Some members of Dysart et al council want to see the township amend its procurement policy, moving away from a digital-only system that manages project bids in one place to one that also accepts paper proposals from County-based companies.
At its June 24 meeting, while discussing results from a tender put out for winter sand screening at Carroll Pit, which drew only one bid, deputy mayor Walt McKechnie said he felt the township’s existing process was “not really fair to local contractors who could put bids in.”
The job was to have someone come into the township-owned Carroll Pit and use municipal materials to prepare sand for winter road maintenance. Public works director Rob Camelon said eight interested parties attended a site meeting earlier this year, but only one company, Francis Thomas Contracting based in Algonquin Highlands, submitted a bid, totalling $344,637 plus HST.
McKechnie flagged the township requiring a bid bond – a financial guarantee from a contractor ensuring they follow through with a project – as one reason for the lack of local interest.
CAO Tamara Wilbee pointed out the lone bidder was a local business, while Camelon said he didn’t hear any comments or concerns from any would-be bidder while the project was open.
Wilbee noted staff are reviewing its procurement policies to look at new ways of attracting interest in municipal projects. Mayor Murray Fearrey suggested allowing certified checks, money orders, or lines of credit as an alternative to bid bonds.
Coun. Barry Boice, who owns Blair Sand & Gravel, said he knows many local companies don’t bother bidding on projects that require bonds.
“Full disclosure, it deterred my company,” he said. “There are a lot of companies in the area more than capable of doing that work, but when we hear the word ‘bond’ it takes things to another level, and we’re not prepared for that.”
Coun. Pat Casey, who owns construction firm Total Site Services, said his company “didn’t bother with it either” because of the bond requirement. He added another layer to the discussion by asking why the township doesn’t allow both electronic and physical bids on tenders.
Wilbee said Dysart has been using its virtual ‘bids and tenders’ software for the past five years, opining it’s the only way to run an open and transparent process. Casey felt that was excluding people who aren’t as computer literate as others.
“If [we’re using] community tax dollars, we should be doing what we can to ensure the money stays in the community and there’s accountability for that,” he said. “If we have to massage those systems, to me, that’s our job.”
Casey pitched turning down the Francis Thomas bid and re-tendering the work, allowing a mix of virtual and physical bids and other modes of security.
Camelon said if the township put out the same tender just because it didn’t like the price, they could be challenged in court. Clerk Mallory Bishop also warned about some councillors potentially being in a conflict of interest.
“I’m not the integrity commissioner, but I would caution council of turning down a bid, re-tendering and then awarding a contract to a company of someone who is on council,” Bishop said.
Camelon was concerned re-tendering wouldn’t leave enough time to complete the work. Under the current bid, sand will be ready for hauling in mid-September.
Through this deal, Casey said he felt the township “could be paying $100,000 in excess of what the job’s really worth.”
Council opted to award the contract to Francis Thomas Contracting.
Boice, Casey and coun. Carm Sawyer circled back on adopting a hybrid system for bidding.
“Go through bids and tenders, but also do it with paper. What is wrong with opening an envelope that says the bid, like it used to be done 15 or 20 years ago? What’s the problem with that?” Boice asked. Wilbee rebutted, “accountability and transparency.”
She said staff are available to assist anyone having issues with the virtual process, while pointing to help guides on the municipal website. Wilbee said staff put out a couple of projects last term that didn’t require bid bonds, saying it didn’t increase interest.
“We got single bids still. We promoted through the Haliburton County Home Builders’ Association, and it didn’t change the outcome,” she said.
Despite that, Dysart will now accept other security options for projects under $500,000, though anything over $500,000 still requires a bid bond, pending legal review.
