Thursday, February 09, 2012
Landfill groundwater analysis bid results 1 thru 4
Bid openings occurred at last nights council meeting. No action was taken on this matter as the bids were referred to the Building and Grounds Committee for review and recommendation. These bid results speak volumes on the value of open market competition for city contracts and services. I will provide a more detailed post on this issue in the near future. Until then feel free to comment on these very interesting results. These numbers represent annual cost.
PDC Laboratories $27,021.14 /
Environmental Monitoring Technologies, Inc $35,124.00 /
Practical Environmental Consultantts, Inc. $36,806.00 /
TEST, Inc. $43,950.50.
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72 comments:
Did the City ever bid out water testing services before?
The city didn't have to bid this service before Test provided it for FREE. Now it will be done by a contractor outside our area and we will give them $27,000.00 a year. People need to wake up. Our management in Peru looks stupid when they do these things. Why doesn't this blog comment on how much they are spending so foolishly.
2:57PM
Your comment makes no sense. If TEST was doing it for free before, their bid should have been something like $1.00 and they would have been the low bidder and actually would have been paid more than the FREE service they are now offering.
What in the world are thinking they bid the highest amount when they were doing it free before?
We are commenting all the time.
3:12 PM
Should be What in the world are they (TEST) thinking when they bid the highest amount.
there is a simple answer to that! they bid the highest because they no longer want to do it for free after the slap in the face. Rod is a real go getter, he doesnt even know what services are being done for free and what the city is paying for so now he just added a 27 thousand dollar bill on instead of reducing anything. yea i would be trying to cut out donations too if i had just foolishly cost the city 27 grand. c'mon people wake up here, nothing is getting better with all this crap its getting worse. the guy is a bozo and the main act at the circus we call a council meeting. he never has his facts straight and always has to get back about it etc. here is an idea come to the meeting prepared for a change. And this is the fair and transparency we all had hoped for, im ashamed to say this but given the choice id take bakes back in a heart beat! at least things got done and we werent adding expenses to the plate in our search for "fairness and transparency" im telling you people we better wake up, seems like with all the changes the city gets a step closer, we are circling the drain here all in the name of "fair and transparent" government that is not that at all. Read between the lines Rod is no better that the good old boys he is just a "good new boy" he must have a friend he wants a job testing the soil just like he wants to get his friends some full time jobs at the fire department.
11:07 PM
Sorry not Rodneys fault but the law which needs to be followed and it sure as H...is about time.
I think you need to prove to all, that it was being done for free and why. Put it down in black and white.
if the city did pay for the testing there would be copies of checks and a paper trail right? why doesn't someone research what bills the city pays and to whom and then put some of these "free" comments to bed
did I read in a previous post that the city pays TEST about $600k a year for monitoring the water and waste water plant?
Anon 11:07
I highly doubt that a company would do any work for free, they wouldn't be in business for long if that was the case that just doesn't make sense - we aren't that stupid to believe that
To 2:57 p.m. and 11:07 p.m. - You two jokers are the poison that sicken the people looking for answers on this blog.
What do you see when you look in the mirror?
Steve if all quality of services between PDC Laboratories ($27,021.14) and TEST, Inc. (43,950.50) are equal the bids results speak volumes on the value of open market competition for city contracts and services.
Presently TEST, Inc. has a annual contract with Peru for $600,000. Since TEST has been giving the city $43,950.50 of service for free (no charge) and PDC would perform this service for $27,021.14 it only makes good business sense to deduct their bid from their annual contractual bid and accept PDC's bid resulting in a savings of $16,929.36 and/or 38.6% annually.
To elaborate upon this issue a base savings of 38.6% has been realized therefore let us take a $600,000 bid from TEST and apply it to PDC Laboratories lower bid of 38.6% and a savings of $231,600 annually and their bid would not be $600,000 but a earthshaking competitive bid of $368,400.
Even TEST, Inc. bean counters would not debate the value of open market competition for city contracts and services when analyzing these figures.
Have city officials of Peru ever let bids out in competition to TEST Inc.? Being that four corporations entered bids and TEST was significantly higher than the other three it appears that it is time to shake the bush.
To 6:51 a.m. and 6:59 a.m. - I have copies of quarterly invoices submitted by TEST and "paid" by the city of Peru for groundwater analysis services at the landfill for the past five years. TEST,Inc claims the amount charged has always been the same. Let's do the math. Based on city records, the cost to the city for the past 15 years has been 43,950.50 per year for a total of $659,257.50. Taking into consideration the bid results from Wednesday and "if" this work had been allowed to be competitively bid by the previous administration some 15 years ago, the city would have saved the taxpayers of Peru $16,929.36 per year for the past 15 years for a total savings of $253,940.04 over that period. That is what we have been overpaying for these services because of "protectionism" and "unethical" behavior on the part of elected officials in Peru. Both past and present.
