After Diamantis’ departure, lawmakers consider new rules, and funding, for school construction

John Moritz

State lawmakers began consideration Monday of the latest round of funding for school construction projects across Connecticut, in addition to some of the lingering fallout from the departure of former school construction chief Konstantinos “Kosta” Diamantis.

The school construction program, which reimburses school districts for a portion of the costs to build and renovate school buildings, is anticipating spending more than $139 million on nine projects next year, according to legislation before the Education Committee.

Legislative authorization for that funding, however, comes as lawmakers are simultaneously scrutinizing Diamantis’ six-year tenure atop the Office of School Construction Grants and Review, which ended abruptly last October amid allegations of misconduct.

Both state and local officials have since accused Diamantis of disregarding the law and department policies while pressuring school officials to use certain contractors on projects — allegations that Diamantis has consistently rebuffed as part of an effort to smear his reputation.

In February, it was revealed that federal investigators are also looking into Diamantis’ handling of the school construction work.

Few of those issues were raised explicitly Monday, however, as lawmakers resumed their annual process of reviewing the millions of dollars the state spends on school construction.

“What I learned in the last year with regard to school construction is there’s not a lot of effort that has been made around equity,” Education co-chair Sen. Doug McCrory, D- Hartford. “It’s very troubling, extremely troubling, that opportunity does not exist for everyone in this state with regards to school construction.”

Among the projects slated to receive funding from this year’s round of grants are the $258 million construction of a new Westhill High School in Stamford, a $17 million addition to Hamden Middle School and the $15 million renovation of Pumpkin Delight Elementary School in Milford.

The issue of Diamantis’ initial handling of those projects was raised with respect to the $131 million construction of a new high school in Farmington, which state officials determined in December was eligible for a smaller state reimbursement than the amount initially promised by Diamantis.

State Sen. Derek Slap, D- West Hartford, said Monday that he and other lawmakers representing Farmington would seek to increase Farmington’s reimbursement by around $915,000 to make up for the discrepancy.

“I think everybody has skin in the game here because we want to make sure that the state honors its promises to its towns.” Slap said.

Both McCrory and his co-chair on the Education Committee, state Rep. Bobby Sanchez, D- New Britain, seemed to be in agreement that concessions would have to be made to Farmington.

“We will be working on something, because a promise was made and a promise needs to be kept,” Sanchez said.

In addition to the overall funding for the project, the committee also considered a related measure on Monday proposing various administrative changes to the school construction program.

One issue dating to Diamantis’ tenure that the legislation seeks to address is a 2019 law he supported to allow construction management firms hired to oversee projects to self-perform some of the work rather than hiring subcontractors. That law sparked pushback from the construction industry, which was able to delay the implementation of the new rule until this July.

Instead of the law going into effect this year, however, the Department of Administrative Services proposed scrapping the plan altogether and prohibiting self-performance work.

Another change proposed by the legislation before the Education Committee would require that any school projects receiving state reimbursements feature at least one window built into every classroom to allow children to escape during an emergency.

The committee did not vote on either of the two bills related to the school construction office on Monday. The deadline for the committee to do so is Monday, March 28.

CT’s Heroes Tunnel is safe, but may undergo major rehab in 2025, DOT says

Pam McLoughlin

WOODBRIDGE — Is the Heroes Tunnel on the Wilbur Cross Parkway safe? The state Department of Transportation says is is, even though there are some “deficiencies,” and an inspection shows the need for repairs. According to a recent email from a DOT official to town First Selectwoman Beth Heller obtained by the Register, there are potential plans in the works for a major rehabilitation in fiscal year 2025 and a proposal for improvements in 2023/2024.

The latest inspection report on the tunnel shows “items that may need to be addressed,” Department Transportation spokesman Josh Morgan said, but “the current deficiencies in the tunnel do not pose a safety issue.”

Some of the following conditions in various sections of the tunnel cited in the report include: asphalt cracks and potholes, areas with exposed rebar, cracks in the tunnel liner, missing lenses, burnt-out light bulbs, exposed and tangled wires, rusted-out areas, a non-functioning light fixture with missing access cover and exposed wires, a damaged junction box, a missing area of a safety walk, and a deteriorated/cracked concrete patch.

