The State Contracting Standards Board said Friday that the question of potentially disqualifying a developer, who had proposed a mixed-use village at the Mystic Education Center, from bidding on state contracts is now moot, and the board is ending its review without a decision.

The report, however, recommends that state agencies consider a 2004 allegation against Jeffrey Respler in any potential bidding processes he is involved with in the future, and also establish a screening process for developers before a contract is awarded.

The report, from former contracting board Executive Director David L. Guay, said a potential disqualification of Respler, the principal of Respler Homes, is “not ripe for consideration,” because Respler Homes no longer has a lease or sales contract with the state for the Mystic Education Center property, a vacant state-owned property, also called the Mystic Oral School.

State law allows the board to disqualify a contractor for up to five years from bidding on state contracts if they are convicted or plead guilty to embezzlement, theft, forgery, bribery, falsification or destruction of records, receiving stolen property, or “any other offense indicating a lack of business integrity or business honesty.” But that may not take place until after a contract is awarded.

The board does not have jurisdiction over municipal contracts.

Respler, as the owner of a plumbing company, had pleaded guilty in 2004 in New York to four counts of fifth-degree conspiracy. Guay had said in 2021 that the charges could possibly disqualify Respler as a state contractor, but that would be determined after following a process outlined in state law. He also said that the contracting board only had jurisdiction over the lease of the property, not the sale that was proposed at the time.

After nine residents made complaints to the board, the board formed a three-member panel in the fall of 2021 to review the matter and then directed Guay to also review the issue, according to the report.

The report adopted Friday first recommends dissolving the panel. Second, it recommends that the state implement a screening process for potential state contractors.

Jonathan M. Longman, the board’s chief procurement officer, said the recommendation from the report and state agencies is that agencies should pre-screen a contractor or supplier before entering into a contract, using the same criteria as outlined in state law.

Guay wrote that if this is not in place, “the Board may be left to make such a decision after an award has been made by a state contracting agency. This after-the-fact review is not sufficient in protecting the public and the taxpayers of Connecticut.”

Respler could not immediately be reached for comment on Friday.

The state ended its contract in October 2022 to sell the state-owned property in Groton to Respler, and the town then ended its development agreement with Respler.

The state Department of Administrative Services said Friday the report speaks for itself and did not have a comment. The state Office of Policy and Management and the state Department of Economic and Community Development also did not have a comment.

The contracting standards board said it will send a copy of the report to the Town of Groton.

Groton Town Manager John Burt said Friday the importance of the report’s second recommendation can’t be overstated.

“When selecting a contractor, whether it’s the state or a local municipality, you position yourself much better by learning of any potential issues with the contractor prior to entering into a contract, versus learning of it later,” Burt said.

k.drelich@theday.com