I'm wondering why someone would come on a blog and make ass-u mtions on behalf of Test that they bid high because they didn't want it anymore being they got slapped in the face by the city? As a contractor myself I would say from experience that the 40,000.00 bid by test was hidden somewhere in the .5 million dollars billed in other areas.
No contractor would give a 30,000.00 dollar service for free. If true, and I was the owner of Test I would have bid 1.00 and said haha.. Screw you for being stupid.
I don't understand why if this was a free service by Test why did it have to be Bid? I read it was only for anything 20,000.00 and up? Test should have already had 00.00 listed in the other contract. If I bid 280,000 to build a home and chose to include the 8,000.00 landscaping for free it would be stated in the main contract. Then the homeowner wouldnt have to go out for bid on landscape.
So something is very fishy with the above posters comments.
Why would Rod be the one called out here? Didn't the rest of the council agree that a bid should be had? Even if it wasnt a laW it's what should be done in any gov.
When is the remainder of the contract up I'm sure it will be bid out so will Test say screw you ill be the highest bidder? Don't think so.
Great job on keeping an honest government Rod, even if it did cost the city more it's the way it should have been all along. PERU council finally has a voice! As I said if it really does cost the city more... Honesty isn't Free.
TEST is not giving the landfill testing for free. the price is and has been for years $43,950. They have a SEPARATE agreement with the city for operations of the water plant and the two wastewater plants.
Are those Crickets I hear coming from 11:07?? Seems 11:07 was fooled by " the good ole boys " Thank god for Rod and the New Boys Club for watching out for our tax dollars.
how can a company say they did these services for free when they cashed the checks all these years
Cmon people..the company never said they did anything for free...the poeple here said that...be gratefull the city is able to save some $$
seems like for years they told the citizens of peru that these services were free and now with the open bid's and everything made public they have to come clean...hmmm
Anon 1:57
I can assure you that the people here never believed that the services were free we just wanted to know how much we were getting pilleged for
Don't give Alderman Perez all the credit for making the city bid out the landfill because I was at the meeting when the full council except for the sausage puller all agreed to seek bids. Way to go council!! So much for Test taking you guys out for dinners. Next you will probably throw your Chamlin meals under the bus then find yourselves eating crow.
I guess the Yearly party bash held in Chicago will soon be coming to an end since all the aldermen pulled the rug out from Test and Chamlin.
so how does this work, does the bids go for a vote? and if the votes sway towards TEST will we be stuck paying to the highest bidder?
Yes it should go to a council vote and I believe state law obliges them to accept the lowest as long as all specifications indicated when it went to bid are met.
Should be interesting... I have reservations on the council vote, TEST has always gotten it and I still think there are to many that sit on council that are on TEST'S side - hopefully change is in our future!
I'm confused on this issue. When and where did TEST advocate that they did the landfill testing for free? Some seem to indicate such but I haven't been convinced that such a statement was ever made by TEST. If TEST wanted to continue doing this work why would they bid so high? I'm not defending anyone or blaming anyone but I'm slightly confused on this issue. I don't think we should be blaming TEST for this mess that apparently has existed for years up til today. We should blame ourselves and our administration (both past and present) for allowing this practice to exist.
I'm sure if that is the case Lois, whichever committee is reviewing it will say all specs were not met and the winner goes to.....TEST
Still to many good old boys on that stage. This could be very interesting as we may see allot of BS come our way. How sad if so.
Here would be my prediction of the vote so let's take a poll on who keeps TEST
Bob A. YES
Tony F. YES
Dave P. NO
Rodney P NO
Dave W. Yes
Mike R. Yes
Sherry M. No
Jim L. Yes
Bob A should not be allowed to vote as his daughter works for TEST....conflict of interest IMHO
5 PM Hopefully Tony, Mike and Jim are smarter than that, time will tell.
Dave P will vote yes for sure
Pottoff needs TEST to work on his campaign for mayor like they did for his council seat - so i will say yes from him
In my opinion why even bother if the old regime still dictates and hold all the cards - seems like it doesn't matter who out bids who if the good ole boys still have all the control and the citizens have none!! so TEST will be the ones laughing at us when this all ends!
