CT Construction Digest Tuesday March 1, 2022
Gov. Lamont is unaware whether current, former CT employees testified before grand jury
NEW HAVEN — Gov. Ned Lamont said Monday he was unaware whether any current or former state employees have been called to testify to the federal grand jury investigating Connecticut’s troubled school-construction program, as well as the State Pier in New London.
“I don’t think people have testified,” Lamont said. “I know they’ve been as helpful as they can.” The FBI and an active grand jury in New Haven have been looking into possible contract-steering for demolition and construction work, with records of several major companies among federal subpoena demands for state records.
peaking after an unrelated news conference at Connecticut Innovations Inc., the state’s quasi-public investment agency, Lamont said he wasn’t sure why in 2019, the state’s school-construction department was transferred from the Department of Administrative Services to the Office of Policy and Management. During that transfer, Konstantinos “Kosta” Diamantis, a former House member from Bristol who was hired to head the program under former Gov. Dannel Malloy, joined OPM Secretary Melissa McCaw.
“My understanding was she really wanted Kosta to do that job,” Lamont told reporters. Last October, Diamantis was fired after officials found that Anastasia Diamantis, his daughter, had a $99,000 job working for Richard Colangelo, the chief state’s attorney who eventually took early retirement, following an outside investigation reported that Colangelo tried to persuade OPM to approve of raises for the state’s senior prosecutors, including himself.
On Friday, Lamont held an extended news conference outside his office to announce McCaw’s departure to take the finance director job in East Hartford, and praise her work developing the state’s $24-billion-a-year operating budget during his three years in office.
On Monday, Lamont’s office released a resignation letter from McCaw, effective March 11. “We have so much to be proud of and together we have helped see our state through the worse pandemic in more than 100 years and we are now in the strongest fiscal position Connecticut has seen in decades,” she wrote to Lamont. “This has been intentional work and I have been proud to lead this work on your behalf.”
“Kosta had been doing school construction over at DAS for years before we even got here, so (she) thought it was a natural segue,” Lamont said during a five-minute back-and-forth with reporters on Monday. Building officials in several towns have recently complained that Kosta Diamantis or members of his staff pressured them to hire particular construction firms, including one company that employed Anastasia Diamantis.
Asked whether Lamont had any fielded concerns from state lawmakers when school construction was shifted to OPM, Lamont said “I think the bigger problem was the guy overlooking school construction.” As the federal grand jury looks into several projects throughout the state that might have been steered to higher bidders, Diamantis has staunchly defended his record.
“Did I have very strong feelings that DAS not OPM?” Lamont said Monday, recalling the multi-billion-dollar deficit he inherited upon taking office in 2019. “I didn’t have that strong a feeling about that. And Melissa was running OPM and thought this was needed to help guide us through what was still a yawning deficit.”
Lamont recalled that at the time, he was told that Diamantis had been in charge of school construction for years at DAS, “now he’s over at OPM, overseeing, you know, municipals. OPM does some of that as well, so let’s let him keep doing that.”
Asked whether he has learned anything from the complicated still-unfolding events in the once little-know school construction unit, Lamont reminded reporters of constitutional rights. “First of all, when it comes to the press, remember you’re innocent until proven guilty,” Lamont said. “There are a lot of allegations out there. We are doing everything we can to work and make sure that no stone is unturned and we’ll get this right. I think that was my number one responsibility.”
He said that while the personnel issues of Colangelo hiring of Anastasia Diamantis while negotiating for pay raises was taken care of “really quickly,” the federal investigation, including subpoenas to review multiple school building projects, is proceeding away from public view. “We’ve got to let the rest of this play out,” Lamont said.
While grand juries operate in secret, people who testify are allowed to talk about it afterwards.
“But we wouldn’t know who testified and they would need to volunteer to us,” Max Reiss, Lamont’s communications director, said Monday night. “The governor is allowing the process to play out and we continue to provide full cooperation.”
