In Dillon Stadium Debacle, Insurance Issue May Hurt City’s Chance At Recouping Money

March 30--The messy collapse of the plan to rebuild Dillon Stadium may get messier still, with lawyers for the city of Hartford exploring the question of whether the soccer field's developers held a valid liability insurance policy.

After the stadium deal collapsed in the fall, Hartford officials demanded that developer Premier Sports Management Group return more than $700,000 paid by the city for work that was never done. City lawyers gave Premier 14 days to respond, after which, they wrote, the city would pursue a claim against Premier's insurance carrier, Providence Mutual Fire Insurance Co. -- although it's an open question whether the city could prove it suffered a covered loss.

But records obtained by The Courant indicate there may have been no policy in place with Providence Mutual. Hartford hired an outside law firm to pursue a claim against Premier, and bills submitted by the firm show thousands in legal fees devoted to issues surrounding the insurance policy. A January notation indicates a lawyer spent time reviewing a "letter from Providence Mutual re no insurance policy ever issued."

Hartford officials have indicated they plan to file suit against one or more defendants to attempt to recover money paid to Premier Sports. Hartford Corporation Counsel Howard Rifkin declined comment on the insurance question, saying he could not discuss potential litigation.

A certificate of liability insurance provided by Premier to the city and dated Sept. 19, 2014, indicates a policy with Providence Mutual that was valid through Sept. 19, 2015, and covered both the city and Premier for at least $1 million in general liability. But within days of being hired, Hartford's outside law firm was exploring questions about the policy, with a discussion of retaining an expert witness regarding the "standard of care as to providing Certificates of Insurance," the billing records show. In December and January, lawyers spent more than 20 hours working to resolve questions about the insurance policy.

The insurance certificate was issued by Bruen Deldin DiDio, an insurance agency in Rocky Hill that writes policies for Providence Mutual. A lawyer for the company declined comment.

Hartford is seeking the return of $700,000 paid to Premier Sports to cover the invoices of a subcontractor, Big Span Structures LLC, which manufactures stadium roofs. Rick Laxton, president of Big Span, confirmed that those invoices were sent to Premier. But he said he was surprised they were submitted to the city for payment, saying they were intended only as down payments due from Premier if the developer selected one of Big Span's designs, which never happened. Laxton said his company never received any money from those invoices.

Officials with Premier have not said what happened to the money. But The Courant has reported that in the months before the soccer deal fell apart, hundreds of thousands of dollars was transferred from Premier's bank accounts and deposited with the stadium's developers or companies they control, leaving Premier with less than $150,000 in cash -- far less than Hartford is seeking to recoup. But the city may have other legal avenues to pursue the money it believes it is owed.

The city's outside law firm, O'Sullivan, McCormack Jensen & Bliss, is charging $200 and $250 an hour. The firm submitted bills for work in December and January totaling $16,895, although it also listed more than 20 hours of work for which it did not charge.

A federal grand jury is investigating the Dillon Stadium debacle, and the city is also required by law to pay the legal bills of current and former city officials who have been contacted by investigators. The city has paid Cowdery & Murphy, a law firm representing former Director of Economic Development Stephen T. Cole, $23,460 for work, most of which was billed at $450 an hour. Michael Georgetti, a lawyer representing Director of Administration Elda Sinani, has also billed the city at a rate of $450 an hour and has been paid $8,019.50.

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