Anon 5:00
might be kind of hard to prove all the 3 lower bids didn't meet specifications but miraculously TEST did - that would look kind of illegal and shady!! If that happens I've lost all respect for the city of peru
It is important to pay close attention - the details matter. When this came up at the Council meeting on Jan 16, the discussion between the Council and TEST revealed that the service was not being provided for "free". Rather, that the City was being charged only for the cost of the laboratory analysis. I recall that TEST stated those costs added up to roughly $40,000 per year (based on quarterly testing requirements per Illinois EPA). In fact, the minutes from that meeting state the following: "Alderman Ankiewicz reported that TEST, Inc has been serving as our testing agency at the landfill, providing free labor and only charging the City for lab fees. The Council discussed going out for bids and preparation of bid specifications and agreed to go out for bids with a February 8th due date." So, while TEST was providing the overall service at a discount to their full cost, they were definitely charging the City for the cost of running all the various laboratory analyses. Based strictly on the announced bid prices, it appears that other companies are able to conduct these same analyses at a lesser cost than TEST. Again, the details matter, and the City should be careful to make sure that what the other companies bid will provide an equivalent or superior quality and service as TEST before an award is made.
I think more than a few people owe Alderman Perez an apology, and, in this case at least, we should all thank the Council as a whole for taking their fiscal responsibility seriously. Perhaps this will be an important lesson learned and remembered.
One of these days, someone is going to file complaints w the state against the city for not repecting the bidding LAWS. Alderman are starting to piss off a lot of big businesses in this area that want a piece of the govt pie too. I see a point "being proven" in the very near future.
Anon 8:57
Is the contract with the city for $600k discounted also? So should we "bow" when we see someone from TEST because of their superior quality and service?
Apples to apples or is this like buy the cheap valve exerciser and realizing it did not include the motor rendering it useless?
Few things to review before the City has egg on their face again:
1. Do the prices include all labor, mileage, and sample set-up? If a well needs to be reanalyzed in a quarter (which does occur) or additional parameters are requested; what would the additional charges for a resample be for mileage, labor, sampler, etc?
2. Do the prices reflect annual test performed second quarter which is more substantial than other quarters?
3. Do prices reflect document transmittal to EPA
Analyses wise PDC performs these TEST in house whereas TEST must send out some to be performed by a contracted lab. I think the savings with TEST would be the close proximity for labor costs, resampling, etc. I believe the City of LaSalle uses PDC so maybe they are in the area more frequently and the labor would not be significant. I hope it is researched properly before a decision is made and proper planning was utilized in the quote process.
Kristy
Anon 8:57
Just like any type of business, there are many that can perform the same or even better service than their competitors at a lower cost and we have to give them a chance to prove themselves. A lower price doesn't always mean an inferior service!
8:57 I will apologize to alderman perez when he apologizes for screwing up the city. He should learn politics before he opens his mouth.
wow TEST must be doing well if they can give all the "extras" associated with these test ie: labor, mileage, etc. away for no CHARGE - maybe D.J. Sickley will give some of their building costs for free - why is it that we are to believe that TEST is the only one capable to perform what is necessary? For a company that practically doesn't need the business they sure are on here fighting tooth and nail to keep it!
5 PM
After thinking about the vote regarding the landfill contract and the connections that some of the aldermen have with TEST beside Ald. Ankiewicz, it is very evident that 2 others are closely connected to TEST and perhaps 3.
Will these aldermen vote in an honest and unbiased way for the service that will save the city money and benefit the tax paying residents of Peru?
Do they have the integrity to do what they were elected to do or will personal feelings get in the way?
1:15 First of all I don't think TEST itself is even commenting on this blog. All the comments are coming from interested citizens. I don't think losing a $43,000/year contract will hurt TEST. What I think they are probably more concerned about is their $600,000 contract for the water and waste water treatment plants.
Lois, How long have you been involved in city business now? You should know what will take place here. Nothing against TEST but they have been playing city politics for awhile and have their " IN " with the City, it would be political assassination for any of the city officials to vote against TEST or Chamlin. Please correct me if I'm wrong but " every " city official attended the Chicago Conference this year and do most every other year. Even all four of our new councilmembers attended and took Chamlin and Test up on their Wine and Dine extravaganza night out. I do believe some city officials and Our leaders took a trip up to Chicago just for this party these two businesses hosted for our officials. This is just a fraction of paybacks Test and Chamlins do to keep their contracts. This is a dirty politics and officials and department heads should not be partaking in handouts and free dinners by contracted businesses of the city. Not that Test or Chamlin is doing anything wrong they just throw out the bait and reel in our officials when they accept.
