Judge halts Hanover High construction

“The court’s decision was not warranted based upon the facts of the case or the law,’’ Patrick Callahan, the company’s president, said in a statement Friday evening.

“The court’s balancing of the equities has been misplaced and the real losers will be the taxpayers of Hanover and Hanover’s students, not to mention the construction workers who, six days before Thanksgiving, find themselves without work.’’

Under Massachusetts law, decisions by prequalification committees are final and cannot be appealed unless there are “grounds of arbitrariness, capriciousness, fraud, or collusion.’’ Both Chin and the state attorney general’s office, which issued a separate opinion on the matter on Oct. 30 advising the town not to continue working with Callahan, found that it appeared the company misrepresented some aspects of its work in the application.

The main issue centers on the prequalification process before the contract was awarded, where the School Building Committee decided which applicants were suitable to submit bids for the project. During this step, authorities reviewed the applications of those who wished to submit bids. Applicants deemed qualified were invited to submit a bid for the contract.

In her report on the matter, Assistant Attorney General Deborah Anderson found that in its application, Callahan took credit for the construction of North Andover High School, which was completed in January 2005. However, Anderson determined that only the last $1.2 million of work on the $42 million project was completed by Callahan. The other $40.8 million of work was done by John T. Callahan & Sons Inc., described by Callahan Inc. as the company’s “predecessor.’’

According to Anderson’s report, after John T. Callahan faced financial issues, a new business entity, Callahan Inc., was created by members of the former company. Her report said Callahan Inc. was considered only a subcontractor by the attorney general’s office for its work performed on the North Andover project when it was completed.

In its defense, Callahan Inc. asserts that it was the entity that technically “completed’’ the North Andover project, as it finished the construction of the school. Callahan said that it did not fabricate its qualifications.

Additionally, Anderson also found that in its application Callahan was supposed to list projects completed explicitly within the last three years. But the company referred to the North Andover project, completed more than four years earlier, the report found.

According to the attorney general’s office, Callahan submitted a bid of $37,099,999 for the Hanover project, compared with the next-lowest bid of $38,087,000 by J&J Contractors Inc. The Laborers International Union of North America - on behalf of J&J Contractors - and N.B. Kenney Co. protested, triggering a probe by the attorney general’s office into Callahan’s application. According to Chin’s decision, Kenney had the lowest sub-bid for heating and ventilation work on the Hanover project.

Chin’s decision noted that in late September the attorney general’s office requested that Hanover suspend work on the high school by Callahan pending the results of an investigation.

Plans had called for a new 157,000-square-foot building to replace the existing school building, which has stood since 1958. Construction at the school had been taking place and was being performed by Callahan despite the controversy.

At Hanover High School, before the judge’s decision, some students said it was imperative to get a new building.

“The construction is beyond need at the high school,’’ said John Lipper, a student. “The current school is beyond repair. It would take a number of years and probably more of the taxpayers’ money in order to fix the school and get it to standard.’’

“I believe if the project is delayed, the townspeople and the people paying for this project will be beyond angry,’’ Lipper said.