Town Council Questions Superintendent About Fitch Ball Field

The Town Council publicly questioned Superintendent Paul Kadri Tuesday about why he did not inform them that improvements to the Fitch High School baseball field would cost more than the $500,000 an anonymous donor intially provided.

Councilor Frank O’Beirne, Jr., said the council authorized the contract for the field believing it would be covered by the donor. Yet O’Beirne said yet the contract was not signed until the work was done and the cost was over that amount.

“You obviously did not have funds in hand and yet you still singed an agreement after you were short,” he said. “If there is an explanation for this, I would love to hear it.”

Kadri said the contract was delayed by lawyers negotiating back and forth, and he believed he did have the money. He said he wasn’t trying to keep councilors in the dark, but was trying to make the project work and didn't believe he had to discuss every detail with the council.

He said the team ended up default, and that is what caused the problem. Kadri added that the donor has become “disheartened” by

“You can only imagine, you give $550,000 to a project and it sounds like it’s being tarred and feathered,” Kadri said.

Groton built the field to accommodate the New England Collegiate Baseball League team, , who moved to town in June. Its management has not returned calls seeking comment.

Project Timeline

Kadri provided this account Tuesday of what occurred with the ball field:

- Groton received $500,000 from an anonymous donor to build the field and bring the team in. The school department hired an engineer for $50,000. It then put the project out to bid on April 4, and received only one bid for $851,000.

- To lower the cost, the team chose to buy the lights themselves at a cost of $80,000 and give them to the public schools.

- The project was put out to bid a second time and came back at $487,000, not including the lights or the initial $50,000 spent on engineering.

- The new bidder then found an error and realized the project would cost more; after an adjustment, the cost was estimated at $523,000. By then, the project cost about $73,000 more than what was in the bank.

- The team then contacted the donor, who agreed to contribute $50,000 more in a direct donation and $50,000 more in a loan.

- In May, the team told the school department it had used the donated money rather than its own money to pay for the lights.

- Kadri worked out a verbal agreement with the team to have it pay back the $80,000 for the lights over three years, from revenue it earned during games.

- In June, two payments were made for bills totaling $384,000.

- In August, the team notified the schools that it could not pay back the loans against the donated money, leaving the project with a $139,000 shortfall.

- Kadri called the donor to see if he would still give the loans. He said he would not because of public controversy surrounding the project.

- The school department then sought to use department of defense money provided to the schools to pay the outstanding bills. The town asked for confirmation that this could be done, and an auditor confirmed it, but access to the money was not provided.

- Today, the total project cost $653,000, of which $514,00 has been paid.  The remaining $139,000 is outstanding.

Unpaid Bills

Kadri said he still believes the field was good investment for the community and he wants to pay the contractors.

“Please give us the opportunity to go make this right," he said. "And if we can’t do it, then beat us up and so forth.”

Ron O’Keefe, who represents H.J. O’Keefe, LLC, said his sons did $44,000 of work on the field and are owed money. He said he does not know how much is outstanding.

“I believe they worked 22 straight days, from early in the morning until dark, and they finished it on the last day,” he said. “The job was done in June.”

The council did not vote on how to resolve the issue Tuesday, but an attorney is expected to review the contracts, and discuss it privately with the parties and with town officials in executive session.