Nashville contractor billed Metro thousands on day spent entertaining in arena suite

Top executives at a Nashville engineering contractor that is already under scrutiny billed Metro government more than $5,000 last year for hours accrued on a day they were found mingling with city officials in a Bridgestone Arena suite.

All but one of the invoices that covered payments to the four high-ranking Collier Engineering employees was approved by the same person: Don Reid, paving manager and assistant manager of Metro Public Works.

Mayor David Briley's administration put Reid on administrative leave this week after The Tennessean posed questions to the public works department about Collier's Engineering billings.

The mayor has opened an investigation into the billing discrepancies, and Briley's Chief of Staff Emily Passini has directed Public Works Director Mark Sturtevant to terminate his participation in the investigation.

All of Metro's payments to Collier Engineering have been suspended for 30 days pending the investigation, the mayor's office said, and the company's street paving bids are under review for potential discrepancies related to scope of work.

Related: Audit finds Metro employees sat in contractor's arena suite, didn't pay for tickets

Company leaders charged city hours on day spent in suite

Despite the series of actions, Chad Collier, president of Collier Engineering, the subject of an internal Metro audit last year, disputed any wrongdoing by the company. He said they are "confident that our billings to Metro Government are an honest account of hours worked."

He acknowledged that "after further review," the company found one "honest data-entry mistake" that accounted for one of the billings, but the company has promised to pay back that sum, $900, to Metro for the oversight.

As part of Collier's street paving contracts with Metro, the company submits monthly invoices to the city detailing how many hours the firm billed. The invoices are then signed off by the public works department.

Related: Metro approved $15M in more work for contractor during investigation into arena suite visits

Related: Nashville's sidewalks key to Mayor Barry's transit plan, but construction lags

The approved invoices include 33.5 hours of work accrued by four Collier Engineering executives on Friday, March 16, 2018.

That's the same day that photos obtained by The Tennessean seem to show these employees spending much of the day in a company-owned suite at Bridgestone Arena during the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament, which involved multiple games throughout the day. They were joined by Reid, other Metro officials as well as lobbyists.

Chad Collier, president of Collier Engineering, charged the city for 7 hours of work on March 16 at a rate of $195 per hour

Ben Collier, the company's vice president, charged the city for 8.5 hours of work on March 16 at a rate of $150 an hour

Benny Word, senior project manager, charged the city 10 hours of work on March 16 at a rate of $150 per hour

Marty Szeigis, senior project manager, charged the city for 8 hours of work on March at a rate of $150 an hour. (Collier now says six of these hours were billed erroneously, accounting for $900.)

Szeigis’s contracting work is marked as “council constituent services” in the paperwork submitted to Metro. Word’s work is marked as “liaison services” while the work of both Colliers falls under “project management.”

In all, Metro paid the contractors $5,340 for hours that appears to overlap with time in the company's suite.

Mayor 'angered' by latest findings, but firm defends billings

"Mayor Briley is angered by these circumstances and will take every step necessary to ensure that this matter is handled without delay," Briley spokesman Thomas Mulgrew said.

In a Monday letter directed by Briley, Patricia Cottrell — hired in December as Briley's new chief compliance officer — alerted Michelle Hernandez-Lane, Metro's purchasing agent, to "information indicating that incorrect and inappropriate billing to Metro Public Works by Collier Engineering Co. Inc. may have occurred."

The letter triggered the investigation into the matter.

More: Nashville Mayor David Briley taps former judge as first-ever chief compliance officer

But in a statement to The Tennessean, Chad Collier, defended the company's billing practices outside of the single mistake.

"All of the time billed to Metro on March 16 was done so in the same manner as all our invoices each month," he said.

He pointed to a recent internal review of the company's billings from certified public accountants and touted "a company-wide culture of integrity." He said the firm takes seriously its obligation to accurately bill clients.

He suggested that some of the hours could have been logged prior to start of the NCAA men's basketball games that day.

"Anyone who works in the A/E or construction industry knows that a typical day starts as early as 6 or 6:30 a.m. and may end as late as 7 or 8 p.m," Chad Collier said. "So spending part of an afternoon or evening at a basketball game in no way prevents us from completing a full day of work. The four Collier employees whose billing entries are being questioned, including myself, are top-level management and we do a significant portion of our work from laptops, phones and vehicles."

He added: "Any accusation that we’ve fraudulently billed time to Metro simply isn’t based in fact."

Additional photos show extent of arena visits

Collier Engineering was the subject of a Metro internal audit in October that found "an appearance of preferential treatment" after Metro employees accepted free tickets to multiple sporting events earlier in the year inside the company's arena suite, violating the city's ethics policy.

Collier Engineering has won $48.7 million in Metro contracts since 2010 for street paving, sidewalks and other work. It's triple the annual payments from a decade ago. Despite the cozy relationship and appearance of preferential treatment, the audit dismissed eight other allegations against the firm as "unsubstantiated."

But the audit did not address payments that Metro made to Collier Engineering for work on the same days the company entertained from the suite, including the March 16 payments.

The Tennessean obtained additional photos — taken in secret from the opposite side of the arena — that were not cited in the audit. The photos capture the arena's clock, showing Collier employees there from as early as 1:06 p.m. to as late as 9:33 p.m. Beer is seen being consumed throughout the day inside the suite.

Cottrell, a former Tennessee Court of Appeals judge and onetime Metro law director, was tapped by Briley as part of the city's response to the audit.

Related: Mayor Briley halts public works contracts, hires compliance officer amid questions raised in audit

Briley tasked her with overseeing a "comprehensive review" of ethics regulations in the city's procurement process — and whether the city is following them — among other responsibilities.

Amid questions raised in the audit, Briley also halted five future public works contracts for sidewalk, paving and other capital projects.

Mulgrew said the mayor has now opened a complete review of Collier Engineering's billings "to ensure there are not additional discrepancies or improper billing."

Collier Engineering's contracts will remain on hold during the investigation into the billing questions. In addition, Mulgrew said the city is reviewing Collier Engineering's street paving proposal for "potential discrepancies related to scope of work."

Reach Joey Garrison at 615-259-8236, jgarrison@tennessean.com and on Twitter @joeygarrison.

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