Who's in the dark on this one?

The recent decision by Cramahe Council to select Lakefront Utility Services Inc. (LUSI) as its lighting provider in the industrial park raises some questions which should be answered.

The township went to LUSI to get an estimate of the cost of the lighting when the township was preparing a bid for a federal Community Adjustment Fund grant of $424 thousand which it ultimately received. See Township gets industrial park grant

With the grant in hand, Community Development Officer, Rebecca Goddard-Sarria appears to have skipped a step, in not putting the job out for tender prior to bringing her proposal to council on September 15.

Why did the township only get one quote for the work on a project valued at $22,998 and funded by the federal government?

And why did the Development Officer go out "after-the-fact" and get another quote?

How did she choose the potential "after-the-fact" bidders? Was the work advertised? She also asked Hydro One but did not get any feedback. Why didn't she seek another "after-the-fact" bidder.

Did the "after-the-fact" bidder know he was applying for work which had already been pointed at another company? And was the second bid ($28,187) simply an insurance policy in case anyone on council opposed the circumvention of the township purchasing policy?

Why did the township choose to consider only induction lighting, and who made that decision? It wasn't council, based on the discussion at last Tuesday's council meeting. Based on their comments, none of the councillors gave any indication that they knew only induction lights were considered. When they asked about the induction lights there was no cost comparison offered between the induction lights and the lighting now used in the rest of Colborne.

Did Mayor Marc Coombs or Chief Administrative Officer, Christie Alexander sanction the action of Development Officer Rebecca Goddard-Sarria in getting only one quote, or was she acting on her own?

Who approved the choice of LUSI and the presentation to council, leaving council with only one choice? And why did the five members of council appear to miss the lack of competition for the work when it stated clearly in the Goddard-Sarria report that she was requesting council forfeit the purchase policy for this portion of the project?

How will this decision affect the Township's credibility with companies bidding on contracts? Will they want to do business with a municipality which gets "after-the-fact" quotes and forfeits its own purchasing policy?

The township owns shares in LUSI. What are the moral or ethical implications of going only to the supplier in which the township holds equity?

Why did Ms. Goddard-Sarria and Mayor Coombs state the township got other quotes afterward, when there was only one?

Is it true that the arms for the lights can't be installed in cold weather, as Ms. Goddard-Sarria stated last Tuesday? It stated in her report to council that "Time constraints exist with regard to the completion of street lighting installation which must be completed by end of October to mid November." What are those constraints? Is it the aforementioned weather, or other factors?

In politics, appearance is everything, and there appears to have been little light being shed on this decision.