How can our officials do the right thing whe eating from the hands of these services. An earlier post said that Pothoff was elected with the help of TEST if this is true then officials not need worry about their next election if they vote to keep TEST. They will be creative to find a way to renew the TEST contract.
I would say that since ALL aldermen attended the Chicago Party the vote will go 8-0 to keep them.
Whether TEST is commenting or not there have been forty + comments mostly submitted by concerned and interested citizens. TEST is evidence of a business theory to charge what the market will bear - and they have done a extremely good job of it. If they were fisherman I would picture them as having caught a whale with a line ready to snap! I question why representation of Peru have been allowed to continue to carry on with such poor business practices?
2:57 PM
Yes in some aspects you are correct and that is that this has been taking place for a very long time and people only talked in bars and at social events and probably among friends and relatives.
But now you and many others have an opportunity to publicly tell us what you think.
Not only you and the people of Peru but people throughout the state, the United States and the entire world can read the blog and express their feelings publicly.
Not enough had been accomplished in Peru but I think that people are having their eyes opened and in time will not be willing accept the decisions of the government if it is not in the best interests of the city.
We currently have 2 new and outspoken aldermen and that is progress. The election is next year and if the aldermen screw up things you the people of Peru can show them the door.
How about we do the right thing and give the bid to the lowest bidder, TEST can say all they want about how they are the "best" and "superior" but fact is lets try another avenue here and save some dollars - these alderman that are connected to TEST need to go, period!! Those days of TEST and Baker working together are over, lets end this illegal activity now!!
first of all kristy you were so against test a couple of years ago what happened? also there arent 40 bloggers there are probably 5 that keep posting back, is pretty much a joke really.
Anon 2:52 I, rather than repeat your comment, thank you for submitting it and ask all to read it and pass it on to others. The legal City of Peru Annual Statement by the city treasurer for the fiscal year ending April 30, 2011 and certified by the city clerk list as being a true and correct statement list the expenditures of the city to Chamlin & Associates Inc $737,205 and TEST $593,537.
Does this amount of expenditures without any biding process by the current administration with the annual wine and dine plus vacations to Canada deserve a notification to the States Attorney General for a legal clarification. It would be best to make all justifications before the next election so that the pubic an receive the changes they were promised in 2009.
8:41PM
I believe it is well know that the Attorney Generals office does regularly read blogs and I do know that Springfield is always on my list of readers.
7:45
I was against the "good ole boys" and how business was conducted with the lack of accountability to the residents of Peru. There is a difference... it's not about the business it's about the system. As an American your job is to monitor the system that chooses the business. If the system does not choose the right business you have the power, right, and DUTY to change the SYSTEM. You don't have control or ownership over the business. That is the beauty of democracy and why other Country's want to be the United States.
Kristy
Appears to be appropriate time to start a E Mail, postcard and letter writing campaign to the AG's office and Springfield to make Peru a model of small time governments importance and ability to follow the letter of the law.
Timing being of greatest importance it must be remembered there is no time more important to a politician than election year.
Lois
No offense, but the AGs office is too engrossed politically in our district...
I have a question if anyone knows. Is their a relationship between Frank Mautino's sister (Mautino-Messina) and Obama's campaign manager Jim Messina? Maybe this would explain why I recall reading on Schweickert's bill Obama's transition team was in Peru with Schweickert in 2009...and a few other issues I had concerns with...
Kristy
Anon 7:45 PM
You state that the blog is really pretty much a joke. Consider asking some of the losing candidates and winning candidates and their backers of the last two elections of what influence the blog had. Since the conception of Kristy's blog and Lois' blog they have been the most influential political motivators in the city and will be even more powerful in the next election.
nobody reads the blog or posts except the same 4 or 5 people, is a joke no election was won or lost by those blogs
11:25 AM
Hope you enjoy living in your fantasy world because believe me you are not living with reality.
11:25 Then you must be one of the 4 or 5 people who read this blog. Did it persuade you to vote for a certain candidate or at least encourage you to vote? If the blogs are a joke why are you participating?
