Attorney General Tong Announces Antitrust Settlement with Asphalt Paving Companies and Their Principals Over Alleged Bid-Rigging

(Hartford, CT) -- Attorney General William Tong today announced a $360,756 settlement with B & W Paving & Landscaping, LLC (B &W) and Advance Resources, LLC (AR), and their principals resolving an investigation initiated in early 2023 into illegal bid-rigging on a state paving contract in violation of the Connecticut Antitrust Act. 

The investigation, conducted by the Office of the Attorney General, found that the companies, owned by a husband and wife, shared sensitive pricing information and precoordinated winning bids. 

“The alleged actions of these asphalt paving companies and their principals were a blatant attempt to rig the bidding process and manipulate the market for public contracts. Bid-rigging illegally eliminates competition-- hurting consumers and taxpayers alike. We will continue to aggressively protect the integrity of our state procurement system and will hold those who distort the marketplace accountable,” said Attorney General Tong.

Under the settlement agreement, the two contractors – B & W and AR – and their respective principals, a husband and wife, were alleged to have harmed competition in the supply of asphalt paving services to state agencies and municipalities that relied upon the bids submitted under the state contract by engaging in a bid-rigging conspiracy that created a false appearance of competition and manipulated the competitive bidding process for subcontracted work in violation of federal and state antitrust laws.  

As a part of the settlement, the contractors and their principals agreed to pay the state a total of $216,454 in civil penalties, with an additional $144,302 deferred on the condition that the contractors fully comply with the terms of the agreement. They also agreed to divest and dissolve AR.

 The remaining company, B & W, agreed to adopt a robust antitrust compliance program to help ensure that they do not violate the antitrust laws in the future. Moreover, B & W agreed to cooperate with future antitrust investigations.

Anyone with information concerning bid rigging, price-fixing, or other anticompetitive conduct should contact the Attorney General’s Antitrust Section at (860) 808-5354 or email at: ag.antitrustcomplaints@ct.gov.

Assistant Attorney General Julián Quiñones, Investigators Timothy Edwards and Robert Shreder, and Deputy Associate Assistant Attorney General Nicole Demers, Chief of the Antitrust Section, assisted the Attorney General in this matter.

Dave Altimari and Andrew Brown

Konstantinos Diamantis, Connecticut’s former state deputy budget director, asked a judge on Friday to delay his upcoming corruption trial so that he and his attorney have time to build a defense against the federal bribery and extortion charges that are leveled against him. 

But even as a judge considers that request, records show federal investigators are continuing to probe other matters that could involve Diamantis, one of the highest-ranking officials in the Connecticut state government. 

A federal grand jury subpoena that was issued to the state in late October ordered the state Department of Social Services to turn over Medicaid enrollment information for a Bristol optometrist. 

Attorneys handling subpoenas for the state redacted the doctor’s name and address, but sources told The Connecticut Mirror that the person named in the subpoena is Helen Zervas, the owner of Family Eye Care.

The CT Mirror published a story in early 2024 that detailed how DSS cancelled a scheduled audit of Zervas’ practice after she admitted to overbilling the state’s Medicaid program and voluntarily repaid nearly $600,000 to the state.

The check that Zervas wrote to DSS became the focus of the ongoing grand jury investigation because it was hand-delivered to DSS’s headquarters by Diamantis and former state Democratic lawmaker Christopher Ziogas, Zervas’ fiance. 

In a previous interview with CT Mirror, Diamantis acknowledged that he was friends with Zervas, but he said he did not intervene in the Medicaid audit or the settlement of Zervas’ Medicaid payments. 

Even so, the new subpoena indicates federal authorities are not yet done investigating Zervas and her optometry practice. It’s unclear if Diamantis could also be a target in that investigation. 

The current charges against Diamantis stem from a three-year federal investigation that focused primarily on school building projects, which Diamantis held immense influence over as the head of the state’s Office of School Construction Grants & Review.

Diamantis was arrested in early May and accused of extorting several school contractors and later accepting bribes from those companies. 

In the 35-page indictment, Diamantis was charged with 22 separate counts, including lying to federal investigators. Diamantis has been free on a $500,000 bond since his arrest.  

His trial is supposed to start as early as February, but his attorney, Norm Pattis, filed a motion Friday asking for a delay because he is still reviewing the discovery documents federal authorities turned over to him following Diamantis’ arrest.

“Discovery in this case is massive,” Pattis explained in his motion, adding that preparation for the trial was also disrupted by the recent death of Diamantis’ mother. 

