City, Contractors Settle Cracked-Concrete Lawsuit

Three years of legal battles over cracked concrete outside of the Canal Dock Boathouse has ended with the city taking in $600,000 from contractors — after shelling out $288,000 to lawyers.

Thus has ended a state court case called City of New Haven v. Nosal Builders, Inc.

The Elicker administration first filed that lawsuit in February 2021 against Nosal Builders, the general contractor behind the publicly-owned Boathouse on Long Wharf.

The city accused Nosal of doing a poor job of constructing the concrete deck, pier, and promenade outside of the waterfront building that opened in 2018. Nearly half a dozen subcontractors that worked on the $20 million capital project got looped into the lawsuit as fellow defendants. 

In February, the Elicker administration signed a settlement agreement with Nosal Builders, Langan CT Inc., Universal Foundations Inc., The L. Suzio Concrete Company Inc., AECOM, and COWI North America Inc. that formally put an end to the lawsuit. In line with that settlement, the city withdrew its 2021-filed legal complaint on March 15. The various defendants withdrew their respective ​“cross complaints” in the days after. The case formally ended on March 22.

“It was important to the City that this facility remains in good repair and that the companies who were involved in this construction work make good on their commitments,” Mayor Justin Elicker said in a statement provided to the Independent. ​“I’m glad the City will be compensated, the repairs will be made, and that the community programing will continue at the Boathouse.”

The city-contractor settlement, which the Independent obtained via a Connecticut Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request, requires the various Boathouse contractors to pay the city a total of $600,000. That includes $190,000 from Nosal, $150,000 from Langan, $90,000 from Universal, $60,000 from Suzio, $45,000 from COWI, and $65,000 from AECOM.

The six contractors agreed to comply with their contractually-mandated obligations pertaining to the state Department of Transportation’s closeout and audit of the Boathouse construction project.

The settlement states that the contractors do not admit any wrongdoing. Rather, all of the parties, including the Elicker administration, ​“have agreed to settle in order to avoid the inconvenience, distractions, costs and inherent uncertainties associated with potential legal proceedings. The Parties acknowledge and agree that this Agreement represents a compromise of doubtful and disputed claims. The Parties acknowledge and stipulate that any liability, wrongdoing, malfeasance, or negligence on the part of any Party is expressly denied.”

The settlement also states that each party is responsible for covering their own legal fees related to this three-year court case.

City spokesperson Lenny Speiller told the Independent that the city wound up paying a total of $288,000 in attorneys fees, expert fees, mediator fees and costs related to this state court litigation. The city will not be reimbursed for those legal fees under this settlement. The city had hired the local law firm Neubert, Pepe & Monteith to represent it in the lawsuit.

“The City intends to repair areas of the topping slab experiencing the cracking and deterioration,” Speiller added. ​“A preliminary design approach was prepared as part of the settlement process. That design will be advanced to construction at a time, which does not conflict with ongoing events – potentially in late 2024 or in the 2025 construction season.”

And how much does the city anticipate that topping slab repair work to cost? Will it be covered entirely by the $600,000 paid by the various contractors as part of this settlement? Or will it be more?

Speiller said that the city does not have quotes yet for that repair work, ​“but we expect the repairs to be higher” than $600,000. He said the balance of those costs will be covered by city capital funds.

Elicker described the Boathouse as ​“a tremendous asset helping to connect residents to the waterfront and serving as a unique and special location for a variety of community activities and programs.” The publicly owned building’s tenants currently include Discovering Amistad ​“and a variety of community-oriented kayaking, rowing and boating programs.” He added that the University of New Haven’s Marine Sciences Program ​“will soon open there as well,” four years after the city and UNH signed a 10-year lease for the site right before the start of the Covid-19 pandemic. And the waterfront property has served as a site for special and seasonal events, including Long Wharf Theatre’s recent production of ​“A View from the Bridge.”