Former Lobsterman Thrives With Own Biz, G & C Marine Services
G & C Marine Services Inc., a full-service marine construction company located in Norwalk, Conn., is run by company founder Gary Wetmore and his son, Charlie, who have been in the business for approximately 20 years.
In addition to the marine construction side of the business, which includes pile driving, masonry, maintenance and repair, dock building/carpentry and marine salvage, the company also owns a few small commercial fishing vessels targeting shellfish and local fish, such as black sea bass.
“Our marine service company has been very successful and that’s quite fortunate for me because it supports my fish-
United Construction & Forestry Holds
Grand Opening Event in Pembroke, N.H.
United Construction & Forestry held a grand opening celebration June 21, 2024, at its new facility in Pembroke, N.H.
United Construction & Forestry and its sister company, United Ag & Turf, operate John Deere dealerships specializing in heavy-duty construction, compact construction, forestry, road building equipment,
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Portland Neighborhood Transforms With Major Project
In Portland, Maine, Bayside has always been a neighborhood in transformation: from industrial center in service to the city’s growth, to central hub providing essential services for its most vulnerable populations, to now a vibrant, mixed-use community offering urban lifestyle amenities.
As a residential neighborhood, Bayside has a shorter history than the rest of Portland. Until the 1800s, the area was under water before developers and builders started filling the area with dirt and materials from other projects throughout the city, including debris from the Great Fire of 1866.
The area ended up playing a crucial role in Portland’s economic growth during the early to mid-20th century, according to the Press Herald. The central landscape presented a convenient location for the utilitarian infrastructure needed to run the city: manufacturing, scrap, the rail yard and lumber. It also became home to the immigrant and migrant labor populations that worked those industries.
In time, as industry moved out of Portland, the city took the opportunity to tear up much of the neighborhood, build Franklin Arterial, a connector road between Interstate 295 and the city’s waterfront, and fill other parts with social services, including a centralized shelter for the unhoused. This has largely characterized Bayside in recent years.
It is now recognized that Portland’s division of the neighborhood and dense clustering of services in one small area, rather than a more distributed approach across the city, created challenges and disparities for the population already living in Bayside — a practice that is today called “discriminatory zoning.”
The Portland Press Herald reported June 2 that in an effort to revitalize those disparities, Portland municipal officials recently made a controversial decision to relocate its largest facility, an emergency shelter, off the peninsula, while keeping the smaller family and teen shelters there in place. The aim was to balance redevelopment for existing and future residents with the needs of the city’s most vulnerable unhoused.
Another Run-Down Neighborhood Reborn
The evolution of Bayside is a common narrative in urban growth and development, according to the Portland news source. It is reminiscent of other abandoned, industrial neighborhoods revitalized as robust residential communities, like Soho in New York City.
Closer to home is the change seen in Portland’s Munjoy Hill over the last two decades.
Like that neighborhood 15 years ago,
Bayside development and real estate values are on the upswing. But unlike Munjoy Hill, the redevelopment of Bayside has been carefully planned between the city, local nonprofits and existing residents. Together, they are trying to responsibly meet the demand of new neighbors attracted to Bayside for its convenient location between the Old Port and Back Cove, two of the city’s prime attractions.
In 2024, visitors come to Bayside for breweries, restaurants, art venues, their favorite Pilates studios, bakeries, Whole Foods and Trader Joe’s.
As the true mark of a changing neighborhood, though, Bayside has attracted sleek, newly-built condominium developments.
However, in this new housing you can observe the tug between Bayside’s history and its future: sale prices are more accessible than comparable units in neighboring Old Port or over in Munjoy Hill, by attracting buyers in search of opportunity and value.
Daymark Indicative of Bayside’s Transformation
One new development is the Daymark building, a high rise with 54 mixed-use units, mostly one-to-two-bedroom condominiums, designed around impressive, shared amenities for community-focused living.
Before Daymark was built, the lot was vacant and overgrown; today, though, as units sell and new residents move in, it is a
blossoming community with diverse neighbors from all over Maine, throughout the country, and across the globe, the Press Herald noted.
Units in Daymark are listed for sale by Nova Tower and Tyson Wilkins of Waypoint Brokers Collective in Portland.
Wilkins noted that the people who buy in Daymark are attracted to the neighborhood for its mix of old and new.