Citing emails and other messages, federal prosecutors have alleged that Diamantis used his position as the head of the state’s Office of School Construction Grants and Review to strong-arm contractors into paying him a cut of the school construction contracts he helped them to win.

Federal prosecutors have already secured several guilty pleas from some of the construction contractors that allegedly paid Diamantis for steering work to their companies.

One of those contractors is Antonietta Roy, the owner of Construction Advocacy Professionals, who was charged with conspiracy to commit bribery.

The other two were Salvatore “Sal” Monarca and John Duffy, the president and vice president of Acranom Masonry, who were both charged with conspiracy to commit extortion. 

All three pleaded guilty before Diamantis was indicted, but their cases were not unsealed until after Diamantis was arrested at his Farmington home on May 16.

Kalleen Rose Ozanic

NORWALK — When a critical bridge spanning Interstate 95 was damaged in a fiery crash in May, state leaders estimated it would take a year to repair. 

Instead, the Fairfield Avenue overpass was rebuilt and reopened exactly seven months later. How did CDOT’s contractor, Yonkers Contracting Co., and nine subcontractors, finish it five months early and $3.2 million under budget?

Officials credited good weather, dedication and an accelerated regulatory approval process that allowed crews to start construction sooner.

Connecticut Department of Transportation Spokesperson Josh Morgan described the project as "the opposite of a perfect storm.”

Timothy Caulfield, vice president of construction for the Yonkers, N.Y.-based company, said that a combination of hard work, problem solving, and luck got the bridge done so much faster than the estimated one-year timeline — a length of time he said gave crews a small cushion but was a reasonable amount of time in which to finish the project.

“We really came together from all levels, with the same goal to get this bridge open as fast as possible,” Caulfield said.

Morgan credited Yonkers for managing the project with such finesse, especially with a slate of nine subcontractors: Structural Services, Inc. of Mount Vernon, N.Y.; Safety Marking LLC of Bridgeport; Atlantic Concrete; Santoro, Inc. of Newington; Cristiano & Son Painting of New Britain; The Quaker Corporation of Plantsville; Next Gen Iron, LLC; AM Rizzo Electrical Contractors of Danbury; and Penna Construction of Norwalk.

Caulfield said the hard work of his crew and men and women from the nine subcontractors, who would work long days and nights at times, made the dream come true.

He said that when there were supply chain issues, Yonkers would go to fabricators and vendors and explain the emergency that was the Fairfield Avenue bridge rebuild. 

“We called multiple steel suppliers we use on various projects,” the construction vice president said, explaining how he would approach vendors. “‘This is a high priority project and the state of Connecticut and everyone who travels needs it. Who can fabricate steel the fastest?”

The rebuild was considered a top priority after a May 2 collision caused a traffic nightmare in the region. The crash involved three vehicles and a massive fire that engulfed the Fairfield Avenue bridge, causing irreparable damage. The overpass was demolished in less than 80 hours so that that section of I-95 could reopen. 

The design plans for the bridge were complete in less than a month. 

All actors involved in the bridge’s rebuild wanted to help get the project done quickly, Caulfield said. But some of the success Yonkers and its nine subcontractors had in rebuilding the overpass in record time was sheer luck.

Wildfires spread across the Northeast and Connecticut this fall from a monthslong drought. But that very drought got the project done faster, Caulfield said.

And Norwalk was spared from the significant flooding that deluged much of northern Connecticut in August, Morgan said.

“Thankfully, that rain didn’t impact the Norwalk area as much as the rest of the state,” the CDOT spokesperson said.

In October, Morgan said that crews were racing to beat potential winter weather shutdowns. Luckily, warmer weather persisted into November.

All of the hard work and luck was inspiring and spurred even faster work, Caulfield said.

“Things just started falling in line and we could see that this deadline was going to be done a lot earlier,” he said. “Then you’re motivated and you push.”

And even with increased overtime hours and costs to get the bridge complete, Caulfield said, the project was done well under budget.

Most of the $3.2 million savings are from wages, the Yonkers vice president said. Finishing a project five months early is five months of saved wage expenses, Caulfield said.

Vacant lot in New Haven could become Yale's new dramatic arts building

Brian Zahn

NEW HAVEN — Yale University is looking to construct a seven-story dramatic arts building on a currently vacant lot at the corner of Crown and York Streets, according to documents filed with New Haven's City Plan department.

"The new building will house the university’s David Geffen School of Drama at Yale graduate school program and Yale Repertory Theater, and the university’s undergraduate program in Theater, Dance, and Performance Studies," university officials wrote in the application. "The building will also provide space for the Yale Dramatic Association undergraduate student theater group. These university programs are currently housed in campus facilities that are dispersed among multiple buildings in several locations."

