Home Care In Middletown, CT

February 28, 2024

Makiaris Media proudly announces a change in ownership. Donna Staples, the current President, has purchased the agency and is succeeding the esteemed founder Irene Makiaris, who retired after leading the firm for 37 years.

Donna Staples brings with her a wealth of experience and a visionary approach to the advertising industry. Her leadership promises to uphold Makiaris Media's legacy of excellence while driving innovation and growth. With a talented team and a commitment to delivering exceptional results for clients, Staples is poised to lead Makiaris Media into a new era of success.

Expressing her excitement for the future, Donna Staples, President and now owner of Makiaris Media, stated:

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"I am truly honored and excited to take on the role of owner at Makiaris Media. This agency has a rich history of excellence and innovation, and I am committed to upholding that legacy while driving us forward into new opportunities. With our talented team and dedication to delivering exceptional results for our clients, I am confident that we will continue to thrive and make a significant impact in the industry. I look forward to leading Makiaris Media into its next chapter of growth and success."

Established in 1987 by Irene Makiaris, Makiaris Media has grown to become one of the largest independent media agencies in the region, servicing clients across various industries. The agency offers comprehensive media consulting services, including research, analysis, planning, buying, placement, and post-buy follow-up across all media channels.

Makiaris Media has received industry recognition, including the prestigious EFFIE award from the American Marketing Association, underscoring its commitment to excellence in media. With a focus on digital, broadcast, print, and out-of-home advertising, Makiaris Media continues to deliver outstanding results for its clients.

To learn more about Makiaris Media and its services, please visit makiarismedia.com or contact Donna Staples at 860-854-6380 or via email at [email protected]

Makiaris Media proudly announces a change in ownership. Donna Staples, the current President, has purchased the agency and is succeeding the esteemed founder Irene Makiaris, who retired after leading the firm for 37 years.

Donna Staples brings with her a wealth of experience and a visionary approach to the advertising industry. Her leadership promises to uphold Makiaris Media's legacy of excellence while driving innovation and growth. With a talented team and a commitment to delivering exceptional results for clients, Staples is poised to lead Makiaris Media into a new era of success.

Expressing her excitement for the future, Donna Staples, President and now owner of Makiaris Media, stated:

"I am truly honored and excited to take on the role of owner at Makiaris Media. This agency has a rich history of excellence and innovation, and I am committed to upholding that legacy while driving us forward into new opportunities. With our talented team and dedication to delivering exceptional results for our clients, I am confident that we will continue to thrive and make a significant impact in the industry. I look forward to leading Makiaris Media into its next chapter of growth and success."

Established in 1987 by Irene Makiaris, Makiaris Media has grown to become one of the largest independent media agencies in the region, servicing clients across various industries. The agency offers comprehensive media consulting services, including research, analysis, planning, buying, placement, and post-buy follow-up across all media channels.

Makiaris Media has received industry recognition, including the prestigious EFFIE award from the American Marketing Association, underscoring its commitment to excellence in media. With a focus on digital, broadcast, print, and out-of-home advertising, Makiaris Media continues to deliver outstanding results for its clients.

To learn more about Makiaris Media and its services, please visit makiarismedia.com or contact Donna Staples at 860-854-6380 or via email at [email protected]

This press release was produced by the Middlesex County Chamber. The views expressed here are the author’s own.

Middletown is permanently adopting its food scrap, trash separation policy. The city was one of 15 municipalities testing the program this year, but is the first to adopt it permanently.

The city said this policy is environmentally friendly and could save residents some money.

“We are calling it, ‘Save As You Throw,’ because the less that you throw out the more that you’re going to save,” Middletown Mayor Ben Florsheim said.

The city said it is reducing the annual sanitation bill, dropping from $400 to $280 on average. In exchange, people will need to place food scraps in designated, green-colored bags and regular waste in specified, orange-colored bags. Each bag has an associated fee.

By paying for each bag, residents essentially pay for what they use.

“The cost for that is significantly less for the consumer than it costs to dispose of waste the old-fashioned way,” Florsheim said.

A large orange bag, which goes to a landfill cost $1.65 each. Compared to a large green food waste bag, that’s only 25 cents.

The new policy has received mixed reaction as some residents say it’s time-consuming and difficult to measure the cost.

