GOP, Democrats jostle over hearing on school construction scandal
Mark Pazniokas
Democrats and Republicans are divided over whether politics
and optics or substance and transparency will dominate a legislative hearing
Monday about a school construction program at the center of an FBI
investigation.
Testimony will come from Commissioner-designate Michelle
Gilman and Deputy Commissioner Noel Petra of the Department of Administrative
Services, the officials Gov. Ned Lamont has tasked with revamping and restoring
confidence in OSCGR, the Office of School Construction Grants & Review.
“We think it’s important for the public to hear an update on
what changes have been made to this program in the wake of some very serious
and troubling allegations,” said Rep. Sean Scanlon, D-Guilford, co-chair of the
Finance, Revenue and Bonding Committee.
The same two officials spoke Friday afternoon at a press
conference that represented the first comprehensive effort by the Lamont
administration to address questions about school construction since the
revelation on Feb. 2 that the FBI was investigating.
They outlined the sufficiency of existing checks and
balances, changes already made in contracting procedures, and the internal and
external audits now under way.
The joint hearing, which will be conducted by three
legislative committees with jurisdiction over education, government
administration and finances, falls short of demands by the legislature’s
Republican minority for creation of a select bipartisan investigative
committee.
“It’s to create the political optics they are investigating
something,” said House Minority Leader Vincent J. Candelora, R-North Branford.
“This is not a bipartisan process. This is not a process seeking to better a
system. This is a process to protect the governor.”
Scanlon asked Republicans to keep an open mind about what
can be accomplished at the hearing.
“Before we sort of dismiss this as a political stunt, let’s
ask questions and hear what they have to say,” Scanlon said. “And I guarantee
you, every member of those committees will learn a lot and hopefully have more
confidence in the program than they have right now.”
But the Republicans made clear they are as interested in
looking backwards as they are forward, and that effort would require testimony
from more than two officials who are new to overseeing school construction.
“It appeared that the sole concern seemed to be to get DAS
to promise, ‘Cross my fingers, hope to die, none of this is ever going to
happen again.’ And what the procedure is going to be going forward,” said Rep.
Holly Cheeseman, R-East Lyme, ranking Republican on the finance committee.
She said they want details as to the extent to which
Konstantinos Diamantis, the former director of OSCGR, pressured municipal
officials to use certain contractors, as some local officials have alleged.
They also want to ask questions about Diamantis’ involvement in the
reconstruction of the State Pier in New London.
On the authority of the governor, his chief of staff, Paul
Mounds, fired Diamantis on Oct. 28 from his politically appointed position of
deputy secretary of the Office of Policy and Management and suspended him from
his civil-service job overseeing school construction. Diamantis retired rather
than be suspended.
Eight days earlier, the FBI subpoenaed records pertaining to
school construction and another project under Diamantis’ purview, the
reconstruction of the State Pier in New London.
Cheeseman said Diamantis and Melissa McCaw, who resigned
last week as secretary of OPM, should be called to testify about how the school
construction function was transferred from DAS to OPM. When McCaw hired
Diamantis, she agreed to one of his conditions: Keeping his civil-service
position and moving the school construction office to OPM.
Republicans raise issues at Gilman confirmation hearing
Gilman got a taste Tuesday of what she can expect Monday, as Republicans
challenged the sufficiency of the current audits.
Coincidentally, Gilman was up for her confirmation hearing
Tuesday before the Executive and Legislative Nominations Committee, a key step
in the legislature finalizing her nomination as the commissioner of DAS. Her
predecessor, Josh Geballe, resigned last month for a position at Yale
overseeing a new innovation and entrepreneurial program.
Rep. David Yaccarino, R-North Haven, told Gilman that moving
school construction from DAS to OPM made no sense and the Lamont administration
never has adequately explained why it was allowed.
“You know, it’s difficult for me to say,” Gilman replied. “I
was not here, and I struggle to be a Monday-morning quarterback when I don’t
have all of the information as to why decisions were made.”
Senate Minority Leader Kevin Kelly, R-Stratford, told her
the state should, by audits or other means, be interviewing municipal
officials, not just reviewing the books at DAS.
“We shouldn’t use the normal accounting procedures for
something that’s extraordinary and has drawn substantial significant scrutiny,”
Kelly said.
