DOT kicks Cone off highway job

The state agency says Cone is behind on work and not paying subcontractors on the Suncoast Parkway.

By LOGAN D. MABE

© St. Petersburg Times, published March 4, 2000

TAMPA -- The state Department of Transportation fired the largest contractor on the $500-million Suncoast Parkway project Friday, saying the company had fallen behind schedule, missed payments to subcontractors and jeopardized the planned January 2001 opening.

DOT officials met Thursday night and decided to kick Cone Constructors Inc. of Tampa off the job, an action they described as exceedingly rare. They said Cone is 16 percent behind schedule on one section of the road, and 6 percent behind on another.

In a Feb. 15 letter to Cone, the DOT said the company had committed "events of delay, neglect or default" and "achieved such low productivity" that the road's opening might be delayed. The letter gave Cone 10 days to pay off subcontractors and suppliers and fix other problems cited by the DOT, or be declared in default of its $75-million contract.

On Friday, the company was given seven days to clear out.

Michael Cone, the company's president, said his company is not at fault and blamed the DOT and Hillsborough County officials for the work delays and late payments to subcontractors and suppliers. Cone said he had more than enough workers, equipment and materials to get the job done.

"I had 150 people ready to go to work out there this morning," Cone said.

The DOT had paid Cone about $52-million before Friday. The company's unfinished work and debts are now the responsibility of St. Paul Fire and Marine Insurance Co., which backed the project. St. Paul's attorney declined comment Friday.

DOT officials would not speculate on how long it might take for St. Paul to find a replacement contractor, or how much firing Cone might delay the parkway's scheduled opening.

The default comes seven months after Michael Cone pleaded no contest to criminal charges related to non-payment of subcontractors on other projects.

At the time, the state banned Cone's company from bidding on DOT projects for four years, though the company was allowed to complete existing contracts, including the Suncoast Parkway.

Cone Constructors was hired to build two of six sections that make up the 42-mile parkway. The toll road will connect the Veterans Expressway in Tampa to U.S. 98 near the Hernando-Citrus county line. Cone's sections covered 111/2 miles from the Veterans to central Pasco County.

DOT officials said the contractors building the other parkway sections are ahead of schedule, one by 25 percent.

DOT officials cited several reasons why they think Cone defaulted on its contract:

It didn't pay subcontractors and suppliers, despite getting the money from the DOT. In addition, DOT officials say, Cone turned in paperwork claiming it had made payments when it had not.

It frustrated "the numerous attempts" of a DOT auditor to look at Cone's books and records. "This failure and refusal to submit to an audit justifies an inference of Cone's insolvency," the DOT said.

It didn't have enough workers, equipment or materials to finish the sections on time.

"The problems on this project are the result of misfeasance or malfeasance of Cone Constructors Inc., and (its failure) to perform its contract with the department," DOT assistant secretary Ken Morefield wrote Friday to Cone.

Michael Cone had answers Friday to all those complaints.

He said work delays were caused by the county's order to stop hauling dirt at night near Cheval, an exclusive golf course community in North Hillsborough, after residents complained about noisy trucks.

The company had based its completion schedule on the 24-hour operations, he said.

Cone said he was late paying subcontractors because the DOT owes him $2.4-million.

"Whenever the DOT is late paying us, there are delays in paying subs quicker," he said.

On the charge that he had signed, under oath, certificates stating subcontractors had been paid, Cone said, "we disagree with the department's decision."

Cone also said he cooperated with the agency's auditor. "We gave him what he wanted on two occasions and he left," Cone said.

He said he had plenty of workers and equipment.

The DOT's complaints are similar to those lodged against Cone in July 1999, when he pleaded no contest to bribing a state road official with a $140,000 waterfront home, a Ford Bronco, and land in Levy County. He was accused of delaying payments to contractors and lying about it to the state.

Cone was sentenced to 364 nights in jail but allowed out for work every day. He was released Jan. 18, after five months, according to jail records.

Cone Constructors is one of the state's 10 largest road builders. Michael Cone is the third generation of his family involved in the business.

Last year, Grubbs Construction Co. of Brooksville sued Cone, claiming he had not fully paid $8-million owed to Grubbs for sub-contracting work on State Road 44 in Citrus County.

The case is pending.

-- Information from Times files was used in this report. Logan D. Mabe can be contacted at (813) 226-3464, or mabe@sptimes.com.

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