Daily Planning News

WASHINGTON - U.S. builders broke ground on fewer homes in April, one month after topping the 1 million mark for the first time since 2008.

But most of the decline was in apartment construction, which tends to vary sharply from month to month.

The Commerce Department said Thursday that builders started construction at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 853,000, a 16.5 percent drop from the March pace of 1.02 million.

May 16--BOULDER -- The Boulder County Comprehensive Plan shouldn't explicitly state that the county thinks native wildlife species and ecosystems have the legal right to exist and thrive, county staff members have advised the County Planning Commission.

During a Wednesday afternoon Planning Commission hearing, Longmont resident Ruby Bowman renewed her appeal that the document contain a sentence saying that "all naturally occurring ecosystems and their native species populations have a right to exist and flourish."

But members of Boulder County's Land Use Department and Parks and Open Space Department and a representative of the county attorney's office told planning commissioners that a statement about "natural rights" or "the rights of nature" is a legal principal that a county government may not have the authority to promulgate.

May 17--The name isn't likely to leave riders' lips any time soon, but starting Friday the light-rail line that runs from downtown Minneapolis to the Mall of America won't be called the Hiawatha Line.

The line is being rebranded as the Blue Line, Metro Transit spokesman John Siqveland said.

As part of the change and to educate riders, transit agency officials will hold a launch party from 7:30 to 9 a.m. Friday at the 46th Street Station in south Minneapolis.

Northern Virginia housing advocates are worried that an unexpected decision by the Alexandria City Council last week to end a funding guarantee for affordable housing could result in fewer options for those who need it the most.

The council, with little discussion, removed the guarantee that housing and open-space funds get a certain percentage of tax revenue when it voted on the fiscal 2014 budget May 6.

"All of us are trying to find out what happened," said Michelle Krocker, executive director of the Northern Virginia Affordable Housing Alliance.

May 16--LIVERMORE -- A 120-year-old building that once helped link the city to the greater Bay Area and beyond via the Southern Pacific Railroad is itself moving on down the line -- if only a few blocks.

The Livermore City Council in April approved using a $2.5 million grant from the Metropolitan Transportation Commission to move the historic railroad depot on South L Street to a spot near the Livermore Transit Center and restore it to its original condition.

"Being a historic structure, it's important to preserve this for the city," said Eric Uranga, Livermore's assistant community development director.

May 16--Apopka plans to look for the money needed to take its eco-tourism plan for Lake Apopka from drawing board to reality, said Richard Anderson, chief administrative officer of Orange County's second-largest city.

"We think it's time to press forward with the next phase of that," Anderson told the City Commission Wednesday night.

At an environmental summit in February, city representatives unveiled a conceptual plan for the north shore of Lake Apopka that featured an "eco-village" to lure anglers, birders and other outdoor enthusiasts to the recovering freshwater lake.

May 19--Q: The new MacArthur Road Bridge over Route 22 will accommodate a new acceleration lane on each side of 22.

Anecdotally, it has been suggested that if Route 22 would be widened to six lanes, the bridge and interchange currently being constructed would be converted to a 'tight diamond' design, and the new acceleration lanes would become driving lanes.

Will the new bridge be able to accommodate three driving lanes in each direction in the event Route 22 is widened, and if so, what will be the width of the driving lanes?

She originally had planned to connect in New Haven to a Shore Line East train to take her to New London.

New Yorker Matt Southworth, who was on the same New Haven-bound train, told Tom Cleary, co-managing editor of the Register's Torrington Register-Citizen sister paper, in a tweet that he was pretty sure that the eastbound train derailed first.

Visit the New Haven Register (New Haven, Conn.) at www.nhregister.com

May 19--First of two parts

State environmental regulators determined that oil and gas development damaged the water supplies for at least 161 Pennsylvania homes, farms, churches and businesses between 2008 and the fall of 2012, according to a cache of nearly 1,000 letters and enforcement orders written by Department of Environmental Protection officials and obtained by The Sunday Times.

The determination letters are sent to water supply owners who ask state inspectors to investigate whether oil and gas drilling activities have polluted or diminished the flow of water to their wells.

May 19--Federal environmental regulators have proposed a range of options designed to reduce toxic pollutants discharged by certain power plants close to waterways.