Some of the following conditions in various sections of the tunnel cited in the report include: asphalt cracks and potholes, areas with exposed rebar, cracks in the tunnel liner, missing lenses, burnt-out light bulbs, exposed and tangled wires, rusted-out areas, a non-functioning light fixture with missing access cover and exposed wires, a damaged junction box, a missing area of a safety walk, and a deteriorated/cracked concrete patch.

In the March 10 email to Heller, DOT official Allan Dodge told Heller that there’s a project in the works for “the potential major rehabilitation of the Heroes Tunnel, which tentatively (is) scheduled for Fiscal Year 2025.”

Dodge, a manager with the Special Services Section, District 3, for the DOT, also told Heller in the email that there is a proposed project for “Fire/Life/Safety Improvements” for the tunnel “currently in design with a tentative start date of 2023/2024.”

Heller said the tunnel affects Woodbridge heavily because when there is an accident, construction or other traffic backup issue, it spills off the exit in Woodbridge, causing jams locally.

“People get frustrated when there’s a lot of traffic and tend to behave badly,” Heller said. “It’s encouraging they actually have a plan.”

Heller said she believes the time is now to take advantage of federal funding opportunities.

New Haven City Engineer Giovanni Zinn said that city is “ready, willing, and eager” to partner with the DOT as the agency decides what’s needed, as well as to “closely work with Woodbridge.”

“As always, we’re interested in the safety of the infrastructure,” Zinn said. “It’s my understanding they’re coming up with a plan to address the issues in the (inspection) report.”

While New Haven and Hamden are affected by the tunnel, as traffic and backups affect each of those communities, Woodbridge has been ground zero for years regarding tunnel issues, with residents and lawmakers meeting on a regular basis.

Dodge’s email to Heller begins by stating he is “following up” on items recently discussed at a virtual meeting Heller attended with U.S. Rep. Rosa L. DeLauro, D-3, and DOT Deputy Commissioner Garrett Eucalitto.

The latest tunnel inspection report provided to the Register by the DOT is 336 pages, dated January 2021, was done by Michael Baker International Inc.

Morgan said via email to the Register that “The inspection report documents the condition of the tunnel and notes items that may need to be addressed. Some items are completed by the DOT while larger items will generate a project.”

“The current deficiencies in the tunnel do not pose a safety issue,” Morgan wrote. “The short- and long-term rehabilitation and replacement options which will correct deficiencies, enhance safety, reduce congestion, and improve reliability, continue to be discussed and evaluated as part of State Project No. 167-108.”

The West Rock Tunnel, also known as the “Heroes Tunnel,” is a passageway through West Rock Ridge built in 1940, the report states. It is the only highway tunnel to pass beneath a natural land feature in Connecticut.

An inspection is conducted once a year, and provides transportation planners with information on any structural, safety and geometric deficiencies of the tunnel.

The DOT has considered options for the tunnel through the years including rehabilitating the existing tunnel, replacing the tunnel, enlarging the existing tunnel, and construction of a third barrel.

The most significant option floated in the past was for a new northbound barrel along the eastern side of the tunnel with new access roadways on the approach and departure from the tunnel portals.

Steelpointe developer plans bid on Sikorsky airport lease

Brian Lockhart

BRIDGEPORT — Facing criticism the city may not be getting the best deal, the commission that helps manage the city’s Stratford-based Sikorsky Memorial Airport will hold off on renewing Atlantic Aviation’s lease to seek other proposals.

“We’re very happy with that and we will be bidding,” Robert Christoph Jr., the developer of the Steelpointe site on Bridgeport’s harbor and owner of another prominent Sikorsky tenant, Three Wing Aviation, said Monday. “We just really believe in that airport, see what we’ve been able to do at Three Wing and want to continue the great growth.”

Christoph added, “And listen, if we get beat I’m happy with that, too. In the end it’s an overall win for Bridgeport and Stratford by doing this process.”

Atlantic is a nationwide firm that has operated hangars at Sikorsky for over three decades and provides fliers a host of services, from fueling and de-icing to baggage services, catering and hotel arrangements. Three Wing, purchased by Christoph about three years ago, is a similar, long-standing business.

Mayor Joe Ganim’s administration was moving forward with giving Atlantic a new, 20-year lease, highlighted by a spike in the rent from approximately $310,000 annually to $1.1 million, plus $300,000 in new fees and significant infrastructure investments. That additional rent revenue would, Sikorsky Manager Michelle Muoio told the airport commission in February, eliminate the airport’s annual budget deficit.

“So that was pretty exciting,” Muoio had said.

