The contract was signed by Charles Hall, a close associate of Mayor Tony Mack who is a cooperating witness in the federal corruption case against the mayor.
Trenton, New Jersey's City Hall on East State Street, early in the morning on June 21, 2011. TRENTON — City council members voted yesterday against an administration recommendation to pay a vendor who performed unauthorized engineering work at the direction of former city employee Charles Hall III.
Hall, a close associate of Mayor Tony Mack, is a cooperating witness in the federal corruption case against the mayor.
In 2012, Frey Engineering of Lebanon was hired by Hall to do planning and archeological work ahead of construction of an indoor batting cage at the Babe Ruth/6-11 league fields in Deutzville Park in Hamilton, which are used by Trenton residents.
Hall, the nephew of former acting public works director Harold Hall, was a recreation department employee at the time. He declined to comment when reached by phone today.
Three proposals from March, April and May 2012 were signed by Charles Hall, who was identified as the project manager. He was being paid out of the water utility’s budget as a meter reader but worked in recreation overseeing projects and awarding contracts.
Trenton Babe Ruth baseball was examined by the FBI last year in connection with the investigation into Mack.
Under the March proposal for the batting cage project, which was signed by Hall on an unspecified date, Frey Engineering was to conduct site reviews and create architectual and engineering plans worth $14,925.
Another $13,495 proposal signed by Hall on April 19, 2012 authorized the company to perform an archeological survey on the site, which was within the Abbott Farm National Historic Landmark. A third proposal for $14,965, signed by Hall in August 2012, provided for a topographical survey of the site.
Council never signed off on the work and Councilwoman Marge Caldwell-Wilson said she was unaware of the project. At yesterday's council meeting, Business Administrator Sam Hutchinson called the completion of more than $46,000 worth of work without the proper approval was “a total mess.”
“We are deeply troubled, but the work was already performed,” Hutchinson said.
Nelson Luzzetti of Frey Engineering, who wrote the proposals for the indoor batting cage project, did not immediately return a phone message today.
J.R. Capasso, the city’s brownfields coordinator, said the batting cage project was “on the city’s books for years” and was to be completed using Community Development Block Grant funds.
Capasso said he only learned about the project in November 2012, when a
Frey Engineering representative asked why the company had not been paid for the work. Hall was laid off in October 2012 following a Civil Service decision related to his hiring.
“I had the consultant stop work because it appeared that the execution of our contracts without council approval would be a violation,” Capasso told council yesterday.
Capasso said he looked into the project, the scope of work and the proposals provided by Frey Engineering. It appears that the work they did was in accordance with industry standards, he said.
“Ultimately this work was done in an appropriate manner,” Capasso said.
Capasso asked the council members to pay $43,385 for the work completed, rather than full invoiced amount of $46,820.
“This is an effort to correct an error,” he said.
Hutchinson asked council members to approve the payment to avoid possible litigation by Frey Engineering, which he said he expected the city would lose.
“I ask the council to keep in mind that a debt is owed to Frey Engineering, not Mr. Hall,” Hutchinson said. “The likelihood is we will be sued and he will be paid. Why have the added expense of attorneys’ fees?”
The resolution to pay Frey Engineering failed in a 3-3 vote. Council members Alex Bethea, Verlina Reynolds-Jackson and Caldwell-Wilson voted to pay the company and George Muschal, Zachary Chester and Phyllis Holly-Ward voted against. Councilwoman Kathy McBride did not attend last night's meeting.
After the vote Bethea said he was frustrated with his fellow council members because the city will end up having to pay eventually.
“We either pay now, or pay more later,” Bethea said. “The work has been done. There is no way around it.”
But Muschal, the council president, said he wanted more information before he would vote to pay the bill.
“Until we clarify this they are not getting any money,” he said.
On the proposals, Frey Engineering listed the address of its former office on South Broad Street. It shared the office with Clean Green Industries, an environmental cleanup that Hall hired but never gave an actual contract.
Records show Clean Green was paid $22,000 last year to remove a pile of contaminated soil from George Page Park.
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