Stonington - The town charter did not require town officials to accept the low bid from Aqua Turf Irrigation for the now closed all-purpose field at the high school.

Last week, Director of Public Works Barbara Mc Krell said that even though the town was not aware that the contractor for the field had abandoned a Weston baseball field project in 2010, that problem alone would not have been enough for the town to not hire the Orange-based firm.

She said that was because state law requires the town to hire the firm submitting the lowest qualified bid and cannot choose the next highest bidder unless it can document a significant number of problems with the firm submitting the low bid.

But state law does not apply to the field project as no state funds were being used. The money for the field was part of the $2.8 million bond approved by residents to upgrade the town's athletic fields.

The town's purchasing ordinance requires the town to award contracts of more than $10,000 to the "lowest responsible bidder."

The charter, however, allows the first selectman to "reject any and all bids, if in their judgement, it is in the best interests of the town to do so."

If the lowest responsible bid is not acceptable, the town must forward the matter to the Board of Finance for a decision.

Board of Finance Chairman Glenn Frishman said his board was never asked to reject Aqua Turf's bid, which was $30,000 less than the next lowest bidder.

If his board had been told about the Weston project, Frishman said he would have urged his fellow board members to award the contract to the next highest bidder.

McKrell and First Selectman Ed Haberek, who signed the contract in June with Aqua Turf, have both said the five references the company provided to the town reported that Aqua Turf had done a good job on their projects.

Aqua Turf's problems in Weston show up at the top of a Google search. Both McKrell and Haberek said they were not aware of the Weston problems.

Since Haberek signed the $194,501 contract with Aqua Turf in June, the company has been accused by Canterbury officials of not completing a soccer field project there.

The town has said the all-purpose field does not meet elevation and grading requirements specified in the contract. This has resulted in an uneven surface that does not meet playing standards. The closure has forced the high school girls' soccer team to move games and practices to other fields.

Recreation Commission Chairman C. Michael Crowley, who is also a member of the Athletic Fields Task Force, acknowledged the town made "the wrong call" on Aqua Turf but pointed out the town had not accepted the project, which has allowed it to withhold payments to Aqua Turf and use the performance bonds to complete the work.

So far the town has paid Aqua Turf $89,412 and has withheld the rest of the payments.

McKrell has said the town is taking steps to repair the new, all-purpose field at no additional cost to taxpayers. This includes informing the company that holds the performance bonds on the project to resolve the problem.

j.wojtas@theday.com

@joewojtas