Sunday, June 23, 2013

"Driveway-gate": Hurry up and sign the contract -- Sikorsky Memorial Airport (KBDR), Bridgeport, Connecticut


BRIDGEPORT -- Time was of the essence when the city scrapped competitive bidding rules and hired developer Manuel "Manny" Moutinho to build the $389,000 driveway he planned to his waterfront mansion in Stratford.

So why, if there was such a hurry, did it take six months after the money was approved in September for Bridgeport to take control of the project and get price quotes -- only to award the job to Moutinho's own Mark IV Construction?

"There's no reason why they shouldn't have started, as soon as that (funding) was approved, the bidding process," said former Democratic City Councilman Robert Walsh.

And it also appears the city did not use that window of time to challenge the original designs Moutinho submitted in March 2012 to Stratford for building -- on his own dime -- a cheaper $200,000 driveway.

The Bridgeport city attorney's office has said the driveway was built based on specifications Moutinho submitted to Stratford land use officials last year.

Democratic Mayor Bill Finch's office says the council approved the $389,000 on Sept. 17 when members voted to borrow $3 million for safety upgrades at city-owned Sikorsky Memorial Airport in Stratford.

The City Council -- 20 Democrats -- maintains it knew nothing of the driveway until Hearst Connecticut Newspapers reported on the project three weeks ago, right after its completion by Mark IV.

The Finch administration has said it had to build Moutinho the gravel driveway from Route 113 over airport land because an existing dirt right-of-way, also off of Route 113, will be closed for the $40 million runway safety zone.

Facing a federal deadline of 2015 for the zone, the mayor's office further justified the driveway as a "small but necessary and time-sensitive piece."

But according to documents filed in Stratford, Bridgeport -- through Airport Manager John Ricci -- waited until mid-March of this year to take over the land-use permits granted Moutinho in summer 2012 when the developer was planning to install a cheaper driveway for himself and three neighboring property owners.

Finch recently suspended Ricci with pay pending an investigation into his long friendship and various real estate dealings with Moutinho, something the mayor said he knew nothing about until asked this month by Hearst.

Ricci enjoys union protection as a member of the Bridgeport City Supervisors Association. He has said the administration knew of his relationship with Moutinho.

On March 11, Ricci wrote Stratford's Conservation Department asking that the driveway permit granted Moutinho the prior July be turned over to the city. He copied Finch and Associate Bridgeport Attorney Lisa Trachtenburg.

Moutinho simultaneously on March 11 sent his own letter requesting his permit be given to Bridgeport.

Stratford's Inland Wetlands and Watercourses Commission unanimously approved the transfer on March 21.

On March 28, Brian Carey, Stratford's Conservation Administration, notified Finch via certified mail that Bridgeport was officially responsible for Moutinho's driveway project.

Then, as Hearst recently reported, Ricci -- with the blessing of the Bridgeport city attorney's office -- circumvented the typical four to six-week bidding process and solicited quotes from three contractors: H.R. Candee Construction Co. Inc. responded April 11 with a $410,000 estimate; Anthony Julian Railroad Construction Co. submitted a $605,000 proposal April 15; and Moutinho's Mark IV Construction on April 16 offered to charge $389,000.

Six days later Stratford held a project kick-off meeting with Ricci and Moutinho. By June the driveway was done.

"Half of this was done last year and this March was when everything gets pushed into place?" said Councilman Carlos Silva, D-136, a contracts committee chairman who wants the council to launch a public investigation.

"Anybody would think it was already set up -- already done. This was a done deal," Silva said.

Bridgeport Republican Chairman John Slater agreed.

"They already knew who they wanted to give the bid to," Slater said. "Everybody knows what happened."

Walsh also questioned whether the Finch administration between September and March tried to review Moutinho's original driveway plans to reduce the costs.

The plans Moutinho filed with Stratford showed the gravel driveway also included installation of 1,200 feet each of electrical, gas, sewer and water lines, plus two fire hydrants. Those are major upgrades over the dirt driveway he lost, which had no utilities buried beneath it. The road is 1,000 feet long and 20 feet wide.

Trachtenburg last month told Hearst the city used the specifications approved in the Stratford permit.

"We're doing that as the permit instructed. Period. End of story," Trachtenburg said.

Walsh has a different opinion.

"It seems like that whole thing was based on Manny's specifications," Walsh said. "You waived bidding and let the contractor determine the bid specs."

Finch's office declined to comment, citing the city's ongoing internal investigation.

Staff Writer Daniel Tepfer contributed to this report.


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