(a) Except as otherwise limited by sections 32-650 to 32-668, inclusive, the secretary may:

Ask a legal question, get an answer ASAP!
Click here to chat with a lawyer about your rights.

(1) Acquire, by condemnation, gift, purchase, lease, lease-purchase, exchange or otherwise, the real property comprising the Adriaen’s Landing site and the stadium facility site and such other real property determined to be necessary by the secretary for off-site infrastructure improvements related to the development of the Adriaen’s Landing site or the stadium facility site or for temporary use for construction staging or replacement parking during the period of construction as contemplated by the master development plan, including the exchange of real property acquired by the secretary under authority of this chapter for other real property in circumstances where the secretary determines that such exchange will better conform site boundaries to final plans or otherwise facilitate the layout, development or financing of the public and private improvements contemplated by the master development plan;

(2) Select, engage and compensate surveyors, appraisers, engineers, architects and other providers of professional, management, financial or technical services and undertake or arrange for engineering, architectural, environmental, legal, fiscal and economic investigations and studies, surveys, designs, plans, working drawings, specifications, procedures and other activities incidental thereto;

(3) Lease or sublease, as lessor or lessee or sublessor or sublessee, convey, and grant temporary or permanent easements and rights-of-way and enter into access, support, common area maintenance and similar agreements with respect to, any real property in connection with the overall project and the on-site related private development, including leases or subleases, as lessor or lessee or sublessor or sublessee, of off-site real property in connection with site acquisition arrangements, on terms to be determined by the secretary;

(4) Enter into agreements, pursuant to which the state may be obligated, among other things, to (A) acquire or provide the stadium facility site, or all or any portion of the Adriaen’s Landing site, (B) provide bond proceeds or other state moneys with which to pay project costs, and (C) plan, undertake, perform or otherwise provide for the site preparation, the implementation of the infrastructure improvements and the development of the overall project, and, upon completion or at such other time determined by the secretary and the authority, transfer to the authority ownership of, and any other rights and obligations of the secretary with respect to the related parking facilities;

(5) Plan, design, develop, construct, finish, furnish, equip, replace, alter, restore, reconstruct, improve or enlarge and enhance the overall project and engage in other activities incidental thereto, including the coordination of public and private parking facilities, and, subject to section 32-656, enter into such construction, development, project management, construction management, design-build or other types of contracts or arrangements with respect to the overall project and, subject to the proper allocation of costs, all or any portion of the on-site related private development including provisions with respect to incentive fees for timely completion of improvements at or under budget and such requirements with respect to GMP, adherence to the project schedule, assumption of force majeure and completion risk, surety and performance bonding, insurance, letters of credit and financial guarantees and other assurances of performance and completion as the secretary determines to be appropriate in order to assure adherence to the project budget or may otherwise deem prudent, expedient and in the best interests of the state, provided that the development or project management agreement with the project manager shall require that construction contracts for all major elements of the overall project for which the project manager is responsible be awarded on a GMP basis at prices consistent with the project budget unless the Secretary determines that a waiver of the GMP requirement is in the best interest of the state;

(6) License or manage any retail or commercial areas within the stadium facility and engage in other activities incidental thereto;

(7) Undertake, perform or otherwise provide for stadium facility operations, establish and carry out booking and scheduling policies, marketing and promotional programs and box office and ticketing operations, fix rental, usage, license, event-related and parking fees and charges, enter into lease, license or other agreements with respect to university and other events at the stadium facility and related uses, which shall give priority in scheduling to university home football games and which may give priority in scheduling to other university-sponsored events, enter into management contracts with respect to the overall management and operation of the stadium facility and stadium parking, and enter into other agreements with respect to stadium facility operations including, but not limited to, event leases, licenses or similar arrangements, the sale of naming rights, ticketing, advertising, media, broadcast, concessions, merchandising, marketing, facility maintenance, common area maintenance, safety, security, utility, service, supply and similar contracts, easements and rights-of-way for stadium facility access, and lease, license, rental or other use agreements for stadium parking, including the parking license agreement with United Technologies Corporation contemplated by section 32-650, and arrangements for off-site parking and shuttle service, sufficient to satisfy projected peak stadium facility parking demand;

(8) Coordinate the overall project and stadium facility operations with other departments or agencies of the state, any municipality, political subdivision, quasi-public agency, public authority or other public body including, but not limited to, the university, the Metropolitan District Commission and the authority, each of which, notwithstanding any provision of the general statutes, may enter into a written agreement with the secretary and, if necessary, any private party respecting the coordination, funding, performance and completion of such work and activities;

(9) Coordinate the overall project with any developer, private investor, general contractor, construction manager or other participant with respect to all or any part of the on-site related private development, enter into such agreements with such developers, private investors, general contractors, construction managers or other participants as may be necessary or appropriate to facilitate the coordinated development of the overall project and the on-site related private development, including with respect to site assembly, site preparation, common area maintenance and security and similar arrangements, or to secure private investment commitments for related private development, including agreements with respect to the sequence and schedule of public and private investment in the overall project and the on-site related private development;