“Where appropriate, the auditors will have full authority to
speak with municipalities and to dig into records as they need to,” Gilman
said.
Rep. Jason Perillo, R-Shelton, asked Gilman when she first
became aware of potential problems in OSCGR.
Gilman said not until October, when Diamantis was removed
and it made the news.
He asked what could have been done to identify potential
problems sooner.
“It’s hard for me to speak to that,” Gilman replied. “But I
think what I can speak to is the steps that we are taking now to ensure that
this type of situation does not occur again. We take the transparency of these
programs very seriously.”
Stamford has a plan to fix its schools. Now, a worried finance board is asking how to pay for it.
STAMFORD — Members of the Board of Finance are puzzling over
how the city will pay for revamping its school buildings without breaking the
bank.
Tuesday evening, architecture and design firm SLAM
Collaborative gave the finance board the same presentation the Board of
Education and other officials received
last month on its draft master plan for Stamford schools. The plan
includes building a new K-8 school in the southern part of the city, shuttering
four schools, turning three elementary schools into K-8 institutions and making
improvements at other schools.
The plan “is dependent upon a significant amount of state
contribution funding,” Kemp Morhardt, a principal at SLAM, told the Board of
Finance, and it “is still being determined exactly what those percentages will
be.”
If the plan was implemented in full and its funding
assumptions were met, the city would be on the hook for more than $500 million
over 12 years.
“I've listened quietly through this whole presentation, and
I think our job is going to be: How the hell are we going to pay for this
without blowing up the city finances, jeopardizing our triple-A
credit rating and overtaxing the people who live in the city,” said
Democrat Mary Lou Rinaldi, the board’s vice chair.
“I'm not saying this work doesn't have to be done. It
certainly does,” Rinaldi added. But she is concerned, for one, that the
estimates regarding state and federal funding may be “over-optimistic,” she
said.
Among SLAM’s assumptions is that the city will be reimbursed
95 percent for the construction of a new Westhill High School. The firm also
assumed 80 percent reimbursement rates for both a preschool facility on
Lockwood Avenue and the potential K-8 school in south Stamford.
The Board of Finance has scheduled a meeting for Thursday
evening to specifically discuss ways to fund the broad schools plan.
SLAM’s presentation included a bar chart showing the city’s
bonding, depending on how fully the plan is implemented, going from about $30
million to about $50 million per year between 2023 and 2028 then swelling to a
level as high as $110 million in 2030 before falling back down.
Board of Finance Chair Richard Freedman said such a sudden
increase wasn’t feasible.
“Whether we could afford it or not, there's really no way to
finance a spike like what you see. It just can't be done,” Freedman said. “Is
that accurate, Sandy?”
Sandy Dennies, the city’s director of administration, said
she hasn’t “figured out a way to be able to address that at all.”
Morhardt, from SLAM, said the plan could be changed so more
borrowing occurs in earlier years.
Dennies and Freedman said they also wanted to discuss
possibly extending the time period, but Morhardt said there were risks to that.
“The board is going to have to consider and the school board
is also going to have to consider: How realistic is it to spread it out much
more than 12 years?” Morhardt said. “Because once you start getting into (a)
15-year spread on this, you're going to have to reevaluate it probably 10 years
in.”
Members of the public can watch Thursday’s meeting via Zoom:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81267646323.
Includes prior reporting by staff writer Ignacio Laguarda.
Proposed New Haven apartment building closer to key zone change
NEW HAVEN — A zone change that could clear the way for a
13-story building with 136 apartments, including 14 affordable units, on
what now is a parking lot next to the Strouse-Adler building cleared a key
hurdle this week, winning the unanimous approval of the Board of Alders’
Legislation Committee.
It would be the tallest building on the Wooster Square side
of State Street and the railroad tracks — nearly twice the height of other
apartment buildings approved in recent years and months — which some at the
meeting suggested might represent an expansion of downtown.
The 2.48-acre site is bound by Olive, Chapel and Court
streets and the railroad tracks that run behind the State Street Rail Station.
The zone change from BA to BD1, which the Legislation
Committee approved Tuesday night after the City
Plan Commission gave it a favorable recommendation Jan. 19, still
needs approval of the full Board of Alders.
