More Improvements Scheduled
By Barbara Heimlich, Editor
Stratford Crier
Sources: Brian Lockhart, reporter with the Connecticut Post; Lennie Grimaldi
Attorney Barry Knott has filed a $124,863 charge for his and his Stratford-based firm’s services in his first required status report to the state superior court, which ultimately must review it and determine his compensation. Knott was appointed receiver for Success Village in late September by Judge Dale Radcliffe.
Success Village’s budget, which has been a few million dollars in debt, is built around $500 monthly common charges households pay to cover taxes, utilities, repairs and other needs, like Knott’s compensation. Given the state of Success Village’s finances, Knott knows this first invoice will go unpaid until the cooperative’s monetary situation is more stable.
(Success Village Co-Op Receives Relief, September 27, 2024, By Stratford Crier)
In his court report, submitted in late November, Knott outlines how he has so far:
- overseen the return as of November 15th of a functioning heating system,
- stabilized the sometimes undependable hot water,
- been trying to manage ongoing issues, such as faulty pipes,
- engaged new management/maintenance companies,
- hired an auditor to delve into the books,
- tried to wrap up Success Village’s outstanding legal affairs,
- Participated in numerous meetings and media interviews, and other activities.
According to Radcliffe’s order from September, “The receiver shall be entitled to such reasonable fees and costs as determined by the court.”
Knott’s rate is $475 an hour. He said Thursday that when a partner or one of their six full or part-time legal assistants handled some of the work, the charges were lower, but that was rare during October and November.
“I was essentially working on this full time for seven, eight weeks,” Knott continued. “Everything that needed to be decided in the first two months of this required discretion on the part of the receiver, ‘Are we going to do this or not? What’s our policy going forward?’ Decisions had to be made by me.”
Knott insisted that his future tabs will “not be anywhere near this kind of money.”
“All hell was breaking lose at the beginning,” he said Thursday. “Now that we’re going forward on more mundane matters, the bill’s going to be substantially reduced.”
Knott’s is not the only receivership-related charge. He expects to pay area attorneys Thomas Bucci and Benjamin Proto “a few thousand” each, the first for dealing with union matters related to Success Village staffers, the second to help review and address various court cases Knott inherited from the prior board.
Knott has hired the national CBIZ financial company to analyze the cooperative’s fiscal situation and prior spending decisions there. He said CBIZ will receive a $7,500 retainer but the full scope of their work “is going to be a lot more.”
CBIZ Long Island is a premier financial services provider that provides a full range of audit, accounting, tax and consulting services, with specialties in business continuity, international tax, forensic accounting, litigation support, technology, family office and financial advisory services.
Informed of Knott’s nearly $125,000 charge, former cooperative board member Jose Sandoz on Friday noted that, while some residents backed receivership, others had just wanted Bird replaced and to remain self-governed.
“He’s (Knott) doing a lot of work. I understand that. It’s a mess,” Sandoz continued. “If this is what we’ve got to pay, we’ve got to pay this. It is pretty much out of our hands. It takes time,” he said. “And we all knew it was going to be a little expensive.”
Knott has previously claimed he would do his best to find enough efficiencies to offset his costs.
In a late September interview, he said he hoped that anticipated savings, combined with the more than $5.5 million that comes in annually through the existing monthly cooperative charges household’s pay, will “be more than adequate money to pay any ancillary fees associated with the receivership” while also bringing Success Village’s total budget into the black.
“Whether that’s true or not remains to be seen,” Knott had said.
The Ganim and Hoydick administrations provided Success Village a $650,000 loan, all but roughly $100,000 of which was spent on the immediate infrastructure fixes, Knott said.
(Success Village Co-Op Receives Relief, September 27, 2024, By Stratford Crier)
While Knott has tackled the heat and hot water issues, his work is not done. He is also supposed to be looking ahead at more upgrades that are permanent and how to fund them.
“Every day there’s a new problem,” he said. Knott and his team have been working almost non-stop to get everything fixed before the cold weather arrives.
Early November State officials gave the go ahead to reuse a pair of rehabilitated boilers for temporary steam heat at the Success Village housing cooperative until new equipment is installed. The heating system has been down since early May.
“Boilers four and five have now been worked on, reinspected and passed,” Knott said.
Leigh Appleby, spokesperson for the Connecticut Department of Administrative Services, confirmed that. He said the two boilers were test-fired and are good to go “with the exception of some electrical box covers on which work is ongoing.”
Most of the nearly 1,000 units at Success Village now have consistent heat and hot water but resolving neglect from the past continues including active steam leaks impacting distribution of heat.
Here’s an update including connection of temporary and permanent boilers that was sent to the Success Village owners:
Good Afternoon Owners,
This email is being sent to all owners to provide an update on the heating system throughout the property.
Boilers 4 & 5, along with temporary boiler #1 are running throughout each Heating Zone on the following schedule:
Zones 1 & 2 – Start Time: 12:00pm – 4:00 pm; 12:00am – 4:00am
Zones 3 & 4: Start Time: 4:00pm – 8:00pm; 4:00am – 8:00am
NOTE: Due to active steam leaks this schedule may change. An active leak is Zone 1 is currently halting continuous heat to Buildings 1, 3 & 14. We will be scheduling repairs to this line in the coming days.
NOTE: Due to loss of pressure (PSI) in the system, we are unable to run all four (4) zones at the same time. Running all four (4) zones simultaneously would result in a loss of heat to all units.
The second of two (2) temporary boilers is onsite and is currently being connected to the mechanical systems. We expect to have this boiler completely installed by Monday, December 1st, 2024.
The first of two (2) permanent boilers purchased by Success Village is onsite and awaiting hook-up. More details to follow as this project begins.
We understand the inconvenience the community is experiencing and have been working diligently to have these systems upgraded and run daily. We knew that once we opened the boilers and began running steam through the property that we would face some challenges with leaks. There are roughly five (5) active leaks throughout the property affecting the distribution of heat throughout the property. These leaks are being addressed by our contractors and Maintenance Staff on a daily basis. We ask for your patience as we work towards getting all systems up and running.
Sincerely,
Kevin Dzikowski, CAM ( Community Association Manager), CMCA (Certified Manager of Community Associations)
Residents weigh in: Positive feedback on progress being made.
Mark Haynes Yes, I’m glad I still have a home! He stated to the court that his future bills should be much less. It’s still early but he will be going after the predators that Ty brought in to recover as much of our money as possible along with trying to find us grants and funding for a new heating system and he seems like he knows how to move around those circles very well, especially with the added credential of being appointed by and having the confidence of the courts.
Marion Kubica Worth every penny.
Bob Edwards I have warm water, I have not had heat since 11/19. I think it is a little on the high side, but I can live with it.
Morgan Schick I mean how much money was lost embezzled (millions what’s a 100k with direction and solutions to benefit us?) the embezzlement went to nothing to benefit us in Sucess Village. Like my steam leak in 35 that is destroying my entire unit every day. Ty could have fixed this a year ago and didn’t…guess the money was better used for someone’s pockets…insurance money didn’t even make it to repair the burned building lol
