List Of Exempt Steel Products Issued For 2022

On February 19, 2022, the Pennsylvania Department of General Services (DGS) issued the list of machinery and equipment steel products which are exempt for calendar year 2022 under the PA Steel Products Procurement Act. The list was published in Read more

Recent Commonwealth Court Decision Affirms Core Bidding Principles

A recent decision concerning a bid protest filed on a PennDOT contract re-affirmed core principles of public bidding and bid protests on Commonwealth contracts. In Sidelines Tree Service, LLC v. Department of Transportation, the Commonwealth Court considered an appeal from a Read more

PA Supreme Court Clarifies The Meaning Of "Cost" Under the PA Steel Products Procurement Act

The PA Steel Products Procurement Act was first enacted in 1978. At its core, the Act provides that any steel products used or supplied on a public works project in Pennsylvania must be U.S. steel products. Under the Act, a product Read more

Can A Public Owner Recover Legal Fees From A Bidder Who Loses A Challenge To A Bid Rejection?

Can a public entity include in its bid instructions the right to recover its legal fees from a bidder if the bidder's bid protest lawsuit is unsuccessful? In the course of providing advice recently to a client, I came across Read more

List Of Exempt Steel Products Issued For 2020

On June 27, 2020, the Pennsylvania Department of General Services (DGS) issued the list of machinery and equipment steel products which are exempt for calendar year 2020 under the PA Steel Products Procurement Act.  The list was published in Read more

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Can The City Of Phila. Purchase Police Body Cameras Under An Existing Contract For Tasers?

Can a public entity add-on to an existing contract in order to satisfy a need for a new and different service, supply or equipment?

On March 7, WHYY’s Newsworks reported that that is precisely what the City of Philadelphia plans to do under an existing stun gun contract with Taser International.  According to the Newsworks report, the City intends to spend more than $200,000 under the Taser contract to purchase police body cameras:

City records show that Philadelphia’s Police Department has a $705,361 contract with Taser that is expected to cover hundreds more cameras, the cost of evidence storage and equipment upgrades. It will also pay for stun guns.

Officials confirm, $210,000 of that will pay for hundreds of new body cameras.

Philadelphia had an existing contract with Taser for the stun guns, so it was easy to piggyback on that for the body cameras.

The City’s intent to spend more than $200,000 to purchase police body cameras under the Taser contract, without open, competitive bidding, may violate the public bidding rules set forth in Article VIII, Chapter 2, of the Phila. Home Rule Charter.  When it comes to the purchase of generic items, like body cameras, the bedrock rule for City contracting is sealed, competitive bidding, duly advertised, with the contract being awarded to the lowest responsive, responsible bidder.

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Posted on March 11, 2016 by Christopher I. McCabe, Esq. in City of Phila. Comments Off on Can The City Of Phila. Purchase Police Body Cameras Under An Existing Contract For Tasers?

City Of Phila. Seeks To Implement Reverse Auction Bidding

The City of Philadelphia has issued a Request for Proposals (RFP) to implement a reverse auction bidding procedure for the purchase of certain supplies, equipment, services, and concessions in lieu of ordinary, sealed paper bids.

In a reverse auction bidding, sellers compete with each other, in a dynamic, real time environment, until the lowest price is reached, thereby accruing to the buyer – here the City of Phila. – potential savings that might otherwise not be achieved with traditional, one-time paper bid submissions.

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Posted on March 9, 2016 by Christopher I. McCabe, Esq. in City of Phila., Electronic Bidding Comments Off on City Of Phila. Seeks To Implement Reverse Auction Bidding

DBE Pass-Through Scheme Alleged On Two PennDOT Bridge Projects In Phila.

According to a criminal information filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, still another fraud scheme involving the U.S. Department of Transportation’s disadvantaged business enterprise (DBE) Program has been uncovered on two different federally-funded projects in Philadelphia.

In September 2009, PennDOT awarded a $70.3M contract to a tri-venture consisting of a Philadelphia-based highway contractor, Alpha Painting & Construction Co., Inc., of Baltimore, and Liberty Maintenance, Inc., of Campbell, Ohio, to perform structural steel painting and repairs, and concrete repairs, on the I-95 Girard Point Bridge in Philadelphia. As part of the contract, the tri-venture committed to subcontract $4.7M of work to Markias, a now-defunct certified DBE, to supply materials for use on the the contract.  Alpha and Liberty formed a joint venture and allegedly ordered the needed materials directly from non-DBE suppliers, and allegedly used Markias as a pass-through to give the appearance that the DBE requirements had been satisfied.  PennDOT awarded approximately $3.26M in DBE credit to the tri-venture based on the DBE work allegedly performed by Markias.

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Posted on March 3, 2016 by Christopher I. McCabe, Esq. in DBE/MBE/WBE, PennDOT Comments Off on DBE Pass-Through Scheme Alleged On Two PennDOT Bridge Projects In Phila.

Pennsylvania Steel Erector Indicted In DBE Pass-Through Scheme And Suspended On Federally Funded Contracts

If you are a prime contractor working on federally-funded transportation projects, beware of fraud involving the U.S. Department of Transportation’s disadvantaged business enterprise (DBE) program. A recently exposed “pass-through” scheme involving $27 million in federally-funded contracts scheme was engineered together by subcontractor Century Steel Erectors Co., and WMCC, Inc., a certified DBE.

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Posted on February 25, 2016 by Christopher I. McCabe, Esq. in DBE/MBE/WBE, PennDOT Comments Off on Pennsylvania Steel Erector Indicted In DBE Pass-Through Scheme And Suspended On Federally Funded Contracts

DBE Fraud Guilty Pleas Result In Sentences Of Probation And Restitution Of $1.3 Million

In my post from yesterday, found here, I reported on the DBE “pass-through” fraud scheme engineered by Carl M. Weber Steel Service, Inc., and Karen Construction, Inc.

On January 11, 2016, Dennis and Dale Weber, the owners of Weber Steel, were each sentenced to six months’ home confinement and five years’ probation, and Weber Steel was placed on three years’ probation. All three were also ordered to jointly pay $1 million in restitution to the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA).

On February 3, 2016, Judy Noll, the owner of Karen, was sentenced to three years’ probation and ordered to separately pay $336,219 in restitution to FHWA.  

The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Office of Inspector General press release on the sentencing can be found here.

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Posted on February 12, 2016 by Christopher I. McCabe, Esq. in DBE/MBE/WBE Comments Off on DBE Fraud Guilty Pleas Result In Sentences Of Probation And Restitution Of $1.3 Million
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