Roadwork delayed by FBI probe to resume
BRIDGEPORT — A long-awaited road project that was held up by a criminal probe of city government is being rebid.
The economic development department is accepting contractors proposals until 2 p.m. March 25 for streetscape improvements along Fairfield Avenue in Black Rock, a commercial strip on the Fairfield border with restaurants, bars and other small businesses.
The plans, funded in part with a $500,000 state grant awarded seven years ago, call for overhauling and beautifying the intersection at Brewster Street and northeast of the Ash Creek Bridge and making the area more pedestrian friendly.
Brewster is a main thoroughfare connecting Black Rock to the Fairfield Metro train station and Interstate 95.
“That intersection could use some love,” said City Councilman Matthew McCarthy, who not only represents the neighborhood but whose brother, Martin, runs the Fire Engine Pizza Company on Fairfield Avenue. “That money’s been sitting there. It’s time to move forward.”
Work was supposed to proceed in 2019 until the construction company hired for the job was named in a subpoena as part of an FBI probe into municipal contracting. Mayor Joe Ganim’s administration paused the project to ensure nothing was amiss.
Nikki Medina owns Sun Kissed Glow tanning salon and heads a group of fellow Black Rock business owners. She said, “We’re trying to make this area turn around and become the destination spot if you want to hang out.”
Noting the new apartments being built in the area, Medina said she hoped the streetscape work would prevent cars from speeding down Fairfield Avenue and make existing patrons and new visitors and residents feel safer.
“It would be nice to have that ‘village’ feel,” Medina said. “People walking and biking and out with their kids and families.”
Medina opened her salon six years ago, a year after then state-Rep. Auden Grogins, D-Bridgeport, secured the $500,000 in state aid.
In early 2019, the city’s economic development and purchasing departments awarded the contract to VAZ Quality Works.
Ganim’s administration decided to delay after VAZ and two other companies that had done business with Bridgeport were named in a federal subpoena issued to City Hall that February. The FBI at the time was probing allegations of contract steering and illicit scrap metal sales within the public facilities department, and the subpoena sought four years worth of documents and communications involving the trio of contractors.
Neither VAZ nor the other two businesses were ever accused of or charged with wrongdoing, and by last year, City Hall concluded the streetscape effort could resume.
A VAZ spokesperson did not return a request for comment about the rebid and whether the company remained interested in the job.
Courtney Hartl said she has been awaiting the road and intersection overhaul since opening her Source Coffeehouse on Fairfield Avenue in 2014.
“I happen to live across the avenue from my shop. I cross multiple times a day, sometimes with my dogs and 2-year-old, and sometimes have people look me in the eye and blaze right past me at very high speeds while in the middle of the road,” Hartl said. “And for my customers, if you’re coming from the other side, I don’t want you to take your life in your hands to get a cup of coffee.”
She said the aesthetic improvements are also much-needed during the coronavirus pandemic since shops and eateries are struggling to attract customers while adhering to health guidelines.
“We really would love to see Fairfield Avenue developed into a place that is pleasant to walk and sit on a bench and be outside, bopping from business to business,” Hartl said. “Especially now ... in the COVID era. We’re anxious for anything that can build up the business in our neighborhood.”