A former public works director in Cranston has come out of retirement to temporarily serve as the state Department of Transportation’s $109,748-a-year “chief engineer,” while the longtime occupant of that position — Edmund T. Parker — remains on paid leave pending the outcome of inquiries by state auditors and the state police into DOT contracting practices.

Joseph W. Migneault, 71, was hired for a short-term run that began July 22 and is, at this time, expected to end on Sept. 30.

Asked late last week to confirm Parker’s current status, DOT spokesman Charles St. Martin said: “Yes, Mr. Parker continues to be on paid administrative leave.” With longevity bonuses, his annual salary totals $143,187.

On his resume, Migneault describes himself as a licensed professional engineer in Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Connecticut and Florida, who served 1986-97 as chief engineer in Cranston, where he “managed the design and construction of all municipal capital improvements, including street construction and school, playground and recreation projects.”

Between 1959 and ’86, he worked for “several” unnamed private construction companies. His only other role in state-level government is as a member of the consultant selection committee for the Rhode Island Turnpike and Bridge Authority.

Asked the reason the DOT felt compelled to fill the job during Parker’s leave, Director Jerome Williams issued a statement that said: “There are various documents, plans and FHWA [Federal Highway Administration] forms that require a Chief Engineer’s signature and with Mr. Parker out on leave we needed to have someone in the position.”

In addition, “the Chief Engineer must be a [professional engineer] and we interviewed both internal candidates and external candidates. Mr. Migneault is a retired professional engineer from both the City of Cranston and the private sector.”

Parker was placed on paid leave in mid-June amid what appeared, at that time, to be a widening state and federal probe of the state road-building agency’s contracting practices.

Governor Carcieri confirmed that he had asked both the state police and the state’s top federal prosecutor, U.S. Attorney Robert Clark Corrente, to investigate “potential wrongdoing” at the DOT. The governor said the Federal Highway Administration has also promised to “begin a review.”

“Over the last few months and weeks, I have become increasingly alarmed about information being uncovered at the Rhode Island Department of Transportation,” he said. “After high overhead rates in one contract were exposed, we began a review of all other DOT agreements to see if we could uncover any other, similar problems … Unfortunately, the more we looked, the more we found,” Carcieri said.

Asked what is likely to happen on Sept. 30, St. Martin said: “I spoke with Director Williams and he has no comment on your question regarding Sept. 30 and the chief engineer’s position. Additionally, he declined to comment about the state police investigation and asked that you contact the state police.”

When asked last week if the state police had subpoenaed DOT records, another spokesperson, Dana Alexander Nolfe said not that she was aware of.

However, state police Maj. Steven O’Donnell said that while “we are not taking any records out of there, we are physically entrenched there. We have people that investigate with the auditors physically at DOT.”