and repaint the basement of the 25 Stevens St. home.
“I haven’t seen the floor in years,” Yousufu said.
In the backyard, the team organized a dozen bags of clothing and piles of household items to be donated.
Yousufu and his wife have been collecting used clothing items and school supplies since 1989 to send to families who have recently left refugee camps in Liberia, Guinea, and Sierra Leone.
The clothing items packaged in a 75-gallon barrel to be shipped off included brand-new or lightly used notebooks to help provide the families in need with school supplies. NHS will work with the Sheriffs to raise money for the barrels (about $45 each) and shipping costs (about $150 each).
The refugee experience is something Yousufu has lived through. “Since I got here, I have been doing whatever I need to, to be able to send these items to those in need,” he said.
The American Sports Builders Association named Bryant University's Beirne Stadium Football Field a 2019 Distinguished Single Field Facility.
ASBA’s awards program highlights excellence in sports facility construction and recognizes those facilities built or designed by ASBA members that have attained this goal.
Milone & MacBroom was retained by the university to design and prepare plans to convert its existing natural grass football field to synthetic turf.
Milone & MacBroom, in partnership with developer Fortuitous Partners, was pleased to take part in the unveiling of Tidewater Landing, a $400 million mixed-use development planned along the Seekonk River in Pawtucket, RI.
As the largest economic development initiative in the City’s history, the Opportunity Zone project will include office, residential, hotel, and retail space, anchored on one end of the development by a 175,000-square-foot indoor sports event center and the other end by the focal point: a $45 million, 7,500-seat soccer stadium and sports complex intended to house a future United Soccer League (USL) team.
Milone & MacBroom, along with architect partners JCJ and Odell, helped envision and conceive the project and will serve as primary site planner and designer.
Fortuitous Partners, whose founder Brett Johnson is chairman of the Phoenix Rising Football Club in Phoenix, Arizona, will privately fund the stadium, with public investment in infrastructure and other aspects of the development.
Milone & MacBroom’s concept design for the Former Lyndon Highway Garage Site Park received a Public Places Merit Award from the Vermont chapter of the American Society of Landscape Architects.
In its awards, VTASLA celebrates Vermont’s public spaces and special exterior or interior spaces that have been defined or enriched by design or planning, and recognizes regulations, studies, plans, or policies that promote positive, active uses of the state's public spaces.
North Haven’s Slate School was presented with an Honor Award from the Connecticut chapter of the American Society of Landscape Architects in its Connecticut Professional & Student Awards.
The annual awards recognize excellence in landscape architectural design, planning and analysis, communications, and research.
Milone & MacBroom led the visioning, conceptual site layout, and final design components of the nature-based, non-profit, K-6 elementary school, which received the honor in the Landscape Architectural Design / Built Works - Corporate / Institutional category.
At last month’s PPS Board of Education (BOE) meeting, Superintendent Steve Cochrane cited growth projections of several hundred students for the district over the next five years and emphasized the challenges of managing and finding space for that growth.
“We need to plan for that growth in ways that consider numerous factors, including facility and play area expansion, land use throughout the community, sustainability, potential redistricting, educational vision, and, of course, affordability and diversity,” he said. (...)
Emphasizing that the planning process had no preconceived outcomes, would generate multiple possibilities, and would involve the whole community, Cochrane reviewed three stages to take place between now and June 2020 in collaboration with the planning firm Milone & MacBroom (M&M).
In the initial fact-finding stage, through January, M&M is reviewing enrollment projections, housing growth, the status of district facilities, building capacity, and educational programming.
From the end of January through March, M&M will be developing various scenarios in collaboration with the Board, the community, and district professionals “to generate a vision for our schools, to prioritize needs, and to review preliminary alternatives for achieving our goals,” Cochrane said.
From April to early June, the planners will narrow down the scenarios and provide a range of recommendations.
Cochrane pointed out that there are three elements involved in the critical process of ongoing community engagement and input.
A technical advisory committee, a kind of steering committee comprised of district professionals and community experts, will help the consultants navigate the complexities of the planning process. Their first meeting with M&M will be on Friday, January 10.
With a goal of ensuring that all voices are heard — and that people are informed and engaged — a group of community liaisons will also be formed, representing a variety of stakeholders throughout the community.
The third element of community engagement will be a series of interactive workshops, informational meetings, surveys, and focus groups.
The first public forum will be held on Saturday, January 25, from 9 to 10:30 a.m., in the Princeton High School cafeteria. During that workshop, the M&M consultants will present their findings and impressions so far and engage the attendees to work together to establish goals and priorities.
A plan to improve the features at Schenck’s Island and Merwin Meadows is moving forward.
Michael Doherty and Suzanne Schore of Milone and MacBroom engineers reviewed proposed conceptual master plans with the Schenck’s Island/Merwin Meadows (SIMM) Committee at a special meeting on Dec. 5.
The plans were developed following workshops, public meetings and public viewings to get input from residents about what they would like to see on these town properties.
“The SIMM Committee had two overarching goals that we hoped to achieve by making improvements to the two parks. We want to enhance economic development in Wilton Center, and we want to inspire long-term environmental stewardship in the Wilton community,” SIMM Chair Susan DiLoreto said after the meeting.
She said the proposed plans reflect public comment discussed at two charettes and the goals of the SIMM Committee. Both proposed plans would be phased in over five years.
Funding for parts of each plan will be raised privately, not through taxpayer dollars.
Town employees are reviewing the proposed plan to identify which components would be considered maintenance and therefore town-funded costs, DiLoreto said.
“They will also be providing the SIMM committee with the suggested priorities within the two proposed plans. Once our review is completed, we will be presenting the proposed plan to the Board of Selectmen,” she said.
At the December 2019 Board of Education meeting Kevin Fuselier, a landscape architect with Milone & MacBroom presented three options for Central Middle School fields: engineered natural grass, synthetic turf, and a hybrid of both.
At CMS, after it rains the fields can be closed for days.
CMS principal Tom Healy said the full size baseball field was not used last year by the school’s competitive baseball team that plays against Western and Eastern. “It always had water on it,” he said. “We’re at a disadvantage.”
Shortcomings came up two years ago when the GHS Rugby team sought to use CMS fields for weekday practices. (The arrangement didn’t pan out because by the time the BOE had all the information P&Z had requested about temporary diesel powered lights, the Rugby season had ended).
Milone and MacBroom, based in Cheshire, CT, has worked with Greenwich in the past. They did the turf at Cos Cob Park.
Currently at CMS, in addition to the full size baseball diamond, there is a youth baseball diamond and a multi-purpose field used for school recess and PE classes.
To date Milone & MacBroom have done a topographic survey and a traffic analysis, including crash history around the school, existing traffic volumes and current field activity schedules.
“The adjacent roadway system would be able to accommodate traffic associated with any of the options we present. No mitigation is required.” –Kevin Fuselier, Milone & MacBroom
Nor did they find wetlands, watercourses or other “regulated resources.”
Mr. Fuselier said his firm also looked for history of contamination.
They contacted town land use officials and researched the site’s history including aerial photos dating back to the 1930s.
The best news were the results of soil sample testing.
“The soil at CMS does not contain contaminants. It would be considered clean fill if excavated and removed from the site.” – Kevin Fuselier, Milone & MacBroom
“I want us to celebrate having clean soil, because that’s not something that happens all the time in Greenwich,” said Kathleen Stowe. “Clean soil at Central!”
Mr. Fuselier presented three options at the preliminary design stage.
For the second year in a row, MMI has achieved Silver level recognition from the American Heart Association for taking significant steps to build a culture of health in the workplace.
The American Heart Association has defined best practices for employers to use to build a culture of health for their employees in the workplace. The American Heart Association’s Workplace Health Achievement Index measures the extent to which the company has implemented those workplace health best practices. Companies recognized at the Silver level have achieved an Index score of 130 - 174 out of a maximum 217 points.
The American Heart Association is devoted to saving people from heart disease and stroke—the two leading causes of death in the world. They team with millions of volunteers to fund innovative research, fight for stronger public health policies, and provide lifesaving tools and information to prevent and treat these diseases. The Dallas-based association is the nation’s oldest and largest voluntary organization dedicated to fighting heart disease and stroke.
Visit our Careers page to learn more about what makes MMI a great place to work!
At a panel discussion on safe road design Monday, traffic planning experts discussed a few of the measures that cities in Connecticut are adopting, or might consider adopting, to make roads safer. On the menu: roundabouts, and trimming the fat from car lanes in what planners call a road diet.
Experts presented those two options for streets at the second Annual Multi-Modal Transit Summit at the Yale Forestry School’s Kroon Hall Monday afternoon in a session on how to make streets safer.
“There’s some 35 to 40,000 traffic fatalities in total in the United States per year. It’s really a big issue,” said Neil Olinski of Milone and MacBroom. “We want to rein in speeds as much as we can through design.”
Speed significantly increases the risk of serious injury or death, he said. According to his presentation, when a car is driving 20 miles per hour, the risk of death or serious injury from a collision with a pedestrian is 18 percent. At 30 mph, the risk increases to 50 percent, and at 40 mph to 77 percent.
Speed is dangerous not only because of the increased force of impact. It also increases the likelihood of a crash because it takes longer to stop, and because drivers do not notice as much of their periphery at high speeds.
There are a number of ways to slow cars. Roadside elements and roundabouts are one way. Decreasing lane width and the number of lanes, called a “road diet” is another.
Narrower lanes, explained Olinski, prompt cars to drive slower. And when there are fewer lanes, it frees up space for bikes. It also reduces the risk of a multi-threat crash, when a car in one lane stops for a pedestrian, but a car in the adjacent lane does not see the pedestrian until it’s too late.
New Haven Department of Transportation, Traffic, and Parking Director Doug Hausladen said that road diets typically refer to two-way streets where a four-lane road is reduced to three lanes. He said not many roads in New Haven are ready for that type of diet, because there are not many four-lane roads. Large streets like Whalley Avenue, with five lanes, are more complicated.
“It’s ripe for transformation,” he said of Whalley, “but it’s not ripe for a typical four-to-three-lane road diet.”
He said the city is planning a road diet on Union Avenue near Union Station to make more space for pedestrians and to make traffic flow more freely.
Olinski used Church Street to show an example of what a one-way road diet might look like. His graphic would reduce it to two lanes, with a bike lane between the sidewalk and a row of parked cars. That road diet, he said, would only be an interim solution before the road becomes a two-way street.
EAST HARTFORD — Demolition on the long-deserted Silver Lane Showcase Cinemas began on Monday, taking a major visual step toward revitalizing a notoriously derelict area.
The interior abatement of the building was completed Oct. 30, after having started Oct. 2. Town officials say the overall demolition should take between 45 to 60 days.
Town Council Chairman Richard Kehoe said that materials such as lead and asbestos were removed from the site weeks ago.
That’s standard procedure, he said, adding there was nothing surprising, as the building was inspected by an expert prior to the town purchasing it.
Town officials said that once the abatement of the exterior walls is complete, the entire site would be cleared of any further hazardous material.
The former entrance side of the cinema facing Interstate 84 was being torn down on Monday, and the entire area was fenced off while police patrolled the site.
The demolition project is being performed in strict accordance with the state Department of Public Health guidelines, town officials said. Project oversight is being performed by Milone and MacBroom Engineering Consulting, based out of Cheshire.
Milone & MacBroom Vice President Jeanine Armstrong Gouin was one of 10 extraordinary women from the environment, ecology and sustainability fields honored on November 4th at the 26th Annual Induction Ceremony and Celebration titled “Women: A Force for Nature." In addition, four women were inducted into the Connecticut Women’s Hall of Fame. The event was held at the Connecticut Convention Center in Hartford and drew over 850 attendees from across the state.
Milone & MacBroom was proud to be a sponsor for this event. Several of Jeanine’s co-workers and family members came out to celebrate this special occasion with her.
The Honorees and Inductees in the Connecticut Women’s Hall of Fame serve as role models providing inspiration and examples of what it means to take an active role in your future. The Connecticut Women’s Hall of Fame is the state’s premier resource for women’s history and a valuable asset for Connecticut residents.
Milone & MacBroom, Inc. is pleased to announce that we have relocated our New Hampshire offices to accommodate the company’s continued expansion.
Fifteen multidisciplinary employees from the firm’s Manchester and Bedford offices have moved into a larger office located at 2 Commerce Drive in Bedford.
Effective October 1st, the relocation brings Milone & MacBroom’s Northern New England building sciences, geotechnical engineering, dam engineering, construction-phase testing, and environmental practice areas together and strengthens the collaboration between the groups. The expanded space will also allow for continued growth.
The firm’s corporate office is located in Cheshire, Connecticut, with additional regional offices in New Haven, Connecticut; Portland, Maine; Springfield, Massachusetts; New Paltz, New York; and Waterbury, Vermont.
Milone & MacBroom is a privately-owned, multidisciplinary consulting firm that has offered professional services across a wide range of disciplines, serving both public agencies and private companies, since 1984. Milone & MacBroom combines the expertise of engineers, environmental scientists, landscape architects, planners, and support staff to apply a collaborative and holistic approach to its work. To learn more, visit www.miloneandmacbroom.com/about.
WALLINGFORD — A survey of more than 2,500 people with connections to the town’s school system found that nearly 80 percent favored some form of significant renovation of district school buildings.
The results of the survey, conducted May 23- July 15, were presented to the Board of Education Monday night at Town Hall. The results were presented to the board by Rebecca Augur, a principal partner with the Cheshire-based Milone & MacBroom consulting firm.
Milone & MacBroom has been advising the board since last year on district facilities needs with school enrollments expected to decline. The firm initially presented six options involving all of the district’s schools and the board had reduced the number of choices to three by the beginning of April.
The first of the three options called for maintaining the district’s two high schools and two middle schools and making only selected capital improvements, at a cost of $15.6 million.
