Squamish's mayor last week defended a recent council decision on a municipal paving contract for 2012 against a claim that the move cost taxpayers almost $70,000 more than it should have without sufficient justification.
Mayor Rob Kirkham on April 30 told The Chief in an email that while the bid by Squamish-based Alpine Paving came in at $67,216 more than the low bid, submitted by Surrey-based Keywest Asphalt, council went with Alpine mainly because of the greater distance Keywest trucks would have been required to travel with the asphalt from its production facility in Abbotsford.
"The asphalt must be a minimum temperature to meet municipal standards. The company in question was coming from Abbotsford, which presented a risk for what temperature the asphalt would be when it arrived," Kirkham wrote.
"Also, the proposal from [Keywest] included plans to mill the asphalt on a large scale, leaving residents with gravel for an extended period of time before paving. [Alpine] presented plans to mill the asphalt in sections, followed by paving, before proceeding to another section."
On April 24, council voted 6-1 to award a $1.11 million contract for 2012 municipal paving projects to Alpine Paving, which has a plant on Centennial Way behind the forestry building and employs 30 local residents.
Coun. Patricia Heintzman voted against awarding the contract to Alpine, saying she thought the local company "should have been able to underbid" competitors during the tender process, The Chief reported last week.
In an email to The Chief, Steve O'Neill, a senior estimator with Keywest, took issue with a couple of reasons used as justification for a District of Squamish staff recommendation that council award the contract to Alpine.
In response to a statement in the report that Keywest "does not produce asphalt, but will use a sub-contractor as a supplier," O'Neill wrote that Keywest is part owner of the SuperWest asphalt plant in Abbotsford.
"Keywest at no point, either verbally or electronically, indicated we were using a sub-contractor to supply asphalt," he wrote.
As well, O'Neill took issue with the contention in the staff report, and reiterated by Kirkham, that the two- to three-hour travel time "is in the upper threshold of acceptable limits of delivery time.
"If delivery trucks encounter any traffic delays this could cause the asphalt to cool to below acceptable limits, and would have to be rejected and cause delays in road construction," the staff report stated.
O'Neill responded, "Our SuperWest asphalt plant partner, Superior Paving, paved a district road on Main Street last fall, using asphalt from this plant. The asphalt was tested at the site and met the requirements of temperature, gradation and compaction."
Had Keywest been awarded the contract, it would have contributed to Squamish's economy by offering local trucking companies the chance to haul materials and having its workers stay in local hotels and eat at local restaurants, O'Neill wrote in an April 2 letter to Squamish council.
He said the difference in transportation, crew accommodation and food costs between the two bids is greater than the difference between the two bids. Alpine should therefore have been able to underbid Keywest, O'Neill wrote.
"Keywest [would] actually be of greater benefit to the local economy, as well as benefitting the taxpayer with a lower bid price," O'Neill wrote.
