South Frontenac Council - Aug 8/13

Jeff Green | Aug 08, 2013

A Cold Wind Blows Through Council

The sole August meeting of South Frontenac Council brought with it a number of unusually divisive items, which caused a reluctant Mayor Davison to cast the deciding ballot on at least two occasions.

The most controversial item was also one that could have been the most straightforward, and it is one that brings one of the basic services the township offers, winter road maintenance, into limbo as the winter snow season begins to loom.

The tender bids for 5-year contracts on six routes were presented to Council. The lowest acceptable bids for all the contracts were submitted by Mulrooney Trucking, ranging from $147 to $159 per unit hour. Neadow Construction put in a bid for $180 on two of the routes, Cruikshank's put in bids of $269 on all routes, and Carillon $720 on all routes.

The only complication in the process lay in the fact that two of the bidders, Percy Snider and Scott’s Snow Removal, had their bids rejected. The bids were supposed to include a $5,000 cheque as a bid deposit and a second $5,000 cheque as a performance bond. Both bidders included only one $5,000 cheque with their bid and were thus rejected by Public Works.

Percy Snider’s price, on two of the routes, was almost the same as Mulrooney’s on the two routes he bid on, at $157.15 and $164. Scott’s bid $129 on two of the other routes.

By recommending that all the contracts be awarded to Mulrooney’s, which is a change from current practice, Public Works Manager Mark Segsworth said there might be some impact on response times by crews after the first snow of the season in the first year.

“There will be some growing pains, and we will feel it on the first snow storm of the year, there is no question about it. But there will be savings in the long run,” said Segsworth.

Some members of Council were unhappy with the idea of shutting Percy Snider, a long-time contractor for the township, out of all the contracts.

“I'd like to throw in my two cents,” said Mayor Davison. “I know one of these contractors has worked for us for years and years, and a performance bond is for someone whom we don’t know. I don’t see why they need to submit one.”

Chief Administrative Officer Wayne Orr read from the township's procedural bylaw which states that failure to submit required cheques with a tender bid will result in the bid being disqualified.

“The procedural bylaw is clear, and as staff we have no option but to follow it. Council has the authority to override the bylaw; staff doesn’t. But council will also take on a degree of risk for overriding its own rules to favour one contractor over others,” Orr said.

“Are you aware that there are 12 employees within the township with one contractor - jobs that will be lost?” asked Councilor Bill Robinson.

“We are not arguing that fact,” said Councilor Ron Vandewal, “We don’t know where the employees live; we are trying to get to a process that is open, and hopefully fair and honest.”

When it came time to vote on accepting the staff recommendation to award the contracts to Mulrooney’s, a recorded vote was requested. Councilors John McDougall, Alan McPhail, Ron Vandewal and Pat Barr all voted to accept the contract, and Councilors Larry York, Del Stowe, Bill Robinson, and Deputy Mayor Cam Naish voted no, leaving it up to Mayor Gary Davison, who hesitated before voting no.

CAO Orr asked if Council was going to give any subsequent direction to staff but none was provided. Staff will prepare a report to the next meeting, in early September, on alternatives going forward. A new tender process will be somewhat compromised because the bids on the aborted first tender have now become public knowledge.

Coat of Arms

A less pressing matter, that of whether to spend $5,000 on a painted aluminium coat of arms to hang in the township office, also split council but not as bitterly. The budget for the coat of arms, which was included in the 2013 budget, capped the project at $4,000, and the Corporate Services Committee recommended that Council not move forward, and hang a framed paper copy of the new coat of arms instead.

“I don’t agree with the committee,” said Councilor John McDougall. “If you look at it short term, we can save $1,000. I looked at print copy today, and while it looks fine, on the wall it will be almost unreadable. We have a community that is extremely proud of its history, and for a $1,000 extra we have a chance to honour that history.”

Again in a recorded vote, McDougall, Naish, Barr, McPhail and Davison carried the day and approved the expenditure.

Anger over the tender decision lingered to the end of the meeting, leading Councilor Ron Vandewal to say he was going to vote against a housekeeping bylaw confirming all decisions of council that are approved at the end of each meeting. Vandewal got enough support to defeat the confirming bylaw. It is not clear what, if any impact there will be from defeating the confirming bylaw.

South Frontenac residents will be watching the skies carefully this August and September, however, hoping that there is no early snow coming. The forecast for the next two weeks calls for daytime temperatures in the mid-20s and night-time temperatures in the mid-teens so residents need not worry until at least the 21st of August.