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Solon waits for trial in overcharging case
(by Sue Reid - August 24, 2011)
Solon waits for trial in overcharging case
By SUE REID
It has been slightly more than a year since the Ohio Auditor's Office issued a finding that the city of Solon was overcharged $2.4 million for substandard pavement on Cochran Road and other problems.
According to the finding, three contractors, as well as former city inspector Dominic Bisesi, were supposed to be responsible for repaying the money.
A criminal trial connected with the incident is scheduled for early October.
It's something the city definitely has not forgotten, Mayor Susan A. Drucker said Tuesday.
"We are still aggressively pursuing every remedy and making every attempt to make the city whole or at least as close to whole as possible," Mrs. Drucker said. "Right now we are bound to the time line of the criminal justice system."
Although the criminal trial, State of Ohio v. Chaney Cement, which has various co-defendants, including Mr. Bisesi, has been scheduled for early October, the case had been continued four times in 2010 and once already this year. Mr. Bisesi pled not guilty at the pretrial in April.
A civil case titled the City of Solon v. Chaney Cement Contractors Inc. was removed from the court's active docket in April and will return only upon motion after the conclusion on the parallel criminal case.
Findings from the audit showed that Solon was overcharged by almost $2.4 million by contractors Midwest Paving, Chaney Cement Contractors Inc. and MGL Enterprises Inc.
The audit, which cost the city $162,000, also stated that Mr. Bisesi, a 22-year-employee of the city and construction supervisor at the time, approved many of the bills that came into question. Mr. Bisesi was reassigned to the service department and subsequently resigned in 2008.
The special audit was originally requested by the city in 2007 when complaints arose following the Cochran Road repaving project.
Since the audit, Mrs. Drucker said, the city committed to putting more stringent checks and balances and stronger accountability in place. An entire construction division with added personnel was created and the public works department reorganized. Invoices now cross several desks and are seen by several sets of eyes, she said.
"We have multiple sets of eyes on every project and every inspection approval," she said. "I think that's definitely added to the integrity of our whole process."
Mrs. Drucker said she is very pleased that city Engineer John J. Busch and construction project administrator Dan Driscoll are able to work together, even though their functions are separate.
"Between Dan and John, we have multiple sets of eyes on every project," she said. "It's good to have several sets of eyes on everything," she said. "We did this to ensure that this type of situation would not occur again."
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