Lack of local contract bids bothers councillors
By ALAN LICZYK Staff Reporter

The lack of local vendors bidding for the contract to supply fleet equipment to the Town bothered some councillors on Caledon council recently.

The contract for the supply of three regular cab half ton pickup trucks was awarded by council to MacIver Dodge Ltd. of Newmarket for its low bid of $63,471.60, GST excluded.

The only other bid was by Arthur Chrysler Dodge Jeep at $92,249.79. Bolton Toyota and Brampton Chrysler picked up the request for proposal documents but didn't submit bids.

The trucks are use by public works and parks operation to maintain roads and parks.

In the request for proposal the Town indicated preference would be given to vehicles that operate on fuels that have low emissions and contribute to greenhouse gas reductions. The vehicles proposed by both bidders can operate on a 15 per cent ethanol and gasoline blend.

Councillor Nick deBoer said he was perplexed they didn't have any local vendors bidding.

Manager of public works Craig Morton told him one local vendor didn't want to pay the $25 fee for the tender documents.

Councillor Doug Beffort was also concerned there were no local vendors on the list. He would like to stick to their rationale of buying locally.

Treasurer Sam Jones told council the $25 fee for the tender documents is a very low amount, one of the lowest in the Greater Toronto Area. He added the tender documents are very detailed because of government regulations.

By comparison, Jones said he believes the fees are $200 in Mississauga and $175 in Brampton.

Council talked about sending the report back to staff to try and get some local bids, but Jones explained since two companies have tendered it's now public information on how much they proposed.

Nadia Koltun, director of legal services, said the tender process is complete and the Town couldn't go back without facing some liability.

After hearing staff 's explanations, Beffort said they should accept the recommendation from staff.

DeBoer said the Town should approach local businesses that do tender to find out what's going on.

Jones responded they can investigate.