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Finance committee continues review of Providence Public Buildings Authority emergency shoring work after procurement questions
Summary
The Providence Public Buildings Authority told the finance committee Jan. 23 that it had used its procurement authority to carry out emergency shoring work at a DPW site; committee members raised transparency and procurement-process questions and asked for further documentation.
The Providence Public Buildings Authority (PBA) appeared before the Committee on Finance Jan. 23 to discuss an emergency shoring and safety project at a city Department of Public Works facility and related procurement and payment activity from late 2023. The PBA sought committee acknowledgment of the procurement path and of a request not-to-exceed roughly $1.3 million for the work.
PBA presenters said the project addressed an urgent life-safety need at the DPW complex identified during design and feasibility work for a larger DPW replacement project. The PBA described a compressed timeline: engineers identified structural concerns and the PBA moved operations outside the affected area while contracting to shore and stabilize the structure before winter weather. PBA officials said they used the authority’s procurement powers because the schedule would not have been met under a standard city Board of Contract and Supply procurement timeline.
Committee members and the city auditor pressed PBA leaders on several points: why direct procurement was used when the city typically routes projects through the Board of Contract and Supply; whether the procurement and bid opening had adequate public transparency; why PBA special counsel had previously represented a bidder; and why the city had apparently paid invoices before the committee had reviewed related documentation. The auditor said documents and invoice activity are recorded in the city’s vendor portal (monday.com) and asked the PBA to provide clearer, project-level accounting that ties the contract, invoices and payments together.
PBA representatives said the work was completed on time and under budget relative to the emergency need, and that all invoices are in the city’s portal. The PBA said the project included multiple bidders, two pre-bid conferences and extensive field notes documenting oversight. The authority’s staff acknowledged the unusual procurement path and agreed to provide additional supporting documents, legal memos and a proposed protocol for future emergency procurements.
After extended discussion, the committee voted to continue the item to a later meeting to allow the city solicitor, city auditor and PBA to provide a joint memorandum clarifying procurement authority, the sequence of approvals and a reconciled accounting of payments and invoices.
