The state Department of Transportation has awarded a $1 million bridge contract to a Putnam-based contractor that was barred from working on public projects in Massachusetts and is under investigation by the Connecticut Department of Labor.
Complaints from a string of towns in two states have dogged Barr Inc. for the past three years.
Massachusetts regulators revoked the company's certification to do public work in the Bay State after Barr received failing evaluations on millions of dollars worth of work for four towns from 2006 to 2008.
Officials in Killingly, Conn., recently rejected a low bid from Barr on a bridge job, citing problems with two other town projects and the company's track record in Massachusetts.
And the state Department of Labor is investigating charges that Barr violated prevailing-wage laws at one of the previous Killingly projects.
But the DOT, despite Barr's disqualification in a neighboring state, recently accepted the company's low bid on the replacement of the covered pedestrian bridge over the Salmon River in East Hampton and awarded it the $1,083,000 contract last month.
"We sat down internally to evaluate their bid," said DOT spokesman Judd Everhart. "We were aware of the performance issues ... but concluded that they were qualified for this particular project and awarded the contract to them."When the state DOT bids were opened in August, the investigation of Barr in Massachusetts was still going on.
But on Sept. 4, Massachusetts formally decertified the company, meaning that it cannot do public building construction in the Bay State. The company may apply for reinstatement next spring.
"We have noted [the decertification] in their file. Should they be the apparent low bidder on a future Connecticut project, we would once again give them a careful review," Everhart said.
The loss of certification was based on failing evaluations submitted by four towns for which Barr built a public works facility and three libraries. After the Massachusetts investigation began, the company received a fifth failing evaluation in September on another library project, this one in Mattapoisett. Officials in Mattapoisett reported to regulators that the library came in 10 months behind the original completion date and that the project was plagued by safety and maintenance problems.
Barr's president, Robert Darrigan, said that the issues in Massachusetts and Killingly's rejection of its low bid were based on "half-truths and exaggerations" perpetrated by trade unions that do not like his company, which is a nonunion contractor.
Darrigan disputed the complaints outlined in a letter to his company from Bruce Benway, Killingly's town manager, and said he was confident that the company would be exonerated by the Department of Labor investigation. He said that Barr was an experienced company that does quality work.
Governments are generally obligated to accept the low bid from a contractor on public work unless it can be shown that the bidder is not responsible.
Benway told Darrigan in a letter dated Sept. 30 that the town based its rejection of Barr's bid on the company's performance on two other bridge projects in town, and that Massachusetts regulators took "the very serious step" or revoking Barr's certification.
Benway said the action "evidences the lack of confidence that the Massachusetts Division of Capital Asset Management has in Barr's ability to complete public projects in that state."
The town of Killingly, Benway said, remains "seriously concerned" about alleged payroll discrepancies and safety violations on two previous projects. The payroll issue led to the labor department's probe.
Paul Oates, a spokesman for the labor department, said that investigators met with representatives of Barr on Tuesday to discuss the review. He said that a report would be filed in a few days.
Complaints from a string of towns in two states have dogged Barr Inc. for the past three years.
Massachusetts regulators revoked the company's certification to do public work in the Bay State after Barr received failing evaluations on millions of dollars worth of work for four towns from 2006 to 2008.
Officials in Killingly, Conn., recently rejected a low bid from Barr on a bridge job, citing problems with two other town projects and the company's track record in Massachusetts.
And the state Department of Labor is investigating charges that Barr violated prevailing-wage laws at one of the previous Killingly projects.
But the DOT, despite Barr's disqualification in a neighboring state, recently accepted the company's low bid on the replacement of the covered pedestrian bridge over the Salmon River in East Hampton and awarded it the $1,083,000 contract last month.
"We sat down internally to evaluate their bid," said DOT spokesman Judd Everhart. "We were aware of the performance issues ... but concluded that they were qualified for this particular project and awarded the contract to them."When the state DOT bids were opened in August, the investigation of Barr in Massachusetts was still going on.
But on Sept. 4, Massachusetts formally decertified the company, meaning that it cannot do public building construction in the Bay State. The company may apply for reinstatement next spring.
"We have noted [the decertification] in their file. Should they be the apparent low bidder on a future Connecticut project, we would once again give them a careful review," Everhart said.
The loss of certification was based on failing evaluations submitted by four towns for which Barr built a public works facility and three libraries. After the Massachusetts investigation began, the company received a fifth failing evaluation in September on another library project, this one in Mattapoisett. Officials in Mattapoisett reported to regulators that the library came in 10 months behind the original completion date and that the project was plagued by safety and maintenance problems.
Barr's president, Robert Darrigan, said that the issues in Massachusetts and Killingly's rejection of its low bid were based on "half-truths and exaggerations" perpetrated by trade unions that do not like his company, which is a nonunion contractor.
Darrigan disputed the complaints outlined in a letter to his company from Bruce Benway, Killingly's town manager, and said he was confident that the company would be exonerated by the Department of Labor investigation. He said that Barr was an experienced company that does quality work.
Governments are generally obligated to accept the low bid from a contractor on public work unless it can be shown that the bidder is not responsible.
Benway told Darrigan in a letter dated Sept. 30 that the town based its rejection of Barr's bid on the company's performance on two other bridge projects in town, and that Massachusetts regulators took "the very serious step" or revoking Barr's certification.
Benway said the action "evidences the lack of confidence that the Massachusetts Division of Capital Asset Management has in Barr's ability to complete public projects in that state."
The town of Killingly, Benway said, remains "seriously concerned" about alleged payroll discrepancies and safety violations on two previous projects. The payroll issue led to the labor department's probe.
Paul Oates, a spokesman for the labor department, said that investigators met with representatives of Barr on Tuesday to discuss the review. He said that a report would be filed in a few days.
