Business & Tech

Clinton Crossing Parent Company Still Owes Big-Time Blizzard Bill

"It's basically a big corporation pushing the little guy around because they feel that they can, but it's not right."

This article was written by Fay Abrahamsson.

Call it Nemo or Storm Charlotte, but the blizzard that hit Connecticut on Feb. 8 of this year will not soon be forgotten.   One company in particular appears to be forgetting the blizzard and the fact that they owe another company $454,000 in outstanding snow removal costs.  

Simon Property Group of Roseland, New Jersey, owner of Clinton Crossing Premium Outlets, has yet to pay M. Neves Inc., of Dartmouth, Massachusetts $454,000 for snow removal services for the Clinton property. They also owe Neves $300,000 for similar services at Wrentham Village Premium Outlets in Massachusetts.  

Patch spoke to co-owner Mario Neves about the situation.  

“Everyone was aware of the rates and the task at hand,” said Neves, who noted that the $454,000 Clinton bill went out on Feb. 15.   

Neves said his company was hired by Simon Property to clear snow from the parking lots and roofs of the Clinton outlet property.  More than 100 workers were subcontracted to do the job including one from Clinton, B&R Landscaping, said Neves.  

Because Simon Property has not paid Neves, the subcontractors have not been paid.  

B&R Landscaping, along with other subs, worked 24-hour days during the blizzard to move snow. They were told to shovel show off the buildings, as the management team was afraid of a roof collapse.  

The roof of a warehouse building off Old Post Road in Clinton owned by Unilever did collapse during the blizzard.  

Neves said he does not understand why Simon Properties has not paid the bill.  

“The on-site management team was with us and agreed that we did exactly what was asked,” he said. “They signed us in, did head counts, and signed us out. They acknowledged invoices were accurate and lined up with the onsite sign-in sheet.”  

Neves said they worked day and night and maintained a 24-hour operation as requested by the Simon Property regional vice president, a person no longer employed by the company.  

“They knew how to reach us when there was a ton of snow on the ground and the roofs were ready to collapse. Now they are ignoring us and have not paid us a dime,” said Neves.  “It’s basically a big corporation pushing the little guy around because they feel that they can, but it’s not right.  

Phone calls to the Simon Property headquarters as well as the Clinton Crossing Premium Outlet management team were not returned, but this statement was emailed to Patch: "It is the policy of Simon Property Group not to comment on contractual agreements which are deemed proprietary."  The emailed statement should be attributed to the Management of Clinton Crossing Premium Outlets.  


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here