by David Winzelberg

“Hi Jesse, he’s not in yet.”

That’s Marlene Wolke answering the phone at the supervisor’s office in Smithtown on a recent morning.

Wolke was referring to her boss, Patrick Vecchio, and she was speaking to Jesse DeAlmeida, who with his brother Al owns Nesconset-based Jadeco Construction, one of the town’s most prolific vendors.

No surprise that Wolke, like many employees in town hall, is on a first name basis with DeAlmeida. He’s spent a lot of time there, and with the longtime Republican supervisor himself, in town offices and on the golf course, at restaurants and at each other’s homes.

Vecchio has also been a guest at DeAlmeida’s condominium in Florida.

“That has nothing to do with his bidding for jobs,” Vecchio told Long Island Business News. “I’ve been friends with him for 30 years.”

Cementing a relationship

Friendship aside, Jadeco has virtually owned the sidewalk and curb work in Smithtown for at least the last decade, according to records obtained by LIBN through a Freedom of Information Law request.

Between 2004 and 2009, Smithtown put out four contracts to bid for handicapped-accessible ramps, curbs and sidewalks totaling about $2 million. Not only did Jadeco win all of those bids, but it subsequently billed the town more than $15.5 million for concrete work done during that time.

The cost difference? The bids were for “requirement contracts,” which allow a vendor to supply its services on an “as needed basis,” according to Smithtown purchasing director Joe Kostecki. The amount of work offered in such bids is an estimate, he said, and the town reserves the right to order more, less or none at all.

In Jadeco’s case it was always much more.

That appears to violate, or at least circumvent, the town code, which says that “all public works contracts over $20,000 shall be formally bid pursuant to General Municipal Law.”

It clearly defies the intent of the law, which was designed to eliminate favoritism and provide an even playing field for companies that want to compete for town work.

In other Long Island towns, requirement contracts are generally used for small jobs that pop up unexpectedly during the year.

“Large jobs that are planned and are in excess of $20,000 should be bid out,” said the supervisor of another Long Island town.

Though Smithtown’s code mandates that the town seek at least three bids for public works projects, Jadeco only faced one other company in winning a bid for building handicapped-accessible curb cuts and ramps in August 2004. The town board also extended Jadeco’s contracts at least three different times, avoiding putting additional sidewalk work out for bids, records show.

In fact it’s been pretty tough for any other concrete company to get work from the town of Smithtown, a reason many firms don’t bother.

“I haven’t looked for work in the town because it’s almost impossible to get in,” said Manny Dias, an owner of M&D Concrete in Selden. “They’ve got their own boys.”

Easy payment plan

Jadeco’s special relationship with the town has certainly helped the company’s cash flow. While the town code specifically instructs vendors to allow two to three weeks for approval of purchases, Jadeco usually bills the town

before it even receives a purchase order to do the job. For example, Jadeco gave the town’s highway department a $156,155 invoice dated June 22, 2007 for repairing and replacing curbs at the Hauppauge Industrial Park. The town issued the first purchase order for the work a week later, on June 29.

Smithtown comptroller Anthony Minerva admitted that it’s not supposed to work that way.

“They don’t always do what you want them to do,” Minerva said.

Although vendors usually wait at least 30 days to receive payment from the town, Jadeco routinely “hand-walks their invoices” into town hall so they can get paid on the spot, according to Minerva.

Jadeco was paid $44,196 on Nov. 3, 2004 for a town purchase order dated the same day. The company also got a check for $131,805.40 on Dec. 15 that year, which covered previous work but also a $96,453.35 town purchase order issued the same day.

Not only did Jadeco get paid quicker than other vendors, records show it never gave the town the 1 percent prompt payment discount the company promised when it successfully bid for concrete work in 2003.

Satisfied customers

Former Smithtown Councilwoman Joanne Gray said she had questioned other councilmen and department heads about Jadeco’s apparent stranglehold on the town’s concrete business.

“They told me that they were satisfied with Jadeco’s work,” Gray said.

That satisfaction totaled $11.4 million for concrete work in 2007 through 2009.

“The town has been very proactive with sidewalks,” Vecchio explained.

Asked about his firm’s domination of the town’s concrete work, Jesse DeAlmeida dismissed his friendship with the supervisor as a factor.

“It’s got nothing to do with me knowing anybody,” DeAlmeida said. “Unless I’m the low bidder I don’t get anything.”

In fact, according to the records furnished LIBN, Jadeco has never lost a bid for concrete work in Smithtown. Town records show the company was the low bidder for concrete work in 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2008 and 2009. Although the town didn’t bid out concrete work in 2006 and 2007, Jadeco’s contracts were extended and the company billed Smithtown more than $5 million in those two years.

Meanwhile, Vecchio is a frequent guest of DeAlmeida at the Smithtown Landing golf course, where they’re often spotted together on Saturday mornings. Besides vacationing at DeAlmeida’s place in Florida, Vecchio also enjoys dining with Jesse and Al at such Smithtown-area eateries as Sempre Vivolo and Casa Rustica.

Just dinner out with old friends, according to Vecchio.

“That has nothing to do as far as them bidding for work is concerned,” he said.