“I don’t keep track of how many garbage bags I go through. I just go through them,” Kathleen Genovese said.

Dora Glinn, however, said her family supports composting and the new policy.

“I think I’m very conscious, and my husband is as well, of the environment in all the trash we’re creating,” she said.

Earlier this year, Middletown was one of 15 municipalities, working with the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP), asking residents to separate food scraps from regular waste.

According to DEEP, the environmental impact has been measurable in the towns that have participated.

“We’ve seen on average About a 15% reduction in the amount of trash being generated,” DEEP Commissioner Katie Dykes said.

The test program followed the closure of a primary trash plant in Hartford. That closure has contributed to rising processing costs as some communities have been forced to ship some waste out of state.

Middletown officials say it’s new policy that will combat those escalating expenses while saving residents money.

According to DEEP, food scraps represent about 22% of the waste that is processed in Connecticut each year. With this program, those scraps will no longer go to a landfill but instead, will be sent to Quantum Biopower in Southington where they will be recycled.

“It’s a winner economically for residents and it’s a winner for our environment,” Florsheim said.

While there have been several municipalities involved with the pilot program, only Middletown, West Haven, Seymour and Ansonia have completed it.

Seymour and Ansonia have decided not to move forward with it and West Haven is still undecided.

At a time when multifamily housing faces numerous obstacles, developers are well on their way to building more than 1,000 such housing units, mostly rental apartments, within less than 8 miles of one another in Middletown, Portland and Cromwell.

None of it came about easily, however, as major projects now moving toward fruition have been in the works for years, sometimes with significant conflict along the way and always with extensive scrutiny and discussion.

Most of the multifamily housing growth comes from three major complexes:

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While those three complexes, all of which are receiving tax abatements from the municipalities, account for 1,000 of the coming housing units, redevelopment of buildings on Main Street in Middletown is expected to add another 30 units.

The reasons for the surge in apartment construction are undoubtedly multifaceted. But Bob Dale, the developer of Springside Middletown, succinctly explained one major reason when he said during a recent tour of the construction site, “Connecticut is the state with the least vacancy.”

The burgeoning apartment market is not the only development taking place in the area. At least two of the big apartment complexes, Brainerd Place and Lord Cromwell, will also include commercial space, as will the four smaller redevelopment projects on Middletown’s Main Street.

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Other commercial development in the area includes a Big Y supermarket under construction on South Main Street in Middletown and a Texas Roadhouse restaurant and Goldfish Swim School, both under construction in the big shopping plaza anchored by a ShopRite supermarket at 45 Shunpike Road in Cromwell.

An entrepreneur’s plan to convert the abandoned Portland Drive-in site into a complex containing a firing range, archery range, axe throwing lanes, a food court and conference rooms could become real at any time.

Robert Pizzi, president of Central Connecticut Arms LLC, says he put the project out to bid last month and is waiting to see whether the bids show that the COVID-19 spike in construction prices has come down to the point that he is willing to go ahead.

Here’s a rundown of the projects by town:

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Middletown

Springside Middletown. Phase 1, consisting of 240 apartments and amenities that include conference rooms for people who work at home and an outdoor pool, is under construction. Bob Dale, the developer, said during the site tour that he hopes to have apartments ready to occupy by about Memorial Day, with completion of Phase 1 by mid-2025.

After that, he said, he hopes to secure financing for the second 246-apartment phase of the project.

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Dale said it was too early to know exactly what rents in the complex would be, but he said they would be comparable to other “newer communities in the region,” roughly in the range of $2,000 to $3,000 per month.

The complex will bring a big infusion of population to the outskirts of town. But the developer plans to encourage the tenants to shop locally by giving out gift cards good at more than 200 local businesses, Mayor Ben Florsheim said during the tour. He said the total amount of the cards started at $100,000 but is higher now.

Big Y. Construction is well underway on the new supermarket on South Main Street. The store is expected to bring 50 full-time and 100 part-time jobs to the city, while adding $20 million to the tax rolls, according to a document the developer, Stone Point Properties LLC, submitted to the Planning and Zoning Commission when it was under consideration.

The developer said the new store is in an “underserved corridor,” and several residents who submitted written comments to the commission agreed that the area needs a grocery store.

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The developer called the store more “appropriate and attractive” than the telephone company fleet maintenance garage that was on the site previously.