The university announced its plans for the building will move forward in February.

“This new building will unite scholars and artists who have long been divided among multiple facilities,” Provost Scott Strobel said in a February statement.

Then-President Peter Salovey said the building would be "a venue worthy of the university’s proud legacy and boundless ambitions in theater."

The plans for the Yale-owned parcels of 321, 333, 337 and 341 Crown Street and 142, 146 and 148 York Street propose classrooms, offices, production and technical shops, rehearsal and meeting spaces, a 100-seat studio theater, and a new 400-seat Yale Repertory Theater.

Officials said the building would strengthen the collaboration between various Yale-affiliated theater arts programs. 

In February, the university said its concept for the building would be "an inviting, technologically sophisticated and environment friendly building filled with natural light."

The 188,294 square-foot building will use a steel frame with exterior walls of glass, metal and masonry. The project will seek LEED Gold certification and will meet Yale’s standard for “Zero Carbon Ready,” officials wrote in the application. It will hae 28 bicycle racks with 56 total spaces, and 41 on-site parking spaces would be eliminated.

"Subject to approvals, it is anticipated that construction will commence in the summer of 2025 and be completed in the summer of 2029," the university wrote in its application.

Connecticut investing $31 million in truck rest area expansions

Christian Metzger

MIDDLETOWN — The Connecticut Department of Transportation announced Friday a $31 million investment in expanding truck parking at rest stops across Connecticut. 

Rest areas in Middletown, Southington, Madison, Southbury, and Vernon will get 183 new parking spaces, officials said. 

Construction began in October at the Middletown Rest Area, located off I-91 near Exit 20. The $3.8 million project, which will add 11 truck parking spaces to the lot, is projected to be completed in September 2025. 

The Middletown Rest Area was the first expansion site, as the state owns all the land necessary to begin the project. The other rest areas will see even more significant expansions, with upwards of 40 additional parking spaces planned for Southington, and as many as 60 planned for Vernon. Currently, there are 420 truck parking spaces statewide. When the project is completed by the end of the decade, the state will have about 600, officials said. 

The new parking areas will have improved drainage and lighting. 

Trucking industry officials have pushed for the expansions, citing a shortage of parking spaces across the state. The shortage has led truckers to park alongside the shoulder of the highway, on off-ramps, or in residential areas, causing a potential hazard for truckers and other drivers, officials said. 

“On average, drivers lose about an hour’s worth of their driving, an hour of service, trying to find parking," said Motor Transport Association of Connecticut President John Blair. "They stop early. So obviously, that affects supply chain issues.” 

“The truck parking shortage has plagued the trucking industry for decades, and the consequences of insufficient capacity are as wide-ranging as they are severe," he said in a news release. "The scarcity of truck parking spaces across the country decreases safety for all highway users, exacerbates the industry's longstanding workforce challenges, diminishes trucking productivity, and results in unnecessary greenhouse gas emissions. The effort here in Connecticut will undoubtedly make our roads safer.”

According to officials, truckers are required to drive for nine hours and take 10 hours to rest. Because of that, officials said, it is important to make areas secure and comfortable for drivers.

“We've seen the trends of truck traffic continue to grow in Connecticut since 2020 to now we have a lot more truck traffic than we did before the pandemic," said CTDOT Commissioner Garrett Eucalitto. "I think our economy has shifted. People want things now; they order, and they want it delivered tomorrow. So there's a lot of that on demand, and the industry has shifted, so we just see trucks all the time, and we've built out.”

The project is also a key investment for the state. Connecticut’s freight transportation system supports more than 451,000 jobs and produces $50.5 billion annually in gross regional product, officials said.

Ledyard quarry hearing gets testy as public comment continues

Lee Howard

Ledyard ― Planning and Zoning Commission public hearing attendees got restless Thursday night at Ledyard Middle School as Harry Heller, attorney for the company proposing a new 40-acre quarry operation in Gales Ferry, was allowed for more than 20 minutes to grill a member of the public, Eric Treaster, who opposes the project.

"Is this a trial?" asked one of the more than 50 attendees on Zoom.

A few minutes later, attorney Wilson Carroll, who represents the Gales Ferry Fire District in opposing the quarry proposal from Gales Ferry Intermodal (GFI) LLC, argued that Heller's cross-examination of Treaster was inappropriate.

"He's taken 20 minutes, almost 25 minutes cross-examining Mr. Treaster," Carroll said. "We have so many members of the public who are eager to speak and we have very limited time left. ...This is not something he has a right to do."