KEITH M. PHANEUF
The General Assembly’s budget-writing panel is pushing back against Gov. Ned Lamont to assume greater control over contracting policies.
The Appropriations Committee has raised legislation that potentially would shield the state’s contracting watchdog board from job freezes, emergency budget cuts and other budget-management techniques at the governor’s disposal.
The panel’s Senate chairwoman announced the group also is developing clarifying language to ensure all policies tied to the state’s massive school construction program are set only by the legislature.
The Lamont administration has been on the defensive over the past month following reports that the FBI is investigating school construction work and other projects overseen by the governor’s former deputy budget director, Kosta Diamantis.
“The legislature decides what school construction [grants] cover,” said Sen. Cathy Osten, D-Sprague, co-chairwoman of the budget-writing committee.
Diamantis frustrated municipal leaders last August when he informed Coventry officials that the state wouldn’t help to pay to upgrade aging ventilators in its middle and high schools — an expensive proposition, made more pressing by the continued presence of the coronavirus.
Connecticut reimburses communities for between 10% and 71% of new construction and wide-scale renovation projects designed to last 20 years or longer, depending largely upon a community’s wealth.
But if a district wants to perform a smaller project — such as replacing or upgrading a heating/ventilation system exclusive of a major facility renovation — the entire cost is borne locally.
Some legislators have questioned whether this is backed by statute or was simply an administrative decision.
Osten and the other Appropriations Committee co-chairwoman, state Rep. Toni E. Walker, D-New Haven, said the goal going forward is to ensure such policy parameters are set by the legislature.
“I think there are more districts that wanted to do HVAC [upgrades] and were told not to,” Walker said, adding she believes most lawmakers from both parties want the state to help pay to fix this problem.
Lamont proposed in early February dedicating $90 million in the next fiscal year to help towns pay for air quality upgrades in schools.
A second component to the bill being developed by the Appropriations Committee would clarify — once and for all — that the school construction would remain in the Department of Administrative Services and not in the governor’s budget office.
Several legislators from both parties raised concerns in the spring of 2019 when Lamont’s then-budget director, Melissa McCaw, unilaterally transferred Diamantis and other staff tied to school construction from DAS into the Office of Policy and Management, despite an existing statute assigning the unit to DAS.
McCaw resigned Friday to take a post as East Hartford’ finance director.
Administrative officials said the matter would be clarified in the 2020 General Assembly session, but that was cut short in early March when the coronavirus struck Connecticut. And no legislation, retroactively blessing or reversing the move, was adopted in 2021.
The Lamont administration moved the school construction program back to DAS last fall, shortly after Diamantis resigned.
“We have no intention of moving the [school construction] office” again, Chris McClure, spokesman for the governor’s budget agency, said Friday.
And in a complementary move, the Appropriations Committee has raised a bill designed to insulate the State Contracting Standards Board from normal oversight by the governor’s office.
Osten said the insulation could take one of several forms.
Lawmakers are researching whether the contracting watchdog, created by the legislature in 2007 but never properly funded, could be moved from the Executive Branch to the Legislative Branch — and still maintain its authority to review and potentially suspend procurement and bidding practices of Executive Branch agencies.
Osten said legislative attorneys have raised concerns that empowering a Legislative agency to oversee Executive Branch departments could run afoul of the state Constitution. But if that is the case, there are other options to safeguard the contracting board.
The legislature already exempts other watchdog agencies in the Executive Branch — such as the Freedom of Information Commission and the Office of State Ethics — from certain budgetary restrictions that the governor can impose on other departments.
Osten said the bill could bar the administration, for example, from imposing any hiring freeze on contracting board staff or imposing emergency midyear budget cuts.
The contracting board and Lamont have bumped heads since the latter took office in 2019. The board — which has only one paid staffer — has been probing contracts involving the development of the State Pier in New London to help support a major offshore wind-to-energy project.