“They love all the new business in the area, [and] how close it is to the Old Port and Munjoy Hill,” he told the newspaper. “They are very aware that this is a neighborhood with exciting growth happening. It’s a big part of why they buy here.”
In speaking with the Press Herald, Tower talked about the changing lifestyle in Bayside.
“When I first moved to Portland 16 years ago, I didn’t find myself in Bayside often, maybe once or twice a year, to go to the Portland Architectural Salvage,” she recalled. “Then there was Bayside Bowl and suddenly we were down here a lot. After that, it was one thing after the next: restaurant patios, events at our friend’s art studio, our favorite stores, my bank. Bayside is now a regular date night destination for us.”
She added that investment from the business community eventually attracted developers to build condos, “because people wanted to be here.”
Still, there are always challenges to a
changing neighborhood, something which the active Bayside Neighborhood Association summarizes well on its website: “There are unique opportunities in Bayside for community investment, growth and placemaking, and challenges in preserving its affordability and identity.”
The association maintains the city’s only neighborhood run community garden, across the street from Daymark.
“Hopefully, we can seize these opportunities while meeting those challenges with the Bayside Master Development Plan, a comprehensive redevelopment plan expected to be completed over the next 10 years or so,” Waypoint Brokers Collective said in a news release. “The plan is focused on sustainability and inclusivity, transforming vacant and underutilized lots into more than 800 new mixed-use rental units. Most of them will be market rate, but a quarter of them will be allocated as affordable units for residents making up to 80 percent of the area median income. It will further include people-centered features like artful pedestrian walkways, green spaces, outdoor dining capacity, and more.
“Transformation is the one certain trajectory for the future of Bayside, according to the development company. “With some reflection on its origins and evolution, Bayside can grow into an exciting, accessible neighborhood for a diverse population of residents and businesses.”
Waypoint Brokers Collective rendering
One new development is the Daymark building, a high rise with 54 mixed-use units, mostly one-to-two-bedroom condominiums, designed around impressive, shared amenities for community-focused living.
During Event, Company Touts NASCAR Sponsorship
tree care and industrial grinders and chippers.
The grand opening event featured a ribbon-cutting with local dignitaries, as well as a charitable raffle with Girls at Work, a local New Hampshire non-profit empowering girls with tools to build confidence and strength.
agriculture, turf and utility vehicles. United Construction & Forestry is the largest John Deere dealer in the northeast with 14 locations across the region.
Until recently, there were two John Deere product locations in the Pembroke, N.H. area: United Construction & Forestry and United Ag & Turf, with the ownership of each falling under the same corporate umbrella. A major expansion/remodeling of the United Construction & Forestry location at 98 Sheep Davis Road in Pembroke made way for a vastly expanded showroom and increased office space that allows both operations to serve under the same roof.
Combining the Pembroke agricultural and construction facilities allows customers whose businesses use both agricultural equipment/construction equipment products to satisfy all of their equipment needs at a single location. The new location also sells and supports Wirtgen pavement milling recyclers and soil stabilizers, Vogele asphalt pavers, Kleemann crushers and screeners, Hamm soil and asphalt compactors, and Morbark
In addition to customers having a chance to tour the new facility, United Construction & Forestry used this opportunity to introduce its sponsorship in the NASCAR Xfinity Series with Ryan Ellis and Alpha Prime Racing. Ellis greeted customers and signed autographs prior to heading to the New Hampshire Motor Speedway to prepare for driving the No. 43 Chevy Camaro in the Sci Apps 200, Xfinity race, which was held Saturday, June 22.
“We are excited for this inaugural opportunity to expose the United Construction & Forestry brand to NASCAR fans,” said Mark Kuhn, president of United Construction & Forestry. “It also aligns nicely with the grand opening of our new dealership in Pembroke, N.H., because it will give so many of our customers a chance to meet Ryan [Ellis]. Many of our customers in the heavy equipment industry are loyal NASCAR fans, so we know they’ll be thrilled to see the black and yellow No. 43 car on the track. We couldn’t be hap-
pier with how easy Ryan and the Alpha Prime Racing team have been to work with, and whether we get a victory lap or not, the sponsorship has been a winning experience.”
