Inspector General urges stronger oversight of highway plaza leases

The Inspector General recommends that MassDOT name the Inspector General’s office as an oversight agency in the lease and clarify when government officials may access records. The lease covers the rehabilitation and operation of Massachusetts’s 18 highway service plazas. The recommendation concerns the draft lease for the service-plaza operator procurement.

The Inspector General recommends that MassDOT consider requiring a bond to help ensure the operator returns the plazas in satisfactory condition. The recommendation concerns the operator’s handover of the highway service plazas at the end of the lease. The report recommends considering a bond; it does not say MassDOT has adopted this recommendation. The bond would support the handover at the end of the lease, if MassDOT requires one.

The Inspector General recommends that MassDOT set a time limit for the operator’s recordkeeping. The recommendation concerns records about the service-plaza project kept by the operator. The report says the draft lease identifies a document-control system and an operator contact, but recommends adding a time limit for keeping records.