Nov. 25—SCRANTON — A contractor lawsuit claims Lackawanna County improperly rejected the firm's low bid on a project at the Scranton Veterans Memorial Park on Providence Road.
Scartelli Construction Services & General Contractors Inc. of Scranton filed a lawsuit in Lackawanna County Court on Oct. 25 against the county and the Lackawanna County commissioners over the bidding issue.
The park next to Scranton Veterans Memorial Stadium at Scranton High School was dedicated July 25, 2020.
In February 2021, the county sought bids for a "Phase II" construction project at the park and three months later issued an addendum in the project.
The project involved installation of site amenities, lighting, landscaping and other work.
Scartelli submitted a bid of $101,400, composed of a $62,500 base bid and $38,900 alternate.
The bids were opened on May 27, 2021, and Scartelli's was the lowest, but the county instead hired the next lowest bidder, Chilewski Enterprises, which submitted a $115,000 total bid comprised of $72,700 base and $42,300 alternate, according to the lawsuit.
Chilewski Enterprises is not named as a defendant in the lawsuit.
Don Scartelli Jr. is president of the Scartelli firm, according to the lawsuit prepared by attorney Edmund Scacchitti of the Scacchitti Law Firm in Scranton.
The Scartelli firm asked the county why its bid was rejected. The county responded that the Scartelli company was "not a 'responsible bidder,' " which precluded award of the project to Scartelli, the lawsuit says.
There were no criteria for grading bids and the rejection of Scartelli's bid was arbitrary and unfounded, according to the lawsuit.
The rejection of the low bid increased the project cost at the expense of county taxpayers and caused Scartelli to suffer financial damages and tarnished the firm's reputation, the lawsuit claims.
The complaint seeks a judgment in favor of Scartelli and unspecified damages in excess of arbitration rules, plus interest and costs.
The bid invitation paperwork cited in the lawsuit said the county "reserves the right to reject any or all bids or to waive any informalities in the bidding."
The county has not yet formally responded to the lawsuit in court but will deny the allegations, county Solicitor Frank Ruggiero said in an email.
"The county disputes Mr. Scartelli's claims and will be strongly defending the action," Ruggiero said.
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