Vermont Business Magazine Removal of Mill Pond Dam on Indian Brook in Colchester is now under way following a two-year design and permitting process. The Vermont Natural Resources Council (VNRC) has been leading this project since the dam owner, Kim Scofield, requested assistance to remove the dam.
Scofield said, “The dam is a financial burden I can live without. I deeply appreciate VNRC’s work to remove it and I’m looking forward to seeing Indian Brook flowing freely through my property.”
Dams have existed on Indian Brook since the early 19th century to provide power for a series of sawmills, but the Mill Pond Dam has not served a purpose since the last mill burned down in 1941. Meanwhile, its impoundment has eliminated 2,200 feet of free-flowing riverine habitat, which is now choked with sediment carried from upstream. The deteriorating dam is classified by the state Dam Safety Program as a “significant hazard,” meaning there is potential for loss of life and “appreciable” economic loss should the dam fail.
The Mill Pond Dam removal project entails removing the dam and 30,000 cubic yards of sediment that has filled in the former Mill Pond, which contains an estimated 17 tons of phosphorus. Removal will prevent the sediment from being carried downstream and into Mallets Bay. Phosphorus is a nutrient that contributes to algae blooms and excessive aquatic plant growth in Lake Champlain that degrade water quality, harm fish and wildlife, and limit recreational use of the lake.
In place of the Mill Pond impoundment, a new floodplain and stream channel will be established. Next year, trees and shrubs will be planted in the new floodplain. The end result will be a natural, free-flowing stream. There will no longer be a public safety hazard posed by the deteriorating dam.
“There are hundreds of small dams in Vermont that no longer serve any useful purpose,” said B.T. Fitzgerald, Dam Project & Vermont Dam Task Force Coordinator at VNRC. “They degrade water quality and aquatic habitat, restrict the movement of fish and other wildlife, and pose risks to public safety. VNRC is very interested in helping dam owners who want to remove unwanted structures, which can have lasting benefits for entire communities and ecosystems.”
VNRC is leading this project with support from its partners, The Nature Conservancy in Vermont and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
Funding for design, permitting, and construction is being provided by the Lake Champlain Basin Program, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation – Clean Water Initiative Program, Vermont Department of Fish and Wildlife – Watershed Grant Program, and The Nature Conservancy in Vermont. Milone and MacBroom Engineers of Waterbury and G.W. Tatro Construction of Jeffersonville are the principal contractors for the project.
VNRC completed a feasibility study and preliminary engineering in August 2018 for removal of the Mill Pond Dam on Indian Brook in Colchester. The study was funded by a $35,000 Ecosystem Restoration Grant from the Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation, Clean Water Initiative Program.
For more information about the work VNRC, The Nature Conservancy in Vermont and other partner organizations are doing to remove unused and unmaintained dams across Vermont, visit freevtrivers.org.
This project was funded by an agreement awarded by the Great Lakes Fishery Commission to the New England Interstate Water Pollution Control Commission in partnership with the Lake Champlain Basin Program. NEIWPCC manages LCBP’s personnel, contract, grant and budget tasks and provides input on the program’s activities through a partnership with the LCBP Steering Committee.
PROSPECT – Most of the 70 or so people who filled the council chambers at Town Hall on Aug. 8 for a hearing on a Route 69 sidewalk project urged the Town Council to support the plan, citing safety concerns for pedestrians – particularly children – among their top reasons.
The Town Council agreed.
The council voted 7-0 to accept a Local Transportation Capital Improvement Program grant for the project. In a separate 7-0 vote, the council authorized Mayor Robert J. Chatfield to transfer $77,700 from the town’s general fund balance to the nonrecurring capital account to cover the cost of designing the sidewalk.
The state Department of Transportation has committed to fund $752,288 in LOTCIP funding for the sidewalk project. The town is responsible for the cost of the design work.
The plan is to build a 5-foot-wide sidewalk that’s roughly 3,100 feet long along the west side of Route 69, also known as Waterbury Road, from the intersection of routes 69 and 68 in front of St. Anthony Church to the entrance of Hotchkiss Field. The plan includes a pedestrian crosswalk signal at the intersection of Old Schoolhouse Road and Route 69.
“I think we really need it. It’s going to make a big difference in our lives. It’s going to improve safety and improve our downtown area,” said council member Carla Perugini-Erickson, who chairs the town’s sidewalk task force.
The task force spent the past several years working on the project and pursuing grant funding.
There are small sections of sidewalk in front of the CVS Pharmacy on Route 69 and Town Hall, but there are none on the west side of the road. Those who favored the project said people walk along the heavily-traveled road and it’s unsafe. They pointed to children, especially from Long River Middle School, who walk on the road to get to Hotchkiss Field or one of the nearby stores.
Long River Middle School Principal Derek Muharem, who lives in Prospect and has three children, said it’s typical for 15 to 20 students to walk to Hotchkiss Field after school.
“I think it (the sidewalk) is something the town is lacking,” he said.
Resident Michael McInerney said when he drives through town he always sees people walking down the street and it’s a safety issue.
“I think it’s a great idea. It’s long overdue,” he said about the sidewalk.
A few residents felt the sidewalk isn’t necessary and expressed concerns about the town’s long-term liability for the sidewalk. Since the sidewalk is built on a state road in a commercial area, officials said the town is responsible for maintaining it, including snow removal.
Resident James DeCosta said even though the town received a state grant to build the sidewalk, the money still comes out of taxpayers’ pockets.
Milone & MacBroom, an engineering firm out of Cheshire, will design the project and oversee the bid process. The council didn’t take action on a proposal from Milone & MacBroom to inspect the project during construction for $68,000, deciding to wait until the start of construction is closer to explore the town’s options.
The design stage is expected to take about five to six months. The project will go out to bid over the winter, and work is expected to start in the spring of 2020.
We forget the meanings of things we see and use everyday. The Merritt Parkway is a national treasure that has never ceased to evolve, and that evolution has had its share of irony.
Governor Wilbur Cross announced the creation of the Merritt Parkway in 1934. The road was intended to take traffic off of hugely congested Route 1, and the proposed divided highway roamed through “The Gold Coast” of Connecticut, to Stratford, to the Housatonic River where the Wilbur Cross Parkway now begins. Named after then U.S. Rep. Congressman Schuyler Merritt, the 37 mile road was initially finished in 1940, extending the Hutchinson River Parkway, and then later further extended by the Wilbur Cross Parkway.
Rumors fly about that the 69 concrete bridges were designed by Yale students, but in truth, George L. Dunkelberger was the architect, much of which was paid for by the New Deal’s WPA (“Works Progress Administration”) and PWA (“Public Works Administration”) at a time when the Federal Highway System was not even envisioned — and World War II was yet to force America into being a world power.
Like other WPA projects, the goal was to sop up the Depression Era unemployed, but all American roads were almost always locally designed and funded (tolls were installed in 1940) and the notion of “park” was as important to the proposal as any sense of increased mass transit. After all, the Merritt went through largely failed farmland, way north of even the nascent suburban extension of New York City, and including 22,000 trees and 40,000 plantings.
The Merritt, which was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1991, and was declared by the state of Connecticut to be a “State Scenic Highway” and by the national government to be a “National Scenic Byway” courses through some of the most expensive residential real estate in the country, including towns like Greenwich. The road has also been declared to be “endangered” by some as new roads like Route 8 and Interstate 91, which now dump ever increasing waves of traffic onto its four lanes. One element of the connection to Route 8 that had to be remade was rendered into a place called “No Man’s Land” as the “park” disappeared in favor of the “highway.”
The road’s tolls are 30 years gone (but may return), and we are seeing the endgame of a decade’s worth of renovation. The rethinking of the Merritt had begun in 1992, with the Department of Transportation introducing a program for improvement in 1994. After the good work of private consultants such as landscape architect Shavaun Towers and architect Herb Newman, the “shovel ready” status of the Merritt’s rejuvenation made it a prime candidate for federal “stimulus” spending. In February of 2009, President Barack Obama’s “American Recovery and Reinvestment Act” allowed for an initial award of $36 million to improve on and off ramps, install sinuous Cor-Ten Steel and wood guide rails, and gentle concrete curbing, which combine with new trees and signage, per drawings of Milone and MacBroom site engineers and landscape architects. One month after Obama took office in 2009, $126,000 worth of signs proclaimed that the final tally of $69 million worth of “stimulus” was real and immediate.
Shelburne Community School, Lewis Creek Association, and the town of Shelburne have partnered to actively improve water quality of stormwater running off the school property and flowing to Lake Champlain.
Following the last day of school, a bioretention area, also known as a raingarden, was constructed outside the school entrance in the center island. This mostly lawn area was transformed into a depression filled with attractive plants that filters pollution out of water before it gets to McCabe’s Brook. Students at the school worked with the Lewis Creek Association, water resource engineers and school staff to help identify areas where stormwater improvements could be made. The entrance area was identified as the most important location that could collect dirty water running off of paved surfaces. Engineers and watershed stewards will be visiting the school classrooms in the fall to teach the students about watershed science and the stormwater improvements.
All of the stormwater runoff from the Shelburne Community School property flows into McCabe’s Brook and Shelburne Bay; Lower McCabe’s Brook is listed as a state impaired surface water for aquatic life support due to nutrient pollution. The brook also has documented erosion problems and elevated turbidity and nutrient concentrations during base flow conditions (South Chittenden River Watch/VT DEC, 2016). Nutrients like these can cause serious algal blooms (including harmful blue-green algae) in the lake, and can lead to fish die-offs. Chloride (which is in road salt, sodium chloride) is also bad for the environment and can kill off plants. Currently, runoff from the Shelburne Community School roof, parking lots, driveways, playgrounds and fields is collected in a series of swales, catch basins and pipes that drain to the west and directly discharge into McCabe’s Brook and Shelburne Bay. At many campus locations, runoff travels directly from an impervious surface to an aging pipe network with no treatment. The town of Shelburne has been listed as stormwater impaired, so action on a large scale is critical to retract impairment status and reduce the large amount of nutrient-rich stormwater directly entering into McCabe’s Brook, then Shelburne Bay.
Lewis Creek Association was awarded a grant in 2017 from the Lake Champlain Basin Program to finish construction design plans and implementation of a rain garden on the Shelburne Community School campus. This bioretention area, in the center of the circle where busses drop off children, was calculated to drain and filter 0.7 acres of land, 36 percent of which is impervious surface (and highly trafficked, and likely to have high chloride concentrations from road and sidewalk salt use). This type of bioretention area would reduce flows and pollutant inputs discharging to McCabe’s Brook (which then enters Shelburne Bay approximately 1 mile downstream).
As part of the project, school visits with fourth graders were completed, and students were taught lessons about the water cycle, watersheds, how stormwater moves and the plan for the rain garden.
An engineering firm (Milone & MacBroom) was selected, the final design for the bioretention area was completed and bids for construction were acquired. All bids were over budget, so the Lewis Creek Association obtained the support of the Shelburne Highway Department to assist with portions of construction to reduce costs. Construction was scheduled to occur in the fall of 2018, but weather events (rain, snow, and extended freezing temperatures) prevented scheduled construction.
WILTON, CT — The Planning and Zoning Commission has scheduled a public hearing for Thursday, July 18, beginning at 7:00 p.m. at Trackside, 15 Station Road to accept public comment on revisions to the town's Plan of Conservation and Development (POCD).
The hearing follows approximately 18 months of study by the Planning and Zoning Commission with participation and input from other town boards and commissions. Milone and MacBroom, Inc., a planning and engineering firm based in Cheshire, has provided assistance in preparing the plan.
The POCD is a state-mandated guidance document that provides a ten year vision for the town and serves to guide decision-making with respect to growth, development, and conservation. As a comprehensive plan, the POCD examines a wide spectrum of topics likely to influence Wilton over the coming decade; including demographics, housing, land use, community facilities, infrastructure, economic development, open space, recreation, transportation and sustainability. In addition to examining data and trends, the plan provides direction with regard to community priorities.
A draft of the document is available here. In addition to public comment taken at the hearing, comments may also be posted at this site between now and the July 18 hearing date.
DERBY — Plans to give downtown a long-overdue makeover is inching closer to reality.
The Board of Aldermen at its meeting last week voted to approve three contracts for engineering, planning and consulting services related to development on the south side of Main Street.
According to the city Chief of Staff Andrew Baklik, work will include extension of the design of Factory Street, the design of an intersection at Main and Elizabeth streets, and the design of a roadway that connects Elizabeth Street to Factory Street.
“These are important steps that will run parallel to the Main Street (Route 34) widening project,” Baklik said.
Baklik said the engineering and planning work will be paid using funds from a $5 million grant the city received from the state Department of Economic and Community Development.
Baklik said the same firm responsible for the design of the Route 34 widening project, Luchs, DeCarlo & Doll, was awarded the first contract, and will be responsible for the design work for the roads surrounding Main Street.
“Some of the work can be viewed as an extension of the Route 34 widening project, which includes the design of an intersection at Elizabeth and Main and the extension of the design of Factory Street,” Baklik said. “The ‘U’ Street Plan that would join Elizabeth to Factory Street, 3D renderings and traffic studies related to the roadway are also a part of this contract.”
Engineering firm Milone & MacBroom was awarded the second contract to do “updated base-mapping, geotechnical/environmental assessment of the land, the question of filling versus utilizing the existing topography and preliminary utility and infrastructure work,” according to Baklik.
We are proud to announce that MMI has received a 2019 Cigna Well-Being Award for Honorable Culture of Well-Being.
Each year, Cigna selects a group of organizations for Cigna Well-Being Award recognition. This is a distinct honor for workplaces that are making a difference in the health and well-being of their employees. The Well-Being Award application evaluates areas such as leadership, organizational foundations, policy and environment, program implementation and participation.
Thank you to our employees for taking part in our health & wellness programs. Visit our Careers page to learn more about what makes MMI a great place to work!
SOUTHINGTON — As school board members plan to renovate aging elementary schools, they are also considering a host of redistricting options that include closing Flanders School.