Power plants that generate electricity with steam -- like OG&E's Muskogee plant -- could be affected by the regulations being proposed.

Steam-electric power plants account for more than half of all toxic pollutants discharged into America's streams, rivers and lakes.

KATHMANDU, May 18 -- Decks have been cleared for Nepal Purbadhar Bikas Company (NPBC) for the development of the Kathmandu-Hetauda Tunnel Highway.

A year after signing a preliminary project agreement (PPA), the government on Tuesday signed the final (concession) agreement with NPBC to construct the highway.

The Ministry of Physical Infrastructure and Transport is working to issue the letter of commencement soon asking the company to start project work.

IT may not seem it to the thousands of us who spend hours crawling along in rush hour traffic, but the North's daily commute is getting faster.

New figures from the Department for Transport show that in some parts of the region motorists could be shaving minutes off their journeys compared to six years ago.

However, motoring campaigners say before we all start celebrating, the improvement could be because the economy is stuffed.

The Maryland Transit Administration's MARC trains, which run only on weekdays, are expected to start running between Washington and Baltimore on weekends this year.

The agency is looking at adding "eight to nine round trips per day" between Washington's Union Station and Baltimore's Penn Station, said Terry Owens, a spokesman for the MTA.

Passengers, businesses and others "have talked about MARC weekend service for years,", he said.

CAMP LEJEUNE, N.C. - A simple test could have alerted officials that the drinking water at Camp Lejeune was contaminated, long before authorities determined that as many as a million Marines and their families were exposed to a witch's brew of cancer-causing chemicals.

But no one responsible for the lab at the base can recall that the procedure - mandated by the Navy - was ever conducted.

But experts say even this "relatively primitive" test - required by Navy health directives as early as 1963 - would have told officials that something was terribly wrong beneath Lejeune's sandy soil.

Amtrak (800-872-7245, www.amtrak.com) offers rail passenger service nationwide as well as Amtrak Vacations packages (e.g., Canadian Rockies with Glacier National Park; 800-268-7252, www.amtrakvacations.com), the Auto Train to Florida, rail passes, multi-ride tickets (including unlimited travel in a month), multi-city tickets and Acela Express service.

SmartFares offer 25 percent discounts on select one-way routes that change weekly.

Amtrak offers WiFi service in select stations (for instance, Union Station, Wilmington, Del., and Baltimore's Penn Station) and on certain trains (Acela Express, Capitol Corridor, Carolinian, etc.) across the country.

May 19--Some 5-6 million tons of cargo will be transported through a new railway section which linked Kazakh Bolashak and Turkmen Serhetyaka, spokesman for the Kazakh railways Elena Trifonova told Trend on Friday.

"The forecast for 2015-2017 is 5-6 million tons of cargo, including export, import and transit," Trifonova said.

This section is a part of the transnational rail corridor, which will connect Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and Iran and allow the delivery of different goods to the Persian Gulf region.

Parts of the Mississippi River's Pool 12, located between Dubuque and Bellevue, Iowa, are getting the environmental equivalent of a face-lift first proposed in 2005.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Rock Island District, recently released the final report of the Pool 12 Overwintering Habitat Rehabilitation and Enhancement Project, a joint effort among the Corps, the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service and the departments of natural resources in Illinois and Iowa.

The overall Pool 12 project area is located along the left descending bank of the Mississippi River approximately 10 miles south of Dubuque, in Jo Daviess County, Ill., generally between the river's main channel and the railroad tracks that parallel the east bank.

May 18--In the debate over who controls Charlotte's airport, there's more at stake than just a place where planes take off and land.

The facility could take advantage of a Panama Canal widening that some say will spur more shipping into East Coast ports -- and boost inland transportation centers such as Charlotte.

Central Piedmont Community College President Tony Zeiss has been promoting Charlotte's intermodal facility as a source of not only logistics and transportation jobs but also potential manufacturing work, as companies look to ship locally-produced goods by train and truck.

In a release, Research and Markets noted that report highlights include:

Even during the recent economic downturn, there are firms in the A/E industry that still report continued growth and increasing profits.

Find out with the 2012-2013 Successful Firm Survey of Architecture, Engineering, Planning & Environmental Consulting Firms.

BRIDGEPORT, Connecticut -- Officials described a devastating scene of shattered cars and other damage where two trains packed with rush-hour commuters collided outside New York City, saying Saturday it's amazing that no one was killed.