(10) Arrange for, participate in, pay for or contribute to and procure directly or through the authority or a private entity or private entities, such policy or policies of insurance with respect to the overall project and stadium facility operations as the secretary shall determine is appropriate, necessary or desirable, including, but not limited to an owner-controlled insurance program or an insurance program consolidated in such manner as the secretary, the authority and such private entity and entities determine is appropriate with respect to general liability, environmental liability, professional liability, casualty, property, title, business interruption, business risk, force majeure, completion and other insurable risks including extra expense or other insurance coverages associated with and available for such risks in connection therewith, including in lieu of any of the foregoing such financial guarantees as may be available for such risks. The costs of any such insurance program or financial guarantees allocable to any aspect of the overall project are confirmed as within the meaning of project costs;

(11) Make and execute any other contracts and all other instruments necessary or convenient or desirable for the exercise of the powers and functions of the state and coordinate, delegate, implement and complete any or all of the overall project;

(12) Delegate or assign to the authority or any other agency, department or public instrumentality of the state, including any quasi-public agency, such rights, interests, activities, responsibilities and obligations of the secretary as, in the opinion of the secretary, are appropriate, necessary or desirable in order to effectuate the overall project or to provide for stadium facility operations;

(13) Accept gifts, grants of funds, property or services for the overall project, stadium facility operations or any aspect thereof from any source, public or private, and comply, subject to the provisions of sections 32-650 to 32-668, inclusive, with the terms and conditions of such gift or grant, provided nothing in sections 32-650 to 32-668, inclusive, shall be construed to authorize the expenditure for project costs of the overall project of other state funds not authorized, appropriated or otherwise designated for such purpose pursuant to sections 32-650 to 32-668, inclusive, or otherwise identified for such purpose in the master development plan as filed with the clerks of the Senate and the House of Representatives on March 3, 2000, and further provided nothing in said sections 32-650 to 32-668, inclusive, shall be construed to authorize the expenditure for project costs of the stadium facility project of any state funds other than those authorized under section 32-652;

(14) Pay or reimburse the Office of Policy and Management, the authority, the university and other affected state agencies and political subdivisions of the state and any third parties incurring such costs at the request or with the approval of the state as certified by the secretary, for project costs of the overall project including, without limitation, preliminary costs arising prior to July 1, 1999, or costs under subsection (c) of section 32-605 or sections 32-654, 32-654a, 32-655a, 32-655b and 32-666a; and

(15) Do any and all other things necessary or convenient to carry out the purposes of and exercise the powers expressly granted pursuant to the secretary under sections 32-650 to 32-668, inclusive.

(b) The secretary, through the chief elected official of the town of East Hartford, shall establish an ongoing process for community input to the secretary and the stadium facility manager as to matters of local concern relating to the operation of the stadium facility. Such process shall include the establishment of a local advisory committee for the purpose of identifying, discussing and formulating recommendations with respect to ongoing relations between the stadium facility and the town of East Hartford. Such advisory committee shall be chaired by the chief elected official of the town of East Hartford and shall include two residents of the town of East Hartford living in the vicinity of the stadium facility and representatives of the stadium facility manager, the party furnishing the stadium facility site, the police department and the fire department of the town of East Hartford, the Office of Policy and Management and the university. Such advisory committee shall meet as needed as determined by the chief elected official of the town of East Hartford. Members of such advisory committee shall serve without compensation. The agreement with the stadium facility manager shall include such limitations on types of events and hours of operation at the stadium facility as the secretary shall determine to be reasonable and appropriate in light of the public purposes of the stadium facility and the impact of stadium operations on neighboring areas in the town of East Hartford. The secretary shall enter into an agreement with the town of East Hartford and any other affected town providing for the reimbursement of the reasonably determined incremental costs to such towns of additional public safety personnel required prior to, during and following events at the stadium facility as a result of expected crowds, traffic and other event-related activities. Such costs may be allocated by agreement between the secretary and the university and other event sponsors.

(c) The secretary shall designate a stadium facility operations contract compliance officer from the Office of Policy and Management to monitor compliance of the stadium facility operations with the provisions of state law applicable to such operations, including, but not limited to, subsection (c) of section 32-605 and sections 32-650 to 32-668, inclusive, and with applicable requirements of contracts entered into by the secretary, relating to set-asides for small contractors and minority business enterprises and required efforts to hire available and qualified members of minorities, as defined in section 32-9n, and available and qualified residents of the town of East Hartford and the city of Hartford for jobs in such operations. Such officer shall file, each year during the period of stadium facility operations, a written report with the secretary as to findings and recommendations regarding such compliance.