![]() The city asked the contractors on the state’s list for bids, and three of them - AAIS, Bestech and Haz-Pros - submitted bids, with AAIS getting the contract as the lowest bidder, for $1.47 million.Īfter the Manchester contract went to AAIS without Stamford Wrecking getting a chance to bid for it, Garcia took his concerns to Attorney General William Tong on Feb. The Town is selecting a bid from one of the four contractors approved by the state for this type of work under this contract,” Sullivan wrote. ”The contract in question is identified as State DAS Contract 16PSX0110. Sullivan responded in a letter saying that Manchester was just following the state’s guidance. In two letters to city officials, Garcia warned they needed to put the contract out to bid for everyone and not just the contractors on the state’s emergency list.īut assistant city attorney John F. In January 2021, Garcia was contesting another contract in Manchester, which was in the process of renovating the Buckley Elementary School. Buckley Elementary School in Manchester Map data ©2022 Google Groton also eventually chose the lowest bidder, Stamford Wrecking, but only after that company’s lawyer - New Haven attorney Raymond Garcia - questioned why his client wasn’t getting the contract. Manchester project questionedĪround the same time that Bristol officials say they were being pressured by the state to hire Bestech, a similar scenario was playing out in Groton - this time involving AAIS, who were not the low bidder for a hazardous waste disposal/demolition contract there. The state’s Chief Medical Examiner later listed Sanders’ cause of death as an accidental overdose tied to cocaine and fentanyl. Police arrested the man living in the house and charged him with risk of injury to a minor and possession of narcotics. Police found the 53-year-old’s body at a home in Old Saybrook on the evening of Dec. Sanders worked in state government for 27 years until he died in December under what police described as “suspicious circumstances.” The city eventually hired the low bidder anyway. “This directive came so late in the process and was so surprising, the project personnel sought and received verbal reinforcement and validation of your directive over the next several days.” “(Sanders) represented that you were directing all bids for abatement and demolition to be rejected,” Clift told Diamantis in the letter. According to Clift, Sanders advised the city to reject the lowest bid, from Select Demo Inc., and instead hire Bestech.Ĭlift’s letter said that the “directive” delivered by Sanders was issued by Diamantis. It’s unclear when Sanders joined the school construction grant team, but Newbury said Sanders was the only person he dealt with since the contract went into effect.Ī May 2020 letter from Bristol’s former corporation counsel Dale Clift shows that Sanders was deeply involved in one hazardous waste abatement school contract in Bristol in 2020. ![]() ![]() When told he would be placed on administrative leave from his school construction job, Diamantis retired.ĭiamantis had run the school construction grant program for more than six years. 28, days after the federal subpoena was served. Ned Lamont fired Diamantis from his OPM position on Oct. Therefore, the Department of Administrative Services does not select vendors for towns," Anderson said. "Municipalities are responsible for their own contractor procurement and contracting per state statutory requirements for bidding. ![]() The grant program went to the oversight of OPM when Diamantis was named its deputy secretary.Īnderson said Diamantis and his team, specifically Sanders, were in charge of the hazardous waste abatement contracts. Sanders is listed as the Construction Services Associate Project Manager in the "memorandum of understanding" that transferred the school construction program from DAS to the Office of Policy and Management in 2019.
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