Board OKs money to pay for Boccuzzi Park project overruns
City representatives still concerned about process, future costs
STAMFORD — The Board of Representatives has approved a city request for money to go toward covering cost overruns from a utilities project in Boccuzzi Park that unearthed contaminated soil.
City Engineer Lou Casolo has said that there are two problems with the material found in the Waterside park: Some of it can’t support the weight of drainage structures and some of it is contaminated by arsenic.
The city asked for $400,000 from its capital nonrecurring fund to deal with the material and pay for other unplanned costs, such as removing a concrete slab. The Board of Representatives this week voted 24-7, with eight abstentions, to approve the request.
Among the board members who voted against approval was Rep. Jeffrey Stella, D-9, who said he was flabbergasted that the city didn’t anticipate finding contaminated soil.
“I'm not from Stamford, but I've been here long enough to know that it’s expected that any soil that's tampered with down in that region, it's contaminated,” Stella said. “And there's no way in good faith that you're going to tell me that we started digging … and we're gonna say, ‘Oh, my God. We're surprised that this soil is contaminated.’ It's impossible.”
Casolo has said that a marine facility could have been on the property at one point, or it could have been a place where dumping occurred.
Two years ago, a number of soil borings were done in the park as part of construction planning. Casolo has said that some of the borings found “problematic soils” — specifically, material with no bearing capacity — but none were in the area of the current utilities project.
The project is a piece of a larger plan to make updates to Boccuzzi Park around the SoundWaters education center that is under construction.
Rep. Elise Coleman, D-3, who represents the South End, said she is expecting much more contamination to be found.
“I do agree with OKing this because we have to start somewhere,” Coleman said. But she added that her colleagues should “be aware that it's going to cost us a lot more than (the city is) saying.”
At a meeting of the board’s Fiscal Committee last week, Casolo said the city needed to “account for a high probability of encountering” similar soil problems in other parts of the park.
During the full board meeting, District 8 Rep. Nina Sherwood said while she understood why fellow members would vote in favor of approving the $400,000 request, she intended to vote against it because she disagreed “with how this came about.” In particular, Sherwood took issue with the city making an agreement with SoundWaters regarding the utilities work without full board approval.
In 2019, the Board of Representatives approved a lease between Stamford and SoundWaters so the nonprofit could build and operate an education center in the city’s Boccuzzi Park. Under the lease, the city must pay for the installation of utilities for the building.
Some time later, because SoundWaters “needed to use a portion of the city’s park land for construction activities on a temporary basis,” Stamford made an easement agreement with the nonprofit, according to emails from city officials to the Board of Representatives. The mayor has the authority to execute such agreements under Stamford’s charter and they don’t require board approval, said Chris Dellaselva, an assistant corporation counsel for the city.
The easement agreement later became a vehicle for a deal between the city and SoundWaters so the nonprofit’s contractor could do the utilities work — about a $2 million job. The city turned to SoundWaters’ contractor after receiving no other bids for a project that included the utilities.
The city agreed to cover 75 percent of any cost overruns from the utilities project. SoundWaters agreed to cover the rest. Dellaselva said that the cost split saves the city money because under the lease for SoundWaters’ building, Stamford is responsible for 100 percent of the costs of the utilities work.
Some members of the board suggested that the city should seek help covering the costs of the soil issues from the Steven and Alexandra Cohen Foundation, which gifted $3 million to SoundWaters for its education center.
“If we have found that there's a problem with this park … let's go to the Cohen foundation and ask if they would like to help out,” said Bradley Bewkes, R-1, who voted against approving the $400,000 appropriation. “Or maybe SoundWaters has other funders that may want to help out, or (maybe there are) other foundations or donors in the city that can help.”
But Waterside Rep. Virgil de la Cruz, D-2, said it was “imperative” that the board approve the $400,000 now. Casolo has said that the city needs to pay the contractor for stockpiling the soil, and without the money, the contractor could “demobilize” and refuse to return unless a fee is paid.
“This is an unfortunate situation, but now that we are where we are, we have to continue with the work and, more importantly, pay contractors for work they already have done,” de la Cruz said.