Board of Education members said they are a long way from determining the future of any schools and are just gathering information on enrollment projections, building utilization rates and class sizes.
Consultant Milone & MacBroom presented its findings and suggested six redistricting scenarios at the Thursday school board meeting. Proposals included redistricting elementary schools, closing Flanders and redistributing students to surrounding schools and redistricting the middle schools.
School board Chairman Brian Goralski said the information and scenarios are just a starting point.
“None of those models will be the final product,” he said.
Goralski hopes to have more information to the public and town officials this fall.
Flanders and Kelley schools have never been renovated and Derynoski hasn’t been significantly renovated since 1992. Before spending money on upgrades, Goralski said it is important to understand the district’s needs.
The study identified a 90 percent building utilization rate as ideal. Milone & MacBroom found that among the schools the district plans to renovate, Derynoski, Hatton and Strong had the most underutilized space while Thalberg, Plantsville and Kelley had the least. The study recommended shifting students to under-utilized schools.
PLAINFIELD — The Select Board has sat down with the engineering firm it picked to design the replacement of a troubled bridge in town.
Milone & MacBroom, engineering consultants from Waterbury, inspected bridges on Mill Street and Brook Road a few years ago and determined they weren’t wide enough to handle major rainstorms, suggesting the town would need to widen the underpasses of the bridges to allow water and debris to flow through smoothly in the event of a flood.
The Brook Road bridge suffered serious storm damage twice in less than five years — most recently in the summer of 2015 — and is considered the higher priority of the two.
As part of its analysis, the town teamed up with the University of Vermont, which used drones to get a bird’s-eye view of the Great Brook. The photos taken before and after a major storm showed the movement of logs and debris down the Great Brook and where they got stuck.
At a special meeting Wednesday, the board met with representatives from Vanasse Hangen Brustlin Inc., an engineering firm based out of Burlington. The board picked VHB to do the design and permitting work for the project. The town is using a grant it received from the Federal Emergency Management Agency for the design. The budget for the design is $92,617 and the grant has a 25 percent match from the town that was worked into the budget voters approved on Town Meeting Day in March.
The plan is to replace the bridge with a wider one to allow water and debris to flow through easier without getting stuck and causing flooding.
Milone & MacBroom is consulting on the design of the project. Board member Tammy Farnham said while she recognizes the bridge needs to be addressed, she wondered if anything could be done to stop debris from flowing into the village in the first place.
“I’m just concerned with the amount of debris in that brook,” she said.
Board chairwoman Sasha Thayer brought up a project recently completed in Barre where structures were installed to catch debris on Gunners Brook for flood mitigation.
Roy Schiff, an engineer with Milone & MacBroom, said there isn’t much room to put such structures in that part of the Great Brook. Schiff said if the town did install those structures it would have to constantly maintain them so they don’t get filled up and alter the flow of the river which would be difficult in that area due to lack of space.
SOUTH WINDSOR — The school system’s projected spike in enrollment combined with dwindling available housing stock have some town officials worried that South Windsor can’t handle more growth.
But School Superintendent Kathleen Carter said she’s planning ahead and that growth “is a good problem to have.”
Outdated enrollment projections showed a gradual decline in student enrollment from 4,179 students in 2013 to 3,485 in 2022. Updated data in 2018 revealed opposite trends, however — enrollment growing steadily from 4,114 students in 2015 to over 4,700 expected in 2022 — another 1,215 students more than previously expected in that final year.
In the elementary schools, officials said, that’s an additional 396 students over the next eight years than formerly anticipated.
Families are flocking to South Windsor for the quality of its schools, Carter said, but that rate of increasing enrollment “is not without it’s challenges.”
In an April presentation to the Planning and Zoning Commission, Carter and demographers with Milone & MacBroom Inc. shared what is driving the new enrollment numbers, the impact on housing sales, and how the school system can prepare.
Public Information Meeting and Field Walk for Pedestrian Safety Study on June 5, 2019
The Town of Southbury is initiating a Pedestrian Safety Study of Main Street South between U.S Route 6 to Route 172. The Town has selected Milone & MacBroom, Inc. (MMI) to conduct this study.
The Town and MMI will conduct a field walk of the corridor and an evening public information meeting on Wednesday, June 5, 2019. The field walk will begin at 2:00 p.m. The public information meeting will begin at 7:00 p.m. Both events are open to the public, and will start or be held in Room 205 of the Southbury Town Hall, 501 Main Street South, Southbury, CT 06488.
It is the Town's policy to keep persons informed and involved when such projects are undertaken. If you are a user of this corridor, the Town is requesting your presence at one or both of these events so that you may share your concerns with us and our consultant so that your input can be reflected in the project's development.
What recreational features would you like to see at Schenck’s Island and Merwin Meadows?
Town officials are circulating draft concept plans to see what items interest the public for passive recreation on Schenck’s Island and the renovation of Merwin Meadows.
The idea for Schenck’s Island is to preserve and enhance the habitat; remove invasive plants; promote access, connectivity, and views; improve space for community events and groups; develop year-round uses and appeal.
Ideas for Merwin Meadows include: reinvigorating and updating the park; improving appeal of the pond and beach; expanding other recreational opportunities; enhancing connectivity; protecting river and forested areas.
The draft plans were presented at two recent public meetings and boards containing the plans will be available throughout the month of May for viewing and commentary at various locations around Wilton including: outside the Annual Town Meeting adjourned vote on Saturday, May 11 (weather permitting), Comstock Community Center, Wilton Town Hall, and the Wilton Library.
There are blank boards for people to write their comments.
Boards will also be available on the town website, wiltonct.org, under Schenck’s Island/Merwin Meadows Committee (SIMM). Comments can be sent to Mike.Conklin@wiltonct.org.
The boards contain a Plan A and Plan B for both Schenck’s Island and Merwin Meadows, showing possible elements for each site. It is not an “either/or” situation.
For Schenck’s Island, the goal is to add more educational and cultural ideas...
The plans were designed by Milone and MacBroom engineers who will consolidate the latest round of feedback to develop and present a final master plan to the Schenck’s Island and Merwin Meadows (SIMM) Committee for its review.
NORTH HAVEN — Children at Ridge Road Elementary School couldn’t wait to get on the school’s new playground, as now everyone can participate.
The school this week celebrated the completion of its all-inclusive playground, made possible through donations from Quinnipiac University along with a host of other people and companies.
The school’s old playground wasn’t accessible to students who use wheelchairs and it wasn’t friendly to students who are on the spectrum of having autism or other special needs. But the new one was designed with every student in mind.
“This started two years ago when we learned not all kids could play together on the playground,” Ridge Road PTA Vice President Christina Montanari said. “We thought even if one child isn’t able to play together, that’s one too many.”
“This was a remarkable concept that the Ridge Road PTA brought to me and today the vision has become reality,” Freda said.
Quinnipiac donated approximately $200,000 to the school project last year as part of the university’s voluntary payment to the town. Quinnipiac President Judy Olian said supporting community project such as the playground is exactly what an element of the school’s strategic plan is about.
“We’re incredibly committed to the communities we live in and we want them to be lifted by what we can do and resources we can provide,” Olian said. As the leader of an educational institution, Olian said the university recognizes how important play is for children’s learning.
“This is the seed of what kids become later,” she said.
Freda said Quinnipiac has been “an outstanding partner” for the town in general and on the playground project.
PTA member Erin Lamb’s son Isaiah, who uses a wheelchair, wasn’t able to get to the old playground where his friends were playing, but the pathways leading to the new playground allow him to get there independently, she said.
The playground features ramps to almost all the areas of the structure so Isaiah can be on the playground with his friends and includes ground level ride-ons.
“This gives him the opportunity to be included with his friends,” Lamb said. “Because he couldn’t get to the old playground, he was limited with what he could do with his friends. His classmates are always inclusive of him, but there were things he couldn’t do outside the classroom with them. This gives him self-worth and makes him part of the class inside and outside.”
In addition to accommodating kids with physical limitations, the playground accommodates children with social or sensory special needs who might find a loud, fast play area intimidating. The playground includes tactile pieces, quiet seating areas, musical instruments and a freestanding rocking element for motion play that all accommodate children with different needs.
The Ridge Road staff and families raised $20,000 and the remaining $58,000 was pulled together from Calare Properties; Rotary International; Fantarella Dental Group; GT Landscaping & Excavation LLC; North Haven Education Foundation; and Brescome Barton Inc.
Design and installation for the project was done by Milone & MacBroom; Creative Recreation; GT Landscaping & Excavation LLC; and the Public Works Departments of the town and Board of Education.
Groton — Groton Board of Education Chair Kim Shepardson Watson said she remembers as a fledgling on the board the discussions about the importance of bringing Groton together into one space, but never thought it could happen.
But on Tuesday afternoon she and other officials and community members gathered for a groundbreaking ceremony at the future site of the new Groton Middle School, where heavy machinery was already at work. She noted the efforts by many people over the years toward creating the Groton 2020 plan to bring equity into the school system.
The middle school, which will be located adjacent to Robert E. Fitch High School and will serve all of Groton's middle school students, is expected to be completed by June 2020.
Watson said that though she cares about what the building will look like, for her, it's what's going to happen on the inside of the structure that's really important.
"It's going to be the learning. It's going to be the teaching. It's going to be bringing groups of people together and making us as a community really proud," she said.
State Sen. Heather Somers, R-Groton, thanked everyone who made the project possible over the years.
"When we talked about having the groundbreaking ceremony today, I was thinking back and it's hard to believe that almost eight years ago in 2011, when I was the mayor, we set up the first school planning task force, and there's been so many people that have been involved in getting this to the point where it is right now, where we’re going to be pouring concrete, I just heard, in a few days," she said.
Somers said none of it could be possible without the dedication of so many individuals that "stayed the course" over those eight years. She praised those who came together and supported the project, including project leaders, teachers, parents, administrators, students, community members and elected officials.
Somers presented Watson, Superintendent Michael Graner, and Town Manager John Burt with a citation from the General Assembly — which she had introduced with Reps. Christine Conley and Joe de la Cruz, both D-Groton — congratulating Groton on the project.
She also encouraged everyone to vote during the May 6 referendum on revising the Groton 2020 plan so the town can build two new elementary schools, rather than convert the existing middle schools into elementary schools. Though voters already approved the revised plan in December, another referendum needs to be held because the December referendum didn't meet the 30-day legal requirement for notification.
Town Mayor Patrice Granatosky thanked all the people from all different parts of the process who came together to finally make it happen. She said Conley and de la Cruz couldn't make the ceremony because they are in session in Hartford, but have done amazing work along with Somers.
"This building is going to be amazing," Permanent School Building Committee Chairman Robert Austin-LaFrance said, as he stood by other members of the committee.
NAUGATUCK – After years of planning, the Cross Street reconstruction project is underway.
Crews started work on the project on April 1, Public Works Director James Stewart said.
The first part of the project is realigning the Cross Street and Cotton Hollow Road intersection. The two roads intersect at an angle now. According to the plans, the two roads will be realigned so they meet at a T-intersection.
The project will also include full-depth reconstruction of the 4,150 feet of Cross Street from Route 8 to New Haven Road, horizontal and vertical realignments, and widening the street to a uniform 30 feet, as well as a new storm drainage system, curbing, retaining walls, sidewalks and guiderails.
“The road is getting widened and improved,” Stewart said.
The state bought two residential properties at 16 Cotton Hollow Road and 10 Cotton Hollow Road, and demolished the houses to straighten the road and the intersection. The demolition work was completed earlier this year. The project also required the state to acquire small portions of a dozen properties along Cross Street.
Stewart said the work will continue this year as long as weather allows and resume in the spring of 2020. The project is expected to be completed by July 2020, he said.
APRIL 10, 2019 — A large number of Weston residents turned out for a planning workshop about Town Center on Saturday, April 6, and it’s not too late to participate.
The workshop was run by a leading municipal consulting firm, Milone & MacBroom, which is helping the Planning and Zoning Commission develop a long-range Plan of Conservation and Development for Weston, as Connecticut municipalities are required by law to do every ten years.
The specific focus of Saturday’s session was for residents to specify what they want at Town Center in the future. It was a follow-up to the townwide survey conducted last November.
The Milone & MacBroom team spoke little but listened a lot. Participants circulated in small groups through several stations where they discussed ideas and rated how much value they put on various suggested amenities. Charts with large clusters of green stickers indicated popular ideas, red stickers meant an idea fell flat.
This is part of a planning process called a charrette, a methodology that relies on ongoing dialogue and an exchange of ideas between planners and stakeholders, especially the public.
In the next few weeks, the consultants will digest everything they heard at the workshop. They will then refine their ideas and present new ones at another workshop on May 4. It will be held at the Intermediate School cafetorium at 10:30 am.
GREENWICH — The town is taking a closer look at traffic congestion along the main corridor of Glenville, a problem that many say could get even worse if the state reinstates tolls on the Merritt Parkway and I-95.
Using a $2 million federal grant and operating under an Aug. 1 deadline, Greenwich will develop a preliminary plan to improve traffic flow in the small commercial area, which is known for its backups and slowdowns.
As part of that work, town officials and consultants from Milone & MacBroom met with about 20 residents and property owners Wednesday night at the Bendheim Western Greenwich Civic Center to hear ideas about how to make the area safer for drivers, pedestrians and bicyclists.
“We think over the next month we should get to a point where we would have preliminary concepts and then we can ultimately come up with a full concept for the corridor,” said Kwesi Brown, the lead project engineer from Milone & MacBroom.
He led the event with Gabriella Circosta Cohee, senior civil engineer for the town’s Department of Public Works. After the preliminary plan is completed, the town will be able to estimate how much the improvements could cost, they said.
As Connecticut considers the possible return of tolls, the improvements can’t come soon enough, said some residents, who are concerned that drivers seeking to avoid tolls may take short-cuts through Glenville.
“It’s going to be a nightmare,” resident Siegrun Pottgen said at the meeting. “It will bring a lot more traffic to the area. They will skip the tolls and come through here. It’s human nature.”