It particularly is concerned with more than $520,000 in “success fees” paid in 2018 to Seabury Capital Group to help with search for a pier operator. This happened three months after Henry Juan III of Greenwich, who was a managing director with Seabury, resigned from the port authority’s governing board.
The two-year budget that legislators and Lamont adopted last June technically included just under $700,000 per year for the contracting standards board — the same level the board was supposed to have when it was launched 14 years ago. That included $450,000 in each year to fund five additional positions.
But shortly after that was passed, legislative leaders, at the request of the Lamont administration, included a provision in a subsequent budget policy bill that barred the board from spending $450,000 of its annual allotment.
Lamont still doesn’t want to fund more positions for the contracting office. He has said he doesn’t believe the board is necessary and performs functions already provided by other state agencies.
Instead, he recommended this February that lawmakers add three new staffers to another watchdog agency, the Auditors of Public Accounts Office, and allow the contracting board to refer matters to that unit.
“We look forward to working with the General Assembly over the course of the session on this issue,” McClure said, adding that “there seems to be some confusion regarding our proposal.”
Appropriations Committee leaders want full funding restored to the contracting board.
“There has got to be more than one watchdog agency out there,” Walker said, adding that the contracting board needs to look at “all of the no-bid contracts going out” of state agencies. “That’s the kind of transparency everybody should be striving for.”
House Republicans called this week for an investigation of all administration contracting practices.
Minority Leader Vincent J. Candelora, R-North Branford, said that while the appropriations panel measures may have merit, they aren’t enough.
The issue isn’t about one state pier project or a handful of school renovations, Candelora said.
Only a detailed investigation, he added, can assess not only how public agencies purchase private services and goods but also the inter-departmental “memorandums of understanding” they sign, such as one that shifted a school construction program handling hundreds of millions of dollars annually without legislative permission.
“Why did they happen?” Candelora said. “How did they happen? … The issue isn’t just school construction.”
Walk Bridge work on Manresa Island draws opposition in Norwalk
NORWALK — Manresa Island neighbors and property owners are speaking out against the state Department of Transportation’s plan to use the island for the Walk Bridge project.
The DOT first announced in June 2020 its plans to use the former power plant site, known informally as Manresa Island, to house Walk Bridge supplies and construct the lift ends of the new bridge before floating them up the Norwalk Harbor for installation.
As part of the Walk Bridge replacement project, the island would be occupied by DOT for about five years. Manresa Island, located in the Harbor View neighborhood, was previously a coal-fired power plant, which was later converted to run on oil before it closed in 2013.
Following the announcement of DOT plans to occupy Manresa Island, which is home to various wildlife but has polluted areas due to its previous use as a power plant, residents of the area formed the Manresa Neighborhood Coalition to express concerns over the island’s use.
Mark Smith, who represents the coalition, petitioned the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection and DOT for a public hearing on for the island.
“The hearing came about because DOT needed DEEP’s approval to use Manresa for a facility,” Smith said. “They tried to grant a permit without having public hearing. They needed someone to petition for a public hearing. I filed to become a petitioner as well as the Norwalk Harbor Commission.”
More than 100 people attended the remote public hearing last week and many of them spoke during the public comment portion that lasted over an hour.
Smith spoke at the meeting on behalf of the coalition, which includes about 400 homes.
“We are opposing the use of Manresa for any reason. We are not in opposition to the project itself,” Smith said at the meeting.
The five concerns outlined by the Manresa Neighborhood Coalition are: the human impact on the island, preservation of the wildlife habitat, the fish and wildlife on the island, the noise level generated by the construction and the extra truck traffic, Smith said.
DOT’s original plan for the $1 billion bridge replacement project called for the new lift spans to be constructed at vacant properties at 68 and 90 Water St., and then transported via barge to the project site. When the plan was determined unfeasible, DOT shifted to Manresa Island.
