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Construction magnate John Fish is defending a series of conversations with a state official who recommended the award of a service plaza contract to Irish retailer Applegreen over Waltham-based Global Partners.
In a court filing, Suffolk CEO Fish said he never received confidential information regarding the service plaza contract from Scott Bosworth, the MBTA’s chief of transit-oriented development, who chaired a selection committee.
“I can confidently say that I never asked for or received anything of value from Mr. Bosworth, and I never offered or provided anything of value to Mr. Bosworth,” Fish stated in an affidavit.
Suffolk was part of the Applegreen team that had submitted one of two bids to redevelop 18 highway service plazas. Applegreen withdrew its $750 million bid last week, citing “costly and continued litigation threats” from Global Partners that jeopardized the project’s financing.
In a letter to Massachusetts Transportation Secretary Monica Tibbits-Nutt released publicly on Thursday, Suffolk Construction General Counsel Jay Tangney asked that MassDOT restart the bidding process.
Suffolk, New England’s largest construction manager, went on the offensive this week in response to what its in-house attorney characterized as “a deliberate and ongoing series of irresponsible and demonstrably false statements by various parties.”
In a letter to Tibbetts-Nutt, Suffolk General Counsel Jay Tangney raised the possibility that Global Partners obtained inside information on competing bids and adjusted its offer accordingly. Suffolk submitted a public records request to MassDOT for all documents and correspondence between the agency and Global Partners.
“Suffolk’s allegations are desperate and unfounded,” Global Partners Chief Operating Officer Mark Romaine said in a statement. “Global remains committed to assisting in the effort to bring the best value to Massachusetts taxpayers going forward.”
In a Sept. 22 deposition released by Suffolk, Fish acknowledged a series of texts with Bosworth on a variety of topics, but said the two did not have a social relationship. Fish and two other Suffolk executives also submitted testimony that they neither received nor offered anything of value from Bosworth.
After the MassDOT board voted to award the contract to Applegreen on June 18, Bosworth texted “got it done” to Patrick Lucey, Suffolk’s general manager.
Lucey testified that he called Bosworth for clarification but did not reach him, and responded with a “heart” emoji.
Patrick Brophy, Suffolk’s vice president of state and local government affairs, testified that his March 11 text to Bosworth asking for a “gut check” did not refer to the service plazas contract. The text related to the MBTA’s concerns regarding a bus ramp coating at the South Station Tower project, where Suffolk is construction manager, Brophy stated.
The testimony is part of a lawsuit filed by Global Partners in Suffolk Superior Court against MassDOT seeking documents and communications related to the service plazas contract procurement process.
Applegreen’s decision last week to withdraw its bid for the 35-year contract left Global Partners as the only remaining bidder. MassDOT has not indicated whether it will award the contract to Global Partners, or start a new bidding process.
In June, the MassDOT board’s Capital Programs Committee voted to award the contract to Applegreen over the bid of Global Partners, the existing operator.
In July, Global Partners filed a complaint with the state Ethics Commission alleging conflicts of interest by Bosworth in the procurement process. Bosworth was in talks with Applegreen parent Blackstone about a potential employment opportunity during the procurement process, the complaint alleges.
MassDOT issued a statement that it is weighing its future options for the service plazas project.
“After a thorough, fair and transparent evaluation process, MassDOT selected Applegreen to operate 18 highway service plazas pursuant to a long-term lease. Applegreen, teamed with Suffolk Construction, proposed doing significant and much needed revitalization work at the service plazas. Applegreen has decided not to move forward with executing the contract. Right now, we are evaluating next steps to ensure we deliver the highest quality service plazas that the people of Massachusetts deserve,” the statement reads.
Editor’s note: This report has been updated with a statement from MassDOT.
