Trash hauling bid update
From the MRJs Jesse Buchanan:
Democratic and Republican town councilors agreed Wednesday to offer a bid for the waste hauling contract that includes options for a one, three and five-year contract. The multi-year bid requires that companies bid on manual trash hauling for all three options.
I thank the Solid Waste Committee Chairman, Matt Altieri, and my fellow Solid Waste Committee member, Laura DeCaprio.
Tim White
12 comments:
Good for Tim White for sticking by his guns. Finally a victory for transparency and honesty in town government.
There never should have been any question that a multi-year contract go out for competitive bidding. Anything else smacks of favoritism.
It's amazing how things change when you shine some light on the subject and the politicos that make questionable decisions.
Thanks Tim for the light.
What have we learned from this? We have learned you cannot trust Town officials, why? It appears the Town after getting contract renewal numbers form AJ Waste allowed the numbers to become public information. That was a injustice to AJ Waste. No doubt they supplied the town information and would have expected that info to be held in confidence. Why did the town allow the info out? How would you feel if your info went public before a competitive bid process?
The town's procurement processes seem quite flawed. Of course a case can be made that in the end blaming the bad process might not be as effective at starting a positive change as blaming those who implemented and now maintain the process in the first place.
Rather then asking why did the town let the information out everyone should be questioning why an incumbent provider would be handing over such information prior to the issuance of RFPs by the town in the first place?
Something is fishy here and maybe it's just leftovers from the original contract which clearly was not in the town's best interests to begin with.
"Something is fishy here and maybe it's just leftovers from the original contract which clearly was not in the town's best interests to begin with."
What was not in the towns best interest?
" It appears the Town after getting contract renewal numbers form AJ Waste allowed the numbers to become public information. That was a injustice to AJ Waste. No doubt they supplied the town information and would have expected that info to be held in confidence."
This looks like a prime case of anti-trust. I would wait until the bids are opened then sue the town for every dime. If the council really cared for the town, once the numbers were released they should have accepted the bid waver and put out an RFP for the following year(s). That would be the only way I can see the town getting out of this cleanly.
Mr. DeVylder, you miss the point again... Why would AJ's give that information before the town issued RFP's?
You seem to have inside knowledge, so enlighten us.
Even if they had any doubt whether or not the town put the job out to bid, is it smart business practice to handover your bid before everyone else?
Why would AJ's give the town their price before the town issued RFP's?
It sure looks like they expected to get a no-bid contract through their inside friends.
It also looks like Altieri flipped his position when too many people began asking questions.
It sure looks like they expected to get a no-bid contract through their inside friends.
Having attended the meetings, I have no reason to believe there are any inside friends here.
Rather, I think there was less-than-perfect communication... including on my own part.
"Why would AJ's give that information before the town issued RFP's?"
First off, AJ's approached the town when THEY realized the town was not ready for the current contract to expire. AJ's offer was to continue service with a 2.35% increase. That is less than the increase the current contract calls for. AJ was trying to help the town by offering a set number to the town so we can prepare a working budget for the upcoming year. This coming Tuesday night, the budget is due to the Town Council. The cost for hauling trash will only be an estimate and if Mr Milone goes by AJ's offer, than we will be low to start.
By my estimate, the council will vote on a budget with 2.3 million dollars of unknowns. What is the point? After all the debating is done, the budget is still not going to be usable and if every dollar is used, we will start in a deficite. Are we going to have LESS sand for roads next year? Will the seniors be ok with 1 less bus or reduced hours at the senior center? Can the board of Ed get rid of some teachers? Are we willing to get rid of some sports? Will we let these small gardens all over town be overgrown?
All AJ Waste was trying to do is offer the town some assistance. AJ proposed a 2.35% increase and the council told the world the starting price.
The Wallinger family is also republican, and they donate heavy to the party. If they had friends in the council, wouldnt they be republicans?
"Rather, I think there was less-than-perfect communication... including on my own part"
Thank you Tim
Mr Devylder's comments seem to indicate something fishy going on. He stated that AJ's approached the town when THEY realized the town was not ready for the current contract to expire. So the town had 5 years notice that the contract would expire and at the end of 5 years the town is no closer to issuing an RFP for competitive bids then is was 5 years ago. Amazing how little substantive work got done.
Mr Devylder stated that AJ's offer was to continue service with a 2.35% increase. That is less than the increase the current contract calls for. This is yet another amazing piece of information. One could come away from this item wondering just how much excess charges the town encountered from its trash hauler if the hauler could now offer a price reduction even though fixed costs like fuel, labor, maintenance etc are seen to being rising.
He goes on to suggest the council will vote on a budget with 2.3 million dollars of unknowns. This is a no-brainer and in a sense it shows how our elected and paid officials maybe are not really doing an effective job. What nonsense, putting together a budget with that much guess work in it. If budget shortfalls came out of employee wages instead of voter bank accounts things would be different.
It is claimed that the family owning the hauling business is also republican, and they donate heavy to the party. On the surface maybe they should be giving more to the Democrats!
Mr D makes a good case showing problems associated with town government, not just with the hauling contract.
Reform of town business practices is way past due. Overhaul the town procurement and planning processes. Fixed duration, multi year contracts should be re-bid at the end of their terms as a routine matter. The TC and TM need to stop playing the HERO game by pretending to save us at the 11th hour because no one did their job for several years prior to the planned ending of routine contracts.
What if we were to replace all of our town leaders and start fresh? Get some new blood in there and see if things work the way they should. Maybe we should follow Connecticut's suggestion for Board of Ed members and make everyone an independant. Change the leaders and loose the parties.
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