In documents acquired by the coalition through a Freedom of Information Act request the Cianbro/Middlesex JV, the consulting firm hired by DOT to oversee parts of the project, suggested four alternative spots for the lift construction and storage.
A cost comparison of the five sites, including Manresa, found “steel fabricator full offsite assembly” would be more than $2.1 million cheaper than the estimated cost of about $27 million to use Manresa Island, according to the documents.
Smith said DOT has yet to specify why Manresa Island was chosen over the other options, considering one was cheaper and two were $300,000 more. DOT did not respond to a request for comment.
In addition to the Norwalk Harbor Commission and the Manresa Neighborhood Coalition, the company that owns the island and power plant property filed a petition on Feb. 18 to become an intervening party in DOT’s application to use the land.
Petition documents obtained by Hearst Connecticut Media Group through the coalition, Norwalk Power, claims the company did not consent to the proposed use of the land.
“A portion of the activities proposed by the permit that is the subject of this proceeding, a long-term construction project by the Connecticut Department of Transportation (‘CTDOT’), are proposed to occur on property owned by Norwalk Power and Norwalk Power has not consented to the proposed activities,” the petition reads.
The petition claims Norwalk Power was not included on DOT’s application as a property owner and the company does not consent to the island’s use. Norwalk Power did not respond to a request for comment.
“Although CTDOT acknowledges that it intends to acquire parcels through full and partial parcel acquisitions, as well as full or partial parcel construction easements, most of which will cease upon project completion, CTDOT identifies itself as the site owner of the Project site(s) in its Application and does not identify any other site owners on the Application Form,” the petition reads.
“Furthermore, although the permit application requires applicants to provide …documentation showing that third-party property owners consent to the proposed work, to this date, CTDOT has not provided any documentation, e.g., easements or written permissions, from the current site owners (including Norwalk Power) consenting to the use of their properties.”
Among the Norwalk residents who spoke against the state’s use of the island was Katherine Price Snedaker, who emphasized how the area has turned into a nature haven and is frequented by the neighborhood residents.
“There’s a lot going on in these neighborhoods,” Price Snedaker said. “I’m concerned about traffic in general. There are beautiful animals. The only place I’ve seen eagles is right outside the power plant.”
Construction supplier set to occupy vacant Danbury warehouse
DANBURY — A construction equipment and materials supplier is set to take over a vacant warehouse and storefront in an industrial stretch on Danbury’s west side.
An attorney for Southington-based Superior Products Distributors said it was fitting for a full-service construction company to occupy the former Ehrbar warehouse on Kenosia Avenue, as the building boom on Danbury’s west side continues.
“Given the type of business that they are in and what is going on in Danbury, which leads the state in construction … this is a win-win to have somebody occupy this building again,” said Neil Marcus during a public hearing conducted by the city’s Planning Commission last week. “(Superior) goes one step beyond where Ehrbar was — not only do they rent the equipment, but they also provide some of the basic building materials that you use with the equipment.”
Marcus was describing plans by the family-owned Superior Products Distributors to open a fifth sales and service center in a 20,000-square-foot warehouse and store west of Danbury Fair mall.
Superior, which in addition to its Southington headquarters has locations in Norwich, Bridgeport and East Hartford, could get approval from the city Planning Commission on Wednesday.
“I don’t have any objection to it,” said Arnold Finaldi, the Planning Commission chairman, at last week’s public hearing. “I remember when (Ehrbar) had those gigantic cranes, hoists, and manlifts in front there. This seems to be less intrusive than that use.”
Superior plans to operate a construction and worksite supply service that includes everything from renting bulldozers and excavators to selling road and bridge supplies. The company would use some of the 4-acre site for the outdoor storage of materials such as sewer drains and storm pipe, rigid foam insulation, and conduit storm water chambers.
“Would there be dividers out there to segregate the different type of materials?” asked Robert Chiocchio, a Planning Commission member
“If you’re thinking of sand and gravel, you might have dividers, but this is not that kind of material,” said Michael Mazzucco, the company’s consultant.