Heller argued that Treaster had been holding himself up as an expert as a former chairman of a land use commission in town and that he therefore had the right to question him more closely than he would other members of the public. Even after the commission’s attorney had advised members that Heller should stick to questioning the factual basis of Treaster's testimony, the GFI attorney continued on.

A man in the audience of about 80 couldn't contain himself and blurted out "shut up, for Christ’s sake," then walked out as other members of the public became vocally upset at the grilling.

Commission Chairman Marty Wood immediately intervened by reminding the audience that they were violating rules laid down at a previous meeting to not speak out of turn.

"What this can't turn into is heckling," he said.

He acknowledged that the commission had allowed Heller to question Treaster, a member of the public, something it did not normally allow.

"What we started here in this process was cross-examination of a lay person presentation," he said. "And we have never done that in the past."

The hearing will continue at 6 p.m. next Thursday at Ledyard Middle School and on Zoom, with final arguments set for 6 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 19, at the same location.

During his testimony, Treaster laid out 22 reasons the proposed quarry at a site off Route 12 formerly occupied by Dow Chemical Co. violates zoning regulations. Principal among these were that GFI is seeking a special permit for an "excavation major," but by blowing up parts of Decatur Mountain and removing bedrock the company is actually proposing a quarry, which isn't allowed under town regulations.

"Bedrock like granite is not surficial material," Treaster said. "In simple terms, excavation is the removal of soil and earth and quarrying is the severing and processing of bedrock."

Treaster also argued that the applicants had failed to prove that their quarrying operation would be in harmony with the neighborhood, as required by regulations. He said GFI's proposal to pay the town a tipping fee for the removal of material as payment in lieu of taxes may not comply with state law since the property is not tax exempt.

In addition, Treaster also argued that the noise and dust emissions resulting from the operations over a number of years are among the reasons to deny the application. He said GFI failed to prove its operations would not cause offensive noise and other negative effects to the neighborhood around it.

Health and history

Eleanor Murray opposed the application for other reasons, suggesting that the silica dust stirred up by the quarry would result in health problems for local residents, and that radon would likely be exposed as well.

"If we blow up Mount Decatur, we'll be exposed to radon," she said. "It's everywhere around here."

Expert witness Brian Sauvageau, former senior sanitarian for the Ledge Light Health District, agreed that radon is a potential problem in the area, as is arsenic that he said is currently held in suspension in the Thames River but could be released as a result of quarry blasting, perhaps affecting the shellfishing beds that recently were reintroduced on the waterway.

Sauvageau also argued that GFI should test well water in the area to document any changes resulting from their quarrying activity. In addition, he said that stagnant water in basins that would be created on site could be a breeding ground for mosquitoes carrying such diseases as eastern equine encephalitis and West Nile virus, among others.

"This activity is going to alter the ecology of mosquitoes in this area. This is immediately going to become a violation of state of Connecticut public health code," he said.

The health code states "stagnant water (that) will afford breeding places for mosquitoes is a condition specifically declared to constitute a nuisance."

Anne Roberts-Pierson of Anderson Drive agreed that the quarry would affect the community forever, but she focused on the effect of destroying about half of historic Mount Decatur in pursuit of aggregate that could be used in local construction projects.

"The mountain is a very rare and important historic site," Roberts-Pierson said.

And while GFI has promised to preserve about 4.5 acres of the mountain that once contained a War of 1812 fort, she said the destruction of the mountain would remove the historic context of the site. She also called it inappropriate for GFI to promise filing paperwork to put Mount Decatur on the National Register of Historic Places contingent upon approval of the estimated seven- to 10-year quarry project.

"If the landscape around the forest site is destroyed, removed and no longer exists, then the context of the historic resource is missing, which makes interpreting the site to future generations of Americans very difficult," she said. "The quarry would do irreparable harm to the site, which one can never get back."

Roberts-Pierson said she got permission on Veterans Day to visit Allyns Point Cemetery near Fort Decatur and said it was through a dark lens that she viewed the graves of young patriots who died at the Battle of Groton.

"An immense sadness swept over me for the loss of such young lives," she said. "But also with the potential loss of historic Mount Decatur."

What’s going to happen?

One of only two speakers Thursday indicating approval for the project proposed by GFI, a division of Cashman Dredging & Marine Contracting Co. of Quincy, Mass., was business owner John Fuller. He runs the WBMW Full Power Radio station in Ledyard.

"There's a lot of good in this project," Fuller said, projecting that if it isn't approved the next option might include 1,650 condos if the total 165 acres is rezoned.

