DRPA official: Judge overstepped in ruling

CAMDEN - The Delaware River Port Authority's top administrator strongly disagrees with a scathing federal court ruling overturning a $17.9 million contract award for bridge painting, calling it "shocking" and accusing the judge of overstepping his authority and using inflammatory language.

DRPA CEO John Hanson said the authority will appeal the ruling, which harshly criticized its procedures for reviewing construction bids.

"We have filed a notice of intent to appeal with the U.S. Third Circuit Court of Appeals and we believe we will be successful," Hanson said in an interview Wednesday.

"I also think the judge far overstepped his bounds by substituting his opinion for the results of our procurement process."

READ THE HARSH  FEDERAL COURT RULING 

Hanson said he was surprised by the tenor of the September ruling and by some of the imagery the judge used. "Quite frankly, it doesn't seem to me to be the type of language you would expect to encounter in a judicial decision," he said.

The ruling by U.S. District Court Judge Noel Hillman involved a dispute between the DRPA and Alpha Painting and Construction Co. of Baltimore, Maryland. Alpha lost a $17.9 million contract for the second phase of a three-part project to paint the Commodore Barry Bridge between Logan in Gloucester County and Chester, Pennsylvania. Corcon, Inc. of Ohio was awarded the contract even though Alpha's bid was $10,200 lower.

In rejecting the DRPA decision and ordering the contract to be awarded to Alpha, Hillman described the bistate authority process for reviewing bids and awarding contracts as "deeply and dramatically flawed" and "in need of substantial reform."

He also said the bid review was accomplished by unknown decision-makers with "a complete lack of transparency," blasting DRPA bidding procedures as "Kafka-esque" and outdated and its assessment of workplace safety issues "superficial, "irrelevant" and "spurious."

Hanson said those workplace safety issues were paramount in the decision to reject the bid by Alpha because the company did not submit an Occupational Safety and Health Administration report and a second document about worker compensation complaints as required in the bidding specifications.

"We even gave them a chance to submit those documents, but they never did," he added, "And if we had awarded it to Alpha, Corcon likely would have been able to object to the award and file a lawsuit."

He said those documents were required in order to ensure the highest degree of safety for the public that uses the bridges, DRPA employees who check on the projects and contractor employees who do the work.

Corcon and Alpha representatives could not be reached for comment Wednesday.

Corcon is presently painting the authority's Walt Whitman Bridge and also won the first contract for the Commodore Barry Bridge. In addition, the authority also has collaborated with Corcon on a video of the Commodore Barry Project that may be broadcast on the Internet or television.

Hillman said the video could suggest preferential treatment for Corcon, though he acknowledged a conclusion would be "speculative."

Hanson said the review process the judge criticized was, in fact, recently reformed to keep potential politics and favoritism out of the process by having only professional administrative personnel from integral departments review bids and make a recommendation to a subcommittee of the authority board. That committee then forwards its recommendation to the full board for a final vote.

He also said contract discussions and recommendations by DRPA staff are initially reached in private because they are protected from public disclosure but are backed by recommendation documentation given to the authority and are disclosed when a recommendation is made for board action.

"There was also some suggestion by the judge that our people were working with the incumbent contractor Corcon, but the people who made the decision are administrative personnel who do not work with those contractors, so I am at a loss to explain the judge's interpretation," he added.

Despite his strong disagreement with the overall ruling, Hanson said he has ordered another review of the contract procurement process to see if there are additional steps that might be taken to improve efficiency. The judge also suggested receiving bids electronically rather than via a paper submission, a change Hanson said would be reviewed in conjunction with a new DRPA computer that will be installed in the near future.

"I'm not that smug and self-satisfied person sitting back and saying we have no room for improvement."

Carol Comegno (856) 486-2473; or ccomegno@ganenttnj.com