Under current zoning, Philadelphia-based developer PMC
Property Group — which previously developed the Strouse-Adler “Smoothie”
building and converted much of the former Chapel Square Mall to apartments —
would be able to build a smaller building with 44 apartments, likely with no
affordable housing.
That’s according to information disseminated at a
community meeting organized last month by Wooster Square Alder Eli Sabin, D-7.
The proposal also went before the Downtown-Wooster Square Community Management
Team Jan. 18.
PMC Property Group and its 78 Olive Street Partners were
represented in Tuesday’s meeting by local attorneys Christopher McKeon and
Marjorie Shansky.
McKeon said the zone change, which has been in the works
since 2014, “will enable this parcel to be developed for transit-oriented
development.”
It’s a logical extension of two other zoning changes the
city previously approved for other properties in the same area along Olive
Street and “the same rationale that applies to the parcels to the south is
applicable now,” he said.
PMC actually fought those other two zone change proposals
for years, filing several lawsuits. But McKeon suggested the developer has
changed its thinking in recent years.
McKeon told the committee that neither zone has a direct
height limit, “but where the BD1 zone adjoins residential zones there is a
70-foot height limitation.” The proposed building site is at the end of the
property closest to the tracks, so there would be no such height limitation, he
said.
McKeon said in response to a question from Alder Adam
Marchand, D-25, that he believes the existing Strouse-Adler building, a former
corset factory, is slightly below 70 feet tall.
There also is a difference in parking requirements between
the two zones, with a BA zone requiring one parking space per dwelling unit and
a BD1 zone requiring one-half space per dwelling unit, McKeon said.
Deputy Zoning Director William Long said the proposal “is aligned
with the city’s comprehensive plan” of development, which encourages mixed-use
“transit-oriented development.”
Members of the public spoke both for and against the zone
change.
“How is it possible that the committee or the city would
contemplate zoning permission to build a 13-story building which would tower
over Wooster Square, which is only two blocks away?” asked Audubon Court
resident Arthur Nacht. Thirteen stories “is way out of proportion” to the
low-rise community style “that is there now,” he said.
Wooster Place resident Carolanne Patterson called 13 stories
“really egregious” and said, “this is an enormous addition” to the
approximately 1,500 apartments already slated to be built in the area.
Linda Reeder agreed.
“I really believe that’s incongruous with the neighborhood
and will have a negative impact. I just really wish the city would stop
reacting on a case-by-case basis,” Reeder said. “... I would like to ask that
you remember that the impacts of poor decisions you make today will have effects
for generations.”
But John Martin, who lives on Pearl Street, said, “I really
believe that we need more density in our city.” He pointed out that the project
would be directly adjacent to the train station, and said a building taller
than 10 stories “really is not something that people even think twice about.”
Anstress Farwell, president of the New Haven Urban Design
League and a Wooster Square resident, said the alders “need to look at whether
the zone itself is a public benefit. I do not believe that the case has been
made that it is a public benefit.”
Farwell said it really “isn’t transit oriented. There’s been
no careful attention as to how this connects to the train station. ... This
needs to be looked at at a neighborhood scale. ... I object to this being done
in a piecemeal way.”
Will Viederman of Warren Street and Lisa Sawin of Olive
Street both spoke in favor of the zone change.
“This zoning change will help, not hurt, and if we fail to
make this zoning change, it will affect the people” who need help the most by
allowing housing prices to continue to rise in other neighborhoods.
Sawin said she believes “that taller, more densely-occupied
buildings” will help reduce housing pressure in nearby neighborhoods.
“Increased density and height will allow for more homes for
more people,” she said.
Former Wooster Square alder Abby Roth said 13 stories “is
too much for this neighborhood.”
Resident Kai Addae said she favored the zone change because
in her five years in New Haven, “it’s been hard to find apartments where I want
to live, close to downtown.”
Marchand said that what appears to be happening with the PMC
proposal and others along Olive Street is that “downtown is no longer stopping
at the train tracks. Downtown is stopping at Olive Street ... and so people are
seeing development on Olive Street that they are not used to the city.”
But “I think that is good for the city,” Marchand said. “...
It’s good for the city’s economic activity and it’s good for its budget.”