Straight from the IL. Municipal Law Book- Public Works Contracts in Excess of $20,000.00
Il. Municipal Law pg. 460 section 8-9-1 of municipal code requires that a municipality let the contract for any work pr other public improvement ( which is not to be paid for in whole or in part by special assessment or special taxation) TO THE LOWEST RESPONSIVE and RESPONSIBLE BIDDER.when the work or improvements exceeds $20,000.00.
page 461. The guiding principle behind all bidding requirements is that the municipality- and therefore the public- is best served by obtaining as many competing bids as possible.
page 462-463 Contracts must also be awarded to the lowest " responsible bidder" is a matter of the public interest and choosing the lowest responsible bidder involves the sound and reasonable exercise of discretionary power granted under the laws, without fraud, unfair dealing, or FAVORTISM!!!in determining responsibility...
Now all requirements needed for the bidder should have been advertised to what the city expects from the contractor to perform the service. I'm sure whoever the lowest bidder was will go above and beyond customer service in hopes of being the lowest bidder for when the next big contract comes up next year.
If they do not service the cities needs or meet expectations then that company will have a contract term limit. I'm sure they see a bigger contract over the horizon and will go above and beyond as TEST has.
Let's hope our officials do the right thing and save the city money or they will have a TERM LIMIT come the next election.
I also did some checking and found that alderman mayszak, ankewitcz and perez did NOT attend the Chicago wine and dine by Chamlin and Test. All others have including department heads from police and fire.
11:57 AM
As Santa said, "I'm making a list and checking it twice" We the people of Peru need to be aware of what is going on at City Hall and do exactly that in preparation for the next election and others afterward.
11:25 I do know that just about every employee within the city of Peru and LaSalle read the blog.I also know that most of their family members read the blog,you can then add the ambulance, media,business contractors,and many from the general public. when interesting stories such as these debating issues they tune in. They don't care to read about trees in the parks etc. but they do care and read about the things that matter such as this debate because it is all part of the way dirty politics work. I have people I know that live out of the area that ask what is going on in Peru because they read the blog. to be honest that is how I got turned onto it was because a friend in St. Lois that use to live here told me about it.I read blogs from all over Il. and Washington, what I see on this blog is the City of Peru has been a small version of Crook County IL. for some time now and someone in city leadership is turning over rocks and finding many hidden snake holes and is being bit in the process but They don't seem to care. If you read back through these blogs over the past several months it wouuld not be to hard to figure out who's doing their job.
It shouldn't be up for discussion, the lowest bid should be awarded! TEST, Chamlin etc. shouldn't matter, we all know someone who knows someone in this area but the fact is the LOWEST BID should be awarded!!!!! I'm soooo sick of hearing the same few names that control the city contracts, if they want to play these games GO SOMEWHERE ELSE!! These greasing palms have to stop! Fact is there is still the few left on the council that need to go, so excercise your rights and vote!!!
12:57 You are correct in expressing that there are still a few left on the council that need to go. In further comment there are a few of the city administrators that have not fulfilled any of their campaign promises and they can take their dept. head appointments with them. Time and all indicators are now becoming too short to rectify what has been allowed to exist and the world moves too fast to allow another four year term to wait and anticipate any longer.
Campaign promises not fulfilled but long remembered by the residents will hurt any incumbent.
Steve,
If test was including this service in with their work for the WTP and WWTP plant then there should be a reduction in their yearly bill to the city, is this correct? How much then is there invoice reduced by the ammount the lowest bid was or their bid for these services? If they were including this service I recall they had a contract with the city for 10 years so how or why would they reduce their contract ammount with the city. What I see happening is the city will contract with the low bidder driving the cities costs up by 27K and test will not lower their contracted ammount.
5:05 pm This is the first that a 10 year contract has been mentioned. The most recent contract with test Inc. was published as a 3 year contract reached shortly before Mayor Harl took office. This contract was to be able to be nullified by the city with a 30 day notice to Test at any time during the contract. Have things changed in the last 3 years and if so by whom?
Also if you would refer to the comment of Anon 9:20 AM Feb 10, 2012 which is directed to Steve what should occur with the difference in expenses between corporations is clearly explained. What the present administration will do or wants to do has not.
For the sake of general knowledge does the City of Peru have any contracts longer than three years besides with the IMEA?
5:05 - you are wrong. The landfill testing was not part of either WTP or WWTP contracts. That is why TEST billed the city for lab and testing costs associated with the work, to the tune of about $40,000 per year, above and beyond the WTP and WWTP contracts. They may not have profited from it, but it was not a free service to be sure.
To be clear, no one is accusing TEST of doing a bad job for the city. Only that it was necessary to advertise for bids, in order to follow the laws that are in place. The same laws, by the way, that were considered mere inconveniences by past Councils.
