Ellington Votes to Hike Competitive Bidding Cost From $7,500 to $25,000

By a vote of acclimation, a group of Ellington residents approved Monday an ordinance change to raise the town's competitive bidding requirement cost from $7,500 to $25,000.

This now means that if the municipal government wants to spend up to $25,000 on anything — be it a project like tree removal or a $10,000 piece of equipment — then the town will forgo the standard bidding process of publicly asking contractors to submit formal applications.

But, anything over the $25,000 minimum, the town would then typically have to go through the bidding process by advertising the item in question, reviewing applications from prospective bidders and awarding the job to the lowest bidder.

Town officials said the move will likely save Ellington money in the form of advertising costs, attorney fees and other expenses related to the need to prepare bids and promote them to contractors. 

Ellington is reportedly the first town in the state to increase its minimum cost to go out to bid following a recent state law change that allowed municipalities to change their local laws on the matter. The issue was, in fact, spearheaded by Finance Director Nicholas J. DiCorleto who testified about the idea in Hartford.

A handful of less than 20 residents ultimately decided to adopt the new ordinance during a special Town Meeting Monday evening, with only one person, resident Eileen Wachsman, voicing opposition.

Wachsman said she agreed that the $25,000 minimum was a "more realistic" bidding figure, however she said she would vote no because she didn't want the Board of Selectmen making decisions on what it thought was the best interest of the town.

Prior to the vote, First Selectman Maurice Blanchette and DiCorleto were peppered with several questions from a few residents who had questions over the impact of the new ordinance.

Resident Matt Mullen said he had concerns, as a taxpayer, that when certain purchases are being evaluated only a couple of people would be looking at them.

Mullen went on to explain how he would prefer the town garnered several quotes before making purchases or expenditures, a move that he argued the compeitive bidding process fulfills.

To this, Public Works Director Timothy Webb said "90 percent of our projects we do get three quotes" before deciding on a final contractor or company to go with.

"We compare apples to apples, oranges to oranges, we hold mandatory pre-bid meetings," Webb said. "We don’t have someone coming in from left field and underscoring the bids."