State, Citing Fraud, Decertifies High School Contractor

By CHRISTOPHER KAZARIAN
The state officially decertified TLT Construction Corporation, the general contractor for the Falmouth High School renovation, this week, a ruling that means the firm cannot bid on any public building projects for the next 18 months.
The decision was made Wednesday, when the Massachusetts Division of Capital Asset Management, or DCAM, voted to decertify the firm for allegedly committing fraud when bidding on various projects, including the construction of the Hyannis Youth and Community Center last year, as well as renovations for the Lynn Housing Authority at a senior housing facility in Caggiano Plaza.
“DCAM’s review and investigation of TLT’s bidding practices reveal that TLT engaged in a pattern of repeatedly providing misleading and ambiguous information or simply omitting information in submissions to awarding authorities on a regular basis,” Kevin Flanigan, spokesman for DCAM, said.
The investigation into TLT stemmed from a November ruling the state Attorney General’s Office made, in which it alleged that TLT committed fraud by failing to disclose a complete list of lawsuits when it bid on the Hyannis project. In that decision, the attorney general noted that TLT listed only two specific lawsuits when, in fact, it had 33 cases that were pending or had concluded adversely against it over the past five years.
TLT has appealed that ruling in Suffolk Superior Court, while also filing a motion to prevent DCAM’s decision to decertify it. That motion was filed in July shortly after DCAM notified the construction firm of its intentions. To his knowledge, Mr. Flanigan said, no decision has been made in Superior Court.
Mr. Flanigan said the decertification process included a thorough independent review of the attorney general’s finding. “One conclusion we reached is that we agree with the attorney general’s finding in that matter,” he said.
In addition, he said his agency discovered that the state Department of Housing and Community Development had conducted a review of bid documents TLT submitted for the Lynn Housing Authority project, finding a number of instances where the construction firm provided false or misleading information. In some cases, he said, information was simply omitted by TLT.
In the Lynn bid, he said, TLT listed several projects that were on schedule, including Falmouth High School, when, in fact, they were behind schedule. Also on that list, he said, was Reading Memorial High School and Wachusett Regional High School in Holden, which both experienced similar delays, and have resulted in litigation between those towns and TLT.
With regard to Reading, Mr. Flanigan said, TLT failed to disclose legal action, in its bid to the Lynn Housing Authority, that Reading officials had filed against it on its high school project.
Finally, Mr. Flanigan said TLT also failed to disclose an incomplete list of punch list items it had on specific projects.
Again, he said, DCAM concurred with the findings of the Department of Housing and Community Development in its investigation of TLT’s bid documents.
Mr. Flanigan said that TLT’s multiple actions of fraud are “ misleading to public awarding authorities and has the effect of portraying TLT in a better light which has resulted in an unfair advantage over other bidders in such cases.”
As part of its decision, Mr. Flanigan said, DCAM met with TLT officials, who provided information to support their position.
DCAM sent a letter to TLT on Wednesday, but the letter was not available to The Enterprise.
Its decision, Mr. Flanigan said, may allow an awarding authority to rescind or void an ongoing project. Whether this happens in Falmouth is unclear.
As of yesterday afternoon, Falmouth Town Counsel Frank K. Duffy Jr. said he had yet to review DCAM’s final ruling. Prior to its decision, he said, town officials were under the assumption that decertification would bar TLT from bidding on future contracts but that it “might not affect existing contracts. We have to wait and see what DCAM did before we make a final decision.”
Any decision by the town, he said, would be made by Falmouth Town Manager Robert L. Whritenour Jr., selectmen, and members of the Falmouth High School Building Committee in consultation with architect DiNisco Design Partnership of Boston and project manager Gilbane of Needham.
TLT’s decertification comes as it is finishing up the first phase of the project. TLT officials had expected to finish that work today, but building committee member John K. Scanlan said there are still some lingering issues that remain, including the storefront of the cafeteria in House A and B.
He expected that this portion of the project will be ready for freshman orientation next Thursday. Once phase one is complete, he said, TLT will begin demolition and asbestos abatement in Houses B and C.
That work will be done as the town begins mediation with TLT to solve disputes with overpayments and change orders, while attempting to negotiate a contract for the remainder of the project.
“Mediation sometimes could last several days or could end in a day. If you are not making headway, it ends very quickly,” he said. “The key is the mediator.” While he said the town’s disputes with TLT can be resolved, he admitted “it is going to be a challenge because of the multitude of issues.”
And if mediation does not work? Although unsure of the specifics of TLT’s contract, Mr. Scanlan said, that possibility can lead typically to arbitration or court action.