Authorities said the accident was not the result of foul play, but a fractured section of rail is being studied to determine if it is connected to the accident.

The train was hit by a train heading west from New Haven to Grand Central on an adjacent track, Metropolitan Transportation Authority spokesman Aaron Donovan said.

May 18--The Wythe County Board of Supervisors held public hearings Tuesday on the county budget, the school budget and the Virginia Department of Transportation's Six-Year Road Plan.

However, the road plan drew more emotion than the hearings on the $78 million county budget, which includes a personal property tax hike and $9 million for capital improvements at two schools.

The board plans to increase personal property taxes by 19 cents to $2.27 per $100 valuation.

May 17--Orland officials are working to get more rail service to area business and trying to connect companies with financing firms, but do not have a direct marketing campaign in place.

City Manager Pete Carr updated the Orland Economic Development Commission on his views of the business climate on Tuesday night.

Carr added Mayor Charles Gee and a city staff member are going to a land-bridge meeting to learn about rail line opportunities as related to a new proposed line between Gerber and Eureka.

May 18---- Fate's new City Hall project moved a step forward this week with the city council's approval of a contract for architectural services.

Other action involved compensation for the mayor and city council members, and increasing the city manager's salary and car allowance.

During its Monday night meeting, the Fate City Council unanimously approved a professional services contract with Ron Hobbs Architects.

It could take weeks to get commuter rail service in Connecticut back to normal following the derailment of two trains Friday, the mayor of Bridgeport said.

CNN said the impact of the crash was compounded by major construction on the only other commuter rail line serving Connecticut and New York.

Many of the injured were treated and released, but about five people were admitted to hospitals with serious injuries, the Hartford (Conn.) Courant said Saturday.

HARTFORD, Conn. - Officials in Gov. Dannel P. Malloy's office say the governor will meet with representatives from the National Transportation Safety Board and Connecticut's two U.S. senators at the site of a Metro-North Railroad crash that injured 70 people.

Richard Blumenthal and Chris Murphy and other Connecticut officials will also participate in the tour, scheduled for 9:30 a.m. EDT Saturday near Bridgeport.

The delegation will update journalists with the latest details of the crash after surveying the area.

May 18--A state board assigned to protect the environment is taking a second look at a controversial ruling it issued last year.

The Illinois Pollution Control Board will revisit a ruling on groundwater protection at certain dump sites.

The Illinois Environmental Protection Agency, Attorney General Lisa Madigan, Republican leaders in the House and Senate and Gov. Pat Quinn's office have also raised objections to a decision that could endanger the public's health.

FAIRFIELD, Conn. - Two commuter trains packed with rush-hour commuters collided in an accident that sent more than 60 people to Connecticut hospitals, severely damaged the tracks and threatened to snarl travel in the congested Northeast Corridor.

Gov. Dannel P. Malloy said five people were critically injured and one was very critically hurt in Friday evening's crash on the Metro-North Railroad, which serves the northern suburbs of New York City.

Passengers described a chaotic, terrifying scene of crunching metal and flying bodies when the two trains, carrying about 700 people, collided shortly after 6 p.m.

May 17--A large water pipe construction project west of the East Bay hills is ready for public review, with an environmental document awaiting public comment and several hearings scheduled in June.

The West of Hills Northern Pipelines Project calls for construction of 8.5 miles of new 48- and 36-inch diameter water-transmission pipelines to ensure a reliable water supply to parts of North Oakland, Berkeley, Albany, El Cerrito, Richmond, San Pablo, Pinole, Hercules, Rodeo, Crockett and other unincorporated communities of West Contra Costa, according to officials at the East Bay Municipal Utility District.

A draft environmental impact report is available for public review at the following locations:

Photo Gallery: Construction continues on I 215 freeway expansion

A $31.4-million program established by San Bernardino County's transportation planning agency in 2009 created 1,197 jobs and contributed to the completion of dozens of road rehabilitation projects throughout the region, officials said.

San Bernardino Associated Governments, or SanBAG, received $128 million in federal stimulus funds in 2009 for the widening of the 215 Freeway through San Bernardino, from Orange Show Road to University Parkway.

FAIRFIELD, Conn. - A New York-area commuter railroad says two trains have collided in Connecticut.