The entrance will be from South Main Street, unlike the maintenance garage, which opened on Highland Avenue, and a traffic light will be installed at the entrance. The developer said the light would enhance traffic and speed control in the area.

418-422 Main St. Dominick DeMartino is the principal of companies redeveloping this building and several others on the east side of Main Street.

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The business on the first floor of 418 Main St. is to be called The Wine Bar at Sicily, and is to be operated by Tony Prifitera, who also owns Sicily Coal-Fired Pizza next door at 412 Main St. Prifitera said the space for the wine bar is “about ready” and that it probably will open in February.

On the northern, 422 Main St. side of the building, an ice-cream and cookie shop is planned, also to be run by Prifitera.

The upper floors of the building are to be renovated into 10 market-rate apartments, according to Christine Marques, the city’s economic and community development director.

428 Main St. is another DeMartino project, being done with city and state financial assistance. The developer plans to restore the art deco façade of the former Woolworth building and use the first floor for retail and restaurant space, while creating a rooftop bar overlooking the Connecticut River, according to Marques.

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545 Main St. consists of two buildings, a former office building facing Main Street and a former roller-skating rink in the back, according to Marques. It belongs to a company headed by resident Jerome R. Carnegie-Hargreaves, records show.

The plan, also being carried out with city and state financial assistance, is to create eight “workforce residential units” and more than 12,000 square feet of “program and small business space,” according to Marques.

584 Main St. is another DeMartino project, this one involving replacement of the front section of the existing building. The revamped building is to be occupied by a restaurant and 12 apartments, Marques said via email.

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Cromwell

Lord Cromwell complex. The town is giving substantial tax abatements to the developers of the new complex planned for 100 Berlin Road, at the intersection of Route 372 and the entrance ramp to the northbound lanes of Interstate 91.

But, in addition to the new development, the town stands to get a cleanup of a blighted former hotel that presents challenges from squatting to mold and PCBs, according to the developers.

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The project has necessary local approvals but physical work has yet to start. When the financing for the project is in place and weather permits, the developer, Lexington Partners LLC, plans to start a demolition and site cleanup process that could take a year and cost more than $4 million, according to lawyer Peter J. Alter, representing the developer.

Construction will come next and is expected to take 24 to 28 months, depending on the weather, Alter told the Town Council in October.

When the project is complete, it is expected to include 254 rental apartments, 20 townhouse condominium units and some 30,000 square feet of commercial space, the developer says.

Texas Roadhouse. The new restaurant is under construction on the edge of the parking lot of the ShopRite plaza at 45 Shunpike Road, replacing the Ruby Tuesday restaurant that formerly occupied the site.

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"We are on schedule to open our doors at the end of March 2024," Peter Christian, an official of three companies involved in the development, said via email.

Goldfish Swim School is being built in the same plaza, in a space formerly occupied by a Pet Valu store and a vacant space that was next door to it, according to Steve Marszalek, a co-owner of the company that will operate the chain’s Cromwell school.

He said the school is expected to open Jan. 2. It started taking enrollments in October and has reached almost 600, said Lydanis Cruz, the school’s sales and service coordinator. She and Marszalek said the school can accommodate up to 1,800 students.

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Aside from the Cromwell school’s sign and construction fencing around the front, little visible change is taking place. But major changes have been happening inside, where construction of a pool started about four months ago, and it was recently filled with water, Marszalek said.

Other changes to the building include changes to the ventilation system, installation of showers, bathrooms, and even a hair drying station, he said.

The school plans to keep the pool’s water temperature at 90 degrees and the air temperature at 92 degrees, he said. That’s part of the school’s approach of making learning to swim a fun and pleasant experience for the children from ages 4 months to 12 years that it teaches.

The school emphasizes learning through play, along with safety, according to its website. Marszalek said the interior will seek to create a bright, colorful family atmosphere.

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Portland

Brainerd Place, now under construction, is to include 240 apartments and almost 118,000 square feet of commercial space, according to Dan Bourret, the town’s development planner. The complex, at the intersection of Main and Marlborough streets, also includes three historic homes that will be preserved, he said.

The project received its first approval around 2017 and it has undergone changes over the years, Bourret said. He said the developer, BRT DiMarco PTP LLC, has changed the project from two phases to three and is negotiating a new tax abatement agreement with the selectmen.

