City claims it can take on O&G’s construction oversight

O&G Industries rock crushing operation on Seaview Avenue in Bridgeport. O&G Industries rock crushing operation on Seaview Avenue in Bridgeport. Photo: Autumn Driscoll / Hearst Connecticut Media Buy photo Photo: Autumn Driscoll / Hearst Connecticut Media Image 1 of / 14 Caption Close City claims it can take on O&G’s construction oversight 1 / 14 Back to Gallery

BRIDGEPORT — John Ricci, Mayor Joe Ganim’s public facilities chief, says his department will oversee school construction now that O&G Industries has been fired after two decades on the job.

“This was not done on a whim,” Ricci said Wednesday. “We’ve done some preparation in advance to make it a smooth and orderly transition.”

That includes hiring a construction manager for his department — Nicholas Masciangelo, formerly of Clark and Wilkins Industries in New York City — and ensuring O&G will be available “on a per diem basis” going forward.

But other city officials involved in school construction complained they were left out of the loop.

City Councilman Scott Burns said he knew City Hall wasn’t happy with O&G, “But summarily dismissing them — which is what looked like what happened? I was definitely caught off guard.”

And Schools Superintendent Aresta Johnson said Tuesday, as word spread that O&G would be out, effective Friday, that she, too, was not part of the decision-making process.

Since late 1999 and Ganim’s first tenure in City Hall, Torrington-based O&G, which is involved in a variety of construction-related endeavors, has run the show when it comes to building new schools in Bridgeport. The company has been the city’s agent with all of the public and private entities involved with planning, scheduling, budgeting, design and construction. Think of them as an air traffic controller.

And, as Hearst Connecticut Media reported in 2014, the contract has never been rebid in all these years.

Not unanimous

“I know collectively a decision was made (and the administration) wanted to move in a different direction,” City Attorney R. Christopher Meyer said Tuesday afternoon.

The timing seems problematic. The school district is in the middle of building a new, $106 million Harding High School and is about to rebuild Bassick High School. Central High School is also in the midst of a $73.4 million renovation and addition.

There are also a host of smaller renovation and roof-replacement projects under way.

“I am concerned,” Johnson said.

The Ganim administration on Wednesday justified canning O&G to save taxpayer dollars. Ken Flatto, Ganim’s finance director, said O&G earned $1.3 million to $1.5 million annually.

“We’re estimating we can accomplish the work at about half the cost,” Flatto said.

But Bob Hammond, who works for the city building department on school facilities, told the Board of Education on Tuesday, “(O&G does) a lot of work behind the scenes no one is aware of, as far as navigating ... and taking care of things that need to be rectified that are a little out of our scope. These are the people who catch problems that we otherwise have to live with for the next five to 10 years.”

Burns describe another possible rationale for the firing. He said there has been a dispute between the city, state and O&G over which party is responsible for a costly cleanup of contamination at Central High. Around $2 million is on the line and, according to state officials, that was not part of the city’s original submission for state reimbursement.

“Was it all going to fall to the city or does O&G bear the bulk of the costs?” Burns said.

Burns said it would be great if the city could save money by overseeing school projects in-house, but he added, “Do we have the capacity to carry out everything we’re supposed to do?”

Administrative relations

Ricci said there was “nothing hostile about” the firing of O&G. But the Ganim administration has for the past year been waging an separate zoning and court battle over the company’s processing, storing and recycling of concrete and other materials in the East End.

Ganim received significant political support from the East End when he waged his 2015 mayoral comeback. And soon after voters returned him to office, city zoning officials determined O&G lacked the proper approvals to operate on Seaview Avenue property the company owned since the 1990s.

Last April, the Zoning Department told O&G to cease and desist. A Superior Court Judge upheld that order in mid-March, and late last week turned down a request by the firm to reconsider.

It was a victory Ganim happily touted in a March press conference outside of O&G’s property. And the mayor at that time made it clear he is not supportive of a move elsewhere in town. O&G had been working on relocating to the West End with Ganim’s predecessor, ex-Mayor Bill Finch.

Ray Rizzio, O&G’s zoning attorney, said Wednesday his client is “weighing all our options.”

School board member Maria Pereira is not a fan of O&G, nor does she trust Ganim.

“This is scary,” she said, worried about the impact the firing might have on the ongoing school projects.

Larry Schilling, an O&G staffer who has been in Bridgeport for 18 years, also attended Tuesday’s school board meeting. All he would say about the situation is that discussions with the city were ongoing.

Ray Oneglia, an O&G vice chairman, in a lengthy letter recently published by Hearst Connecticut Media, pushed back against “repeated attacks” against his company. He wrote that O&G “has been a responsible corporate citizen in Bridgeport going back four decades. And unlike the many companies that have left the city, we believe in and, more importantly, are investing in Bridgeport.”

He said that means jobs, tax revenues and monetary and material donations to city-based nonprofits.

“For those intent on building walls rather than bridges, I ask that you take another look from a more balanced perspective at O&G and what the company is providing to Bridgeport,” Oneglia wrote.