The Metro-North Railroad says emergency workers are arriving at the scene of Friday's accident.

The railroad says the accident involved a New York-bound train leaving New Haven.

FAIRFIELD, Conn. - A New York-area commuter railroad says two trains have collided in Connecticut, and there are preliminary reports of injuries.

The rail line referred to it in a news release as a "major derailment."

The railroad says the accident involved a New York-bound train leaving New Haven.

Magnificent' Portland landmark reopens

The U.S. Custom House in Portland held an open house Thursday following an extensive renovation.

Long ago in the building's Customs Hall, merchants paid taxes on imports and exports under the watchful eye of armed guards.

May 17--Mayor Thomas M. Menino's victory lap -- 20 years in the making -- begins today as he unveils a new handicapped-accessible park in Charlestown that's part of a $1.8 billion parting kiss to Boston to upgrade buildings, roads and public spaces.

Among the projects is a new park at Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital in the Charlestown Navy Yard that will be for "adults and children of all abilities."

The mayor, who is not running for re-election, is rolling out the "capital spending plan" at a press conference today at the Navy yard.

May 17--Pay attention, drivers.The state Department of Transportation finally seems on track to build a system of special optional highway lanes crossing metro Atlanta, if contracts are signed as planned in the coming months.

The HOV lane that feeds into the HOT lane, however, does allow two-person carpools to travel for free, but no solo drivers at any price.

No carpools will drive free in the I-75/I-575 express toll lanes that will meet up in Cobb County with the HOV lanes, if all goes as proposed -- just transit buses.

May 17--GREENSBORO -- The intersection of Benbow Road and Market Street is missing pavement markings.

Aycock Street and Oakland Avenue could use low clearance signs.

At Church Street and Friendly Avenue, there should be pavement arrows.

May 18--Some 13.37 million tons of cargo were transported by vehicles through the territory of Azerbaijan in January-April 2013, which is 0.01 percent more than in the same period of last year, the Azerbaijani State Customs Committee said today.

According to the report, the export of goods for this period comprised 10.64 million tons and imports -- 2.73 million tons.

During the first four months, some 10.64 million tons of cargo were exported by maritime transport, 850,840 tons by railway, 176,120 tons -- by automobile transport, 24,900 tons by air.

May 17--NEW LONDON -- A last-minute change in how the developer would finance the first new construction in Fort Trumbull is the reason Monday's groundbreaking for the $24 million Village on Thames project was canceled.

The executive committee of the Renaissance City Development Association voted Friday morning to reject the latest proposal, saying the agency could not certify to the state Department of Economic and Community Development that certain terms and conditions were satisfied prior to the scheduled closing, as required by the development agreement.

During its regular meeting Friday, the RCDA said it was informed Tuesday that Riverbank Construction was no longer going to obtain financing from M&T Bank, which is headquartered in Buffalo, N.Y., and instead was going to fund the project itself.

May 17--CHESAPEAKE -- The region may see as much as $10 billion in new transportation revenue during the next 20 years, but the prospect of tolls will continue to loom large over Hampton Roads' most expensive projects.

In one scenario, the $3.5 billion project would receive $700 million each from the region, state and federal governments, and users of the Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel and the Monitor-Merrimac Memorial Bridge-Tunnel would pay a $2 toll.

The presentation was one of several during a retreat of the Hampton Roads Transportation Planning Organization that focused largely on the landmark transportation package passed this winter by state legislators.

May 16--The Ventura County Transportation Commission intends to terminate a lease on Dec. 1 that allows the Fillmore & Western Railway, a private tourist attraction, to use the Santa Paula Branch Line.

But the commission is prepared to negotiate a new lease if it can examine the railway's financial records, VCTC Executive Director Darren Kettle wrote in a letter this week to Fillmore & Western President Dave Wilkinson.

The commission requested the records in mid-April, but Fillmore & Western had not provided them as of Thursday.

May 16--De Anza College's new Media and Learning Center has won a citation for energy performance from the San Francisco chapter of the American Institute of Architects and the Pacific Gas & Electric Company.

The Media and Learning Center was designed to provide flexible and highly tech-friendly classroom spaces for students and teachers.

The building is on the northwest side of campus, next to the Flint Center parking garage.