Wetlands public hearing on proposed Preston RV park not done yet
Preston — The developer of a controversial proposed
302-unit RV park resort at the junction of routes 2 and 164 abutting Avery Pond
described changes to reduce wetlands impacts, but residents at
Tuesday’s inland wetlands public hearing remained strongly opposed to the
project.
Maryland-based Blue Water Development Corp. has proposed the
$25 million RV park and campground resort under the name Blue Camp CT LLC, on
three parcels totaling 65 acres owned by the Mashantucket-Pequot Tribal Nation.
The project would have a welcome center, three bathhouses, a swimming pool,
volleyball, tennis, squash and bocce areas, a floating dock in Avery Pond and a
12-foot-wide boardwalk near the pond.
The Inland Wetlands and Watercourses Commission continued
the hearing to its 7:30 p.m. meeting March 15 at Preston Plains Middle School.
Tuesday’s session started with project design engineer Will
Walter explaining revisions made to reduce impacts on wetlands and near Avery
Pond. The developer switched all roadways and RV parking areas and campsites,
except in the entrance and welcome center areas, to gravel surfaces, rather
than asphalt. That allowed Blue Water to reduce the size of stormwater
retention ponds.
Walter said no motor vehicles would be allowed to access the
nine safari tent camping areas at the pond's edge. Walter said the design
for the proposed elevated boardwalk was revised to “wrap around the
topography” rather than disturb the soils. Only three 10-inch-diameter trees
would be removed. The boardwalk would be for golf carts only, with no motor
vehicles allowed.
“We really worked hard to pull in the limited disturbance,”
Walter said of the wetlands.
Project attorney Harry Heller said Blue Water would create
two new wetlands, totaling 16,000 square feet, removing invasive plant species
and planting native wetlands species that would provide additional wildlife
habitat.
Heller said the project's original design was
“significantly different,” with “fairly intense development” near the pond,
with all parking lots and roadways paved. The original 314 campsites has been
reduced to 302, he said. More revisions were made since Blue Water submitted
its initial wetlands application in October. That initial plan had showed
a “significant amount” of vegetation to be removed and much more land grading.
A proposed sand beach at Avery Pond in the original plan was
removed, Heller said.
“We’ve eliminated about 100,000 square feet of disturbance
in upland review areas,” he added.
The commission has permit authority for all activity within
100 feet of wetland areas, the upland review area. Heller said the plan
proposes no disturbance within 25 feet of wetlands, as recommended by the
town’s hired wetlands review consultants.
Heller submitted a financial analysis of the project
comparing anticipated revenues from the proposed 302 campsites to a reduced
270-unit project. He said Blue Water plans a capital investment of about $25
million, making it financially unfeasible to reduce the number of campsites
significantly.
The changes to the plan did not appease residents who have
voiced strong opposition to the project, calling it too big for the sensitive
Avery Pond area with too much of a disturbance of nearby residential neighborhoods.
Gary Piszczek, chairman of the Preston Conservation and
Agricultural Commission, urged the commission to reject all activities within
100 feet of wetlands.
Resident Peter Leibert, a 55-year Preston resident, asked,
“what is the saturation point?” for development in town. He said increased
development already has put a heavy strain on the town’s emergency services.
Lynn Drive residents Jennifer Hollstein and Susan and
Timothy Hotchkiss have filed for intervenor status in the permit review process,
allowing them to submit expert testimony and reports. Lynn Drive is located
along the western shore of Avery Pond. A letter from Milan Bull, senior
director of science and conservation at Connecticut Audubon Society, stated
that project reports did not adequately consider potential impacts on birds and
other wildlife, which are part of the wetlands and pond system.
At one point, several residents held up poster-sized photos
of eagles, osprey, a heron and a snow goose from the pond.
George Knoecklein of Northeast Aquatic Research recommended
a complete study of Avery Pond and said the project’s studies of wetlands
vegetation and stormwater impacts on the pond were incomplete.
“It is completely beyond me how this can be considered to be
the most feasible and prudent alternative,” Knoecklein wrote. “It is my opinion
that squeezing in the most possible development per square foot is the maximum
alternative not the most feasible and certainly not the most prudent.”