Before the meeting, business owners and property owners took a walking tour of the area. They were split into three groups to look at specific areas and give feedback to address the issues they found.
Section one focused on the stretch from Glenville Street to the Byram River. Section two concentrated on the Byram River to Pemberwick Road. The third section covered the stretch from Pemberwick Road to Weaver Street.
In section one, participants called for improved coordination of traffic signals to reduce bottlenecks as well as improvements for pedestrians at the driveway for the Stop & Shop complex. Drivers often line up in the parking spaces along Glenville as they wait to turn into the parking lot, they said.
“People want to make the whole area pedestrian- and bicycle-friendly so that there’s safe access to the shopping center,” Cohee said. “Maybe that would include improving the sidewalks and adding a grass strip so that feels safer with a buffer between the sidewalk and the roadway. Maybe some trees could be added in as well.”
For section two, many pointed to safety issues for drivers and pedestrians in the busy area near the popular Glenville Pizza. They called for traffic signal improvements, a roundabout and/or improvements to the road geometry from Pemberwick.
“We heard loud and clear that something had to be done at Pemberwick in the Glenville Pizza area,” said Jason Williams, lead landscape architect for Milone & MacBroom.
Many residents also want improvements for pedestrians, after the Planning and Zoning Commission recently approved plans to convert unused office space at The Mill into 69 new apartment units.
Project developer Steven Schacter, who attended the meeting, assured residents that traffic would decrease due to the apartment conversion. Fewer people will be coming and going to homes than they were to offices, he said. But some residents remain skeptical about the project’s impact, especially if many of the apartments’ residents go to and from work using the nearby Merritt Parkway.
For section three, Milone & MacBroom’s manager of traffic engineering Dave Sullivan said the discussions centered on backups on Pemberwick, sending traffic all the way back to Weaver Street. Suggestions included new left turn lanes onto Weaver and onto Pemberwick as well as new traffic signals, he said.
“Some people felt it might be too many signals,” Sullivan said. “But some people felt it would be good to have another signal as long as there was proper coordination through the corridor.”
There was also a discussion about roundabouts, he said. “I heard about a roundabout near Greenwich Hospital (and) we don’t want to design one like that. I heard that loud and clear,” Sullivan said.
“But we also heard that roundabouts may be a good alternative to keep traffic flowing through these areas and give some more opportunities for more green space and more opportunities for parking and pedestrians,” he said.
North Branford — North Branford/Northford residents and other community stakeholders are being asked to answer two important questions that will help shape the future of the town over the next ten years -- the potential development of a new town center, and goals for investing in education.
Community input to a Town Center survey at http://www.nbpocd2019.com is needed now to help create the foundation for a possible new municipal center on 45 acres of town land on Route 22. Turnout and participation at an April 11 community workshop will help the Town to focus on how it can best support a call for more investment in public education.
Both questions are part of the on-going work to update the Town's Plan of Conservation and Development (POCD), which will help guide the town's future over the next ten years. The town-appointed POCD Steering Committee is working with consulting firm Milone & MacBroom, Inc. (Cheshire) to develop the 2019-2029 POCD.
The POCD Steering Committee is now focusing on learning more about the top two responses to an initial POCD online survey launched in November, 2018. That survey drew over 895 responses, equal to over 10 percent of the total households in the community, said Town Planner Carey Duques.
The committee hosted a public workshop in January to review the initial survey results and gather more feedback on updating the POCD. The next workshop, set for Thurs. April 11 at 6:30 p.m. in the cafeteria at North Branford Intermediate School, will continue to gather overall POCD input; while also zeroing in on the top response to the intial survey: how community stakeholders want to see the town investing taxpayers' money in education.
"We will be focusing more at the workshop regarding the number-one response people had as to how they feel the town should spend their money; which was focusing on education," said Duques. "And what we're trying to figure out is, is that on adult education, or is it on high school or elementary school education, or education infrastructure? So we're trying to tease that out a little bit more."
The second-most popular initial survey response to the question of how the town should spend taxpayers' money pointed toward creating a new, unifying town center for North Branford/Northford. As a result, Milone & MacBroom developed the current Town Center survey at http://www.nbpocd2019.com. The survey focuses on the idea of a long-term vision to create a town center on Town properties including the existing police station property, the Swajchuck property, Totoket Valley Park and the current Dept. of Public Works Dept. facility on Forest Road/Route 22.
In 2011, Tropical Storm Irene devastated Vermont, causing $153 million in damage. Homes were washed away and bridges and roads were decimated.
Looking to the future, climate change is predicted to bring more intense storms to the Northeast and in response, the Vermont Agency of Natural Resources is working to make its land more flood-resilient. The agency is pursuing several projects to restore rivers across the state, including a preliminary engineering design for floodplain restoration in Camel’s Hump State Park near the outlet of Preston Brook.
“Floodplains are some of the most dynamic and diverse areas on our planet. By restoring our floodplains, we will become more resilient to extreme weather events,” said Rebecca Pfeiffer, the Northwest Floodplain Manager for the Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation.
“Floodplains are the pressure-relief valve for our river systems. When a brook or stream is able to spill out onto its undeveloped floodplain, floodwaters slow down, many nutrients and debris are stored on the floodplain rather than traveling downstream and contributing to poor water quality, and we see less erosion or potential for damage to public roads and infrastructure, or to private homes and businesses,” Pfeiffer said.
The Vermont Department of Forests, Parks & Recreation has hired Milone & MacBroom Inc. to complete the initial engineering design for Preston Brook. The brook drains 6 square miles of forest known as “Honey Hollow,” including parts of Camel’s Hump State Park.
WESTBROOK — Milone & MacBroom has been chosen from a field of 11 applicants to design downtown’s new Westbrook Common.
The City Council Monday awarded at first reading a $95,510 design contract for the engineering and consulting firm to redesign the aging Westbrook Common, also known as Blue Note Park. Second reading and final action is set for March 4. The design work is being funded with money from the Westbrook Environmental Improvement Corporation.
Westbrook Common was constructed in the early 1970s during the city’s urban renewal period as a public gathering space, but decades later is under used and in need of updates. Bringing it into the 21st century is one of Economic Development Director Daniel Stevenson’a 2019 goals.
“Underutilized public spaces, such as Westbrook Common or Congress Square in Portland, benefit most greatly from the community’s commitment to programming and occupying the space, thereby infusing it with a sense of purpose and vibrancy,” Maine Regional Manager John Q. Adams and Vice President Anthony Ciriello Jr., said in the winning firm’s application.
Milone & MacBroom, with offices in Portland, “will work closely with the city, downtown and arts organizations, business owners, and the community to ensure that the revitalization of Westbrook Common sets the stage for an exciting downtown destination space,” the application said.
In a Feb. 22 correspondence to council, Stevenson and City Planner Jennie Franceschi, two members of the team that chose Milone & MacBroom, said the firm “brings extensive experience in downtown revitalization and public infrastructure projects” and “has a sound understanding of our downtown redevelopment goals.”
“We ended up with, I think, a really terrific firm,” Discover Downtown Westbrook Executive Director Abigail Cioffi, a member of the selection team, told councilors this week.
Once it gets final council approval, the firm will begin work and start connecting with direct stakeholders. Concept alternatives and their cost estimates are scheduled to be unveiled in April. A community vetting session will be held in June and final concept and cost estimates will be presented in July. Additional community outreach would be held at that time.
SHELTON — Engineering and construction work will take place on the Lane Street bridge over Means Brook, as the result of several expenditures approved by the Shelton Board of Aldermen at its Thursday, Feb. 14, regular meeting.
According to the Connecticut Department of Transportation, the bridge needs replacement because of several factors, chief among them its age (76 years) and a “poor” DOT rating. The bridge also has no sidewalks and has a critical level of scour, a phenomenon in which fast-moving water removes sediment such as sand and gravel from around bridge abutments or piers and can lead to bridge failure. Additionally, the bridge’s twin culverts need to be replaced.
The agreement approved by the Board of Aldermen directs $249,329 to the firm of Milone & MacBroom of Cheshire, for construction inspection services. It also directs $2,048,092, to New England Road, Inc., of Clinton, for construction services. Ultimately, the state DOT will reimburse Shelton for 80 percent of the cost.
HOLYOKE -- Architects working on the rehabilitation of the Victory Theater at 81-98 Suffolk St. submitted final drafts to the Holyoke Planning Board on Tuesday.
The board reviewed and approved fence heights, a parking reduction plan and the theater's marquee.
Donald T. Sanders, executive director of the Massachusetts Festival of the Arts, which owns the theater, said the board's approval represented a significant milestone in the project.
The historic 1,600-seat theater opened in 1920 and closed in 1979. MIFA bought the city-owned property in 2009 for $1,500.
Estimates on the renovation rage from $30 million to $45 million. MIFA has secured $18 million in federal New Market and Historic Tax Credits and other funding. In August, the Baker administration announced an additional $13 million in state funding.
This week the Holyoke Planning Board approved the final architectural drawings presented by Mark Arigoni, of Milone & MacBroom, and Michael Viveiros, of DBVW Architects.
"What's exciting is the enthusiasm for this project," Sanders said. "It's a very emotional day for me because 15 years ago we had Baryshnikov in Holyoke to kick off this project."
Ballet star Mikhail Baryshnikov performed at the War Memorial Auditorium on Jan. 23 and 24, 2004.
MIFA hired Milone & MacBroom, of Springfield, as the project engineers. Barr & Barr, of Natick, will lead the construction team.
A public-nonprofit partnership is moving forward with plans for a new park in the center of Montpelier, at the confluence of the North Branch and the Winooski River. On the west side of the North Branch, the land is secured for the park, and the discussion is about overall design. On the other side, soon to be connected by a bicycle and pedestrian bridge, park advocates are also eyeing a “Confluence Park East” on riverfront land owned by the city. But they’re not the only ones drawing up plans for that plot.
The Vermont River Conservancy (VRC) approached the city in 2018, offering to use grant funding to study how to improve riverfront access and, specifically, suggestions for the city-designated Confluence Park to be built adjacent to the transit center that is now under construction at 1 Taylor Street.
Richarda Ericson, communications manager of the VRC, told people at a meeting about the project in December that VRC staff thought they’d just come up with the idea of a confluence park, but they were just the latest to think along these lines. “For about 25 years,” she said, “we’ve been talking about a confluence river park in Montpelier at this very spot.”
Now, a host of projects are being built or planned for the area—the transit center, the bike path bridge, a parking garage, and a new hotel. As part of the flurry of activity, the city council endorsed creating a confluence park as part of the transit center lot, with six planned parking spaces designated to instead become part of the future park. About a quarter-acre of land at the west side of the confluence is designated for the park.
In central Montpelier, the two rivers are often well hidden below steep banks at the edges of parking lots and storage areas. But in areas on which humans have turned their backs, other animals thrive. Ericson told the meeting attendees in December, “It’s a pretty incredible spot.” She said she’d recently seen a river otter when she went down to the confluence. She’s also seen a heron, and traffic sounds are hard to hear there. “It feels like a whole other world.” That’s why, she said, VRC wants people “to be able to experience that right by the river shore, rather than looking at it from up above.”
Milone & MacBroom, a consulting firm, has drawn up conceptual designs for what the VRC is now calling “Confluence Park West.” All three alternatives provide access to the river and a boat launch. One design features a performance pavilion and a lawn for events. Another is centered on a circular plaza with plantings in the middle. The third breaks the space up into smaller parklets.
Roy Schiff, a water resource scientist and engineer at Milone & MacBroom, as well as a member of the Montpelier Conservation Commission, told the December gathering, “My vision is that you see the church [Christ Church] in the background where everybody hangs out at lunch on a great day. Maybe this river park becomes a spot where people can sit and enjoy. This is a spot where there could be concerts, art showings, a lot of really neat opportunities.”
The city owns the Mowatt lot on the east side of the North Branch. It purchased the lot to make room for the bike path and bridge. While City Manager Bill Fraser has put together a group to consider various uses for that property, VRC is already hopefully referring to it as “Confluence Park East.”
Milone & MacBroom puts the total cost for any of the three designs on the west side of the river between $500,000 and $1 million. At its January 9 meeting, the city council authorized the VRC, the city parks department, and other relevant actors to continue a public process of planning and budgeting for the park.
The town of Wilton has decided to hire civil engineering and landscape architecture firm Milone & MacBroom, instead of Bethel-based landscape firm Middeleer Land Design, to develop concept plans for Schenck’s Island and Merwin Meadows.
The Schenck’s Island/Merwin Meadows Study Committee selected Middeleer Land Design to design the improvements for the two parks back in August, but decided to move forward with Milone & MacBroom instead during its Nov. 9 special meeting.
“The town of Wilton and Middeleer Land Design were unable to reach an agreement for the work to develop concept plans for Schenck’s Island and Merwin Meadows,” Environmental Affairs Director Mike Conklin explained to The Bulletin.
Conklin said a contract is “now in place” for Milone & MacBroom to develop concept plans for the two parks, and the firm’s work to develop those plans “will occur over this winter and spring.”
Schenck’s Island is a 17-acre parcel of land in Wilton Center, accessible from the parking lot and footbridge at River Road. Most of the park is owned by the town, but three of the southernmost acres belong to the Wilton Land Conservation Trust.
Milone & MacBroom has opened its eighth office to accommodate the company’s continued growth and future expansion plans.
The new space, located at 195 Church Street and overlooking the historic New Haven green, affords the firm the opportunity to stay invested in the community and remain a hands-on resource for transportation, planning, engineering, and environmental initiatives in the city and surrounding areas.
“Milone & MacBroom is excited to establish a presence in New Haven and strengthen our connection to our urban planning, transportation, and environmental projects,” said President John Milone, who founded the company nearly 35 years ago alongside Senior Vice President James MacBroom. “The energy and vitality of the city and ease of access to multimodal transportation are key reasons we knew it was right to continue our expansion here.”