COLUMN: ALBERT B. SOUTHWICKWorld climate change may be the most dangerous challenge to mankind since the great Ice Age 20,000 years ago.

If you want to know what is known and not known about climate change, get hold of a copy of Clark University's alumni magazine.

It is natural that Clark, with its long emphasis on geography, should be engrossed by the threats and problems of climate change.

WASHINGTON - A Republican-controlled House panel moved Thursday to protect the Department of Homeland Security from the big cuts facing other domestic agencies under the party's budget slashing plan.

The move came as the Appropriations Committee leadership privately circulated plans to drastically reduce spending for labor, education and health programs, foreign and housing aid, the Environmental Protection Agency and transportation.

The Pentagon would be spared and a program that provides food aid to poor pregnant women and their babies is likely to escape cuts, but the effects on most agencies would be severe - in the unlikely event the recommendations were to make their way into law over the protests of President Barack Obama and Democrats.

After baseball, my favorite TV watching is the government channel.

Here I can see the local government in action or local government inaction.

Sometimes I will hear a public official say something profound, but more often I hear statements revealing determined ignorance of the workings of the world.

May 17--We Energies customers won't have to foot the bill for pollution controls that will be installed at a Marquette, Mich., coal-fired power plant, under a plan approved Thursday.

The Wisconsin Public Service Commission gave the utility the go-ahead to transfer ownership of part of its power plant in Michigan's Upper Peninsula to a Michigan electricity supplier.

As a result, customers of We Energies, both those in Wisconsin and in Michigan, would be spared the expense.

Bellefonte officials took a major step Wednesday toward a plan to sell the historic but roof-less, mold-filled theater on East High Street to a real estate magnate who would raze it to redevelop three downtown buildings that have been hollowed out by fires.

The members of the Bellefonte Industrial Development Authority voted to accept Ara Kervandjian's workforce housing project proposal over a competing proposal from a group of 20 residents in the Bellefonte Historical and Cultural Association who promised to repair the building and return it to a theater.

For the officials, rejecting Kervandjian's proposal for the Garman would have nixed the entire redevelopment plan, which calls for two apartment buildings, one in a renovated Cadillac Building and the other on the site of the Garman and Hotel Do De.

May 16--MILLVILLE -- Local officials are developing a new transportation plan that they say will, if eventually implemented, make it easier and safer for motorists, bicyclists and pedestrians to travel around the city.

A major part of the plan involves improving east-west traffic flow, primarily on Main Street, by creating alternate traveling routes and easing congestion at some downtown intersections.

Local officials are waiting on a final draft of the plan, which City Engineer John Knoop called a mix of new and old ideas.

May 16--Make that two more coal plants to go cold and many more to follow -- all to the loud cheers of environmental groups that don't want fracking for natural gas, either.

The shuttering is part of a settlement between NRG, which acquired the plant, and the states of New Jersey and Connecticut over plant's air emissions.

Separately, NRG announced that it would cease operations at its Titus Station power plant in Cumru Twp., Berks County, by April 2015.

NEW YORK - Canada's prime minister says a controversial oil pipeline from his country to the U.S. Gulf Coast "absolutely needs to go ahead" and warns that the oil will be transported through one way or the other.

The pipeline project carrying oil from Canada's tar sands would need approval from the U.S. State Department.

Harper says "The only real immediate environmental issue here is, do we want to increase the flow of oil from Canada by pipeline or via rail?"

May 16--The time for campaigning is about to end.

Now the hard work -- delivering on promises made to 80,000 daily CTA Red Line customers who will lose a vital transportation lifeline for five months -- is set to begin Sunday.

CTA officials and Red Line South Ambassadors outfitted in bright red shirts are making the rounds at the nine rail stations that will temporarily close, in an attempt to reach riders in Chicago and the south suburbs.

May 15--An award-winning architectural firm, Rossetti, is moving its headquarters from the suburbs into the historic Federal Reserve building in downtown Detroit.

The building at Fort and Shelby is one of more than 20 buildings owned or controlled by Quicken Loans founder and Chairman Dan Gilbert through his umbrella firm Rock Ventures and his real estate arm Bedrock Real Estate Services.

The move will take place in July when Rossetti's team of 60 architects, planners and designers will occupy the fourth floor, or 13,000 square feet of space, in the building.