Who's Responsible for Walnut Hill Bridge Replacement

Bethel candidates for First Selectman and Selectman, Will Duff and Paul Szatkowski, held a press availability at Republican Headquarters on Greenwood Ave. Tuesday afternoon to talk about the bridge reconstruction over Limekiln Brook on Walnut Hill Road.

The Republican candidates, joined by local party chairman Paul Improta, released a series of emails between incumbent Selectman Szatkowski and state Department of Transportation (DOT) employees familiar with the project.

Citing specific emails within the exchange [see above, each page read bottom to top], they charged incumbent Democratic First Selectman Matt Knickerbocker with misleading residents about who is in charge of the project and responsible for the delays.

“We’ve been told this is a state project and there’s nothing to do with the town itself,” Szatkowski said. “According to Mr. Knickerbocker, it’s totally controlled by the state… My conversation with this engineer is just to the contrary.”

In an Oct. 22 email chain between several DOT officials, Transportation Engineer Thomas Weldon, team leader for the DOT’s District 4 Municipal Systems Action Team (MSAT), which oversees municipal projects, explained the reason for the delay and asserted that the state’s involvement is purely oversight.

“The entire design and construction of the Project is the sole responsibility of the Town of Bethel,” Weldon wrote. “The total blame does not fall fully on the designer or the Town, the Contractor, I believe has some responsibility in this as well since other options to keep the project moving were discussed but never moved forward or acted upon.”

Construction on the bridge halted mid-summer after excavation showed that test bores drilled earlier were inaccurate — there was not sufficient ledge rock to support the new bridge structure.

“It is a town-administered construction contract with DOT MSAT oversight,” DOT Project Manager William Grant wrote in an email in the Oct. 22 chain. “I was just talking with District 4 MSAT this morning. Indications are that the Town has not been diligent in their project administration responsibilities resulting in delays.”

General contractors J. Iapaluccio and engineering consulting firm GM2 are currently working with Bethel Public Works and the state DOT on revised plans to get construction moving again.

Town Engineer Andrew Morosky said Tuesday the contractors, Weldon and design architects from Klienfelder held a conference call Monday to finalize the new design specs.

Those specs are expected to come back from the design shop Thursday, Morosky said, and visible work could commence by early next week.

If the weather cooperates — i.e., no deep freeze hardening the ground — Morosky said the bridge should be reopened by the end of December.

Weldon confirmed that timeline in one of the Oct. 22 emails, stating that the project will be finished this year, “if the Town is willing to pay for the costs associated with this delay.”

The construction and materials costs for the project are covered by federal funds but the design work is on the town’s tab.

Knickerbocker confirmed Tuesday that the town is bearing the design costs, however the change orders are within the project budget, he said.

The First Selectman also took issue with the contention that he was “throwing the state under the bus.”

“Nobody is saying that the state has delayed this,” he said. “All I’ve said is nothing can happen with this project until the state approves it. We call no shots on this deal.”

Responding to a request within the Oct. 22 email chain, Project Manager Grant clarified the DOT’s involvement with the project.

“It was not a hands-off grant to the Town,” he said. “We are/were involved in the project on many levels including design reviews, right of way acquisition, etc.”

“It’s not really a pass-through,” he wrote, “that term seems to imply no DOT involvement other than perhaps entering into an agreement with the Town to convey the funding.”

“This process of redesign has to be approved along the way and has taken time but there has been no delay,” Knickerbocker asserted Tuesday, as work has continued behind the scenes and the project is still slated to finish this year.

“Every mistake has dollars associated with it,” First Selectman candidate Duff said during the conference. “If the manager of the business is making very expensive mistakes continuously, it detracts from the end product. That’s what we see in town, a series of delayed and over-expended projects.”

“Yes, the DOT is involved, MSAT is involved but the contracts are between the town,” Szatkowski said. “It’s about, have we done our jobs, our due diligence with the responsible parties?”

Knickerbocker believes so.

“All of us wish it was done,” he said. “But I’m satisfied that every person involved could not work any faster.”