DRACUT — A Superior Court judge has entered a final judgment by consent resolving the town’s recent procurement violations, bringing to a close a months-long attorney general inquiry into the town’s public bidding procedures.
Attorney General Maura Healey announced in Feburary that its review identified 17 violations of procurement or prevailing wage laws in Dracut between 2017 and 2019, with the flagged projects valued at $9 million.
Over the two-year period, the town 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 high-dollar projects.
Under the terms of the judgment, entered in Suffolk Superior Court by Justice Beverly Cannone on March 4, the town must finalize the hiring of a full-time procurement compliance officer by Aug. 1 and notify Healey’s office of the hire by Aug. 15. The town is required to send all department heads and other personnel with contracting duties to State Office of the Inspector General procurement training by the end of 2020.
Beginning on April 1, the town must also submit quarterly reports to the AG’s Fair Labor Division Bid Unit summarizing all public bidding construction contracts, including the selected contractor, dollar amount of the project, unsuccessful bidders, a description of the bases for the contract awards, any unusual issues in the procurement and any change orders in the contract. This quarterly reporting must continue until April 30, 2022.
Through that date, Healey’s office will periodically audit Dracut public construction projects, according to the judgment.
In relation to the prevailing wage violations, in which Dracut failed to request or incorporate the prevailing wage rate schedule from the state Department of Labor Standards into bid documents and contracts, the town will also be required to submit quarterly reports on its compliance with prevailing wage laws.
The settlement does not require any fine or financial penalty in connection with the violations, according to the document. Any breach of the terms of the judgment must be resolved within 10 business days of the violation, and failure to comply could result in Dracut being found in contempt of court.
Interim Town Manager Ann Vandal said last month that the town has already begun the process of hiring a procurement officer.
“At this point, hopefully it’s all behind us, and we’re just going to work under the guidelines that were given to us by the attorney general and continue to do things correctly,” Selectmen Chairman Jesse Forcier said Tuesday morning. ” … We’ve been given certain orders to do things correctly and we’re going to have the oversight of the Attorney General’s Office, so I think certainly we’re going to be in a real good position moving forward.”
The violations listed in the judgement happened during the tail-end of former Town Manager Jim Duggan’s tenure, which ended abruptly last October when Forcier told him he no longer had majority support on the Board of Selectmen.
Duggan since has landed a $150,000 state job in the Office of Consumer Affairs and Business Regulation.
