The company selected as general contractor for the Oakland County road commission’s new $43 million administration building is pushing back saying a second delay in the project or killing the project altogether will cost taxpayers a lot of money.

Frank Rewold, president of Rochester-based Frank Rewold & Sons, is upset about another 90-day delay. He told The Oakland Press that canceling the contract will cost the county and its taxpayers.

Chairman Eric McPherson and Commissioner James Esshaki voted for a second delay, saying that retrofitting the county’s executive building is a more cost-efficient plan. The third commissioner, Nancy Quarles, voted against that plan. Because a second delay is not part of the contract, it must be negotiated between the road commission and Rewold.

Esshaki also asked that four contractors provide estimates and a timeline for retrofitting the county executive building. The four companies include Rewold, two Troy-based companies — C.E. Gleeson Constructors and The Alan Group — and Royal Oak-based Ronnisch Construction Group.

Handpicking contractors would violate the state’s Public Highways and Private Roads Act and the federal Sherman Antitrust Act.

Under state law, road commissions must advertise for sealed bids for any expenses over $15,000 and ensure minority-owned companies have an equal chance to bid. The Sherman Act is intended to support unfettered competition.

Rewold’s company responded to the road commission’s ad for bidders. McPherson voted with Quarles and then-chairwoman Andrea LaLonde to approve the bid in August. The company moved forward with site preparation, hiring subcontractors and making vendor agreements.

Should the new building be canceled, Rewold, subcontractors and vendors “have spent lots of time and money and will look to get made whole — not good for anyone!” he said via text message, because they “counted on this work and turned other work down, now causing big gaps and possible layoffs. (A)gain, not good.”

Rewold said his company placated subcontractors during the first 90-day delay “but it will get ugly soon … really bad and a big waste of taxpayer money.”

Jennifer Henderson, the road commission’s attorney, told the board earlier this week that a second 90-day delay could lead to contractors canceling their agreements, which would lead to financial settlements or lawsuits that would cost more than $43 million.

Even if no lawsuits resulted, the road commission would lose at least $5 million already spent, and a $5 million federal grant.

McPherson and Esshaki imposed the first 90-day delay in construction to consider an alternative after a request from County Commission Chairman Dave Woodard.

Esshaki was appointed to the road commission in January despite opposition by some county commissioners. One objection was that potential county board openings are typically promoted to the public to draw applicants, who are vetted by a bipartisan county committee.

He was handpicked by Woodward using an application submitted for a previous road commission opening for which McPherson had been appointed.

At a January Democratic commissioners caucus, Esshaki, a developer, acknowledged he was not as well-versed in road commission rules or state law for road commission funding. He later told The Oakland Press he would work with fellow commissioners and learn the rules fairly quickly.

Esshaki, reached by phone on Friday said, “with all due respect, I’m not going to give any comment at this time.”

The road commission is separate from the county and has its own funding. Henderson urged the board to stick to the original plan to avoid potentially costly legal action.

“The board’s loyalty and other is to this agency, not the county,” Henderson said, adding that the road commission has no legal obligation to seek county approval for the administration building.

Dennis Kolar, the road commission’s managing director, said returning a $5 million federal grant puts Oakland County on a federal “fire list,” making it harder to get future federal road funding. The road commission receives close to $42 million each year in federal funding.

Esshaki wanted to repurpose the $5 million federal grant for retrofitting the executive building, which would violate the grant agreement.

On Wednesday, he requested outside legal counsel for the road commissioners.