CLARKS GREEN — During February’s Council meeting, Al DeGennaro, deputy general counsel of J.P. Mascaro & Sons talked to Council about the bid solicitation.
He thanked Council for sending him a letter asking Mascaro to participate in a rebid after County Waste had defects in their bid. He said that Mascaro submitted the same number in their bid.
“Frankly, when we put our bid in, we put the best bid that we can put in,” he said. “If the bids are rejected or rebid, our price doesn’t change.”
DeGennaro said that he submitted a second bid at Council’s request for a three-year solicitation. He mentioned that County Waste raised their price by $300,000. He said that there was an error in County Waste’s certificate of authority. He mentioned that according to Council’s specifications on bidding, ‘Any bid without a certified check or a bid bond shall be rejected as non-responsive’.
DeGennaro said that the only two people from County Waste that are authorized to sign a certificate of authority are John W. Casella, president of Casella Waste, who bought County Waste, and Charles Pantaleo, general manager. He said that he asked for a copy of County Waste’s bid bond and found that it was signed by a woman named Shelley Sayward, who signed it as an authorized person.
“In my mind, it was crystal clear that it was defective,” he said. “According to County Waste’s own bid, that signature is not valid.”
Jonas Kreitzer, vice president of business development at County Waste, admitted that there was a mathematical error on their first bid.
“The actual bid from that was submitted the first time, at the bottom, the number was $300,000 over what we submitted this time,” he said. “But if you add each of those years, it’s the exact same number.”
Kreitzer rebutted that the bid bond from County Waste was valid. He said that Sayward was authorized to sign on behalf of County Waste. He said that it wasn’t provided in the rejected bid, but it wasn’t required specifically in the original bid.
“The bottom line is there’s $125,000 difference,” he said referring to J.P. Mascaro’s higher bid. “Is it worth $125,000 more for a technicality after going through the whole transition of charging over billing?”
In his mayor’s report, Joe Barrasse mentioned that J.P. Mascaro & Sons’ rates are 95% higher than five years ago and County Waste’s rates are 80% higher than five years ago.
“County Waste made the mistake and now, we’re going to ask our residents to pay an extra $125,000 for it,” he said.
Barrasse asked Council to weigh in the options. He lauded Council President Bill Egan for considering to rebid a second time.
In his solicitor’s report, Al Weinschenk reestablished the fact that the bid bond submitted with County Waste’s five-year bid was signed by Sayward, who wasn’t listed on a certificate of authority that was originally submitted with its first bid. He said that he asked for County Waste to provide Sayward’s evidence of authority to execute the bid bond and receive a revised certificate of authority.
“That certificate didn’t include Charles Pantaleo,” he said. “The concern whether or not the bid bond is enforceable since it wasn’t at least initially signed by the authorized representative.”
Weinschenk explained that the bid bond’s purpose is to ensure that the successful bid will enter into a contract pursuant to its bid. He mentioned that County Waste wasn’t responsive to Council’s bid request. He said that any contract that the successful bidder has to sign provides that the borough may terminate on any anniversary year upon 90 days notice for any reason. Weinschenk said that the options are to either enter into a contract with J.P. Mascaro & Sons or reject all bids and readvertise.
Council voted to accept a three-year bid with J.P. Mascaro & Sons in the amount of $1,013,835.12.
In her borough manager’s report, Joanne Culbertson said that Council received the 2022 performance recycling grant, which was $1,341.19.
Also, Culbertson said that the Department of Public Works (DPW) did a whole list of machinery including three to four pages including hand tools and dates. She also announced that she made website updates with the Shade Tree Commission.
In other business, Council voted to
• approve the first payment to Hillside Park in the amount of $1,585.25.
• authorize Cohen Law Group prepared for legal services.
• ratify the hiring of Patrick Walsh of South Abington Township to the position of DPW laborer in the amount of $19 an hour retroactive to February 12, 2024.
• enter into a new intermunicipal agreement.
Most Popular
Comments / 0