Lisbon Town Manager Stephen G. Eldridge
WINTER SAND BID
If you look at the Town Council Agenda for November 5, 2013,
you will find the Winter Sand Bid on it again.
This is the third time the council has had
to consider the Winter Sand Bid. So why are we still playing with the
Winter Sand Bid?
This is a direct result
of the Town Manager, Stephen Eldridge, not complying with our town ordinance,
Chapter 86, Purchasing Policy. Mr.
Eldridge accepted a sealed bid that was incomplete and then tried to justify it
with the council but Councilor Pesce pointed out the bid was incomplete. Mr. Eldridge’s attempt to slide the
incomplete bid was because the majority of the council believes EVERYTHING he
says. Councilors LaRochelle, Ward,
Bickford and Mason believe every word that comes out of Mr. Eldridge’s mouth.
Once Councilor Pesce pointed out the bid was incomplete
several others supported Councilor Pesce in getting the agenda item tabled
until the next meeting of the council.
When the next meeting came up, the bid was still
screwed up and Council Pesce brought it out to the council. Instead, of throwing out the incomplete bid,
the majority of the council voted to approve the bid. Councilors Pesce and Lunt voted against
accepting the incomplete bid.
The winning bidder delivered the sand to Public Works. Public Works inspected the sand and performed
a Sieve test on the sand upon arrival and the sand failed the Sieve test not
once but twice. It is my understanding that
the Town Manager, made a command decision and rejected the winning bidders sand
and elected to go to the next lower bidder.
The sand was immediately delivered because of the changing weather. I believe this was the right decision because
of the changing weather in Maine there is no telling what could happen.
So this brings us to Tuesday’s agenda and why the Winter
Sand Bid is back on the agenda. The town
manager made the right decision and went with the next lower bidder and the
sand was delivered. According to the
documentation, the total cost of the sand is $8,925.00. The amount of the bill is under $10,000 and
therefore does not require council approval so why are we wasting the council’s
time with this again?
Can someone tell me why this town is paying the Town Manager
over $90,000 dollars a year?
Larry Fillmore