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By Mike Gervais
Register Staff 6-19-2008
It was a dirty job, but someone had to do it.
That someone was the Inyo County Board of Supervisors, and the “dirty” task at hand was hearing from two local businesses on who was best suited for the job – and in turn deserving of a $10,000 county contract – of removing the waste from vault toilets at county parks and campgrounds.
Discussions boiled down to not only who was more qualified to perform the waste removal, but also whether the lowest bidder for the project was responsible enough to carry out the task without creating health and safety liability issues.
Bishop Waste Disposal and Preferred Septic and Disposal are the only two businesses that responded to a request for bids for a year-long contract to maintain and pump a number of vault toilets owned by the county.
Though Bishop Waste Disposal came in with the lowest bid, Preferred Septic and Disposal contested the proposal, saying that the lowest bidder is not the best company for the job.
In the end, the Board of Supervisors decided to award the contract for the care of the campsite bathrooms to the lowest bidder – but with the promise from Bishop Waste that past practices that were cause for previous concern will not be repeated.
Inyo County Deputy County Administrator Chuck Hamilton brought 12 contracts before the board on Tuesday, each dealing with waste disposal and removal within the county.
Of the 12 contracts, four were awarded to Pahrump Valley Disposal, Inc., three were awarded to Preferred Septic and Disposal, one to Ridgecrest Sanitation and four were awarded to Bishop Waste Disposal.
The $10,190 contract for vault pumping services for toilets in county parks and campgrounds – including toilets at Baker Creek, Pleasant Valley, Tinnemaha, Diaz Lake, Portagee Joe’s, Millpond, the Independence Campground and Taboose Creek Campground – was contested by Dale Comontofski of Preferred Septic and Disposal.
Bishop Waste Disposal offered to do the job for $10,190 while Preferred Septic and Disposal submitted a bid to take the contract for $11,341.
Hamilton recommended that the board accept the contract from the lowest bidder, but Comontofski wanted to address the board to discuss possible complications with the lowest bidder.
According to Hamilton, “we’ve had some problems in the past with contracts with Bishop Waste, but that was under old management.” Hamilton explained that, though the county has not received any complaints from residents or visitors, Inyo County Public Works staff has, in the past, expressed dissatisfaction with Bishop Waste Disposal’s handling of the vault pumping.
Michelle Irwin, manager of Bishop Waste Disposal, spoke in defense of her business. “We have eliminated staff that did not want to conform to the new management” and remaining staff has been retrained, Irwin said.
But, according to Comontofski, the county contract calls for the board to award the contract “to the lowest responsible bidder,” and Bishop Waste Disposal has not proved to be responsible in regard to vault toilet pumping in the past.
Comontofski explained that when Bishop Waste Disposal held the vault pumping contract a couple years ago, the company operated outside the vault toilet manufacturer’s recommendation for pumping the waste from the vaults.
Each of the vault toilets comes equipped with a rear hatch designed for access to the vaults for pumping, but Bishop Waste Disposal would often go into the restroom and remove the “riser,” or toilet seat, and pump the toilet that way, he said.
In one instance, the riser was not replaced after the company pumped the toilet.
“This causes a health and safety liability,” said Comontofski.
Before making his recommendation to the board, Hamilton met with Irwin to discuss the services the county expects for the vault pumping.
Irwin explained that the company went through the risers to more thoroughly pump and clean the toilets. She said it is difficult to pump and clean the corners of the square vault toilets through the rear hatch.
But, on Tuesday, Irwin assured the board that Bishop Waste Disposal would carry out its tasks in accordance with the county contract, and would follow the direction of county staff regarding the procedure for pumping the toilets.
“They have assured us that past practices would not dictate the future,” Hamilton said.
The board took into account both sides of the discussion, noting that in the past the county has indeed been dissatisfied with the services provided by Bishop Waste Disposal, but also that Comontofski could not prove that Bishop Waste Disposal would be an irresponsible contractor.
“I agree with Mr. Comontofski,” said Second District Supervisor Susan Cash, “people won’t return to a campground where the toilet is unpleasant. But if we do have a promise that those practices won’t continue” the county should move forward with the lowest bidder. “And if they are not performing, we need to enforce that,” she said.
Fourth District Supervisor Jim Bilyeu suggested that the board award the bid to Bishop Waste Disposal “and demand that Parks and Rec perform inspections” to be sure the contractor is keeping up on the job.
The board agreed to award the contract to Bishop Waste Disposal in a unanimous, 4-0 vote. (To avoid the appearance of impropriety, Third District Supervisor Bev Brown recused herself from discussions as her husband owns a private campground.) |
