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Fayette commissioner, controller at odds over prison design payments

By Patty Yauger pyauger@heraldstandard.Com 5 min read
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Lally

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Zimmerlink

Fayette County’s controller is challenging a commissioner’s assessment that due diligence was not undertaken and compliance with codes and regulations were not followed as the county now begins paying vendors for work done on the new prison project.

Sean Lally, the county’s chief financial officer, said that his office would not have paid the $1.236 million to the architectural design firm of Crabtree, Rohrbaugh and Associates or Sleighter Engineering Inc. for their work if the appropriate documentation was not in place, including a signed contract between the two companies and the county.

In a recent statement, Commissioner Angela M. Zimmerlink alleged that payments were being made without appropriate authorization.

“No-bid contracts, commissioner-approved payments and controller-issued checks without approved and signed contracts are not the way to conduct county business,” she said.

However, countered Lally, the contracts were signed before any payments were made, and Zimmerlink was knowledgeable of the documents and has unrestricted access to them.

The contract with Sleighter was signed by Robert W. Sleighter, president of the Uniontown firm, on Oct. 18, with Commissioners Al Ambrosini and Vincent Zapotosky adding their respective signatures on Feb. 4.

Thomas C. Crabtree, president of the Mechanicsburg firm, along with Ambrosini and Zapotosky, finalized a contract to provide architectural and other design services in February, according to documents provided by Lally.

Initially, both firms were retained in July to conduct an economic feasibility and needs-assessment study for the county as it considered the construction of a new prison. The two were later retained to provide architectural and engineering services after the county agreed to replace the current 125-year-old prison.

Lally said that while both firms had submitted routine invoices tied to the study or new prison design, the county did not issue payment to either company until last month because the controller’s office had not received a copy of the signed contracts.

According to a distribution report of accounts payable, Sleighter Engineering was paid a total of $170,728 for services rendered through February, and Crabtree was paid a total of $1.035 million for the preparation of the study and design work begun in late October. While the bulk of the fees charged were related to the architectural design of the new county justice and rehabilitation center (JRC), a smaller portion was for work done for the now-shelved temporary women’s annex project that was to be located on Iowa Street in Uniontown.

“There was nothing that raised a red flag,” said Lally of the payment requests. “All were for items listed in the scope of work within the contracts.”

While Zimmerlink claimed the contract with Crabtree for the feasibility study was not to exceed $24,000, Lally explained that the additional $6,300 paid to Crabtree was tied to expenses and other costs incurred by Thomas Crabtree when he traveled from the company’s office in Mechanicsburg to Fayette County to participate in the five public meetings to explain the study findings.

“(Zimmerlink) wanted numerous meetings,” said Lally. “The agreed upon $24,000 was for the study. Mr. Crabtree was asked to provide additional services, and those services totaled $6,300.”

Each requisition for payment, whether for the purchase of paper supplies, advertisement or architectural or engineering services, is turned over to the chief clerk, then passed through the commissioners’ office for a minimum of two signatures. The paperwork is then transmitted to the controller for review and issuance of a check. The documents then go to the treasurer for a final signature, said Lally.

“It is the same process we undertake for every requisition,” he said. “At my office, I have to verify (when applicable) there is a contract in place for the payment to be made.”

Lally said that Zimmerlink’s comments that an agreement with the two firms had yet to be reached was “untrue.”

“She would have had to have seen the contracts and the requisitions,” said Lally, referring to Zimmerlink’s knowledge of the invoices.

Lally said that a few weeks ago his deputy controller spoke to Zimmerlink to give her instructions as to how to access all county contracts.

“(Zimmerlink) has full access to Sleighter’s and Crabtree’s signed contracts. To say otherwise is false,” he said.

Pointing to the Pennsylvania County Code, Lally said that when the county seeks professional services from those in the medical, legal, architectural, engineering or public accountant fields, officials can enter into contracts without the bidding process.

“(Zimmerlink) is well aware of the county code,” he said. “I issued the checks because I had a signed contract. I did my due diligence.”

Zimmerlink disagrees.

“It has been six months and no contract has been voted on, yet the two commissioners approved payments, and the controller issued checks,” she said. “Poor planning, continued lack of due diligence, failure to adhere to adopted resolutions, closed-door meetings, paying more than the agreed upon price, inaccurate statements and refusing to discuss other options are just a few examples of what’s wrong with how this jail issue has been handled,” she said.

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