In speaking of the upcoming race Ellis said, “New Hampshire is one of my favorite racetracks on our schedule, and I’m so excited to have an amazing partner in United Construction & Forestry based in that area. Over the last few years, we’ve really seen the crowd grow at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, and last year, it was one of our best races of the season. Unfortunately, we barely missed the free pass position a few times and could not get our lap back when some other cars did. Otherwise, it definitely would have been a top-10 day. The Xfinity Series package has really put on a great show at this venue over the last few years, and I could not be more excited to get there — it’s a race that I’ve had marked on my schedule since we left last year. I’m so thankful for Mark Kuhn and his entire team’s support at United Construction & Forestry, and I hope this partnership is one that we can only grow into the future.” CEG
(All photographs in this article are Copyright 2024 Construction Equipment Guide. All Rights Reserved.)
CEG photo
Mark Kuhn, president, United Construction & Forestry, and Ron Davis, president, United Ag & Turf NE, are joined by members of the Greater Concord Chamber of Commerce and United Ag & Turf and United Construction & Forestry employees for the store’s ribbon-cutting ceremony.
CEG photo
Ryan Ellis, NASCAR Xfinity Series driver of the No. 43 United Construction & Forestry car, sets up for a signing at the grand opening event.
NASCAR photo
A studio shot of the No. 43 United Construction & Forestry Chevy Camaro raced by NASCAR driver Ryan Ellis.
NASCAR photo
The United Construction & Forestry No. 43 car at the New Hampshire Xfinity Series race.
NASCAR photo Ryan Ellis stands for the National Anthem at the start of the New Hampshire race on Saturday, June 22, 2024.
EVENT from page 1
G & C Marine Services Successfully ‘Rolls With the Tides’
from page 1
Years ago, Gary was a lobsterman, however as water temperatures increased, the lobster population migrated north, leaving Gary looking for alternatives to support himself. He took a job working for a marine contractor in the Norwalk area. When that contractor decided to retire, it left Gary with a great opportunity to purchase his barge and other implements of the trade and start G & C Marine Services.
Construction repair and maintenance of water structures is not the only type of work that G & C Marine Services is called upon to complete; it also is in the boat salvage business, essentially using its barge and excavator to retrieve boats that have sunk. When asked how often that type of work comes up, Gary said, “More often than you might think. We just got a call this morning. Apparently, someone forgot to put the plug back in their boat.”
Roll With the Tides
range along with a forklift pad to support the hauling and loading of smaller vessels for the rack storage system. For this project, G & C Marine Services used a John Deere 245 50,000-lb. excavator that was recently purchased from W.I. Clark to drive 30-ft.-long piles into the seawall approximately 19 ft.
Construction Equipment Guide (CEG) visited the Wetmores while they were working on two projects.
“In our business, having two or more projects simultaneously is critical to maintaining any level of efficiency,” Gary said. “When we work on our projects, how many hours a day that we can commit to a project is dictated by the tides. In most cases we are working along the shoreline, and we can only access the project at high tide.
“The tide must be high enough for our barge to be able to access the area without any possibility of the barge touching or resting on the sea bottom,” he added. “Barges and sea bottoms are very closely regulated. Tides change not only by the time of day, but also by location. The tide level at one project will vary from the tide level on a project just a couple of miles down the shoreline.
“A daylight high tide period is only going to last about four hours a day. So having multiple sites operating simultaneously is critical to making any amount of ideal use of our equipment and our employees. When the tide gets low enough to stop work on one project, we finish out the day by working on a second project.”
Currently, G & C Marine Services is working on one project that is located adjacent to its business at 108 Water Street in Norwalk, Conn., and a second project that is located just down the shoreline.
The project on Water Street is replacing a seawall that totals approximately 340 ft. in length in 10-ft. sections and includes a travel lift basin for hauling boats in the 30-40-ft.
Between each pile is a wall of 10 by 10 wooden beams. A whaler beam is attached to the back of all of the “H” piles, which is tied back to 2-in. rods that are fastened to a deadman (a concrete pad that runs a depth of 20 ft. from the shoreline). This section of seawall is roughly a $1 million project and will take the entire season to complete. The new wall will have a life expectancy of 50-plus years.