The other project proponent, Mike Cherry, a former chairman of the commission, has been working with GFI as a community liaison. He said he disagreed with the contention that the excavation of bedrock makes the project a quarry. He called the project a temporary rock-crushing operation.

Anne Berry Finnegan of Hurlbutt Drive argued that Ledyard's zoning regulations do not support the processing of rock onsite and wondered why Treaster's series of zoning regulation amendments proposed in June were not taken up before the GFI project, considering they were submitted before the quarry project went to the commission for the third time. Finnegan said there's "an aura of illegality" to the whole proceeding, which leaves the town open to lawsuits.

Scott Macgregor of 22 Winthrop Road agreed, saying "What's going to happen when there are problems? ... If this goes south, there's going to be a lot of lawsuits."

He, like others, were mystified how the town could contemplate putting a new quarry in the middle of a residential neighborhood.

"How did we get here on a special permit when 99% of the residents in ... Gales Ferry don't want this," he said. "This in our small town is just a bridge too far."

Thomas Thomas of Anderson Drive said he was worried about the quarry's effect on wildlife in the area.

"All of the wildlife is going to be displaced and they're going to become a nuisance,“ he said. “It’s a snowball effect that's going to destroy everything."

Kevin Davis of Riverwood Drive looked to the future when he wondered if the potential health hazards, effects on veterans with PTSD, noise and traffic would be worth it.

"All of the trees from Mount Decatur will be gone," said Davis, "and all of the mountain will be destroyed and lost forever. That, to me, is problematic for the legacy of our town. It is problematic because for 10 years our residents will be tortured ... with blasting and trucks and dust and noise, traffic. For what advantage, what does the town gain? Nothing."

Naugatuck approves $1.1M turf field and track upgrades at high school

ANDREAS YILMA 

NAUGATUCK – The proposed new turf field and track at Naugatuck High School received the final approval to move ahead next year.

The Board of Mayor and Burgesses on Dec. 4 approved an agreement with Field Turf USA for a new artificial turf field and track for $1.1 million. The deal includes maintenance, which may have a slight additional cost, and a 10-year warranty. The funds will come from a capital reserve account.

Mayor N. Warren “Pete” Hess said all of the high school coaches have been involved with the design, which will be modeled after Killingly High School’s facility in Dayville. That field has two garnet endzones.

“You see a ‘K’ in their field. We’re going to have a Greyhound leaping through the air, not the Greyhound sitting there begging for a dog biscuit,” Hess said. “We’re going to have the raging Greyhound flying through the air in the center of the field and it’s pretty much when all is said and done, going to look like this.”

The project will include track upgrades that have been requested by the track team.

The borough’s standing building committee voted in November to move forward with the project before the borough board gave the final approval.

Standing Building Committee member Charles Marenghi said the project includes another pit as Naugatuck High track and field coach Ralph Roper was at the capital meeting to give his approval. The new track will add the second jump that they’ve been asking for a long time while the shot put and discus areas are moved to the practice field.

“On the track itself, there’s going to be hand-off marks, areas for handoffs for the relays,” Marenghi said. “So all the improvements that the coaches have been asking for are going to be in this plan.”

Moving the long jump runway to accommodate another runway would allow the borough to host more tournaments because two runways are required, Superintendent of Schools Christopher Montini previously said.

Part of the package that the borough is negotiating is a 10-year maintenance agreement at a discounted rate to guarantee the field will be properly maintained by the company and professionals, Hess said.

Standing Building Committee Chairman Robert A. Neth said there’s a request for the field to be maintained three times a year versus just two times.

The turf field is expected to be finished in May, before high school graduation. The track is expected to be completed this summer, Neth added.

Hess said the borough could’ve done a better job with continuous maintenance on the current field.

“All of the coaches, all of the teams, everyone at the high school, everyone on the building committee felt that artificial turf was superior and a better product for the amount of usage we have at the field,” Hess said. “I will have to state very clearly that we could’ve as a town done a better job with the field and that we plan to learn from that and do a lot better going forward.”

Marenghi said the old field, which was regular grass, was notoriously a swamp where it never drained. In the building committee process, when the high school renovation was being carried out, there was a massive effort to to remediate the water coming off the hill.

“So going with turf will actually give you more use out of it than grass would have,” Marenghi said.

“We did do an extensive drainage process in knowing that field is very wet so we did rotate and move drainage away from that football field to storm drains,” Neth said. “So the amount of water that field will get now is absolutely nothing compared to the past.”

If NHS decides in the future to add lacrosse to its list of sports, the field will be designed in a way to accommodate that, Hess said.

Neth said workers will put in “clicks” in the areas where the possible markings for lacrosse will be so the borough is already prepared.