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Central Connecticut Arms plans a firing range that will include five 100-yard rifle lanes and 15 25-yard pistol lanes on the site of the former drive-in theater, according to Pizzi, the company president.

Asked about the compatibility of the range and the food court also planned for the complex, Pizzi said, “You won’t hear a thing.”

The complex is also to include five archery lanes separate from the firing range, he said, and will offer axe throwing and several large conference rooms available to rent for events.

The complex will also include a three-dimensional simulator for such things as self-defense training, he added.

MIDDLETOWN — Two firefighters stood outside the city's fire headquarters on Main Street Saturday morning, observing the red-hot action across the street, but they were more bemused than concerned. Haven Hot Chicken co-founder Jason Sobocinski was firing up a line of more than 100 people with call-and-response cheers, keeping them in good spirits as they waited for a taste of Nashville hot chicken from the chain's newest location.

Inside 524 Main St., the staff prepared to hand out free chicken sandwiches to the first 203 people in line for the restaurant's grand opening celebration.

Haven Hot Chicken – one of New England's first dedicated Nashville hot chicken restaurants, according to its website – is known for its chicken sandwiches and dishes served with no heat to very spicy. Eat This, Not That! in June named the restaurant one of the best hot chicken chains in the country. The meat used is 100 percent certified Halal chicken and free of growth hormones and antibiotics, the website says.

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A group of five men from North Haven said they have been to every Haven Hot Chicken grand opening since the first location debuted in 2020 in New Haven — hence the 203 giveaways; New Haven's area code is 203. The company has since opened locations in Orange, North Haven, Norwalk and Storrs.

The North Haven entourage was there for all those openings and arrived in Middletown by 7:30 a.m. Saturday. With warm jackets, water bottles and several camp chairs, they were the first in line and settled in to wait for the 11 a.m. opening.

"We love Haven Hot Chicken," said Kyle Borrelli of North Haven when asked why he and his group waited more than three hours for a fried chicken sandwich. "We love coming out to these openings, and we've been to all of them — it's a tradition."

When asked what they liked about the chicken, the men chimed in simultaneously: "Juiciness … The perfect levels of spices and flavors … And the people working behind the counter are amazing."

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"I've never been to a place where everyone is happy all the time. I don't know how they do it," Tom Borrelli said.

When the doors opened, the line was more than 100 deep, and groups of 20 people at a time were let in. It took several hours for the line to dissipate, but those queued up were patient and in good spirits.

A woman walking her dog came by just before the doors opened and was curious. When she heard what the line was for, she asked someone near the front if they would get her a sandwich, too. She was nicely advised to get in line to wait her turn, as she could likely get a free sandwich.

"The crowd is amazing," Sobocinski said. "We are super excited about Middletown. Middletown has been on our radar for a while. There is a ton of opportunity here. Main Street is absolutely gorgeous, and we are really proud to be part of the community. We plan on entrenching ourselves in the community and giving back as much as we possibly can."

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Explaining the company's philanthropic program, Sobocinski said, "We have what we call the Great Banana Pudding Drive," with a portion of sales from the restaurant's banana pudding desserts going to Connecticut Foodshare. He carried around a large check showing that Haven Hot Chicken had donated $7,317 to Connecticut Foodshare from the chain's fourth quarter 2023 sales.

Co-founder and CEO Etkin Tekin was also on hand for the grand opening. He said he was thrilled with how welcoming Middletown had been.

"We were very pleased," he said, noting he got to chat with people in line from all over, including many first-timers and fans of the chain's other locations.

By 2:30 p.m., the line outside the restaurant had cleared, but the restaurant was at full occupancy inside. Tekin said this was a typical showing for its grand openings but "a very fantastic showing" nonetheless.

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The Middletown location is open daily, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. The restaurant menu includes chicken sandwiches, chicken and waffles, chicken sliders and "tendies," as well as a Sweet Heat Mac Bowl and a Kale Salad Bowl. Vegetarian snacking options include the Not Chicken Nugs, which are over-roasted cauliflower florets with dipping sauce. For more information, havenhotchicken.com/middletown-ct.

MIDDLETOWN — Retirement Board Chair Steve Gomes called out the city administration for arranging for former Fire Chief Robert Kronenberger to receive both a pension and pay under a vendor contract, earning him $190,000 before taxes.