Taking effect the first of the year, the move included over 15 multidisciplinary staff relocations from the firm’s Cheshire headquarters, with the two offices continuing to work closely together.
“Many of us have roots in and around New Haven, and we are thrilled to expand as an active and involved member of the community with the potential for even more growth,” said Milone.
The New Haven location complements the firm’s corporate office in Cheshire, Connecticut, as well as regional offices in Portland, Maine; Springfield, Massachusetts; Bedford and Manchester, New Hampshire; New Paltz, New York; and Waterbury, Vermont.
Milone & MacBroom is a privately-owned, multidisciplinary consulting firm that has offered professional services across a wide range of disciplines, serving both public agencies and private companies, since 1984. Milone & MacBroom combines the expertise of engineers, environmental scientists, landscape architects, planners, and support staff to apply a collaborative and holistic approach to its work. To learn more, visit www.miloneandmacbroom.com/about.
SHELTON — This year, the city’s primary schools — those with students in kindergarten through fourth grade — welcomed 139 new pupils.
While that represents an uptick of approximately 10 percent overall, district-wide enrollment is expected to remain relatively level over the next five years, with some schools posting increases while others experience decreases.
Those were some of the results of a redistricting study recently conducted in Shelton by Cheshire-based engineering firm Milone and MacBroom.
The firm’s principal planner, Rebecca Augur, gave an overview of the redistricting study at the Shelton Board of Education’s Dec. 19 meeting.
The board was told that school boundaries are likely to shift, but where and by how much is still to be determined. Which means the Board of Education is still several months away from redrawing district lines.
The Milone and MacBroom study focused on the K-4 student population because that particular age cohort is where population trends are expected to show the most impact on school enrollments, the board was told.
“Overall, children’s births among city residents have been on a downward trend since 2000, with a brief birth bubble in 2017,” said Augur. “The lowest birth years were in 2014 and 2015, which will be in the incoming kindergarten classes for 2019 and 2020.”
Different areas of Shelton are experiencing different population trends. Neighborhoods on the city’s north end are aging, with a 50 percent increase in residents older than 65. And although that is projected to result in a downturn in school enrollment in the short term, the long-term effect might be the reverse.
“To us, that is housing that is ripe for turnover, because many of those older householders will look to downsize to smaller homes,” she said.
Trends have been the opposite in other parts of Shelton, particularly neighborhoods east of Route 8. Increased numbers of births and an influx of new residents are expected to result in enrollment growth at Sunnyside and Long Hill Schools.
“Overall, you are getting older — as is the rest of Connecticut,” Augur said. “But you are seeing factors to balance that, such as new families moving in with children.”
The stronger real-estate market has had a positive impact on school enrollment, she said.
“Housing sales in Shelton are up 70 percent since 2011,” said Augur, “and condo sales more than doubled during the same period.”
New apartment complexes — especially those with two- and three-bedroom units — have also brought families with children to the city.
The increase by 139 new pupils primarily comes from in-migration, Augur said.
“It represents almost 10 percent of the overall student population (in those grades]), and this year’s kindergarten class is the biggest since the 2008-2009 school year,” she said. “Just 31 of those students are in families who bought homes — the remainder are from families who rent.”
Board member Darlisa Ritter said the study’s conclusions could be somewhat misleading because of the temporary “birth bubble” recorded in 2017. Augur noted that the resulting figures must take that into account, but that a level trend line can be calculated which discounts its impact.
By shifting enrollment boundaries, the Board of Education could level enrollments throughout the district, avoiding some schools being under-enrolled while others are overcrowded, board members were told.
The Connecticut Chapter of the American Planning Association Awards Committee (CCAPA) has selected the City of Norwich and the Uncas Leap Steering Committee as the recipient of the 2018 Historic Preservation Award for the Uncas Leap Heritage Area Park Master Plan. The plan was prepared by MMI’s landscape architecture studio in conjunction with a design team of MMI environmental scientists, water resource engineers, and archeological subconsultant Historical Perspectives, Inc. Members of the MMI project team that helped to support this project were present at the award ceremony held on Thursday, December 6.
The Uncas Leap Heritage Site has been an enduring site connected to significant time periods of history for Native American tribes, particularly the Mohegan tribe, European and American colonists, and industrial advancements. The Uncas Leap master plan combined historical, cultural, environmental, and recreational recommendations for the site into a plan that celebrates the significant natural beauty and historical importance that the site embodies for the City of Norwich, Mohegan tribe, and the State of Connecticut. MMI assisted the project’s partners, advocates, and general public to create a master plan vision, conceptual plans for the site, and master plan report including illustrative graphics for the preservation of a historic mill building, Yantic Falls overlooks, walking paths, and interpretive signage highlighting historic and cultural site elements.
The American Planning Association is the national organization of professional planners and citizens involved in planning for our nation’s communities. Every year, the Connecticut Chapter solicits nominations for notable planning projects in a variety of categories from public service and citizen planners to physical development and plan implementation. Learn more about CCAPA here.
FAIRFIELD — After severe flooding impacted homes along the Rooster River in September during a storm, Fairfield officials said Thursday there will be a hydraulic analysis of the river in 2019.
Joseph Michelangelo, Fairfield’s director of public works, announced the analysis by the United States Geological Survey and Federal Emergency Management Agency at a meeting Thursday evening at North Stratfield Elementary to a crowd of about 50 residents. . . .
Michelangelo called the design of the drainage systems throughout town as inefficient. But, he said, there wasn’t just one problem that September day; many factors contributed to the extensive flooding.
The current drainage pipes, “should be at least double the size of what they are,” Michelangelo said. But, he said, widening the pipes causes problems downstream, specifically in Bridgeport. “We don’t want to do that.”
Instead, he said, his department is looking at strategically addressing the problems. And to help the town focus on appropriate fixes, Michelangelo said, Fairfield has hired an outside engineering firm — Milone & MacBroom — to help assess what can realistically be done.
SCHENECTADY -- The state Department of Environmental Conservation has selected the consultants who will conduct its $500,000 flooding and ice jam study.
The DEC has contracted with Milone & MacBroom, a civil engineering and landscape architecture firm based in Cheshire, Conn., to look at the entire 147-mile main stem of the Mohawk River.
The purpose of the study, which was announced in March, is to look at what causes ice jams and flooding in high risk areas of the river. This will include looking at natural constrictions along with man-made obstacles, which could include bridges, dams or locks.
The DEC previously said the study is expected to be done in phases. This includes looking at all existing data on ice jams and floods, looking at how water moves through the river system, identifying any constrictions in the river and performing a hydraulic analysis of the river.
At the end, the study will produce a list of recommendations that DEC will look to act on.
"This study is meant to give a technical basis to understand the source of the problem and what can be done about it,” said Jim Tierney, the DEC’s deputy commissioner of the Office of Water Resources.
There isn’t a cap on the funding for the study, according to Tierney. He said $500,000 is an estimate based on the work and studies that already have been done on the river, but said more could be allocated toward the project to make sure it’s done right.
BELCHERTOWN — Repairs to the Upper Bondsville Dam, which suffered from decades of poor maintenance, are nearly complete and have remained under budget.
The repairs, which began in August after the dam’s fate had been in jeopardy, were originally set to conclude at the end of October. But aside from removing stormwater controls and establishing sod, the project is complete and all machine work is finished, said Daniel Beaudette, a lawyer for the Belchertown Land Trust, which acquired the dam in 2006.
Repairs were sorely needed, Beaudette said. In 2008, the Office of Dam Safety called the dam a “significant hazard” and ordered the structure either repaired or removed.
Dam conditions were so poor that there was no way to know just how much longer it would last, Beaudette added, and its high hazard rating meant that failure could lead to loss of life and significant damage to surroundings. But now, he says, the dam has “a new lease on life.”
The project is also set to conclude under budget. Consulting firm Milone & MacBroom estimated in 2010 that repairs would cost around $425,000, while a second study suggested that this figure would be closer to $483,800.
MMI has achieved Silver level recognition from the American Heart Association for taking significant steps to build a culture of health in the workplace.
The recognition comes as part of the Association’s 2018 Workplace Health Achievement Index, which uses science-based best practices to evaluate the overall quality and comprehensiveness of workplace health programs. Companies recognized at the Silver level have achieved an Index score of 130-174 out of a maximum 217 points.
In acknowledgment of the designation, MMI President John Milone, Vice Presidents Jeanine Gouin and Stephen Dietzko, and Human Resources Manager Pamela Harris were presented with a Workplace Health Award plaque by Wendy Schrlau, Development Director of the American Heart Association. The firm also received a plaque for Outstanding Achievement for its participation in Go Red for Women Wear Red Day.
“We are proud to be recognized by the American Heart Association,” said John Milone. “We look forward to continuing to foster an environment that promotes a culture of health for our employees.”
The American Heart Association is devoted to saving people from heart disease and stroke—the two leading causes of death in the world. They team with millions of volunteers to fund innovative research, fight for stronger public health policies, and provide lifesaving tools and information to prevent and treat these diseases. The Dallas-based association is the nation’s oldest and largest voluntary organization dedicated to fighting heart disease and stroke.
Visit our Careers page to learn more about what makes MMI a great place to work!
The Municipal Vulnerability Preparedness grant program (MVP) uses a unique community-driven process to promote climate change resiliency in Massachusetts cities and towns. The state provides funding to communities to complete vulnerability assessments and develop suites of top-priority resiliency actions. Communities that complete MVP planning projects become certified as MVP communities and are eligible for MVP Action grants and other opportunities.
David Murphy and Noah Slovin participated in training workshops this past summer to use the Community Resilience Building Framework to facilitate MVP planning activities. As MVP certified providers, they are now pre-approved to assist municipalities through the MVP process.
Written by Neil Olinski, MS, PTP, Lead Transportation Planner
While the majority of traffic signs on public roads are uniform across the USA, variations in color, wording, and imagery on some signs—particularly those on local roads—can be confusing to some people, such as out-of-state drivers. So, if you’re planning to do some leaf peeping this fall and find yourself driving in unfamiliar territory, make sure to drive cautiously and slow down if you come across traffic signs (and other traffic control elements) that you don’t recognize.
One relatively new traffic control installation you might see is a HAWK signal (High-intensity Activated CrossWalk beacon), also referred to as a Pedestrian Hybrid Beacon. As part of MMI’s design of the Farmington Canal Greenway, one of the first HAWK signals in Connecticut was installed at the greenway crossing with Route 70 in Cheshire, CT. Corresponding with this still relatively uncommon device is signage informing motorists of when to stop and when to proceed.
Below are some other relatively new signs you may see that are intended to remind motorists that bicyclists and other non-motorized users may be present.
These signs can supplement pavement markings reminding motorists that bicyclists are also allowed to use the street. The Shared Lane Markings, also known as Sharrows, are sometimes installed on streets with slower speeds and that are narrow. Sharrows were added to Bank Street in downtown New London, CT, for example, as part of a road-diet that came out of recent transportation study produced by MMI for the city.
As you get further into the hinterlands, don’t be surprised if you see signs unique to the rural environment. Some are timely warnings of unique dangers, while others may merely reinforce a community’s identity. While you’re on the road this fall, make sure to stay safe, keep others safe, and drive cautiously for the conditions at hand. And if you run into any issues or have questions about traffic signs, signals, and the like, make sure to let us know.
MERIDEN —The City Council’s Finance Committee unanimously approved bonding $1.8 million for renovations of the aged tracks and athletic fields at Platt and Maloney high schools.
The project will cost a total of $4 million, however, the city plans to use about $2.2 million leftover from renovations at Platt and Maloney to offset the costs. The city is also expected to receive some reimbursement from the state, bringing the renovation’s total additional cost to about $1.5 million, officials said.
The project, approved by the committee 5-0 Monday night, calls for replacing the tracks and installing synthetic turf athletic fields.
The high school tracks were constructed in 1990 and have exceeded their 20-year life expectancy. Both athletic fields, comprised of natural grass, have safety issues and cannot be used in wet conditions.
“There's no question it has to be done,” Councilor Cathy Battista said of the renovations.
Several school officials and employees — including athletic directors from both high schools, band supervisors, parents, and administrators — spoke in favor of the project during a public hearing held before the council meeting. . . .
Project representatives from the firm Milone & MacBroom, of Cheshire, presented project designs and cost estimates to the committee Monday.
Representatives from the firm said they did not include a midfield logo in their designs because they wanted to keep costs down, but committee members expressed a desire for a midfield logo and voted to increase the project budget by $30,000 in total for the logos.
Project architect Kevin Fuselier said the price of a logo can range per field from $5,000 for a single letter to $35,000 for an elaborate logo.
The project still requires approval from the City Council and will also need approval from the state because the city will receive reimbursement.
My name is Grace McCall and I am going into my senior year at Cheshire High School. This summer I was given the fantastic opportunity to work as an intern in the finance department at Milone & MacBroom. I would say my time here has been exceptional and I have thoroughly enjoyed working with the wonderful staff. It has been a pleasure to help out the finance department with day-to-day tasks such as data entry for timesheets and invoices in the software program, Deltek, that is used every day in the office. Throughout my time here I have learned what it’s like to handle a multitude of responsibilities such as company billings, expense reports, and payroll. As a high school student, I am looking forward to college and pursuing my interests in special education and speech-language pathology. I can say with confidence that working here can open up so many possibilities for someone my age and beyond, a guaranteed positive learning experience.
After millions were spent on renovations last year, the village’s Metro-North station will be getting a further makeover, using state grant money.
The Village Board of Trustees voted recently to spend $78,000 on upgrades underneath the Westchester Avenue rail bridge.
The repair project, which will be carried out by Connecticut-based Milone & MacBroom Inc., includes new L.E.D. lighting and art murals underneath the bridge, which was recently repainted.
"We feel like we've been neglected with the maintenance of the station for a lot of years," said Mayor Richard Falanka. "So this is something that we need here in Port Chester."
