Bedford council approves $523,700 for two 6-wheel trucks and outfitting after limited bids

Bedford Town Council on July 16 awarded contracts to buy two 6-wheel cabin-chassis trucks and to outfit them with dump bodies, plows, wings and sanders for winter and summer maintenance work. The council approved a $274,000 purchase for two chassis from Allegiance Trucks of Manchester, N.H., and a $249,700 contract with HP Fairfield of Hopkinton, N.H., to outfit the vehicles. The combined approval totals $523,700.

The purchases came after Public Works Director Jeff Foote told the council the town received a single chassis bid on May 19. "We received one bid from Allegiance Trucks of Manchester, New Hampshire at $137,000 per truck or $274,000 total for the bid," Foote said. He said the town publicly advertised the chassis bid on April 28 and opened it on May 19.

Foote described the body/plow/sander procurement differently: the advertised bid produced no offers on May 19. Under direction from the town manager, staff negotiated with last year’s successful vendor, HP Fairfield, which proposed a roughly 5% price increase from 2024. Foote said the total cost for the chassis and outfitting is about $58,000 less than the town’s 2024 estimate when combined with the chassis purchase.

Councilors pressed staff on whether the town solicited bids from multiple vendors. Councilor Sowell asked, "Did you pursue pricing from any other companies?" Foote said the advertised solicitation is posted on the New Hampshire municipal website and the town website and that staff had notified past bidders; he also acknowledged an internal misstep that a mechanic was told not to solicit other bidders, which contributed to receiving no bids for the body work. "That's why I went back under the direction of the town manager and negotiated with last year's successful bidder," Foote said.

Councilors also asked about vehicle age and replacement timing. Foote said the traded vehicles were a 2014 and a 2016 model and that replacement timing depends on condition and maintenance history.

Councilor Carter moved to award the chassis contract to Allegiance Trucks and to authorize the town manager to execute the contract using the funding source identified in the staff report; the motion was seconded and passed by voice vote. Later, the council voted to award the body/plow/sander contract to HP Fairfield for $124,850 each ($249,700 total) using CIP account 28051; that motion was seconded and passed by voice vote.

Councilors asked staff to consider formalizing vendor outreach and bid solicitation to avoid future situations in which advertised bids draw no responses. Foote said he and the town manager will continue to refine outreach and noted that remaining funds could be applied toward similar purchases next year.

The council did not identify any amendment to the awards at the meeting, and both votes were approved by voice vote with no recorded nay votes.