But Christoph, who during his and his family’s years of development dealings with Bridgeport has rarely publicly criticized the city, in an interview earlier this month accused officials of skipping a competitive process to seal the deal with Atlantic.

“I have asked (why the lease was not bid). I get a response that this is a great deal for Bridgeport and we should go forward with it, which is not an answer,” Christoph had told Hearst Connecticut Media. “I do not have a beef with Atlantic. I think they’re a great organization. They are impressive. They’ve done good things in their growth. It’s just the lack of competitive process I find appalling.”

He reiterated his concerns to the airport commission, composed of Bridgeport officials Ganim, City Council President Aidee Nieves, Finance Director Ken Flatto, City Clerk Lydia Martinez, and Stratford Mayor Laura Hoydick, when that group met Friday to take up the Atlantic lease renewal.

Muoio and executives with Atlantic have argued a competitive process occurred when Bridgeport last year issued “a request for information” from private entities interested overall in investing in Sikorsky. But Christoph has countered there were also flaws in that process and it was not a transparent one.

On Friday Flatto made a motion supported by his fellow commission members to seek other proposals for the hangers and land occupied by Atlantic, arguing while the existing tenant made an “excellent presentation” there was no harm in being open to others.

Nieves, who had previously expressed reservations with the 20-year length of Atlantic’s proposed new lease, on Monday said she too was uncomfortable supporting that new deal without knowing what else might be out there.

“I just felt it should be a competitive process,” she said.

In an emailed statement Monday, Muoio said the city and the airport “are appreciative of its tenants’ interest in continuing to operate successful businesses on the field.”

“It is through our based tenants and service providers that we can best support local aviation demand and the needs of Fairfield County,” she said. “An RFP will be published soon and we look forward to receiving responses to provide to the Airport Commission for additional consideration.”

Officials with Atlantic did not respond Monday to requests for comment. But on at Friday’s commission meeting two Atlantic executives — General Manager Michael Phillips and Regional Director Shawn Rose — urged the airport commission to approve the new lease with their company.

Phillips said Atlantic has been a proud steward of its space at Sikorsky and warned that if Atlantic were no longer a tenant there, the airport would lose 30 good-paying, full-time jobs and some of Atlantic’s loyal customers too.

And Rose said Bridgeport’s handling of Atlantic’s lease is no different than how other airports operate.

“We worked hard to offer a complete, sound, major investment into the lease,” he said.

Phillips also noted Friday there are no personal hard feelings with Christoph and Three Wing.

“Hi, Bob. We also like you,” Phillips said after Christoph called Atlantic a “great operator” and said he was a “fan of theirs.”

Study: Hartford Regional Market could bolster New England's food supply, but major renovation is needed

Michael Puffer

After more than 70 years in operation, a 33-acre regional agricultural distribution center in Hartford’s South Meadows needs widespread repair or replacement.

The center can be rebuilt with modern amenities and new missions, bolstering New England’s food supply against climate change and disruptions experienced in the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a new study supplied to the Capital Region Development Authority.

Now, CRDA will work with farmers, current commercial tenants of the market and officials to develop a final plan – including a cost estimate – and seek funding for a rebuilding of the market.

The CRDA took over the market from the Department of Agriculture in January 2019. It quickly became clear that the facility was in need of either enormous repairs or wholesale replacement of buildings and facilities, according to CRDA Executive Director Michael W. Freimuth.

Gov. Lamont provided funds for short-term repairs but wanted a vision for the facility's future, Freimuth said.

“The existing tenants are in 50- to 60-year-old facilities that just don’t cut it,” Freimuth said. “We really can’t keep doing it with band-aids.”

The market contains more than 185,000 square feet of warehouse and refrigerated space at 101 Reserve Road in Hartford.

Freimuth said the market leases space to about a dozen food distribution businesses. The Connecticut Department of Agriculture also operates weekend farmers markets in the spring and fall, Freimuth said.

The consultant team report, completed in January, said a rebuilt regional market could offer processing facilities, classrooms and business lessons to support budding farmers and growers. It could enhance and enlarge direct-to-consumer opportunities, including creating a freestanding restaurant focused on locally-grown offerings.

“A renewed Regional Market can become a place where farmers and producers come together to trade, learn, add value to their products and grow their markets; a place that supports the state’s agricultural self-sufficiency; and a place where consumers access high-quality food and learn more about its origins,” reads a portion of the report.