WILTON — Selectmen voted 3-2 Tuesday to table awarding a contract for a new furnace for the Town Office after a local contractor objected to the bid specification process.
Earlier this month, the board directed Town Manager Rhonda Irish to analyze several bids received to install a new oil furnace with a small water heater in the town office.
She came back to the board Tuesday with a recommendation to go with a bid from Rocky Lake Plumbing and Heating Inc. of Livermore for $6,359.70, which included a new lining for the chimney.
A total of $7,000 was budgeted for the furnace replacement. Other bids included $5,200 from Rick Karkos Plumbing & Heating of Wilton; $7,489.76 from Rocky Lake; $6,359 with an additional $300 for the option of a programmable thermostat from ABT Plumbing, Heating & Cooling of Wilton; $6,925 with programmable thermostat from Riverview Plumbing & Heating of Livermore; and $6,097 from A. Maurais & Son Inc. of Jay.
Karkos questioned why his lowest bid at $5,200 wasn’t chosen, especially since he was a local contractor. He said his bid included everything wanted on the written specification list and that the chimney lining was not included on the list.
If the chimney lining needs replacement, it needs to be put into the specification list so that bids can be compared “apples to apples,” Selectman Tom Saviello said.
A new list of specific items needed will be gathered before the project is put back out to bid.
During Tropical Storm Irene a leak developed in the roof at the town office, Irish told the board. More rain has since seeped in.
“It was a toss-up whether to replace a 32-year-old furnace or a 32-year-old roof,” she said.
The furnace was budgeted for this year, the roof wasn’t.
The board unanimously agreed to her recommendation to move forward and plan a special town meeting to see if voters would authorize taking about $7,000 from the town’s undesignated fund balance to replace the shingles this fall.
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