“Is there anything oversized in the equipment inventory that we need to worry about?” asked Planning Commission member Helen Hoffstaetter.
“This is smaller construction equipment and not anything extremely large,” Mazzucco replied.
The site in question, north of Danbury Municipal Airport, is in an industrial stretch that includes Cartus Corp. and Hologic Inc.
“As long as the frontage remains uncluttered, I don’t really see an issue with it,” said City Council member Paul Rotello.
Superior plans to invest about $100,000 in renovations, mostly to the interior, according to blueprints. The company will also install a gate and a chain-link fence around the storage yard.
“For a number of years this property has been vacant until the property was recently purchased by the applicant’s affiliate,” the consultant Mazzucco said. “The site is not really changing that much. The changes are minor in nature.”
Danbury to take over Cartus building for its career academy: ‘Future of education’
DANBURY — The city announced major plans on Monday afternoon to purchase land and develop its highly anticipated career academy at the property where Cartus Corporation is located.
The announcement marks a pivot from earlier negotiations with the Summit, a west side development where officials initially hoped to build the school. Cartus plans to move out of the building.
“It's a very special day for the city of Danbury and for myself, to tell you the truth,” said Mayor Dean Esposito, who made the announcement during a press conference on his birthday. “The options that we have here today are just unbelievable.”
After a resident vote, the city hopes to purchase the property for a still-unnamed sum, Esposito said.
The addition of the career academy is Danbury’s main focus in plans to manage its overflowing student population. The academy would be able to serve about 1,400 middle and high school students, and is expected to be able to open its doors in the fall of 2024. Roughly 1,100 high schoolers would relocate to the academy, easing already dire spacing issues in the overcrowded high school building where another 200 students are projected to enroll this fall. Officials said that the Cartus building would also have space for 360 middle schoolers.
It’s unclear how much the land purchase and project changes will cost, but numbers are expected to be finalized on Wednesday, officials said. Significant estimates on HVAC and other utilities are not yet finalized, according to Antonio Iadarola, public works director.
When the school was planned for the Summit, cost estimates increased from an initial $99 million to $144.5 million. The state was expected to cover about $115.6 million, or 80 percent.
State Rep. Bob Godfrey, D-Danbury, and state Sen. Julie Kushner, D-Danbury, both said they think it very likely the state will still be able to hit the 80 percent funding mark, even with price adjustments.
“The talk I'm hearing is that the price tag will be similar to what we were anticipating with the Summit,” Kushner added.
Owning the land outright could also allow Danbury to put more money into the students’ education rather than paying the Summit’s condo common charges, said state Rep. Pat Callahan, R-Danbury.
While the school is still projected to open in fall 2024, Iadarola said it would “require some hard pushing” to make the deadline due to material and labor shortages. Danbury Schools Superintendent Kevin Walston assured those gathered that leaders would know well ahead of time if the school won’t meet the deadline.
He thanked legislators, the mayor, Iadarola, and several others for their hard work on the project.
A new option
Plans came together quickly. The deal with Cartus has only been in negotiations for about two weeks, the mayor said. The Cartus land owner contacted the mayor as negotiations at the Summit continued to falter.
“In God’s blessing, we got a call,” Esposito said.
On the other line was Danbury’s Powers Construction Company owner Melvin Powers.
“His message was, ‘Hey, we got a building with 1,600 parking spots, a cafeteria and a gym,’” Esposito said.
Discussions with the Powers family moved quickly because the land is owned privately and no third parties have to get involved, Esposito said.
“They’re Danburians. Their goals are to see Danbury move forward,” he said.
Kushner, who attended the press conference Monday, said she was thrilled with the announcement.
“It's really exciting,” she said. “It's a great location. I think it still meets all the needs that we had, and what I’m excited about is that everyone got a picture of what these academies will provide academically, which is so fabulous.”
