Fairfield Panel Grills Metro Station Auditors

FAIRFIELD, Conn. — Before approving an auditor for the troubled Fairfield Metro project, Edward Bateson and Fairfield’s Representative Town Meeting grilled officials Tuesday night on the ins and outs of the task.

Bateson and the RTM asked many questions of auditor Joseph Centofanti, First Selectman Michael Tetreau and Board of Finance member Kevin Kiley, but they ultimately signed off on hiring Centofanti and Kostin, Ruffkess and Co. LLC to perform the work. “Before I go forward, I think it’s important that we know where we are,” Bateson (R-3) said, referring to votes in August on whether to spend millions to do the final work on the Fairfield Metro train station.

At the RTM’s meeting last week, Tetreau announced that construction on the town’s third train station was running over budget and would cost $2.4 million to $6.4 million to finish. In response, the Board of Finance ordered Kostin, Ruffkess and Co. to perform an independent audit of the entire project. It also formed a subcommittee of Kiley, Kenneth Brachfeld and Mary LeClerc to oversee the audit.

Before the RTM released the up to $20,000 for the audit, the town’s legislature asked how far the review would go. Bateson and fellow representative Ann Stamler (D-5) asked whether the audit would focus just on the town’s spending or if it would look for wrongdoing on anyone's part. Kiley said the focus was on the financial side of the Metro Center’s construction, but that could change as Centofanti and his staff do their research.

“Our goal was to determine exactly from A to Z, what’s been spent — how, when, why and where,” Kiley said. “And to see where the project went off track.”

A few RTM members, including Kathryn Braun (R-8), David Becker (R-1) and Liz Hoffman (R-8), asked whether Kostin, Ruffkess was the right firm for the job. Hoffman said that because the firm works so closely with the town, it might not provide an unbiased view. “We probably should go to someone outside, so that it’s a clean look at the situation.”

Kiley, however, said the Board of Finance chose the Farmington-based company because it has done most of the town’s financial audits for the last five years. With many members asking for a report by the end of July, Kiley said it was important that the auditors knew the town’s system well enough to find answers quickly.

The RTM eventually approved the audit in a 36-5 vote. Centofanti’s team will have early reports by the end of the month.

Have any questions on the Fairfield Metro train station project? Send them to gcanuel@thedailyfairfield.com or leave them in the comments below. 

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