The new project is being funded with a grant received from the State Dormitory Authority in 2008. But the village never spent the money, and now they're picking up where they left off.
“Mayor Falanka has really spent a lot of time trying to move this forward,” said Trustee Frank Ferrara.
The rail bridge improvements are just one component of a much larger multi-year program meant to upgrade all aspects of the station.
In December 2017, Metro-North opened a new elevator and handicap accessible ramp. That $6.1 million project, which started in October 2017, made the station fully accessible to people with mobility disabilities.
That same month the MTA also approved a $91.5 million capital spending plan for improvements at the White Plains, Harlem-125th Street, Crestwood, Port Chester and Riverdale stations. The work includes installment of new signs, platforms, lighting, bathrooms and enhanced wireless internet and cell phone service.
In Port Chester, the improvements include:
• A new canopy and plaza, known as a "kiss & ride", for easy drop offs.
•
WiFi connectivity. • Refurbishing and paving the station parking lot.
• New benches & recycling receptacles along both platforms.
• A public art installation along the guard rails of the “kiss and ride.”
My experience as a Civil Engineering Intern at Milone & MacBroom’s Cheshire, Connecticut, office has been one to remember. In the beginning, I was unsure which discipline would be the best fit for me as I progress into my senior year at the University of New Hampshire. Working with the Site Design team has given me valuable knowledge about various aspects of a project and how it comes together. The most interesting thing I was involved in this summer was determining watershed area based on topographic information for the Covenant Village Town Center project. Understanding how changing amounts of impervious coverage alter the amount of stormwater runoff was vital to the calculations used in determining the volume of the runoff. Using NRCS mapping and the TR55 manual, we were able to find the amount of runoff that would be generated by the change in impervious coverage of the proposed project. Excess runoff from the proposed impervious coverage means detention measures would be used in order to prevent downstream flooding. This project is just one example of how my internship at MMI was a terrific learning experience.
This has been my second summer interning with Milone &
MacBroom’s Water Resources Department in Cheshire, Connecticut. MMI has great
Environmental Engineers as well as Environmental Scientists and it is always a
pleasure to be able to work with such an amazing group. Shout-out to Jenabay,
Jim, Dan, and Christine for their willingness and patience to teach me and for
helping me grow as an Environmental Engineer. This summer I had the opportunity
to work with a variety of computer programs that will aid me in my future
career, such as AutoCAD Civil 3D, HEC-HMS, HEC-RAS, and ArcMap. What I love the
most about MMI is how well everyone works together as a team and how much we
accomplish together. I hope, once I graduate from UCONN this fall, to be a part
of this amazing team.
Crews began removing the structurally unsound Rome Dam on the West Branch of the Ausable River this week.
Located less than 2 miles upstream of Ausable Forks, the Jay Town Board voted in March of 2017 to remove the dam after an engineering study found that it posed a threat to residents downstream because of its potential to fail. The engineering study found that it was structurally unsound and would be especially vulnerable during a flood.
Kelley Tucker, executive director of the Ausable River Association, said the study found that consequences of not replacing the dam were serious.
“There was the potential for loss of life,” Tucker said.
The Rome Dam was 38 feet tall and 103 feet across and made of concrete.
The dam was originally built in the early 1890s and then rebuilt in the 1930s. It provided water and mechanical power for the J&J Rogers Company pulp mill. It had not been maintained since 1971 when the Rogers Company ceased operation.
The dam assessment was a result of the town of Jay’s New York Rising Community Reconstruction Plan, which was undertaken in the years after Tropical Storm Irene. That storm took place in August 2011 and caused serious flooding, devastating communities located nearby.
Milone and MacBroom, the firm that did the engineering study, estimated the cost of the dam removal to be $2.5 to $3 million. Work is expected to be completed by Nov. 15.
A recent Pennsylvania State University study commissioned by the National Parks and Recreation Association (NPRA) shows the profound and lingering impacts the Great Recession has had on Parks and Recreation Departments throughout the country. According to the study, while the recession “weighed heavily on funding for all local government services, no service bore the brunt of budget cuts more than park and recreation agencies.” Nationwide, investment in parks and recreation continues to be much lower than pre-recession levels, and compared to other public services, only libraries and correctional facilities receive a smaller percentage of local government expenditures. Lack of investment combined with the labor shift from full-time to part-time staffing has strained parks and recreation resources and hampered meaningful capital improvements.
With increased competition for limited resources, Parks and Recreation Departments nationwide have recognized the need for proactive planning that reinforces the value of parks and recreation to the community and outlines a long-term strategy for addressing needs. To this end, Milone & MacBroom has developed a unique approach to Parks and Recreation Master Planning that identifies potential funding sources and culminates in an implementation strategy based on fiscal year budgeting cycles. This integrated approach is intended to empower agencies by leveraging data and providing the necessary rationale to support funding requests.
Over the past few years, Milone & MacBroom has assisted numerous communities with these types of planning efforts, from comprehensive parks and recreation master plans, to those focused on athletic facilities and sports fields. Our role has been to establish a clear understanding of needs and priorities and to outline a clear strategy for future investment.
The Parks and Recreation Master Plan we developed for the City of Sanford, ME, for example, served as “a true road map to move forward,” and helped guide the hiring of a new Parks and Recreation Director. According to Steven R. Buck, the City Manager, “we used it extensively in the second round of interviews for our New Parks and Recreation Director . . . it provided a great insight into our Applicant’s ability to draw upon the Plan, [and] demonstrate their requisite capacities to implement [it].” Hearing positive feedback like this is not only rewarding, but it also reinforces the value of our unique and practical approach to parks and recreation master planning.
BENNINGTON — Streambed work done along the Roaring Branch before Tropical Storm Irene struck in 2011 is being recognized by the state as an example of how to work with a river's natural flow, not against it.
In town as the anniversary of the storm neared, Josh Carvajal and Todd Menees, engineers with the state Watershed Management Division's Rivers Program, pointed out locations along the river that illustrate Vermont's favored approach to flood and erosion control.
The volatile Branch flows rapidly downslope from the Green Mountains in Woodford, headed toward flatter sections of Bennington and the Walloomsac River. During the Aug. 28, 2011, storm, raging water ripped up berm work, swept away or destabilized streambank structures and collapsed a major bridge on Route 9 in Woodford, cutting off the main route toward Wilmington and Brattleboro.
After the rains stopped, riverbed in sections of Bennington was stripped of vegetation and packed with rocks, sediment and debris from upstream, and lower-lying areas around the confluence with the Walloomsac River were inundated.
But it could have been worse, Carvajal said, if not for the town's participation, beginning in 2008, in a state Department of Environmental Conservation initiative to discourage streambank development and allow rivers wider channels in which to roam. . . . Town Planning Director Dan Monks said that this much larger floodplain project, designed by Roy Schiff, of Milone & MacBroom, who also designed the pre-Irene project, expanded and continued the process of recreating a more natural flow patterns for the Roaring Branch.
He said the engineering firm also now periodically measures sediment levels, particularly around bridge abutments, to point out areas that might need more work prior to the next big storm.
This fall I’ll be returning to Eastern Connecticut State University to complete my dual baccalaureate degree in Environmental Earth Science and Mathematics. While preparing to do so, I’ve spent the summer interning in the Planning department at Milone & MacBroom (MMI). When I was searching for an internship, I knew MMI was where I wanted to be. I was looking for a company that made a recognizable impact on its community the same way I wish to do as an individual. Another aspect I was searching for was hands-on experience, getting involved in projects in such a way that I was a valued team member legitimately contributing to a larger product/outcome. My experience here was nothing short of those expectations and was exactly what I was looking for. My favorite part of the internship was the level of involvement I had with these projects. The majority of my work consisted of aggregating data and analyzing problems spatially through the production of maps. As a part of the planning department, I mainly worked on various town conservation and development plans, but I also had the opportunity to produce maps for other projects in order to assist different departments. The skills and real-world knowledge gained from this internship are those which cannot be learned in the classroom. Getting such exposure to the professional side of my work was an extremely valuable experience.
In honor of Orville Wright’s birthday and National Aviation Day, Milone & MacBroom (MMI) is excited to share progress made in the development of our newly established Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) division. In 2016, MMI began investing in UAS equipment, software, training, and certification in technology, unlocking a cost-effective way to provide site assessment, photo documentation, and site investigation from the air. Currently, four MMI team members are licensed through the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to operate UAS (aerial drones) for commercial purposes in the United States airspace.
MMI drones are being used to collect up-to-date orthophotogrammetry, providing up-to-the-minute aerial imagery at much higher resolutions than traditional satellite photographs. The same data can also be processed into 3-D models, creating point clouds of millions of highly accurate data points. These models have been used for volume computations, as well as contour and Digital Elevation Models (DEM) generation in support of hydraulic modeling and construction plan development.
Floodplain modeling using drone-captured topography.
Our drones are also finding their way onto dangerous post-disaster or hard-to-reach sites, allowing MMI staff to photo document otherwise inaccessible areas quickly and safely. Photo and video documentation of any area visible to the sky is possible with ease. Drones’ fast deployment ability and wide-area range are perfectly suited for post-flood and post-disaster reconnaissance efforts.
"The UAS drone flight allowed MMI to obtain quick and accurate topography of the numerous aggregate stockpiles at the former Willard Concrete site. Conventional survey methods would have been time consuming if not dangerous with the instability of material on many of the piles. The information from the drone flight will be used to quantify the amount of material available for grading and reuse of aggregate materials for access roads, pad foundations, etc. in conjunction with a proposed PV Solar project on the site." Michael R. Gagnon, PE.
MMI intends to be on the forefront of UAS technology as it develops and matures. Advances in airspace regulation through federal initiatives such as the Low Altitude Authorization and Notification Capability (LAANC) and advances in detection capabilities such as LIDAR are constantly providing new and innovative ways to leverage drones in the design and construction industry. MMI is committed to learning how to continue to leverage these budding technologies to change the way we approach traditional data collection efforts.
My
name is Jared Hendrickson, and I will be going into my senior year at Central
Connecticut State University. Over the summer of 2018, I worked as an intern
for Milone & MacBroom’s (MMI) transportation department in the bridge and
traffic disciplines. Overall, my time at MMI has been great and has been a
wonderful learning experience. During my time here, I have been able to learn a
broad range of design software such as Synchro, HCS7, and MicroStation, and I
have been able to fine tune my drafting skills using Civil 3D. Several field
visits have also been a great learning experience, which included boardwalk
inspection, signal timing, and site alignment. I spent some time doing various
construction inspections involving concrete, paving, and observing nuclear
compaction testing. Thanks to the broad range of experiences, I feel that this
internship has greatly expanded my knowledge in the field of engineering.
Milone & MacBroom, Inc. is pleased to announce the recent acquisition of HTE Northeast, Inc., a partnership that strengthens the firm’s presence throughout New England.
Based out of Bedford, New Hampshire, HTE’s expertise will enhance Milone & MacBroom’s growing geotechnical and environmental engineering departments, in addition to supporting our highly established civil and transportation engineering; environmental science; landscape architecture; planning; and survey practices.
Milone & MacBroom and HTE have collaborated on numerous projects within the region over the last several years. With a now combined staff of nearly 175, our shared culture and design approach allows us to integrate seamlessly as a team, dedicated to finding new, efficient, and exciting ways to solve problems for our clients.
“We are thrilled about the future of HTE’s partnership with Milone & MacBroom,” said Milone & MacBroom President John Milone. “HTE is an ideal partner to complement our diverse set of specialty practices. Together, we will continue our commitment to technical precision and the desire to find purpose in our work, which allows us to deliver the most efficient and sustainable solutions to our clients.”
HTE Principal Charles E. Teale added, “We are excited to be part of the Milone & MacBroom family. Their strong reputation for innovative design and client service mirrors our approach to client relationships. With over 30 years of geotechnical and environmental engineering and materials testing and inspection experience, our practice complements the broad range of engineering services provided by Milone & MacBroom.”
We are really digging the new upgrades to the property here at Milone & MacBroom headquarters in Cheshire, Connecticut. Literally! Earlier this month, we started reconstructing the parking facilities, regrading and resurfacing both the driveway and the main parking lot.
As a civil engineering firm, we know how important it is to have proper drainage. And, let's face it, walking outside after a downpour in ankle-deep puddles of water is no fun. In this current reconstruction, we are taking necessary measures to make the parking lot function the way it should. We are focusing on relocating several drainage structures to adequately convey the flow of surface water and making efforts to regrade the parking lot so that the pavement will pitch the rainwater to those new catch basins.
Sure, the persistent rumbling and vibrations from the ±46,000-pound reclaiming machine and the extended walk to the temporary parking lots are changes to our everyday work environment, but it's a small price to pay for a newly upgraded parking lot that will last for decades to come.
If you would like to learn more about MMI and the services we can provide to help you with your next project, please visit our services page.
Building the political will and securing the funding to complete a project like the Meriden Green is a monumental undertaking, members of the American Society of Landscape Architects said Wednesday.
“The fascination with this and the complexity is a minor miracle,” said Thomas Graceffa, owner of Thomas Graceffa Landscape Architects in Rockford, Illinois. “It’s difficult to get these types of projects going. Between the politics and the funding, you have to be persistent and know what you’re doing.”
About 60 people attended a presentation and tour of the Meriden Green on Wednesday that detailed the city’s journey to solve its flooding problem while revitalizing its downtown. Guests saw pictures of downtown submerged in 3 to 4 feet of water and emergency personnel surveying the damage in boats.
The Meriden Green project has received several national engineering and architectural awards. On Wednesday, the landscape architects asked questions about the scope of the project and how the city found ways to fund it.
This summer I had the opportunity to intern with Milone & MacBroom’s (MMI) Civil Engineering team in the Cheshire, CT office. The MMI team welcomed me with open arms and challenged me from day one. During my internship I developed new skills in computer drafting with AutoCAD and applied those skills to real-world projects, giving me a deeper understanding than I could have ever gotten in a classroom setting. Working on site development projects this summer has taught me so much about the site and land development industry. I am excited to bring all the knowledge and skills that I’ve acquired at MMI into my sophomore year at Purdue University, where I study Civil Engineering. I enjoyed being part of MMI during my summer internship and I’m grateful for the rewarding experience.
