State mulls ban on Respler bids
Town to continue mediation in Mystic Education Center matter
The State Contracting Standards Board announced Friday that it will resume the process to determine whether or not to temporarily disqualify Jeffrey Respler, principal of Respler Homes, from bidding on state contracts in the future.
The state Department of Economic and Community Development officially terminated on Friday the agreement, signed in 2019, to sell the Mystic Education Center to Respler Homes, according to DECD. The state agency had sent a 10-day termination notice to Respler, who had been selected as the developer for the vacant, state-owned site.
The State Contracting Standards Board said at Friday’s meeting that the news of the planned termination of the agreement had brought Respler back to the attention of the board. The board announced almost a year ago that it would look into potentially disqualifying Respler, after receiving complaints from several Groton residents, but paused the matter in March.
Meanwhile, the Town Council voted unanimously earlier in the week to immediately continue mediation, a step required for disputes under the town’s 2020 development agreement with Respler Homes for the Mystic Education Center, a document that is separate from the state contract. The council approved the town manager, in consultation with the town attorney, at the conclusion of the mediation, “to take such appropriate measures as are allowed by such contract, including termination.” The town had last held a mediation session in the spring, and the town was waiting to see how the state would proceed with the property, Town Manager John Burt has said.
An attorney for Respler was not immediately available Friday. Respler previously said he is observing Sukkot.
David Guay, the longtime executive director of the State Contracting Standards Board who began working for the agency July 1 as a temporary worker retiree, detailed at Friday’s meeting that the process to potentially disqualify Respler as a state contractor was put on pause in March due to
Guay’s upcoming retirement.
Guay said he has now been back at the agency for a couple of months, and under the direction of Board Chair Lawrence Fox, the board is beginning to again bring forward the process of potential disqualification.
The agency previously found it did not have jurisdiction over the proposed sale of the property, but Guay had said it’s about the future.
State law outlines a process in which a subcommittee of the board can hold a hearing and then make a recommendation as to whether or not to recommend disqualifying a state contractor, bidder or proposer from bidding on state contracts for a period of time, which can be no more than five years. If the subcommittee recommends disqualification, the contractor has a 30-day period to submit comments. The full board then makes the final decision on whether or not to accept, or to revise, the subcommittee’s recommendation.
Reasons for possible disqualification include “conviction of or entry of a plea of guilty or nolo contendere or admission to, the violation of any state or federal law for embezzlement, theft, forgery, bribery, falsification, or destruction of records, receiving stolen property or any other offense indicating a lack of business integrity or business honesty which affects responsibility as a state contractor,” according to the state law.
In 2004, Respler, as the former head of a plumbing company, pleaded guilty in New York to four counts of fifth-degree conspiracy, a Class A misdemeanor, according to a New York City news release. Guay has said these charges could potentially be grounds for disqualification as a state contractor.
At Friday’s meeting, Fox noted the news of the termination of the purchase and sale agreement, but said he thinks the item is still relevant. He said the issue still remains as to whether or not Respler should be disqualified from bidding on future state contracts for a period of time.
“It’s a question, and I want us to move forward and make some recommendations to the board on that issue,” Fox said.