The Alna Board of Selectmen voted unanimously at their regular meeting Nov. 17 to adopt new conflict of interest rules to the town’s Public Funds Administration Policy.
The regulations were adopted in response to recent controversy over seemingly excessive truck rental charges from Alna Road Commissioner Mike Trask’s business, Quality Services.
At the Board’s Oct. 27 meeting, it was revealed that Trask charged $2050 for 18 days of pickup truck rental to complete miscellaneous roadwork throughout the town.
According to Selectman John Villeneuve, U-Haul in Portland would have charged $1275 for a similar rental. Larry Stewart’s Auto Sales in Lisbon would have charged $1107.
As previously reported in The Lincoln County News, during the months of Sept. and Oct., Trask charged some $3600 in rental fees. The road work, initially slated to last a couple weeks, lasted for nearly a month.
The price difference appeared to come from the method of billing: Trask charged by the hour for three weeks of labor, while the other companies offered monthly rates.
Trask and the Board criticized each other, and were both criticized by residents at the board’s Oct. 27 meeting, for not shopping around for better offers when it appeared that the roadwork would take longer than expected.
The wording of the new regulation requires the selectmen’s approval on any deal with a company or business where a town official has a personal or financial stake in the outcome.
According to the text of the amendment: “Without prior approval from the selectmen, a town official may not engage any individual or company to tender goods, equipment, or services for the benefit of the town if that official has a personal or financial interest in that engagement.”
The rule applies to contracts under $3000. After $3000, the town’s regular bid policy, in which the selectmen award a project based on the cost of the work and fitness of the contractor, will take precedence.
Two proposals were presented to the public; one by Villeneuve and the other by Board Chairman Dave Abbott. Villeneuve’s proposal ultimately served as the basis for the new regulations.
Abbott’s amendment offered similar wording, but required that selectmen oversight be applied only to rentals. Selectman David Reingardt ultimately steered the Board toward selecting a more comprehensive conflict of interest policy.
“It’s not just about [renting] equipment, it’s about everything,” Reingardt said. “This should be addressed in a whole sense. [The new policy] needs some bite in it.”
According to Abbot, the new regulations will allow the Board to review contracts on a case-by-case basis.
In other business, the Board and Road Commissioner agreed to review the steepness of the shoulders on Rabbit Path and Bailey roads.
Reingardt said two residents had approached him on separate occasions to complain about the dangerous nature of the shoulders on both roads.
The selectmen decided to take a look at the shoulders and get an estimate on the potential costs associated with repairing them.
Town resident Chris Cooper estimated that a couple guys working for two to three weeks could completely fix the problem.
Because the town no longer has any funds in its road budget, a supplemental funding request would need to be voted on by Alna voters should the shoulders require repair.
