The company picked to fix a Town of Hamburg road filled with potholes is now off the job after Erie County looked into past problems for the construction outfit.
- Alden-based Zoladz Construction was initially selected as the lowest responsible bidder for the $3.9 million reconstruction of Lake Ave.
- A watchdog group alerted county lawmakers to past problems with the company
- The Erie County Dept. of Public Works has now rejected Zoladz's bid after learning the company failed to disclose past safety violations
Lake Avenue in Blasdell is littered with potholes — so bad that the village has put off its Memorial Day parade two years in a row.
"It needs to get done. It is the main street for the Village of Blasdell," said Legislator Lynne Dixon, I-District 9.
County lawmakers discussed the issue Thursday in the legislature's economic development committee meeting. The county is in charge of taking care of the road, and a $3.9 million project to rebuild it was supposed to happen this year but has been delayed.
Zoladz Construction was chosen as the lowest responsible bidder to do the work. However, the Department of Public Works has now changed its decision.
The reason for the rejection is the company failed to comply with local law in the bidding process by not listing several serious safety violations surrounding the death of an employee on the job.
"The questionnaire is clear on what should and shouldn't be included in it. It's unfortunate that company would essentially not be honest in this questionnaire," said Jonathan Rivera, special assistant to the commissioner in the Dept. of Public Works.
A Hamburg-based watchdog group called the New York Foundation for Fair Contracting alerted legislators to issues with Zoladz, including a settlement with the U.S. Dept. of Justice for an alleged scheme to get contracts by posing as a disabled-veteran run business through a shell company.
That settlement was not a part of the decision to take Lake Avenue project away from Zoladz.
"We believe this is a win for taxpayers, for responsible contractors, and we are appreciative that the county is enforcing its statute because without enforcement, laws are just words on paper," said Matt Kent, analyst with the New York Foundation for Fair Contracting.
Zoladz Construction was initially expected to be at Thursday's meeting with lawmakers, but did not attend after the DPW rejected the bid. The company met with county officials last week.
"I still have questions for them that I think will help clean up our process long-term, and I would've liked to have gotten some answers from them," Dixon said.
County officials say they're preparing for the possibility of Zoladz taking legal action against the county. The company is already working on another county project in Lackawanna and that's expected to continue. However, Zoladz won't be allowed to take on any future work for the county for six months.
In a statement released May 30, Zoladz criticizes the Foundation for Fair Contracting, saying members have “close ties to the International Union of Operating Engineers Local 17” and that the foundation “appears to be funded, at least in part, by union-employer contributions from collective-bargaining agreements. It is clear that, even without the ‘Foundation’s’ previous history with Zoladz… it is a motivated competitor of open-shop Zoladz.”
The company “disagrees strongly with the county’s sudden reversal, coming as it does in the wake of governmental pressure from competitors,” the statement continues. “While we certainly agree with DPW that the settlement at issue in this matter does not result in a negative finding, we vigorously dispute the legal and factual reasons DWP cited as a basis for finding Zoladz’ bid incomplete and subject to rejection.”
Zoladz said it is requesting a hearing in the hopes of regaining the contract.
The Lake Avenue project will now go to the next-lowest bidder, Occhino Corp. The legislature could approve it next week, and DPW officials say they want the work to fix the road to start quickly.
_(1))
