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Select Board to solicit bids for winter sand on 0.5" minus spec; members debate raising bid threshold
Summary
Board agreed to solicit winter‑sand bids (0.5" minus, dry screened) from multiple suppliers for the September meeting and discussed raising the procurement threshold from $10,000 to $15,000 to reflect current prices; members emphasized getting quantity/tonnage estimates rather than only dollar bids.
Tinmouth's Select Board spent a substantial portion of its meeting on August 14 discussing winter‑sand procurement, product specifications and competitive bidding. Members agreed to advertise an RFP with a specification of "0.5 inch minus, dry screened sand" and to invite multiple local suppliers (Pike, Cassella, Fuller's and SLC) to submit bids by the board's September meeting.
Speakers noted that the last contract pricing had been roughly $9.10–$9.54 per ton in prior years, with a material quote report of $12,879 for 1,350 tons cited as a recent example. Several board members proposed raising the procurement threshold used to require formal competitive bids from $10,000 to $15,000 to better reflect current inflation and trucking costs; one member said "we should raise it a little bit" to accommodate market changes. Members also stressed the need for bidders to specify estimated tonnage per dollar amount (yards vs tons) and trucking assumptions so bids can be compared on quantity and quality as well as price. The board set a target to have bids returned in time for the September 11 meeting and asked staff to prepare a sample spec sheet and to consult neighboring towns about their winter sand practices.
