Town council’s bid process questioned

By Gloria Austin
Staff Writer
    The Houlton Town Council was questioned about their bid processing during Monday night’s meeting.
    Ken Dufour of Aroostook Technologies of Presque Isle was concerned about the bid on the radio tower and equipment.
    “We had five bids on this, as it was listed as five different bids in the bid specs sent to us,” said Dufour. “On three of those bids, we were low bidders and we did not receive any of this. It all got combined. It did not say it was going to be combined in the bid specs.”
    Another point addressed by Dufour was that the competition, Atlantic Communications, Inc. of Hermon, bid contained the availability of Houlton’s fire truck.
    “It wasn’t in the bid specs,” he said. “That changes some of the labor. The tower is flaking. It has to be scraped to do a proper job.”
    Though Dufour believed the council had already approved Atlantic Communications, Inc., the council at that point had not, it was on the agenda.
    Town Manager Doug Hazlett explained the bid was for five separate components.
    “It is a result of the conversion to narrow band radio compliance,” he explained.
    Houlton needs to replace the fire department repeater on Garrison Hill, as well as the public works repeater. The town is also bidding on new pagers. An ice bridge is required, according to Hazlett, to keep ice from damaging the connection between the equipment shed and tower. And, of course, the tower needs painting.
    “The way the bid was worded is that council can accept or reject any or all bids or any component of it,” explained Hazlett to the council.
    The biggest difference between the two competing bids was in the painting.
    “The way the numbers crunched out was on a total cost basis,” said Hazlett, with Atlantic being around $3,200 less [for scraping, paint and labor]. Aroostook was competitive on three [components] and Atlantic on two, with the difference being painting of the tower. It was in the best interest of the taxpayer to let the entire thing go to Atlantic Communications.”
    Councilors Mike Jenkins and Nancy Ketch were puzzled about how the Houlton fire truck usage came into being.
    “It is not an uncommon practice to do that,” said Hazlett. “But, that was not a dialogue we had with Atlantic.”
    “They took it upon themselves to call the fire department and ask if they could use the truck making the bid accordingly?” asked Ketch.
    “I think they just assumed that,” answered Hazlett. “The dialogue with Milton was it was not an unacceptable request.”
    Because of the confusion, Hazlett offered to rebid the whole package.
    “I personally don’t see the need to rebid it,” Jenkins said. “What I see is they [Atlantic Communications, Inc.] took the initiative to look at another way of doing the job and to lower their costs. So, unfortunately, they took it upon themselves to contact the fire department, in conjunction using the truck instead of climbing it [tower]. I see that as initiative on their part and I really don’t want to penalize them for finding a way to do something cheaper.”
    After discussion, Atlantic Communications, Inc. was approved for acquisition and installation of radio equipment and refurbishing the radio tower for the Fire and Public Works Departments for $31,890.80.
    Council also approved a planning grant of $10,000 from the Department of Economic and Community Development on behalf of the Houlton Band of Maliseet Indians.
    “This is a community development block grant that we were able to apply for on behalf of the Houlton Band,” he said. “It is a planning grant that they are going to use to assess the economic development opportunities for the Band and for the town, as well. I think it is a good opportunity for them and a good opportunity for the town.”
    The Houlton Band of Maliseets will be using Northern Maine Development Commission (NMDC) to do work.
    In closing, Hazlett requested postponing Councilor Jenkins dialogue on the Millar Civic Center until the next council meeting on Sept. 12 at 6:30 p.m. since Councilors Brian Donnelly and John Fitzpatrick were absent.
    “I will put it on the agenda as a listed discussion item,” Hazlett said. “Other parties wishing to come and participate can do that, as well.”
    Each councilor sent their condolences to the John Fitzpatrick family on the loss of his wife, Nancy.