Massachusetts Appeals Court June 23, 1997, No. 97-P-166 (Cataldo Ambulance Service, Inc. v. City of Chelsea)

Greenberg, J.

According to that line of decisions — the most recent example of which is Thorn Transit Sys. Intl., Ltd. v. Massachusetts Bay Transp. Authy., 40 Mass. App. Ct. 650 (1996) — dealing with contracts governed by a public bidding statute, public agencies may not permit substantial deviations from the prescribed bidding process.