Kronenberger, who retired as fire chief in July 2021, began working as superintendent of the Keating building, a business incubator owned by the city, that same summer.

Gomes told CT Examiner that he believed the arrangement was made specifically to circumvent a rule under Middletown’s retirement plan preventing full-time employees from collecting a pension while continuing to work full-time for the city.

Middletown’s retirement plan states that former employees collecting a pension who are re-employed by the city should have their pension suspended for as long as they are working for the city, except in the case of a temporary employee.

Gomes, who also alleges that Kronenberger had been denying him a space for over a year in the Keating building to open a bottle redemption facility — which Kronenberger denies — brought his concerns to an Economic Development Commission meeting in September.

“How does somebody who’s retired have a job with the city? It’s not supposed to happen,” he said.

Kronenberger told the commission during the meeting that he was not employed by the city, but rather the city had a contract with his business, RWK Enterprises, which was filed with the state of Connecticut in August 2021.

Kronenberger said former Director of Economic Development Joseph Samolis had approached him about the position, since the former building superintendent, John Moore, had passed away.

Kronenberger told the committee he took the position on a part-time basis, and received a raise when he went from part-time to full-time. He said Samolis, who was preparing to retire, felt the position would be a good fit for him.

“I knew the city was in line for some serious grant funding, and I was very interested in running those projects. So that’s why I took the building over full-time,” Kronenberger said.

Samolis told CT Examiner that while he was involved in discussions and drafting the agreement, it was ultimately the city who had entered into the contract with Kronenberger.

According to city documents, Kronenberger received approximately $118,000 in pension funds between August 2022 and July 2023.

Kronenberger also received about $17,500 between August 2022 and July 2023 for part-time work as the director of emergency management. Gomes acknowledged that this work was “legitimate,” as the money was reimbursed by a FEMA grant. Gomes’ wife, Tina Gomes, who was formerly the city’s budget analyst, also receives money for her work through the same grant.

In August 2021, Kronenberger contracted with the city under a personal services vendor contract to act as superintendent of the Keating building on Johnson Street, which the city owns. He was paid $34,200 under the arrangement. In August 2022, the contract was renewed for $72,000 annually, and was renewed again in July 2023 for the same amount.

Kronenberger told CT Examiner he has contracted with other organizations through his company, but is currently working with just the city of Middletown.

Gomes said the city was circumventing the equal opportunity hiring process by contracting with Kronenberger. But Mayor Ben Florsheim said this was not the case. He said the city contracted with Kronenberger because he had “unique professional expertise” that he could lend to the project. For contracts where there is a specific need for certain services, he said, the city is not required to go out to bid for the contract.

“Kronenberger has a property management background separate and apart from his career in the fire department,” Florshiem said. “The other big criteria we would have been looking for is just knowledge of the building and awareness and expertise with building codes, fire codes, that sort of thing, which he brought to the table in abundance.”

Florsheim insisted that Kronenberger was not “double dipping” or increasing the benefits he would receive under the pension.

“It’s fee-for-service work. We are paying him for a professional service and the building has come a long way — which is great — under his direction,” Florshiem said. “He’s not going to get a second pension because of this. It is not going to increase the pension benefits that he’s entitled to from his retirement. He’s somebody who has a lot of experience with the building and what was needed to be done there. And that’s why we decided to bring him back on board.”

Madi Csejka, press secretary for the Office of the State Comptroller, referred CT Examiner to rules governing the Connecticut Municipal Employee Retirement System, a public pension system used by other towns. Csejka said that under those rules, whether a person is considered an “independent contractor” would depend on the facts of the individual case.

But she said, generally, a person can engage as an “independent contractor” with a town without having to stop collecting their pension.

“As long as a MERS retiree is offering services under a personal services contractor agreement — the terms of which would pass the IRS’s “control” test … their pension payments would not be paused,” Csejka said.

Csejka did not respond to a request for comment on Kronenberger’s specific case by the time of publication.

Editor’s note: this story has been edited to clarify that Middletown does not participate in the MERS system, but the rules provide context for the decision by the town.

Emilia Otte covers health and education for the Connecticut Examiner. In 2022 Otte was awarded "Rookie of the Year," by the New England Newspaper & Press Association.

[email protected]