City criticized for taking high demolition bid

    

By Reginald Johnson

     BRIDGEPORT REPORT

      BRIDGEPORT --- Questions are being raised about why the city is paying a contractor more than $8 million to demolish buildings in the South End when another qualified contractor would have done the same job for $3 million less.

   The AAIS Company of West Haven is tearing down three dorms at the University of Bridgeport to prepare a site for the new Bassick High School, part of an overall $115 million project.

  AAIS won the bid for the work last Sept. 30,  after a vote by the School Building Committee. The company’s bid of $8.769 million won out over the $5.445 million offer by the Bestech company of Ellington, according to a report in the Connecticut Post.

 The contract award was not reviewed or voted on by the City Council, and demolition has been on-going since early this year.

  Since both firms are on a state list of pre-approved contractors to do the demolition and hazardous waste clean-up work for school construction projects, some people are wondering why the much less expensive offer by Bestech was rejected.

   “That’s concerning....they did another behind the scenes deal,” said Council Member Jorge Cruz, who represents the South End district where the new high school is being built.

 “It doesn’t make any logical sense on why they would take a bid that was $3 million higher,” Cruz said.

       

Bodine Hall at the University of Bridgeport was torn down to make way for a new Bassick High School.

  Council Member Maria Pereira, a frequent critic of the administration of Mayor Joseph P. Ganim, called the decision to take a bid that was $3 million higher than another qualified firm “unheard of.”

   “It’s outrageous,” she said.

  Justifying the selection, city officials apparently believe that AAIS would do a higher quality job than Bestech.

  “The opinion is that AAIS would provide a better, more completed job even though the initial price is higher overall,” wrote Michele Otero, a school construction manager for the city, in the minutes of the school building committee, according to the Post report.

   Criticism of the city’s selection for the UB demolition job is the latest controversy plaguing the Bassick High School project.

  Last year, both current and former members of the City Council claimed that the city’s payment of $6 million to the University of Bridgeport for the construction site was illegal, since it was never approved by the council.

  The School Building Committee --- a hybrid committee composed of administration officials, council members and school board officials that has special powers under state law--- approved that payment on its own.

  But Pereira charged that since the original bonding approved by the council for the Bassick project did not cover land acquisition, the committee could not unilaterally authorize the UB payment. The council had to approve it.

  Pereira further claimed that the FBI was looking into the transaction, although bureau officials would not confirm this.

  While she disagrees with the choice of the contractor, Pereira said in the case of the demolition work for the high school, the School Building Committee acted properly in awarding the bid without council review. She said that once bonding has been approved by the council for construction and related costs, the committee can act on its own to let contracts related to that phase, according to state statute.

    Cruz said he was going to be contacting other council members and discuss his concern about the city’s decision to select the much more expensive contractor for the UB demolition work.

  “This Bassick high project has been a damn headache,” he said.

 

  

 

   

 

 

 

 

 

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Local officials look to block UB merger

 

BRIDGEPORT REPORT

    By Reginald Johnson

     BRIDGEPORT --- A city council member and other officials are demanding answers about the deal for three colleges to take over operations at the University of Bridgeport --- an agreement which they say may have major implications for the city and the South End.

  According to City Councilman Jorge Cruz, D-131, the group is angry that Mayor Joseph P. Ganim secretly negotiated the merger without any council or community input.

    The councilman said the group of council members, district leaders and state elected officials have had several meetings, and are planning legal action to block the tentative UB deal.

  “We feel deceived, lied to, kept out of the loop and disrespected,” said Cruz, who represents the South End, a section with a heavy minority population. Many residents are low-income.

 Cruz said he has learned the academic classification for the university will be higher than that of the current UB, and that the new institution may not be affordable for minority students.

  That change, together with the demolition of the nearby low-income Marina Village housing project ---- to be replaced by a smaller complex with some market-rate units --- has Cruz and others concerned that gentrification will set in and poor people will be priced out of the South End.

  Under the tentative agreement, Sacred Heart University of Fairfield, Goodwin University in East Hartford and Paier College of Hamden will merge with UB, co-locate programs on UB’s campus and purchase all of the school’s property and programs.

  Cruz has submitted a resolution before the City Council, which meets Tuesday, calling for an “informational meeting to clarify the University of Bridgeport merger.”

  Cruz said his group is asking that representatives of the colleges attend the meeting, proposed for Sept. 16, to answer questions about the merger.

  The resolution reads in part “Whereas, the Bridgeport City Council understands these kinds of collaborations can lead to economies of scale, and long-term benefits for students, drive economic growth and create jobs, but many questions remain unanswered.”

  One question apparently is how the new Bassick High School fits into the equation. The new school is to be located on former UB land. Cruz said he just found out that the city paid UB $6 million for the land.

   Cruz said Ganim, who sits on the UB board and teaches part-time there, is in a “huge conflict” regarding the merger agreement.

  “What’s up with this? How could he do that by himself?” the councilman asked.