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Council weighs single chip-seal bid, smaller road projects and procurement steps
Summary
Councilors reviewed a single chip-seal bid for Main Street East, considered a separate low-cost local road repair bid involving donated labor, and directed staff to post a 10-day request-for-bids to comply with procurement rules and document outreach.
Councilors discussed multiple road repairs and bids after staff reported limited contractor interest. Committee member (speaker 5) said the town received only one chip-seal bid covering Main Street East and gave a ballpark figure for planning; the council agreed to include the figure in next year’s capital projects planning because funds are not currently available.
Speaker 5 also presented a smaller, lower-cost bid (about $11,280 in the transcript) for a fire-access road project and disclosed she works for Dutson, which would bill materials and equipment while she would donate her labor. "I work for Dutson, so I got a bid that nobody's gonna beat that bid," Speaker 5 said, and explained the low price stems from donating labor while Dutson would charge only for equipment and materials.
Council members raised procurement and conflict-of-interest concerns. Presenter Jess (speaker 6) advised documenting outreach to other contractors, posting the request for bids (RFB) publicly for the required posting period (10 days) and accepting the single bid at the next meeting if no other qualified bids are received. Chair instructed Kara (clerk) to post the RFB in the paper and on the town website and to preserve rejection or outreach records; the council agreed to consider the local bid in June if the posting yields no other offers.
The council also approved ordering temporary traffic-control signs for construction (bagging yield signs and installing temporary stop signs) and discussed buying road-closed and detour signs for future needs. No formal acceptance of any road contract was recorded at this meeting; Council directed staff to post, document outreach, and return with formal action as needed.
