MassDOT Announces Reprocurement for Service Plazas Contract

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BOSTON — The Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT) announced that they are preparing to reprocure the contract to rehabilitate, operate and maintain the 18 service plazas across the state.  

"These service plazas play a critical role for our residents, visitors, workers and economy. MassDOT's focus has always been on delivering the highest-quality service plazas that offer the best value for taxpayers," said Highway Administrator Jonathan Gulliver, who will oversee the process. "After careful consideration, we have determined that the best path forward to ensure the success of this project is to reprocure the contract. This will allow us to make any necessary changes to the RFP to ensure we are attracting robust interest from highly qualified bidders and securing the best value possible." 

MassDOT will also work with the current lease holders to ensure that travelers and workers do not experience disruptions to essential services. 

Earlier this year – after a lengthy, multi-stage procurement process – the MassDOT Board authorized Secretary Monica Tibbits-Nutt to award the Transition and Lease Agreements for the service plazas to Applegreen. After signing a Transition Agreement, and during the lease negotiation process, Applegreen made the decision to withdraw.  

After careful evaluation of all options, MassDOT is preparing to reprocure the service plaza contract in order to deliver the highest quality facilities and services for travelers while ensuring the best value for taxpayers and toll payers. MassDOT will begin negotiations with the current leaseholders for extensions immediately to ensure continuity of service and labor at the plazas. 

MassDOT has been reviewing the original procurement and will seek feedback from the industry to develop recommendations for a revised Request for Proposals that will best ensure robust interest from high-quality bidders and set the project up for success. 

Day-to-day management of the service plazas is being transferred to the MassDOT Highway Division to ensure structured performance oversight, regular inspections and centralized corrective action. 


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Pittsfield Audit Committee Sees 2 'Advantageous' Proposals

By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The city received two strong proposals for an independent audit and will evaluate their cost as the last determining factor. 

On Monday, the Auditing Services Evaluation Committee decided to advance proposals from CliftonLarsonAllen and from Scanlon and Associates, the firm that has audited Pittsfield for years. 

The city received two bid responses that members generally saw as equally strong. Some pushed for a new set of eyes, and some were comfortable with the knowledge Scanlon has built about Pittsfield over the years. 

They agreed that prices are an important factor and voted to advance both proposals to purchasing agent Colleen Hunter-Mullett so she can come back with financial information. 

"I think one was longer, but when I looked at it, I thought they both had in-depth information for us, and I really didn't have any issues with any of them, and I think they're both highly advantageous in that," said Kathy Amuso, who was designated to review the proposals. 

"… I contacted municipalities for both CliftonLarsonAllen and Scanlon, and no matter which one I contacted, all the CliftonLarsonAllen customers and clients highly recommended them, and the Scanlon clients highly recommended them."

She has worked with Scanlon through government since 2003 and, because both proposals were highly rated, doesn't see a reason to change.

"I think it's been pretty consistent. I think they've been good to work with; I think they found some issues that they worked with the City of Pittsfield on," Amuso explained. 

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