BRIDGEPORT — The head of the aged and indebted Success Village cooperative resident-owned apartment complex straddling the Stratford border said Friday the 900-plus units will have hot water back early next week.

"My goal was to get this done by Mother's Day," said Tyreke Bird, president of the co-op's board. "Definitely by Monday."

Bird said a temporary boiler unit and the related equipment had arrived and would be installed over the weekend to replace the one that city and state officials ordered shut off earlier this week because they said it posed a hazard.

Meanwhile, according to a spokesperson for state Attorney General William Tong, that office is now also eyeing what has become a ballooning crisis. While residents at Success Village, built in the 1940s on 52 acres, pay fees totaling around $500,000 per month, key infrastructure has been allowed to deteriorate. On top of that, the cooperative, according to the city, owes over $1 million in back property taxes and over $400,000 in sewer system use fees.

"We have heard from a number of people and are greatly concerned about the conditions at Success Village and serious allegations of mismanagement by the present co-op leadership," Tong's spokesperson said in a statement. "We are actively engaged with local and state leaders and are exploring every possible option to assist." 

Byrd took office in May, 2022. He blames the financial and equipment woes on predecessors and some board members who he says have been more interested in mounting a "witch hunt" against him and "sabotaging" his work instead of collaborating to clean up all of the issues.

“How dare anyone point the finger and say this is mismanagement," he said.

Bridgeport City Council President Aidee Nieves who, with colleagues including Jazmarie Melendez, Maria Pereira and Maria Valle, has been trying to get a handle on the situation and help. She said it is time for Tong, the state's housing department or a superior court judge to launch "a real investigation and forensic audit" and get things straightened out at Success Village.

If in the extreme case the complex ever becomes unlivable, Nieves said, not only will that be disastrous for all of the residents who have invested there, but it puts over 900 families at risk of losing shelter.

"That will create a housing crisis for us," Nieves said. "There are senior and elderly there with limited incomes. ... They have nowhere to go."

Over the last few years Success Village has earned a troubled reputation among Bridgeport and Stratford officials for the ongoing internal leadership battles Bird referenced, some of which have landed in court, and for equipment failures.

"They seem to have some significant problems that really need to be addressed," said Stratford Mayor Laura Hoydick. "Our fire marshal, public safety and health directors have been involved for a good part of a year."

 In January, for example, over a dozen families were left without heat during below-freezing temperatures. 

At the time Bridgeport Mayor Joe Ganim said the boiler system was past its useful life but Success Village's management had a plan over the following months to address the issue.

Then a week ago the Connecticut Department of Administrative Services and Bridgeport's fire marshal's office ordered the boiler shut down.

"We were alerted by a contractor of the significant deficiencies with the boiler system at Success Village and validated those concerns upon inspection," Leigh Appleby, spokesperson for administrative services, said Wednesday. Appleby said that was in March and that "serious life safety issues with boiler number one" were discovered.

"The City of Bridgeport's fire marshal agreed with these findings, and all boilers have now been shut off," Appleby continued.

Also on Wednesday Ganim aide Thomas Gaudett said of the situation, "The boiler itself was in horrible disrepair (and) the gas line was in such bad shape it was corroded to the point where in certain parts it was as thin as aluminum foil."

In the short term Ganim's and Hoydick's administrations tried to provide assistance. Hoydick worked out arrangements with her town's YMCA for some of residents to take hot showers there during limited hours.

Meanwhile Bridgeport was trying to secure portable trailers with showers, but as of Friday that effort was still up in the air. 

David Reyes, Jr., another aide of Ganim's, said, "Little did we know there's a high demand for these type of trailers." 

Bird on Friday said he did not think the showers will be necessary once the temporary boiler system is up and running next week. He also did not want to be on the hook for Success Village reimbursing Bridgeport for the equipment.

"It would be putting good money after bad," he said. 

But Nieves said given what she has been told of the state of Success Village's infrastructure she is skeptical the hot water problem will be temporarily solved as soon as early next week for everyone living there. It may still be necessary to provide temporary showers or figure out how to transport residents in need to facilities where they can bathe, she said, adding neighborhood schools' locker rooms were considered but ruled out because of how often students use them.

"So this is not an easy fix," Nieves said.

Bridgeport officials are also worried that, although it is only May, a permanent hot-water system will not be in place at Success Village in time for next winter.

Bird said before the current problem he had already been working on a project to replace that infrastructure at a cost of around $30 million. He acknowledged there is a question of where all of the funding will come from and he was looking to the city to assist in a grant application.

“I believe the project will start within the next month (to be completed) at the end of the fall, early winter," Bird said.