LePage says state agency underbid on $19 million contract to refurbish MBTA buses

The Maine Military Authority, a state-owned operation in Limestone that specializes in refurbishing vehicles, underbid a $19 million contract, putting at risk as many as 50 jobs and raising the possibility that losses could be passed on to taxpayers, Gov. Paul LePage said late Friday.

LePage provided few details, but said he recently learned that the MMA underestimated how much it would cost to refurbish 32 articulated buses under its contract with the Massachusetts Bay Transit Authority.

LePage said more information on the problems with the contract would be coming and Brig. Gen. Douglas A. Farnham, the adjutant general of the Maine National Guard and commissioner of the state Department of Defense, suggested in LePage’s news release that state would try to renegotiate the contract, although it’s not clear what incentive the Boston-area transit authority would have to pay more for the work.

“The MMA has not notified the MBTA of any action related to the contract,” Jeo Pesaturo, a spokesman for the MBTA said by email Friday night.

Read more: http://www.pressherald.com/2016/09/23/lepage-state-agency-underbid-19-million-contract-to-refurbish-mbta-buses/