The John Deere excavator drives the steel “H” piles with the assistance of a Hercules model SP50 side grip pile driver, one of two Hercules pile drivers owned by G & C Marine. One is configured for driving steel and the other is configured for driving timber piles. For this particular project, it hasn’t been necessary or practical to use the barge to position the John Deere 245 excavator to drive the piles. The
pile driving has been easily accomplished with the excavator placed on the shoreline.
The Hercules HMC side grip pile driver is an excavator-mounted hydraulic attachment that speeds up the pile driving process. This attachment uses hydraulics to safely pick up, unload, place, drive and extract pilings. The unique design helps the operator overcome obstacles such as low overhead clearance and narrow passageways.
The second project being constructed just down the shoreline from the first project is the construction of a 37-ft.-long supported
pier with a 35-ft.-long gangway that leads to an 8-ft. by 20-ft. floating dock. The total structure is approximately 90 ft. long.
This project requires the use of G & C Marine’s barge, which has a Hitachi excavator that also was purchased from W.I. Clark, on board for the driving of the piles.
Gary Wetmore has spent his lifetime making his living from the sea, either harvesting from it or completing construction projects on it. When asked for his observation on how the ocean waters in the Norwalk area have changed over the course of his lifetime he responded, “The sea level has not changed at all in my lifetime, but two things have dramatically changed. The water temperature has increased just enough to change the fish and sea life that inhabit the area. As mentioned earlier, some species have traveled out of the area because the water is too warm. The primary example being the lobsters. However, other species have moved in. The black sea bass, which is a highly sought after seafood, used to only be harvestable in the mid-Atlantic coastal regions. Today, it is one of the species of fish that we have built our commercial fishery around.
“The other change is the severity and frequency of the storms that hit the area. Twenty years ago, a storm with enough impact to create shoreline flooding would have only occurred once or twice a year. Today, it is something that we deal with on nearly a monthly basis.”
(L-R) are Carl Roderick, sales representative of W.I. Clark; and Charlie Wetmore and Gary Wetmore, both of G & C Marine Services.
When asked about the safety challenges of marine construction, Gary said, “I don’t believe our work is any more dangerous than other types of construction with the exception of marine contracting having the added risk of drowning.”
MARINE page 16
W.I. Clark photo
MARINE
CEG photo
W.I. Clark photo G & C Marine sets a mooring anchor.
E UIPMEN
Conn. Highway Sees Renaissance in Shelton-Derby Area
The town of Shelton, Conn., has been widely thought of as the economic success story of the state’s lower Naugatuck Valley for many years, but economic development experts and public officials in the area say other communities like Derby along the Connecticut Highway 34 corridor are now starting to catch up.
“Shelton has always been more aggressive in terms of public policy in transforming itself from a mill town,” said Brian Marks, a senior lecturer of economics and business analytics at the University of New Haven. “But in fairness to communities like Derby and others in that part of the valley, redevelopment is not instantaneous. It takes time.”
The Derby-Shelton Bridge over the Housatonic River is undergoing a face-lift to make it more aesthetically pleasing and link the downtown areas of both communities for pedestrians and cyclists as well as motor vehicle traffic.
For Derby, it appears the time is now. A mix of public sector dollars and private investment is offering the promise of breathing new life into the state’s smallest city.
After a 20-year wait, a multi-million-dollar Connecticut Department of Transportation (CTDOT) reconstruction project is currently underway along a portion of Conn. 34 near Derby’s City Hall. When
completed, it will feature two lanes in each direction, a landscaped center median, wide brick sidewalks with period lighting and plantings.
At the same time, the Derby-Shelton Bridge over the Housatonic River is undergoing a face-lift to make it more aesthetical-
ly pleasing and link the downtown areas of both communities for pedestrians and cyclists as well as motor vehicle traffic when the work finishes in July. The changes also will provide better access to link Shelton’s Riverwalk with Derby’s Greenway Trail.
“This project will be transformative for
downtown Derby and has already served as a catalyst for two new projects,” said Bill Purcell, president and chief executive officer of the Greater Valley Chamber of Commerce.
The Trolley Pointe development at 90 Main St. will have 105 apartments and include workforce housing units, while just a few blocks away, a 95-unit apartment complex called Cedar Village is being developed at 67-71 Minerva St., CT Insider reported June 16.