6:51 If you're right that contract should be up this year. Then it would have to go out for bid. That should prove to be quite interesting. However, I was under the assumption that it was a 5 year contract signed shortly before Mayor Baker left office.
6:51 That contract should be up in 2013.
There is no connection between the Plant Operations contract between the city and TEST, Inc. and the groundwater analysis costs at the Landfill. The current contract for plant ops is a five year deal that expires in December of 2013. There is no refund or discount.
The city has been paying TEST invoices every quarter for groundwater analysis at the Landfill totaling $43,950.50 per year.
The contract for operation of the Water and Wastewater plants have always been given to TEST without the benefit of competitive bidding for more than 25 years. That is essentially one continuous "No-Bid
Contract" that never really expires. Grat deal for TEST, Inc. We have no idea if it's a good deal for the taxpayers of Peru.
Don't forget what Bob Ankiewicz said in a recent Public Property meeting about the groundwater analysis cost before it was bid. Bob indicated that no contractor could compete with TEST because Chris Perra had told him the city was currently getting a "great deal". On a similar note, I asked Dave Waldorf recently about the cost-effectiveness of "reviewing" the current WTP and WWTP contract with TEST in order to explore the opportunity to save the city some money. Alderman Waldorf stated there was "no need to do any contract review". When I asked the alderman why there was no need, he replied, "Chris Perra has told me that we are getting a "great deal" from TEST.
So, we got that going for us.
I am playing devils advocate here so bear with me because I do agree with competitive bidding AS LONG as you know what you are bidding.
Let's take a walk down memory lane to the recent fire at Westclox. Recall at the council meeting when a TEST employee and an City employee (neither being paid but volunteering) were acknowledged for adjusting valves properly and placing data loggers on hydrants because the fire department could not get enough pressure from the hydrants on the East end? Amazing the problems with pressure appeared to be on Westclox Avenue and wouldn't you know it BAM ALA KA ZAM where were those nasty breaks this weekend...Now when you have 2 hydrants a few blocks apart with Psi of 18 and 80 hmmmmm something was not right but that is another story not to mention the story of that pesky Westclox culvert :)
MORAL: Since the appointed Superintendent was MIA as usual would a new service have the same commitment to our community and it's residents? TEST is NOT responsible for the distribution system the Superintendent and City employees are. It is apparent the Superintendent is not qualified for this task; perhaps we should actually be bidding out the distribution services also? If you are going to rebid, why not rebid the ENTIRE system? Oh that's the game you are playing, I get it now cleevvvvvver!
Kristy
Kristy, wouldn't you think any smart business owner that just landed a piece of the pie with an opportunity to get the whole pie, and keep that whole Pie (as long as their bid stayed low and service remained high) would go above and beyond as TEST has?
I would think so! We won't know until this happens but it needs to happen. Let them have a small piece and see where it goes.. I believe we will be surprised along with saving the city money. Besides, maybe you would get hired with this company coming in.
Kristy: I believe you were the one who acknowledged these individuals and maybe rightfully so. Whether or not the city employee got paid I cannot say but I would like to know why the corrections they made at this time were not taken care of properly before.
11:47
One would hope but looked were "Hope and Change" has brought the Country?
As a professional perhaps I am pessimistic because I am well aware many of these utility providers lock in low cost for a long-term contract (10 years plus) with the reasoning of relocation etc. and over the years the services to the municipality lessens and councils are frustrated with EPA violations and constituent complaints. This is straight from administrations I dealt with over the 10 years as a compliance officer. Also from experience nobody wanted to provide bids in the past because it was a "given" they could not compete in the City of Peru...in the past.
As a taxpayer I believe the Supeintendent is extremely under qualified to manage his department and a few PW employees and TEST over compensate for his inadequacies. Sure TEST has been in the "system" too long w/o any competition to verify the cost effectivenessof their contract but replace TEST at the current rate of disfunction in PW and you have total meltdown in the System with only Chamlin left to pickup the pieces?
If the landfill monitoring is apples to apples the City would have a difficult time justifying saying no. But someone needs to monitor the costs for a year and determine why/if the engineer ordered resampling (that does occur). These types if issues should be done in-house anyone by public works or the new City engineer.
Kristy
Do some research on the water break on Christmas if you really want to know how dysfunctional PW is b/c of the Superintendents lack of knowledge of the distribution system. Do you know the workers did not have the actual pipe to replace a section of main they were repairing or that they had to utilize bags of concrete from a neighbor?
I am curious about the whole Westclox avenue situation. Who has the updated maps/do they exist for the City distribution system ?
Kristy
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