The Massachusetts State Ethics Commission alleged Thursday that a former highway road superintendent from Sandisfield has violated the state's conflict of interest law.
Before he was Sandisfield's highway road superintendent, Robert O'Brien's company, P & R Construction, was paid by the town to plow snow.
The ethics commission said it "found reasonable cause to believe" that after becoming the superintendent, O'Brien violated the law between 2015 and 2018. Officials alleged he hired his own construction company 42 times to plow snow and rent equipment to the town — and approved payments of more than $50,000 to his company.
It further alleged O'Brien gathered quotes for the town to rent an excavator. After O'Brien read the quotes, the commission said, his company submitted a lower quote and later got paid for the rental.
The allegations said O'Brien also did his own work "on town time."
The commission could issue a civil penalty of as much as $10,000 for each violation.
O'Brien, who could not be reached for comment, has about three weeks to respond to the allegations.