Marks said that as the apartment complexes are completed and people move into them, economic development officials in Derby will need to maintain a delicate balance.
“Those areas that are going to see more economic growth are the ones that skillfully handle mixed use projects,” he explained. “The commercial elements that are offered in Derby and other communities need to be complementary to what is already in place.”
Rick Dunne, executive director of the Naugatuck Valley Council of Governments, said that in some cases, new businesses in
Naugatuck Valley Council of Governments photo
Excavators Become Vital Component for Marine Contractor
from page 12
Family Ties
The “C” in G & C Marine Services is Gary’s son, Charlie. When talking about his son, Gary chuckled and said “It might be his business now. He pretty much runs everything. I think he might have fired me.”
Besides managing the projects and working with the crew, one of Charlie’s primary responsibilities is the operation of the excavators, both from the shore and aboard the barge.
When the company was founded, excavators were not a part of the picture. The company used a drop hammer with a fixed set of weights aboard the barge to drive the piles. Over the years, the drop hammers have been replaced with hydraulic excavators.
“The excavators were a big step forward for us compared to the old system,” Charlie said. “The excavators take less room on the barge, they are more stable, they are faster and safer, thus lowering our insurance costs.”
The company does keep a 75-ton telecrawler crane in its fleet for the occasional project that requires driving piles that are too long to be handled by the excavators but primarily uses it for the loading and unloading of the barges.
Brand, Dealer Loyalty
As the primary operator of the company’s excavator fleet, Charlie has become quite attached to John Deere and W.I. Clark.
“Every experience that we’ve had with John Deere and W.I. Clark has been positive,” he said. “Even some of our boats operate on John Deere engines and they have proven to be very reliable. We’ve never really had any complaints with the John Deere product and our dealer, W.I. Clark, has been a significant part of our satisfaction with John Deere excavators.
“Carl Roderick [W.I. Clark sales representative] has been essential in the sales process by putting deals together and
matching our application needs with the right John Deere machine. He has taken a strong interest in our business and understands our needs. Our most recent purchase of the John Deere 245 is a great example. The 245 is a reduced tail swing machine and it fits perfectly into our needs on the barge. Because of the nature of the machine’s design, it takes up less space and is much more stable. This design gives us more options as far as what we load on the barge and how we load it.
“The John Deere 245’s hydraulic system has really been a big step forward for us. We run a pretty wide assortment of attachments depending on the project. Some of these attachments have different hydraulic flow specifications than others.
“John Deere’s new hydraulic system and monitoring system have been a big plus for us. It used to be a major challenge to change the hydraulic flows for the use of one attachment versus another one with different specs. The time involved in making the change made it almost impractical to change attachments from one excavator to another. With John Deere’s new in-cab hydraulic monitoring system I can change the direction of hydraulic flow and hydraulic pressures. The monitor allows us to set up specific flows and pressures for various attachments and identify those attachments by name in the monitor. In other words, if we have seven different attachments with seven different hydraulic specifications, they can be tagged and identified in the
hydraulic monitor, and I can change flows to go from one attachment to another without ever getting out of the cab.
“The John Deere 245 also has three hydraulic pumps instead of two. It really makes a difference in the hydraulic flow and power, particularly when swinging the boom. The configuration of the John Deere 245 has an added bonus of adding four feet of boom height. It’s not that the boom is actually any longer, but with a reduced tail swing machine the boom is mounted higher on the machine and lifts more vertically than comparable size machines versus raising at a 45-degree angle. The end result is a higher boom reach, which makes it much easier to drive our longer piles. These are the types of features that Carl Roderick has been an important part of identifying for us.”
Another important part of G & C Marine Services’ satisfaction with W.I. Clark is its product support.
“As an example, W.I. Clark gave us a product support specialist named Chuck Bakutis. Chuck is responsible for training us on how to operate the machine and answering any questions that we have about some of the special features. He has been here a couple of times to keep us up to speed, but he is also easily accessible by phone any time I need him. He was particularly helpful when we loaned out our mini-excavator and it ended up getting tipped over. He was critical in
sure the machine was
operational again.” For more information, visit www.wiclark.com and www.gandcmarineservices.com. CEG
making
quickly
W.I. Clark photo
G & C Marine is working on the construction of a 37ft.-long supported pier with a 35-ft.-long gangway that leads to an 8-ft. by 20-ft. floating dock.