Resident Andrew Stockton objected to proposed kayak rentals
for Blue Water campers. He said heavy use of the shallow pond by kayakers would
disturb lily pads and be detrimental to fish. He also questioned the proposed
use of Preston Plains Water Co. — owned by the Mashantucket tribe — to
serve the project and the proposed connection to the tribe’s sewer system.
Stockton asked the commission to hire a water expert to
determine whether the company has an adequate long-term water supply for its
residential customers and Blue Water.
The Planning and Zoning Commission will continue its public
hearing March 22, also at Preston Plains Middle School, on special
exception permits needed for the project in the town’s resort commercial and
residential zones. Portions of the property lie in each zone. The PZC held a
3½-hour hearing session Feb. 23.
Gold Star Bridge project getting started
A project to repair and strengthen the northbound Gold
Star Memorial Bridge span is underway, with the Department of Transportation
making preparations for the under-the-deck work slated to begin next month.
“The anticipated work of Phase 1A on the northbound side of
the Gold Star Memorial Bridge is just getting started, with an anticipated
completion date of July 2025,” the DOT said this week in a statement.
“Over the next several weeks, motorists can expect periodic lane closures as
preparations are made on-site for the project which will strengthen the
bridge.”
“In early April, we expect continuous closures of a shoulder
and single adjacent lane to be implemented as rehabilitation work gets underway
below the deck surface. Construction signs and traffic control devices will be
used for extended periods of time,” the DOT added. “Motorists should always
obey traffic signs and use extreme caution in work zones: slow down, keep a
safe distance, and stay alert.”
The bridge, comprising two separate spans, carries
Interstate 95 over the Thames River between Groton and New London. The
DOT has
said the northbound span is in poor condition but does not pose a
safety hazard, with the deck and superstructure receiving a "poor"
rating and the foundation receiving a "fair" rating.
The overall $300 million project is
slated to proceed in three phases, with a tentative completion date of
2030, the DOT has said. The approximately $50 million Phase 1A entails
strengthening and improving the truss spans, followed by Phase 1B to strengthen
and improve the girder spans, and Phase 2 to replace the deck. Currently,
heavier vehicles that require a permit cannot cross the bridge and have to take
a 17-mile detour, but the project will strengthen the span so it can handle
heavier vehicles.
Local officials applauded the start of the long-anticipated
project and encouraged drivers to proceed carefully and pay attention
during the construction.
New London Mayor Michael Passero said he’s been waiting for
the long-delayed project because of the jobs it will bring to the building
trades, which have been anxious to see it begin. He said it’s great that the
project is finally kicking off.
“From the point of view of infrastructure needs, it’s long
overdue that they get started on this bridge,” he added.
He said he hasn’t seen any impacts yet to traffic. He said
the earlier project to repair the southbound span brought traffic
impacts, but it was not unbearable.
As far as emergency response on the bridge, Passero said New
London and Groton coordinate with each other and already have a plan on which
fire department will respond depending on whether the response is needed on the
northbound or southbound side.
City of Groton Mayor Keith Hedrick said he noticed the
impact on traffic when he drove across the bridge, which had been reduced
by two left lanes, on Wednesday.
He talked to Groton City's fire chief, and the
fire department is prepared to respond, if needed, to any traffic or
construction accidents during the project.
“It’s a much-needed project,” Hedrick added. “It’s going to
be a long-term project, and we need people to be patient and understand.”
Groton Town Manager John Burt said he isn’t expecting any
major impacts. “People will just have to be careful when traveling through
there to pay extra attention for the lane closures to stay safe,” he said.
It's not often that a judge in a civil case accuses a
litigant of outright fraud, not telling the truth in testimony.
And yet you don't have to search far — it's contained
in one of the first entries that turns up in a Google search — to discover a
judge making just such an accusation against Nicholas Fiorillo, the data center
developer Groton signed a host agreement with last April exempting his proposed
data center off Route 117 from local property taxes.
A Massachusetts Superior Court judge, in a decision dated
Aug. 1, 2009, found that Fiorillo's lawyer had submitted a
counterfeit document to support his client's claim in a civil case and
that Fiorillo himself gave testimony that was not truthful.
Indeed, Fiorillo, Groton's newest development partner, is
involved in lots of litigation, including bankruptcies, and one of those
involves a family of entities proposing data centers like the one the Groton
Town Council sanctioned with its 2021 host agreement.