In celebration of National Park & Recreation month, Milone & MacBroom (MMI) is looking back fondly on our award-winning work to create safe and inviting outdoor places for communities to enjoy. MMI is a nationally-recognized leader in the planning and design of public parks and playgrounds. We are proud of our firm’s ability to blend the creativity of landscape architecture with the sensitivity of water resources and environmental planning and the application of sound engineering principles. Over the past several years, the firm has been responsible for successfully delivering countless park projects to communities across the Eastern Seaboard including soccer fields, basketball and tennis courts, and playgrounds. We hope you’ll enjoy this overview of our designers’ favorite parks:
Cos Cob Waterfront Park | Greenwich, CT
The Town of Greenwich envisioned a transformed former Cos Cob power plant site into a flourishing public park that offered both passive and active recreational amenities. The majestic 13-acre site overlooks the scenic Cos Cob Harbor & Mianus River, with immediate access to the Cos Cob Metro-North Train station.
MMI, along with project team partners, guided the project plans to remediate and redevelop this prominent site into a public park from master planning through regulatory permitting, construction documentation, and construction administration. The master planning process developed and considered numerous uses, types and sizes of athletic field areas, facility programming, passive recreational areas, tidal wetland restoration and pavilion shelters. The design included a full-size multipurpose synthetic surface athletic field on the waterfront; a ½-mile waterfront loop trail system; and a state-of-the-art, fully-accessible interactive playscape area.
Balliet Park Improvements | Springfield, MA
MMI, through our on-call contract with the City of Springfield, provided a full range of design services from master planning through construction administration for the renovation of this former school playground and neighborhood park located on 6.5 acres within the Pine Point neighborhood of the City. This truly “Neighborhood” park renovation project included a new 3,600-square-foot Splash Park; renovation of the little league diamond; expansion of the multi-use natural grass recreational field; a new basketball court; new playground and swing set; new picnic areas; and improved signage, visibility, and accessibility throughout the park.
This project was primarily funded through a Parkland Acquisition & Renovations (PARC) grant. Due to the extreme time constraints of the grant, MMI was asked to prepare complete construction drawings and bid documents in a one-month time frame. We completed the task and provided periodic construction observation services through construction.
Cleveland Park | Spartanburg, SC
Cleveland Park was constructed during the “City Beautiful” movement with funding from the Cleveland family. Over the years, the park had fallen into disrepair due to extensive use and lack of funding. The challenge for reconstruction of the park was to restore its historic identity while accommodating the recreational needs of the nearby disadvantaged neighborhood and providing a venue for citywide cultural events.
The project saw the restoration of the historic landscape and the train that carried children around the playground. The pond, which had been the focal point of the landscape, was restored with a promenade along one edge and the introduction of a gazebo on the island that remained in the pond. The most significant new feature was an events building designed to reflect the historic craftsman architecture of the period and now hosts receptions and other community functions.
As landscape architects and engineers, it was particularly gratifying to see how popular Cleveland Park has become since it reopened. Fortunately, Spartanburg County Parks continues to fund the maintenance of the park, including updates to the playground equipment and restoration of the stream following recent flooding. Cleveland Park remains a beautiful city park.
The Board of Education has hired consulting firm Milone & MacBroom to complete a facilities study of the town’s middle and high schools.
The project elements will include recommendations on future use of buildings.
“This study not only will look at enrollment and buildings, but also will review present programming and future ideas for students,” said Superintendent of Schools Salvatore Menzo.
Milone & MacBroom, with offices in Cheshire and other locations throughout the Northeast, has received several awards and national recognition for its work in engineering the Meriden Green. The firm also helps with “school enrollment projections and redistricting planning,” according to its website.
A preliminary report is expected in four months and a final report in seven months, according to bid documents. Menzo said focus groups will be formed over the summer and early fall to offer feedback to the firm.
Milone & MacBroom, Inc., was recently honored with two 2018 Engineering Excellence Awards by the American Council of Engineering Companies/Vermont Section (ACEC/VT). ACEC/VT sponsors an annual Engineering Excellence Awards Program to showcase exemplary engineering projects completed in Vermont. A panel of judges, comprised of distinguished planners, engineers and construction professionals, selected award winners from entries submitted. Awards were presented at the 2018 Engineering Excellence Awards Gala Dinner on June 8th, 2018.
MMI, along with Fitzgerald Environmental, DuBois & King, Smart Mobility, Stone Environmental, and the Vermont Agency of Transportation, received the Grand Award in the Studies, Planning and Consulting Engineering Services Category for the Vermont Transportation Resilience Planning Tool Project.The Vermont Transportation Resilience Planning Tool is now up and running to display results and improve transportation planning in the pilot watersheds. The web-based application is available for use by anyone connected to the internet. Maps show the vulnerability, criticality, and risk results. Variable scores for each road segment or structure may also be viewed to understand what is driving the level of risk. The list of possible mitigation strategies is also provided. The goal of the project is to create a more resilient transportation network in Vermont through improved planning. Project outcomes include a method to systematically identify road segments, bridges, and culverts that are vulnerable to flood and erosion damages; a screen to pinpoint the most critical locations and mitigation options on the transportation network; and a web-based application to display risk information. To learn more about this project, visit: https://www.miloneandmacbroom.com/work/transportation-resiliency-planning-vermont
In the Transportation Category, MMI and team members Lamoille County Planning Commission, received an Engineering Excellence Merit Award for engineering services provided on the Cambridge Greenway Trail / Railroad Bridge Replacement Flood Mitigation Project in Cambridge, Vermont. The former railroad plate-girder bridge had a 48-foot span and was replaced with a 150-foot span pre-fabricated steel beam bridge (i.e., two 75-foot spans). The new bridge design combines the disciplines of river science, hydraulic engineering, and structural engineering at a flood prone river confluence to fine-tune bridge design parameters and reduce flood vulnerability. Project benefits include reducing flooding in the Village, improved aquatic habitat, increased wildlife passage, and enhanced community recreation. The recreation path has been improved, and better access to the river for fishing and swimming has been created. A FEMA Benefit-Cost Analysis was completed for the project and illustrated that the project benefits in the form of reduced flood damages outweighed the project costs. This project serves as an example to other towns that have experienced repeat flood damages and are seeking a collaborative approach to evaluate, select, and implement flood mitigation strategies.
Milone & MacBroom and Lamoille County Planning Commission
Vince McDermott, FASLA, AICP, recently received the 2018 CT Greenways Council’s Lifetime Achievement Award for his significant contributions to landscape architecture, planning, and design of many multi-use trails and greenways over the past several decades. CT DEEP's Laurie Giannotti presented the award at the 19th Annual CT Greenway Awards & National Trails Day Celebration. Throughout his career, Vince has designed numerous multi-use trails and greenway projects, including extensive and ongoing work on Thayer Chase’s vision and plan for a multi-use trail in the 30-mile Merritt Parkway. Congratulations!
Meriden Green has received the “Award of Merit” in the Landscape Architecture/Public Spaces category from the Connecticut Building Congress as part of the 2018 Project Team Awards competition.
Winning projects were selected based on team cooperation and collaboration, the ability to overcome unique challenges, maintaining project constraints, and the project's social, economic, and sustainable design considerations.
BETHANY — Ground was broken Tuesday on the state’s first “cohousing” community, an environmentally friendly development of 30 small homes, a large common house and an organic farm on 33 acres where a former dairy farm sat on Meyers Road, off Old Amity Road.
“Rocky Corner,” as the development will be called, has been going through the approval process for years, with some town residents objecting because 13 of the homes will be set aside for those who meet the standard for “affordable housing” under state guidelines — which is much different than low-income housing, officials have had to explain.
The nonprofit developer, made up of future residents rather than a corporation, is Green Haven Inc. — and its President Dick Margulis describes the complex as “a neighborhood built on purpose.” Margulis stressed the only reason he has the title is because he works from home and is available to sign paperwork.
Margulis said there are already 148 cohousing communities built in the United States, 17 under construction, and another 140 in various stages of formation. There are 15 in nearby Massachusetts, but this is the first in Connecticut, he said.
Milone & MacBroom (MMI) would like to wish you a happy end to Bike Month! Many of our employees have been celebrating National Bike Month by participating in Bike Month events in their hometowns, enjoying a lovely Bike to Work Day, and generally partaking in some quality time on two wheels!
In addition to our love of riding bicycles, MMI has been involved in 120+ miles of bikeway and multiuse trail projects as well as a wealth of urban and small town complete streets work because we understand that the development of a bikeable and walkable built environment is key to increasing public health and happiness. Here are a few of our favorite projects that were designed to support bicyclists:
Spring Street is a key downtown corridor traversing the city of Portland, Maine. MMI provided transportation planning, engineering design, and landscape architecture services to implement a “Road Diet” in order to transform a 2,400-foot section of this formerly four-lane vehicle-centric corridor with a median into a complete street that provides safe and desirable accommodations for bicycles, pedestrians and vehicles alike.
MMI worked with stakeholders and citizens in Portland to create a vision for this corridor that would fit the needs of this vibrant city. In the end, the transportation planners, engineers, and landscape architects at MMI designed a new two-lane multimodal corridor that successfully calmed traffic to lower vehicular speeds and reconnected surrounding neighborhoods and districts including the arts, historic, and downtown areas, which had been cut off from each other when the formerly high-speed arterial was constructed in the 1970s. The pavement gained through the road diet served to accommodate an expansion of bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure. MMI added bike lanes, sharrows, and wide sidewalks to give this corridor a significant redesign and greatly improve pedestrian and bicyclist safety. Additionally, traffic was calmed significantly through the use of bump-outs, streetscaping, and on-street parking. This redesign of Spring Street in Portland, Maine, emphasizes safety, accessibility, and comfort for active transportation users.
A Regional Trail Farmington Canal Heritage Trail in Connecticut - Built
MMI has a wealth of experience in greenway and trail design. We understand the importance of these facilities and their ability to provide safe, convenient, healthy, and enjoyable regional connections for those who utilize alternative modes transportation. One of the most notable trails in Connecticut is the Farmington Canal Heritage Trail, which spans over 80 miles, and extends from New Haven, Conn. all the way to Northampton, Mass. MMI has been involved in the planning, design and construction of over 20 miles of this regional greenway system through New Haven, Hamden, Cheshire, Southington, Farmington & Simsbury. The Greenway follows the route of the historic Farmington Canal and a separate 7-mile historic canal spur along the Farmington River.
Originally initiated in the early 1990s with the support of federal funding, the trail was designed and built in segments, as funding supported, with new sections currently under design and construction today. The route passes through both urban and rural landscapes, including downtown and urban industrial areas in New Haven, suburban neighborhoods in Hamden, and more rural landscapes through Cheshire, Southington and Simsbury. Along the route, remnants of the historic canal and railroad have been restored and artifacts memorialized as part of interpretive displays, gateways and the trail itself. The most recent project under final design is a 4.6-mile section in downtown New Haven. The MMI designed trail traverses the City of New Haven, Yale University, continuing north through Hamden, Cheshire and Southington. The Cheshire greenway segments were originally designed by MMI in 1984 and utilized the country’s first round of federal trail funding. The most recent Cheshire segment, constructed in 2015-2016, includes a pedestrian crossing of CT Route 68/70, designed in partnership with CTDOT, that provides safe pedestrian refuge areas and one of the state’s first HAWK signal systems. This type of crossing was designed to give priority to greenway users – a real shift in favor of alternative travel modes and taking the emphasis off the motor vehicle.
Bicyclists enjoy the safety and natural atmosphere provided by the Farmington Canal Heritage Trail's Design
Gorham, Maine, is a charming small town outside of Portland where MMI was hired by the Portland Area Comprehensive Transportation System (PACTS) and the Town to complete a study and conceptual design project focused on accommodations for bicyclists and pedestrians. The Gorham Village area, which was the focus of this project, has a unique blend of users, destinations, and roadway types. This section of Gorham is both a destination area and a regional pass-through area. Regionally, this is an important corridor for the movement of goods, services, and commuters to- and from- the greater Portland area while also serving as a destination for users of the downtown's retail establishments, restaurants, and municipal services.
Most relevant to this blog article, we would like to highlight the design of gateway signage and accompanying buffered bike lanes leading into Gorham from the more rural surrounding areas. This creative design was implemented by transportation planners, engineers, and landscape architects at MMI who, through the extensive public engagement, understood the need to not only create safe space for bicyclists on the town’s roadways but also to calm traffic as speeding in the area was a significant problem. The recommendation and conceptual design, which utilized gateway signage along with the buffered bicycle lanes and high visibility crosswalk, will alert drivers to the fact that they’re now entering a town where they should expect to see pedestrians and bicyclists enjoy shared access to the roadways.
Buffered Bicycle Lanes & Gateway Signage Leading into Gorham, Maine
(L-R: Dave Raymond, ACEC President and CEO; Matt Sanford, Associate, Milone & MacBroom; Mark Arigoni, Vice President, Milone & MacBroom; John Gilmore, Vice President, Milone & MacBroom; and Satch Pecori, Chairman of ACEC)
Milone & MacBroom, Inc. was awarded top honors at the American Council of Engineering Companies’ (ACEC) 2018 Engineering Excellence Awards Gala on April 17 at the Washington Marriott Wardman Park Hotel in Washington, DC. The firm’s project, the Meriden Green, received one of only twenty Honor Awards of distinction for exceptional engineering achievement. On top of this achievement, the project was also awarded the Grand Award, the singular highest honor, at the ACEC-CT Engineering Excellence Awards banquet in January. These distinctions follow Meriden Green being named one of the six new grandest public spaces in America by the Architect’s Newspaper in July 2017 and featured in the June 2017 issue of national industry publication Civil Engineering in “Green Guardian.”
