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Council questions procurement after single-bid snow-removal contract comes to the floor
Summary
Council members challenged the process used to award a winter snow-removal contract after staff said the RFP was posted online but not placed in a local newspaper, and the bid-opening was not broadly publicized; a motion to table the contract was proposed and votes recorded.
The Glenarden City Council debated a proposed snow-removal contract for the 2025–26 winter season after members raised procedural concerns about how the bid was advertised and opened.
Clerk materials identified RH Hilarios as the selected vendor for snow removal. Several councilmembers said the RFP had not been published in a newspaper of general circulation in Glenarden as required by the charter. One councilmember said the bid posting period ran from Oct. 14 to Oct. 29 and that only one bid was timely received. Councilman Harry said the lack of newspaper publication was ‘‘an oversight’’ and referenced charter section 8-19, which requires notice in a paper of general circulation at least five days before the bid deadline. He asked whether council and the public had been notified about the public bid-opening; administration confirmed the bid was opened publicly but acknowledged council had not been directly notified of the date and time.
Councilman Harry moved to table the resolution until the advertising process was clarified; the motion to table was put to a roll call and, after votes and abstentions, the tabling motion did not carry on that call. The council then proceeded to a roll-call vote on the contract itself; the clerk recorded a mix of ‘no’ votes and abstentions and the clerk’s statements indicate the motion did not pass consensus (transcript: 'Fells' / 'fails').
Administration told council that the RFP had been posted on online portals (an e-marketplace and the city website) and that staff would confirm Prince George's Post publication moving forward. Council members who pressed the issue said they expected formal, charter-compliant advertising and council notification for bid openings to preserve competition and public transparency.
Next steps: administration said it would confirm where notices were posted, ensure future RFPs are advertised in local papers according to charter requirements and clarify bid-opening notification procedures; the snow contract outcome as recorded in the meeting reflects significant council concern about procurement compliance.