But you don't have to get distracted by the many lawsuits
when you Google Fiorillo. There's all kinds of other crazy stuff, like the
story by the investigative team of a Massachusetts television station,
looking at the claims of a woman who said Fiorillo cheated her out of $18,000,
money paid to his vacation rental business.
There's a news story that mentions a liquor law violation at
a restaurant Fiorillo operates in Boston, because it might relate to a
restaurant he was proposing to open on Cape Cod.
What you won't find in a Google search is any information
about any data centers Fiorillo has developed, because, well, he's never built
a single one.
I left a message on Fiorillo's website and asked him to call
or email, but I never heard from him.
What's even more troubling is that the Town Council is
considering signing a second host agreement for another data center that won't
pay property taxes, and this one is proposed by a former colleague of Fiorillo,
in the business of proposing data centers that never get built.
The latest data center developer to make his pitch to
Groton, Thomas Quinn, not only worked with Fiorillo on proposing data centers,
but he was also a chief executive officer of another entity trying to get a
foothold in eastern Connecticut.
Quinn, had the Town Council followed the advice of Town
Manager John Burt, would probably already have his own tax-avoiding, signed
host agreement by now, except a few savvy councilors insisted on a public
hearing for this project.
That hearing, which actually wasn't a public hearing at all,
because the town economic development commissioner who chaired it testily
stopped anyone who ventured beyond asking a question to making what the
chairman called a comment.
There's a lot for the public to want to comment on.
The
hearing — if not for the sad fact that town officials have let such a
worrisome proposal progress so far — was a hoot.
Many of the ghosts of developer Quinn's past came out to
haunt him.
The most theatrical of these was a woman, Donna Greene,
dressed in black, whose late husband was a colleague of Quinn's in a company he
led as chief executive officer, another one which never built a data center and
which is now embroiled in a lawsuit trying to collect on a $33 million debt.
"Why would Groton want to deal with someone who
steals?" said Greene, and the room broke into applause.
I watched on Groton Municipal Television on
YouTube, and once Greene was disconnected from the microphone, she disappeared
off camera but you could still hear her shouting across the room:
"Crook!"
Another strange appearance was made by Joseph Caldrello, the
New London businessman who lost his chain of automobile dealerships decades
ago, after a long bankruptcy.
Caldrello, who chatted familiarly with widow Greene at the
hearing, identified himself as a consultant to the company Quinn used to
direct, the one now fending off a $33 million lawsuit claim. Caldrello began
his short time with the microphone, one that ended with him dropping the
f-bomb, with an attack on Quinn, before being shut down by hearing officials,
as Quinn shouted back at him.
Someone in the audience shouted out that it looked like a
segment of the "Jerry Springer Show."
Another surprise guest of the strange evening was Kenneth
Reels, the former chairman of the Mashantucket Pequot Tribe, which once
entertained proposals from data center developers but never built one. Reels
made the point that Quinn has not presented any evidence of financing for the
giant project he is asking the Town Council to sign a property-tax-waiving host
agreement for.
Quinn saved his angriest finger-pointing response, raising
his voice to a shout, for Groton community activist Kevin Blacker, who made the
interesting point that the proposed data center would use more electricity than
the new wind farm being built off the south fork of Long Island will generate.
Blacker got shut down, too, for making a comment instead of
asking a question.
It is all troubling to me.
I suppose the worst of it are the lawsuits and bankruptcies,
because the host agreements, which specify payments in lieu of taxes to the
town — between $500,000 and $1.5 million — would be contractual, and the
town would not be first in line, like it would for unpaid taxes, if the project
fails and there are creditors.
It is especially worrisome for Groton that the town manager
would propose the Town Council sign agreements with unproven developers who
have directed businesses so entangled in big lawsuits. Never mind that one of
them was accused by a judge of lying in court testimony.
After all, a recent deal by Groton with another developer,
who pleaded guilty to bribing public officials in New York and had no record of
developing the kind of project he was proposing here, is only now headed toward
an expensive lawsuit.
The town manager is supposed to protect the town from
signing problematic deals, not promote them.
Maybe someone could tell him about Google.
This is the opinion of David Collins.