Milone & MacBroom was the designer of record for the Harbor Brook restoration and new urban flood control park project, providing engineering, landscape architecture, construction administration, and resident engineering services. “The City and MMI have a great working relationship due to the team approach of listening, thinking, suggesting ideas, and ultimately implementation,” said Robert J. Bass, Director of Public Works for Meriden. “We continue to look forward to working with them as we achieve our goal of solving flooding along Harbor Brook.”
After a half a century of recurring flood damage and two decades of design and permitting, the new 14-acre Meriden Green has become a catalyst for the city’s economic revitalization and a significant piece to the flood mitigation strategy. The project has transformed an abandoned retail mall, parking lot, brownfield, and culverted brook into a remarkable, multifunctional, city-central green. The restored channel that flows through Meriden Green reduces flood water levels and peak flow rates while providing open space and ecological benefits. The design team, led by Milone & MacBroom, demonstrated how a city’s vision can be achieved through a strong collaboration between the owner, designers, regulators, funding agencies, and site contractors. “We are truly humbled by the awards and accolades this project has received over the past year and know it would not have been possible without the diligence and commitment to the project from the City of Meriden leaders, as well as the extremely talented and collaborative team of design professionals,” said Jim MacBroom, PE, senior vice president of Milone & MacBroom.
A project to lower the spillway of the dam and deepen and widen the channel of Steele Creek downstream from the Richfield Street Bridge is the initial project engineers are recommending to reduce flooding along Steele Creek.
Mark Carabetta, senior project manager, environmental science, with Milone & MacBroom Inc., New Paltz, presented three projects when he gave an update on the findings of a study during Wednesday’s special meeting of the Ilion village board.
Carabetta said MMI had studied 13 tributaries to the Mohawk River after the 2013 flood. The recent study took a closer look at Steele Creek and the flooding problems along Columbia Parkway.
Some houses were demolished under the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s flood buyout program, which would make it easier to widen the channel, he said.
Coordination between the Richfield Street bridge replacement project and the channel work will be necessary, according to Carabetta.
“Both have to happen for flood reduction to be realized,” he said.
The town of German Flatts was awarded $2.45 million last year to replace the steel deck bridge on Richfield Street and retained C&S Companies to handle the engineering and design phase of the project.
Construction is expected to take place in 2019.
Plans call for deepening and widening the channel and moving the bridge 20 feet to the east.
AGAWAM -- The High School's new baseball diamond and track and field facilities have received a "construction excellence" award from the American Sports Builders Association, Agawam officials announced this week.
The national nonprofit association praised the Agawam athletic facilities for their design, layout, surfaces, amenities and "overall impression," among other categories.
"All parties collaborated to ensure the Agawam High School Athletic Facility project would be an asset and a lasting source of pride to the community," city officials said in a statement.
A grand opening ceremony for the facility was held in April 2017.
Caolo & Bieniek Associates, a Chicopee architecture firm, and Milone and Macbroom Inc., a civil engineering and landscape architecture firm in Springfield, worked together with Agawam to develop the project, which was completed in spring 2017.
Milone & MacBroom recently sponsored a safety and informational training program, "Damage Prevention & Safety – Guidance for Construction Inspectors & Competent Persons," hosted by Connecticut’s Call Before You Dig. The training event at our Cheshire office was coordinated by Anthony Ciriello Jr., Vice President, who serves as an Associate Member to the Board of Directors for CBYD. Speakers included representatives from CBYD’s Hamden call center, as well as CTDOT Utilities Section and the CTDEEP’s Public Utilities Regulatory Authority (PURA).
The program was designed to provide guidance for field engineers and inspectors involved in construction. While site safety is generally the responsibility of our contractor partners, as competent persons we are capable of identifying hazards and in many cases have authority to take corrective measures.
Fifteen participants represented six firms routinely providing construction inspection services. The interactive discussion served to generate a productive dialogue centered on safety. Visit www.cbyd.com for more information on CBYD, its mission, and its resources.
Three athletic facilities designed by Milone & MacBroom were recently honored by the American Sports Builders Association in its annual awards, which recognizes projects that exemplify construction excellence.
Loomis Chaffee School Tennis Facility was named a Distinguished Outdoor Tennis Facility, and Agawam High School's Baseball and Track & Field Facilities were both selected in the Single Field Facility category. Winning projects were chosen based on layout and design, site work, drainage, base construction, surface, amenities, innovation, and overall impression.
Loomis Chaffee Tennis Facility, named Distinguished Outdoor Tennis Facility by ASBA
In the spring of 2016, Milone & MacBroom was selected by the prestigious Loomis Chaffee School in Windsor, Connecticut, to redesign an entire tennis facility, and the firm’s sports design team prepared multiple concepts. The number of courts and their general condition placed the school at a competitive disadvantage to its peer institutions. The goal of Loomis Chaffee was to increase the number of courts from 10 to 12, to improve the overall quality of the courts, and to reduce long-term maintenance costs by constructing the new courts using post-tensioned concrete. The project also included the construction of four gazebo structures at each group of courts to provide shade for the athletes between matches. The north courts were benched into a slope to allow for spectator viewing that included a “memorial bench” overlooking the courts. Landscaping was added to blend the courts into the historic fabric of the campus. The final product resulted in a standout among tennis facilities at any public or private high school in the Northeast.
Loomis Chaffee Tennis Facility, named Distinguished Outdoor Tennis Facility by ASBA
The firm was also retained by the Town of Agawam, Massachusetts, to develop a master plan for Agawam High School’s athletic facility. The project team, including the architectural firm of Caolo & Bieniek Associates, developed several alternatives for the complete renovation of the outdoor athletic venues, as well as the complete renovation of both the boys’ and girls’ locker and team room facilities internal to the school. Working with the Town’s Track Committee, the design team’s project alternatives were refined into a preferred concept plan and an anticipated project engineering and construction budget was developed. Construction bid documents for the $9 million project were developed in 2015, and construction was completed in the spring of 2017.
Agawam High School Track & Field, selected in the Single Field Facility category by ASBA
The improvements at Agawam High School include a new running track; synthetic turf field; premier natural grass baseball and softball field; 1,500-seat bleachers and completely renovated press box; scoreboards; field and court lighting; six post-tensioned concrete tennis and basketball courts; fencing and backstops; concession/ticketing and restrooms; and a storage and Satellite Training Facility Building.
“Milone & MacBroom and Town staff worked closely to ensure the Agawam High School Athletic Facility project would truly be an asset to our community and a lasting source of pride. The successes we have experienced together are due to the teamwork approach your firm brought to the project, the attention to detail, and the hands-on, service-oriented approach of your project team,” said Jennifer Bonfiglio, MCCPPO, Town of Agawam Chief Procurement Officer.
Agawam High School Baseball Field, selected in the Single Field Facility category by ASBA
At an awards dinner held at the Aqua Turf in Plantsville, Meriden Green received the 2018 Engineering Excellence Grand Award from the American Council of Engineering Companies of Connecticut. The Grand Award is given as the highest honor at the annual awards.
The awards celebrate outstanding engineering projects in the state over the past year. Meriden Green was a collaborative effort between Milone & MacBroom engineers, wetland scientists, and landscape architects, as well as multiple project partners including the City of Meriden, LaRosa Construction, Consulting Engineering Services, AECOM, and Drummey Rosane Anderson, Inc.
The Meriden Green was among the works recognized by The Architect’s Newspaper in its 2017 AN Best of Design Awards, which presented the 20-year project with honorable mention in the Landscape – Public category.
The annual awards program highlights not only great landscapes but buildings, interiors, lighting, unbuilt work, and student work. Entries in the 42 categories were judged on strength of presentation, evidence of innovation, creative use of new technology, sustainability, and good design.
All recognized projects will be featured in a special issue of the publication, to be distributed this month.
Residents have long wanted to bike, walk or run on a continuous trail along the Housatonic River.
Preliminary designs for a nearly 10-mile trail — presented this week to the Town Council — bring that vision a step closer to reality. In a report submitted to the council, Milone & MacBroom, a Chesire-based consulting firm, recommended the project be split into five phases.
“It’s amazing,” Councilwoman Katy Francis said of the company’s designs. “I think it’s fantastic.”
Because the trail project is in the early planning stages, costs and a timeline have not been determined.
Milone and MacBroom’s report envisions the first phase of the trail could be a mile long, from Boardman Bridge through the MedInstill property. It would require the medical supply firm to transfer the property to the town, most likely with an easement. The work would include two boardwalk sections and a ramp outside the right of way at the railroad crossing.
Vincent McDermott, senior vice president at Milone and MacBroom, recommended the town start with this piece.
“The route there is pretty clear and we have a cooperative property owner,” he said.
Phase two would be about 2.8 miles long and extend from the MedInstill driveway to Hidden Treasures Park. This section would encompass existing paths and trails, such as the new piece along Young’s Field. Sidewalks would be added, which could be difficult because homes in that area are close to the road.
The third phase would focus on building a bridge at Hidden Treasures Park, creating a 175-foot connection to the little island nearby and then a 285-foot section to John Pettibone Community Center.
“Phase three is a jewel and the biggest challenge in my opinion,” McDermott said.
The fourth phase would run about 2.5 miles long, extending from Pettibone to Harrybrooke Park, past the Kimberly-Clark building. This phase has three railroad crossings and would connect to Lovers Leap State Park.
The final phase would be a roughly 3.5-mile stretch between Harrybrooke Park and the Brookfield line.
The Connecticut River watershed encompasses 11,000 square miles in Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts and Connecticut. The river itself empties into the Long Island Sound after flowing 410 miles from the Quebec-New Hampshire border, making it the longest river in New England.
Its reach is one of the reasons why more than 2,000 volunteers in four states turn out every year during the annual Source to Sea Cleanup to pull trash from the river and its tributaries. This year’s cleanup will be held on Friday and Saturday.
Some 2,000-2,500 volunteers turn out every year, said Angela Mrozinski, outreach and events director for the Connecticut River Conservancy, which hosts the event. They tend to break into 100-150 groups.
“In New Hampshire and Vermont it’s a very long stretch of river,” she said. And while the river “does tend to stay a little cleaner up there,” Mrozinski said, that doesn’t mean that the work is any less important.
Roy Schiff, a water resource scientist at Milone and MacBroom in Waterbury, Vt., has been participating in the Source to Sea effort for five years and leads a volunteer group in Hanover.
“We’ve been working with the town and Dartmouth College with projects on Girl Brook,” he said. Girl Brook flows through Pine Park and the Hanover Country Club. “We like to give back to the communities that we work in.”
The engineering and environmental science firm has its headquarters in Cheshire, Conn., and an office in Springfield, Mass., among other locations. “We’re kind of in the whole basin,” he said.
Schiff said his group typically covers 3 to 4 miles and picks up about the same amount of trash every year.
Milone & MacBroom is extremely pleased to announce that Vice President Jeanine Armstrong Gouin, Director of Water Resources Engineering & Environmental Science, has been named to the University of Connecticut’s Board of Trustees.
Gouin, a UConn alumna, has maintained close involvement with the university since graduating, including as a member of the advisory board for the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, guest lecturer, and induction to the UConn Academy of Distinguished Engineers.
She was elected by fellow alumni to the 21-member board, which represents alumni in university discussions and decisions. Her four-year term begins on September 27.
Meriden Green has received the Water/Environment “Award of Merit” from ENR New England as part of the publication’s Best Projects 2017 competition.
Winning projects were selected based on the ability of the project team to overcome challenges, contribution to the industry and community, safety and construction, and design quality.
MERIDEN — The city and contractors have received several design and environmental awards for transforming a 14-acre brownfield into the Meriden Green.
The city has received a Distinguished Service Award from the Connecticut Association of Street and Highway Officials; A Celebrate Connecticut Award from the Connecticut Economic Resource Center; a 2017 Water Resources ACE Award from the Connecticut Society of Civil Engineers; a 2017 CT Main Street Catalyst Award from Connecticut Main Street Center; and a 2017 Greencircle Sustainability Award from the Hartford Business Journal and state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection.
Engineers Milone & MacBroom, and contractor LaRosa Construction, have won awards from the Connecticut Association of Landscape Architects and American Society of Civil Engineers.
“All of us are part of getting these awards,” said Public Works Director Bob Bass.
New London — A long-awaited study of the city's parking and traffic needs recommends changing the circular traffic flow in downtown New London by making Eugene O’Neill Drive a two-way street and eliminating a lane on Bank Street to make it more bicycle- pedestrian- and parking-friendly.
Bike lanes are also recommended for Governor Winthrop Boulevard, as are a shared trail along Water Street that would allow pedestrians and bicyclists access to Crystal Avenue, and various crosswalk, traffic signal and intersection improvements.
The $105,200 traffic and parking study is part of a larger undertaking that looks at the city's future infrastructure needs in the downtown such as water and sewer lines. It was funded by a state grant.
David Sullivan, manager of traffic engineering at consulting firm Milone and MacBroom, which prepared the study, said the goal was to "take your downtown and look at what's been happening over the years ... and assess and plan for current and future transportation needs."
The Connecticut Society of Civil Engineers recently presented Milone & MacBroom with two Achievement in Civil Engineering (ACE) Awards for their work on the twenty-year Meriden Green flood control project. ACE Awards recognize projects on which significant engineering expertise or innovation was exhibited.
During the tenth annual awards dinner held at the Aqua Turf in Plantsville, the firm and project partners City of Meriden, AECOM, and CES, Inc. received the Water Resources ACE Award, as well as the Sustainability ACE Award, a special honor awarded to one applicant whose project demonstrates incorporation of the ASCE Sustainability elements.
Additionally, Peter Heynen, Director of Geotechnical Services, was the recipient of the Benjamin Wright Award. The award is presented to a local civil engineer who has demonstrated outstanding practice throughout his or her career and has made significant contributions to the field of civil engineering.
