Groton — When the state told Groton in 2020 to use one of the state’s qualified contractors for demolition and hazardous material abatement at the two new elementary school sites, the town pushed back to instead use the companies it had chosen through a competitive bidding process, the town’s public works director says.

Irving Goldblum, president of Stamford Wrecking Co., which bid on the two Groton elementary school projects, alleged in April 2020 that the state Office of Policy and Management "intervened and potentially directed Groton to award the work to a contractor on the Emergency Bid List — not the low bidder for the worked based on the invitation to bidders for the Project," according to the document obtained by The Day under a Freedom of Information Act request.

News of the complaint made by Goldblum, and others related to projects in other municipalities, first was reported by The Connecticut Mirror.

Konstantinos Diamantis, formerly both the deputy secretary of the Office of Policy and Management and head of the Office of School Construction Grants and Review, told the CT Mirror that the list was to "help municipalities save money, not interfere in competitive bidding."

A federal grand jury issued a subpoena in October 2021 for documents, from January 2018 to the present, associated with Diamantis and concerning “the planning, bidding, awarding, and implementation” of school construction projects and hazardous materials abatement projects, and the State Pier redevelopment project in New London, according to the document obtained by The Day under a previous FOIA request.

Groton Director of Public Works Greg Hanover told The Day that two years ago Groton’s construction manager, O&G Industries, had bid out contracts for demolition and hazardous material removal for the elementary school projects.

After Groton received the low bids in March 2020, the state Office of School Construction Grants and Review informed Groton that it was supposed to use one of the state-qualified contractors, he said. The office at the time was under OPM but now is under the state Department of Administrative Services.

Hanover said he was not aware that the state was directing the town to use any one particular contractor as long as it was one on the approved list.

Since Groton already had received the low bids, it was not in favor of going that route, so its consultant, Arcadis, told the state that this was not going to work, Hanover said. Groton then received permission to use the lowest bidders for each site: Stamford Wrecking Co. for the former West Side Middle School — now Thames River Magnet School — and American Environmental Inc. of Holyoke, Mass., for the former Cutler Middle School — now Mystic River Magnet School.

“I think, in the end, we prevailed and got the project done under budget,” Hanover said. “Usually, using the lowest bidder is the best way to go.”

Stamford Wrecking's bid, with accepted alternates, for the West Side site was $1,997,300, while American Environmental Inc.'s was $1,453,000 for the Cutler site, according to project documents obtained by The Day under a FOIA request.

Two of the companies on the state contractor list — AAIS and Bestech — were among the companies that provided bids, but neither was the lowest bidder on either project, John Butkus, a senior program manager for Arcadis, wrote in an April 2020 email obtained through the FOIA request. The email included a series of questions to the Office of School Construction Grants and Review regarding the "new OSCGR direction regarding abatement and demo." In an earlier email that month, he said a rule has "come down from OSCGR that we throw out the bids and go (Time and Materials) with one of the state contract holders."

For West Side, with accepted alternates, Bestech's bid was $2,529,100, and AAIS's was $3,460,640, according to documents. For Cutler, with accepted alternates, Bestech's bid was $1,937,500 and AAIS's was $2,337,495.

"It is not and should not be common practice to require or pressure municipalities to use specific contractors in order to access state funding," a spokesperson for DAS said in a statement Thursday. "Our competitive bidding process, and collaboration with municipal leadership are key values in this administration. Since DAS has re-inherited the administration of the school construction grant program, DAS has adhered to all policies, laws, and ethical guidelines while ensuring complete transparency."

Groton voters in 2019 approved the $184.5 million school construction project — the Groton 2020 plan — to build a new consolidated middle school next to Robert E. Fitch High School and two new elementary schools on the sites of the former middle schools, determined to be the most cost-efficient option. The new Groton Middle School opened in September 2020, and the two new themed magnet elementary schools opened in September 2021.

Rick Norris, who served as project manager for the town, had said last month that the overall cost for the three schools was about $15 million under budget, though the numbers are not yet final. That does not mean the town has a pot of extra money but spent less than anticipated, he explained.

Stamford Wrecking, American Environmental Inc., Arcadis, O&G Industries, Bestech, AAIS and the state OPM did not immediately provide a comment to The Day.

k.drelich@theday.com