CEG photo
A John Deere 245 excavator and attachment being used to place 10 by 10 wooden beams in place during the construction of a new sea wall in Norwalk, CT.
W.I. Clark photo
The John Deere excavator drives the steel “H” piles with the assistance of a Hercules model SP50 side grip pile driver, one of two Hercules pile drivers owned by G & C Marine.
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Highway Project to Help Lead Economic Development in Conn.
Derby that duplicate those in Shelton should be able to coexist.
“There’s not enough capacity at restaurants in Shelton if you want to go out and get something to eat on a weeknight,” he told CT Insider.
In a few years, Derby’s train station will benefit from an $84 million upgrade of the Waterbury branch line of the Metro North Railroad.
That project includes improvements to every station on the line, which, in addition to Derby, includes those in Ansonia, Seymour, Beacon Falls and Waterbury.
Samaia Hernandez, a CTDOT spokesperson, said the rail line construction is slated to start in summer 2025 and be completed in 2027.
Among the upgrades to the Derby train station are a raised and heated platform, additional parking for commuters and portals for buses to connect passengers with trains.
Highway Corridor Runs Past Mix of Developments
The Conn. 34 corridor differs from the Berlin Turnpike, one of the state’s better known commercial roadways, which is largely commercial on either side of the road from Meriden to just outside Hartford. In contrast, Conn. 34 has a mix of commercial and residential properties that have frontage on the highway.
One example of that is the Residences at Kestral, a 34-unit apartment complex on Roosevelt Drive in Seymour, overlooking the Housatonic River near the intersection of Conn. 188. That also is the case in Orange, where homes give way to farms and the Fieldstone Village retirement community west of the Wilbur Cross Parkway.
In speaking with CT Insider, Jim Zeoli, Orange’s first selectman, explained that the mix of residential and commercial zoning along the Parkway was deliberately built decades ago to prevent communities hemmed in by gridlock from Conn. 34 to the north and U.S. Highway 1 to the south.
“We consider ourselves to be a town, not a city and we’re happy about that,” he said.
Located between downtown Derby and the Wilbur Cross Parkway in Orange are several retail strip centers, the most wellknown being Hilltop Commons, populated largely by national or regional retailers.
A little further down Conn. 34 from Hilltop Commons, more businesses have opened in recent years, including a new Splash Car Wash that began operating at the
end of 2023.
The Milford-based chain was founded by Mark Curtis, who also serves as its CEO. He said that that stretch of Conn. 34 is undergoing a renaissance.
“When you see businesses come in and develop in a certain area, you want to come and develop too,” he told CT Insider. “This has been a good location for us. We feel this is an underserved area and it draws people not [just] from Derby, but from surrounding communities like Woodbridge, Orange and the northern part of Milford.”
But Dunne said along the stretch of Conn. 34 between Orange and Derby, “there just isn’t a lot of land to support strip commercial centers.”
Highway Is Ripe for More Development
According to Donald Klepper-Smith, an economist with South Carolina-based DataCore Partners, there is no reason Derby and other Conn. 34 corridor towns could not see an increased level of economic development.
He noted that Shelton has benefited from businesses and consumers who want a Fairfield County address without having to pay the higher prices that they would incur if they were in Greenwich, Stamford or Norwalk.
Klepper-Smith, who served on the Governor’s Economic Advisory Panel in Connecticut during Gov. Jodi Rell’s administration, said that with the new apartment complexes being built in Derby and neighboring communities, the Conn. 34 corridor will likely begin to see the increased development that Shelton has seen for the past decade or so.
“It all comes down to access and affordability,” he told CT Insider. “You have people looking to bypass the sky-high prices of lower Fairfield County, but still be close enough to have access to that part of the state. And people are looking at what it costs to maintain single-family homes and weighing it against the cost of apartment and the flexibility that it offers.”
The publicly-funded improvements also have set up Derby for a future that is less focused on automobiles, according to Dunne.
His hope is that someday there will be a dedicated busway developed in the lower Naugatuck Valley following the Conn. 8 corridor and include a stop in Derby stop route and lead into the area’s industrial parks.
“I hope Derby doesn’t fall into the trap of creating a lot of surface parking,” he said.
