DRACUT — A complaint filed in Suffolk Superior Court by the state Attorney General’s Office reveals additional details about recent procurement violations in Dracut, showing that the bidding process was not completed correctly for some of the town’s most expensive recent projects.
The office announced in Feburary that a monthslong review of procurement practices in Dracut identified 17 violations of procurement or prevailing wage laws between 2017 and 2019, with the flagged projects valued at $9 million. Over the two-year period, Dracut sometimes failed to solicit multiple quotes for projects, properly advertise contracting opportunities, award contracts to the lowest eligible bidder and require that contractors be state-certified for certain projects.
[Click here to view the complaint filed by the Attorney General’s Office]
Massachusetts General Laws Chapters 149 and 30B lay out requirements for different types of publicly funded construction projects depending on the cost and scope of the services provided. Contracts estimated to cost more than $10,000 must be advertised in the Central Register — the secretary of state’s weekly publication containing notices of contracting opportunities for capital facility projects — as well as COMMBUYS, a web platform listing open-bid opportunities.
Contracts expected to cost more than $50,000 are subject to more stringent requirements. Such projects must be advertised in a newspaper as well as the Central Register and COMMBUYS, and procured through a sealed bidding process. Those worth more than $150,000 must also be awarded to a contractor certified by the Division of Capital Asset Management and Maintenance.
“These Massachusetts statutes establish a public bidding process that promotes, among other goals, open and honest competition for publicly-funded construction,” the complaint filed by the Attorney General’s Office reads.
Between 2017 and 2019, nine Dracut projects were not advertised in any of the publications required under state law, according to the complaint, the largest among them the demolition of Beaver Brook Farm, valued at $74,470, improvements to the Beaver Brook Trail, valued at $35,300, and the construction of a security fence at the police station, worth $34,521. Those contracts were put out to bid in June 2019, November 2019 and December 2017, respectively, the complaint shows.
In six other instances, Dracut failed to advertise projects in one or more of the required publications, according to the document. For example, contracts to build a new fire station, complete renovations at Veterans Memorial Park and construct new athletic fields were not advertised in COMMBUYS. Those projects are valued at $6.4 million, $1.45 million and $384,000, respectively.
The fire station project was put out to bid multiple times after initial responses came in over budget, and a contractor was selected for the job in December. The complaint cites only the June 2019 request for proposals and does not reference subsequent rounds of bidding.
The complaint also states that at “various times” between January 2018 and November 2019, the town failed to award contracts valued over $150,000 to contractors certified by DCAMM and to award contracts to the lowest “responsible and eligible” bidders. The document does not specify to which projects those concerns were related.
In addition, the review found that the town did not request the prevailing wage rate schedule from the state Department of Labor Standards prior to putting several projects out to bid, and failed to include the rate schedule in bid documents provided to bidders or incorporate the schedule into contracts, according to the complaint. The document lists 15 projects in which this issue was identified, with some flagged for other issues throughout the bidding process as well.
The Board of Selectmen approved a settlement last month requiring Dracut to hire an experienced procurement officer and provide training to staff on procurement and prevailing wage laws, which is awaiting court approval. In response to a request for comment, Interim Town Manager Ann Vandal said in an email that the town has been working closely with the Fair Labor Division Bid Unit, which completed the investigation, to address the procurement issues.
“To that end, (the town) has consented to take certain steps to upgrade its expertise in procurement by hiring a procurement compliance officer, to adopt interim policies to be reviewed once the new compliance officer is on board, and to communicate with the Bid Unit periodically to ensure that the Town continues to comply with the law,” Vandal said. “The Board of Selectmen is pleased with this cooperative effort and expects that these changes will protect the public coffers and best serve the community. ”
Vandal said the town has advertised a job description for a procurement agent and begun the hiring process, and plans to fill the position by July 1. Selectmen Chairman Jesse Forcier was not reachable for comment Friday.
Projects identified in the complaint for procurement and/or prevailing wage violations include:
- Roadway construction work valued at $260,000, put out to bid in July 2017
- Asbestos abatement monitoring services valued at $16,397, put out to bid in August 2017
- Asbestos abatement services valued at $136,588, put out to bid in October 2017
- Installation of fencing at the Dracut Police Department valued at $34,521, put out to bid in December 2017
- Asbestos abatement monitoring services at the old police station on Lakeview Avenue valued at $10,161, put out to bid in January 2019
- Asbestos abatement services at the old police station valued at $125,376, put out to bid in January 2019
- Construction of athletic fields valued at $384,000, put out to bid in March 2019
- Demolition of the old police station valued at $27,000, put out to bid in March 2019
- Upgrades to the Merrimack Avenue Pump Station valued at $98,506, put out to bid in March 2019
- Demolition of Beaver Brook Farm valued at $74,470, put out to bid in June 2019
- Renovations of Veterans Memorial Park valued at $1.45 million, put out to bid in June 2019
- Construction of a new fire station valued at $6.4 million, put out to bid in June 2019
- Beaver Brook Trail improvements valued at $35,300, put out to bid in November 2019
- Asbestos abatement services for 539 Nashua Road — the site of the planned new fire station — valued at $22,298, put out to bid in November 2019
- Demolition services at 539 Nashua Road valued at $15,000, put out to bid in November 2019