The school will be focused on helping Danbury’s students gain experience in different career fields they’re interested in.
“The Danbury Career Academy is just this type of unique opportunity to provide students with turnkey skills and experiences that will make their college and career experiences more directed and more rewarding while also giving them a unique edge in the job market,” Walston said.
Initial floor plans for the 270,000 square-foot building were finished Saturday and include layouts for a four-floor, dual-use middle and high school complete with a greenhouse, auditorium, and designated school board administration offices.
The middle school would be predominantly located in the building’s north wing with classrooms on the second and third floors, while the high school would be in the south wing.
“I really believe this project here will be the capstone of my career,” Iadarola said. “I'm so happy to be involved in a project like this where we're not only changing the way we're educating our kids, we're changing the way we're actually building schools.”
State legislators had to draft special legislation to approve the converted use of the Summit condominiums when those negotiations were still on the table.
Godfrey noted that the Cartus location brings less complications than the Summit location.
“This fits so many of the real needs to expand the bricks-and-mortar part of this,” he said.
A ‘shining star’
Developing the building into two schools is going to “take some effort and it’s going to take some investment,” Esposito acknowledged, “but in the end it's going to be a shining star of Connecticut.”
Cartus issued a press release that said in light of its continued hybrid work set-up, it would upgrade its global headquarters, which has been based in Danbury for the past three decades, and transition to a new space.
“To that end, we are currently engaged in negotiations to terminate our Apple Ridge Road lease in conjunction with the potential sale of the facility to the City of Danbury to serve as the site of their new Danbury Career Academy,” the release said.
Esposito said that with Cartus being such a large employer in Danbury, “we're going to support them with whatever they do.”
The company called the negotiations a “win-win for all parties.”
Esposito and Walston have walked through the building at least five times in the past two weeks, according to Esposito.
“We both smiled at each other and said this is the future of education here in Danbury,” the mayor said. “We're going to get this career academy done, and this is going to be the location for the future.”
Montville considers two new housing developments
Montville — The Planning and Zoning Commission is considering two major housing developments, a 160-unit expansion of Village Apartments and a 22-unit condominium project on Route 32.
The commission last week tabled its review of the two developments until March 22 at the request of Town Planner Liz Burdick as the town awaits comments from staff and adjoining property owners.
The developer of Village Apartments at 82 Jerome Road submitted an application last month to expand from its 54 units to 214. The new units would be located in three new buildings. Upon completion, the project would have a total of 356 parking space. The new three-story buildings would be constructed on the current site and two abutting properties.
Village Apartments, LLC owns 82 Jerome Road and 232 Norwich-New London Turnpike and is working with Connecticut Multifamily Equities II, LLC, the owners of a small undeveloped parcel of land on 15 Jerome Ave., to combine the properties into 12-acre piece of land that would accommodate the new development, according to the application.
Attorney Harry Heller of Uncasville is representing the developers.
"The redevelopment of this property will utilize the existing driveway access from Jerome Road as well as a new proposed driveway access from Jerome Avenue," Heller stated in the application.
The project includes the demolition of a pump station, the existing single-family residence and outbuildings at 232 Route 32; the construction of new retaining walls and storm drainage systems; and the extension of electricity and water/sewer utilities to the buildings.
The development still awaits the review of the Office of the State Traffic Administration and the approval of the Uncas Health District and the Planning and Zoning Commission.
The second proposed development is a 22-unit condominium project named "Wilton's Way" at 245 Route 32. Western Group, LLC owns the 1.83 acres and is looking to develop it.
Burdick said the planning department received the application on the day of commission's Feb. 22 meeting and was not ready to review it.
The proposed site for the project currently contains a two-story house and a detached garage, according to the application. Apart from the construction of 22 units, the developer is proposing to renovate the exisiting home, build a new garage and add parking and landscaping.
Village Apartment, LLC, Western Group, LLC and Heller could not be reached for comment.