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Monday, May 26, 2014

Is Our Town Council Going To Make A Decision Without All The Facts‏

IS OUR TOWN COUNCIL GOING TO    MAKE A DECISION WITHOUT ALL        THE FACTS?

Attached is the Memorandum provided to the Town Council for consideration, subject:  Unitil Paving Proposal.  This memorandum is from Ryan Leighton and NOT Unitil; so where is the paving proposal from Unitil?


There are so many unanswered questions NOT provided by Mr. Leighton.  I am going to try and list questions that need to be answered before the council votes on this issue.
1.   Where is the paving proposal from Unitil?
2.  Where is the map detailing the route of this project?
3.  What are the distances from Route 196 to the main to connect the MTM Center and then on to the Brunswick Housing Authority (BHA).
4.  If Public Works is going to be doing the trenching, what is this going to cost the Town (labor and material)?
5.  If the Town is doing all the trenching, why should the Town pay for any of the paving?
6.  If the cost of paving is $13,000.00, why is this not going out to bid as required by the Town’s Purchasing Policy?
7.   What is the Brunswick Housing Authority’s part in this project?
8.  If there is not a hook-up fee, what is the $1,852.00 for?
9.  If Unitil stated they were going to do the project at no cost to the Town, why is the town going to be doing the trenching and required to pay half of the paving?

As you can see there are numerous questions that are still unanswered.  This is a very shoddy proposal coming from a Department Head receiving a salary of over $78,000.00 from the taxpayers of Lisbon.  But what else would you expect from a person with absolutely no credentials.

I am shocked that this incomplete proposal was even placed on the agenda with so many unanswered questions.  I hope the council does not push this item through without having all the facts present and discussed by both the council and the people.  At Tuesday night’s meeting, there is no Audience Participation portion so the people will have no say on this agenda item.

If this agenda item is pushed through on Tuesday night, someone should be looking to see who is receiving a kick-back on this project.

Larry Fillmore

1 comment:

Gregg said...

Lets start with the fact that this is NOT a town project, it is a Unitil project so putting paving out to bid would NOT be Mr. Leighton's responsibility.

The town is providing services inkind rather than pay Unitil for the gas lines to be installed. The town and BHA are splitting the cost since we both desire gas service to our buildings.

As for Unitil providing that installation for free, I was not at that meeting, so I cannot comment on what may or may not have been said. I will simply say I have doubts Unitil would be willing to provide the extension of the gas line at no cost.

Unitil is a business and unless they have a reasonable expectation of making back that expense along with a profit in a relatively short period of time, they are not going to provide it at no cost.

As for the "special meeting" the purpose of the meeting is NOT to vote on the Unitil proposal, it was scheduled for the purpose of appointing our new town manager in a timely manner. The addition of the Unitil project was a result of tabling the issue from our meeting on the 20th.

In accordance with the council meeting rules, general comments were permitted on May 20th. What would be the reason for further general comments? I am sure time will be allotted, in accordance with the council working rules, for additional questions (if necessary).