Yul Watley lived for many years at the Westville Manor public housing project. Now, thanks to some spontaneous lawyering, his fledgling construction business is rehabbing apartments there.
Promoting entrepreneurship and greater self-sufficiency among its residents has become, in recent years, a goal of Housing Authority of New Haven’s (HANH) programs. That is one of the reasons HANH provides educational opportunities like computer classes at its Wilmot Avenue community center in West Rock. HANH gives preference to its residents who start businesses of their own and then bid on HANH projects.
So it was that Watley’s Advanced Construction Technology company (ACT) bid on and won earlier this month a contract to rehab five apartments at Westville Manor, one of the developments in the isolated cluster of housing authority projects in the shadow of West Rock.
The business advancement of public housing residents in the West Rock neighborhood has been one of the focal points of a master plan to redevelop West Rock.
Watley got approval Tuesday afternoon at HANH’s regularly scheduled board meeting for a second contract. That required he demonstrate, in addition to construction, some lawyering skills as well. And he did.
Watley’s ACT bid $110,00 on a contract to repair several vacant units at HANH’s McConaughy Terrace, Valley and Waverly Townhouses. Another similarly acronymed but different company, AVT, bid $106,000. Because it was what HANH terms the “lowest responsible bidder,” HANH was preparing to give the contract to AVT.
That’s when Watley (pictured above with HANH’s contracts administrator Jennifer Bowlan) took the floor at the board meeting. “But shouldn’t my company get preference?” Watley asked. “I’m Section 3.”
According to HANH regulations, Section 3 enterprises are those that employ a preponderance of HANH residents or low-income people in the HANH areas. In such cases the Section 3 business receives priority in the competitive bid process with a certain percentage taken off their entry.
In this case, however, both Watley’s ACT and AVT are Section 3, and their bids were close enough to be virtually tied. Watley argued that HANH’s preference points for resident-owned business guidelines were a little murky. “Shouldn’t the regulations favor,” he said, “businesses that are resident-owned more than just those that employ residents?”
After consultations, HANH Chairman Bob Solomon and HANH’s legal counsel agreed with Watley that the spirit of the regulations should indeed be to boost and support resident-owned business. The contract was awarded to ACT. Bowlan said they would fine-tune the language of the regulations to reflect this.
Watley, who has moved out of Westville Manor but still lives in authority-supervised Secton 8 rental housing, was congratulated all around by HANH staff. His ACT is a HANH success story. While there are other resident-owned businesses in town, ACT is the only one in construction. Watley had been in the construction business before moving to Westville Manor. There he became a leader in the tenant council.The opportunities presented by all the redevelopment HANH has undertaken at West Rock and other sites motivated him to polish up his building skills.
“It wasn’t easy,” he said. “I got a partner who helped me get the capital together and helped mentor me.” His small firm has two employees. “I’ve got to say, though, that HANH has really been good to its tenants.”
On the way out, in the elevator, Solomon acknowledged Watley’s complimentary words. “But your names are so close, AVT, ACT. Maybe you should consider changing yours.”
"Yul Logs" hehehe