Gov. Maura Healey mentioned the Massachusetts Division of Transportation carried out a “transparent” procurement course of for a serious journey plaza contract regardless of allegations from a shedding bidder that improper communications compromised procedures.
State officers awarded Eire-based Applegreen a deal to handle 18 service plazas, however the firm backed out of the contract earlier this month. Applegreen received the contract after Waltham’s International Companions alleged a key MassDOT official was improperly discussing the take care of officers linked to the Irish enterprise.
Healey mentioned MassDOT “ran a transparent process,” although she didn’t say whether or not the transit company would rebid the service plaza contract or hand it to International Companions, which had the second-place bid.
“My focus is on making sure that we have the very best in terms of quality and service for customers and drivers at those service plazas. It’s a very significant contract. This is a major contract for the state. I want to make sure it’s done right, it’s done well, and that at the end of the day, it delivers the very best product and quality for our residents, for our customers, for our drivers,” Healey instructed reporters after an unrelated occasion Monday morning.
MassDOT’s board of administrators awarded a 35-year lease to Applegreen over the summer season however the firm mentioned that it determined to withdraw after officers didn’t attain “agreement on definitive terms for the redevelopment of 18 motorway service areas in Massachusetts.”
“The open issues have significant implications for the commercial viability of the concession award. These commercial realities have been coupled with costly and continued litigation threats from an opposing bidder that have jeopardized the project’s timeline and financing. In light of these circumstances, Applegreen has terminated ongoing lease discussions,” a spokesperson for the corporate mentioned final week.
Transportation Secretary Monica Tibbits-Nutt, who has drawn calls to resign from conservative teams, beforehand mentioned “additional negotiations were always expected” between MassDOT and Applegreen.
“It is now clear that Applegreen is no longer the right partner to deliver on this project. Our focus is on moving forward to deliver the highest quality service plazas as quickly as possible for the people of Massachusetts,” Tibbits-Nutt mentioned final week.
International Companions has argued that it supplied a greater deal to handle 18 service plazas alongside state highways, together with 11 alongside the Mass Pike. However Applegreen disputed that declare and argued International Companions was selling misrepresentations and inaccuracies.
In a lawsuit filed earlier this month, attorneys for International Companions mentioned the contract’s procurement course of “was fatally compromised” by improper communications and “undisclosed conflicts of interest.”
“At nearly every critical stage of the procurement process, when addenda were issued, when proposers were making their final submissions, when clarifications were sought on financial assumptions, and when committees and the MassDOT board were preparing to deliberate, (Scott) Bosworth, the chair of the Selection Committee, was in private contact with Applegreen’s owner and lobbyists and Suffolk (Construction) executives, including communications directly related to the solicitation process, evaluation, and result,” the lawsuit mentioned.
Bosworth is the chief of transit-oriented improvement and modern supply at MassDOT.
Applegreen beforehand mentioned the lawsuit repeated “a number of misrepresentations and inaccuracies that Global has issued, all of which have previously been debunked by both third parties and the Commonwealth.”
