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Burton Council retains no-bid contracts
(by Joseph Koziol Jr. - April 29, 2009)
Burton Council retains no-bid contracts
By JOSEPH KOZIOL JR.
Burton Village Council soundly rejected a resolution Monday that would have established a formal policy for bidding work done in the village.
Council voted 5-1 to defeat the proposed policy, with some members saying the action could have paralyzed the village on routine jobs.
"We couldn't even get a tree cut down that represents a danger," Councilwoman Sandra Humbert said.
Councilman Jeffrey Coleman said he previously made his objections known and believes the measure was too extreme.
He said, while the State of Ohio establishes a $25,000 limit for requiring the submittal of formal bids for work, the new policy would have established a $2,000 limit. "That is a 92 percent reduction," Mr. Coleman said.
He said such a limit would affect and add to the costs for at least three routine jobs handled each year by outside contractors.
Mr. Coleman said he had discussed increasing the limit to "something less severe," such as a $10,000 cap for items to be bid. "It's too extreme, it's not needed," he said.
Councilman Darren LaForce, who had spearheaded the effort on the legislation and was the lone affirmative vote, said the village wasted a lot of time and effort to produce the legislation that was then defeated. "We spent a lot of time and money on this," he said. "It was just a waste of taxpayers' money."
Mr. LaForce said the village paid its law director to craft the legislation and be involved with discussions. He said various department heads also spent their time helping to prepare the legislation. After eight months, it was all for naught, he said. "Let's not wait eight months to do this."
The legislation was spurred by a disagreement between the village and the Ronyak Brothers Paving Inc. in late 2008, after the company lost out on a crack-sealing contract. Company officials had expressed concern that one of the companies that submitted a quote was later allowed to change it.
The company asked that the village provide a more transparent and standard approach to awarding work in the village.
Craig Ronyak asked Village Council Monday how it could guarantee, without the policy, that no improprieties would occur in the future.
Mrs. Humbert said that a "new regime" is in place in the village that would not allow the problems of the past to arise again. "I don't think it will be an issue," she said.
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