FARMINGTON — Franklin County commissioners voted unanimously Tuesday to accept a bid from a Farmington provider for mental health and substance abuse services at the jail.
It is the second time the jail service was put out to bid. The first time, commissioners thought there was only one bid and they awarded the contract to Dalene E. Sinksi LLC of Farmington doing business as Clearwater Counseling and Consulting. She bid $51,000 for a year and commissioners opted to take the option for the same price for the second year.
However, it was later discovered that Bert Poisson of Western Maine Behavioral Health in Wilton had dropped off his bid on time and put it in a drop box at the courthouse. His bid was marked late. However, the courthouse surveillance cameras indicated the bid was dropped off on time and a county employee from a separate office saw him come into the courthouse. Western Maine’s bid was $$38,064.
Both bids were sent to the county’s attorney. On Aug. 4, commissioners voted to put the service back out to bid.
Commissioners opened bids from both parties, again, on Tuesday morning. They were given to Maj. Douglas Blauvelt, jail administrator, to review. He came back over an hour later and said both proposals met the bid specifications. Western Maine’s bid was for $36,400 for 10 months while Sinski’s bid for 10 months was $34,000.
Prior to commissioners awarding the contract to Sinski, Poisson addressed commissioners telling them it was inappropriate for a county employee to call in during the Aug. 4 meeting and make negative comments about him that were not true.
Poisson also apologized to Sinski because of how the bidding process went.
It created a bidding war, Poisson said.
“I really feel bad about this whole situation,” Commissioner Charles Webster of Farmington said. He agreed with Poisson that it created a bidding war. If Poisson’s bid was seen at the same time as Sinki’s, Poisson would have gotten the bid because it was lower than Sinski’s, he said. It was human error.
“I want to (personally) apologize to you,” Webster told Poisson.
Copy the Story Link
Send questions/comments to the editors.
Success. Please wait for the page to reload. If the page does not reload within 5 seconds, please refresh the page.
Enter your email and password to access comments.
Hi, to comment on stories you must . This profile is in addition to your subscription and website login.
Already have a commenting profile? .
Invalid username/password.
Please check your email to confirm and complete your registration.
Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.
Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.