The Selectboard approved a no bid contract for an engineering study related to the replacement of the box culvert on Route 132. Fees paid to Stantec Engineering are not subject to competitive bids. The action, taken on June 10, was not on the agenda. That seems like a violation of the Vermont Open Meeting Law. No materials were in the original Selectboard packet.
In addition, the Selectboard packet was “revised” after issuance to include information about the no-bid contract. As far as I know, the public did not get notice about this material addition to the packet. At best, the revisions occurred the day before the meeting. If you read the packet before then, as did I, you were left in the dark.
Is this how we conduct Town business in Norwich?
Packet revision
The practice in Norwich is for the Town Manager to deliver to the Selectboard a packet of documents pertinent to the meeting agenda. The packet typically goes out the Friday evening before a Wednesday meeting. The packet is also posted to the Town’s website. The public receives notice via the listserv and email distribution list.
The concept is to allow Board members and the public time to read and digest information prior to the meeting. For the public, the materials also give context to the meeting agenda. The materials in the packet may have bearing on a resident’s decision to attend a meeting.
On occasion, the Town Manager distributes an addendum to the packet. The addendum appears on the website and public notified.
Sixteen pages were added to the June 10 packet after it was originally issued on Friday. The Town Manager did not issue an addendum. Based on my listserv search, the public did not get notice of the revisions. See below.
To me, changing the packet after it issues is offensive to the public trust. I do NOT suspect the deep state is working in secret here. But, I also don’t think it is a burden to tell the public.
The Town Manager told the Selectboard of his plans to revise the packet. “I’m forwarding it to you and asking Miranda to amend the packet,” says the June 9 email. At the end of the email, the Town Manager adds a note to his assistant. “Miranda, Can you revise the packet, again, to please include the attached draft RFP and this e-mail.” (Emphasis added.)
The “again” noted above gives me further pause. Is it common practice to revise the packet, adding and deleting pages?
No bid contract
According to the draft meeting minutes for the June 10 Selectboard meeting:
Layton moved (2nd Langhus) to allow the Town Manager to exercise an exception to the Purchasing Policy under §11a “Competitive Proposals” allowing for Stantec Engineering to proceed with engineering/scoping/permitting for replacement of the box culvert on Rte. 132 near Bowen Hill Road, as referenced in the June 9, 2020 email from Herb Durfee to the Selectboard. Motion passed unanimously.
As a result of this action, the fees paid to Stantec Engineering are not subject to competitive bids. No Board member asked for an estimate of cost.
With respect to the Open Meeting Law, approval of an exception to the Town’s Purchasing Policy was not an agenda item for the June 10 Selectboard meeting. Indeed, agenda item 11 suggests the opposite. “Update on status of RFP.” The term RFP means “requests for proposals” or in other words, competitive bids.
On a pragmatic basis, however, I understand the Town Manager’s and Selectboard’s desire to get moving on the project. The goal is to make the repair during this construction season, to avoid an extra $31,000 cost for a traffic light for one lane traffic. However, I don’t understand why no Selectboard member sought to clarify, if only for the public record, why competitive bids were impossible to obtain. We may need that traffic light, in any event.
In addition, I expected the RFP to be out already. Two weeks earlier, at its May 27 meeting, the Selectboard authorized “the Town Manager to put out an RFP for work on the Rte. 132 box culvert,” say the draft meeting minutes. What happened?
At the June 25 Selectboard meeting, the Town Manager explained the no-bid exception. “[The] purchasing policy allows – in these time-pressed circumstances and given the recent competitive bid process for similar engineering services – the town to proceed without a bid on engineering services, according to the draft meeting minutes. “When the culvert is constructed, there will be bids sought for that work.”
[ As an aside, I note the Town Manager’s position is disquietly analogous to the one taken with respect to the Tracy Hall geothermal project. Even after it was clear that an Energy Performance Contract was dead in the water, the project was not rebid. EEI, the sole bidder on an Energy Performance Contract, remained in place as designer, engineer and general contractor.If the project goes forward, major components of the geothermal project will be bid out. But, the fees to be paid to EEI are yet unknown.]
I have doubts whether the exception in § 11.a. to the Purchasing Policy applies in this instance. See below for text. First, the exception to the Purchasing Policy, excepts the requirement of “sealed bids”, not competitive bids. Second, it is not clear to me that “most” qualified firm is needed here, regardless of price. Even the Tigertown Road culvert project, bids were sought and scored based on qualification and price. Above all, the Selectboard did not press the Town Manager on why other qualified firms were not asked about their availability and pricing, if only for the public record.
High expectations?
It occurs to me that this post may be overly critical of the Town Manager and Selectboard. Public officials, let me know in the comment section or by email. I don’t doubt that officials are acting in good faith and working hard.
However, I wonder if both the Selectboard and Town Manager have too much on their plates to be effective for the Town of Norwich. Being too busy has its pitfalls. It is an issue that I have thought about, even before Covid-19. It’s also a theme, to which I may return.
Thanks, Chris,for your always thoughtful discussion of a topic of import to the town.