MONROE - Despite an appeal by a Monroe man who said he submitted the lowest price, the Monroe Board of Public Works Monday deemed it was within its legal rights to purchase road construction materials from the second-lowest quotes and took no action to reverse an earlier vote.
Tony Anglin, part owner of Anglin LLC, a Monroe trucking company, appealed the decision after the board voted April 2 to go with other suppliers. Anglin LLC submitted the lowest quotes in five of the six different material categories. All were rejected in favor of three other companies on a
3-to-2 vote, costing about $390 more than what Anglin had bid.
Approved quotes were: 75 tons each of aggregate base and sub-base at $6.45 per ton from Rock Road Companies, Inc.; 75 tons each of clear stone aggregate base and crushed limestone at $9.80 per ton from Reese Construction; and 1,300 tons of Birdseye pea gravel at $9.50 per ton from Janesville Sand and Gravel Co.
Anglin appealed the decision through the city clerk's office in a letter dated the following day.
On Monday, Anglin asked why his low quotes weren't accepted and whether the board's decision was really best for the city or was based on a personal opinion of him. He maintained that the board would not have voted as it had if "any other name was on the top of that quote."
Anglin said the higher quotes will cost the city more and that the company receiving the majority of the contract does not spend money in the city or the county.
Anglin also questioned "whether (his) criminal history was used" by board members to determine his company's ability or eligibility to fulfill the contract.
Anglin was sentenced in March to a year in jail and ordered to pay about $100,000 in restitution for a felony conviction of Medicaid fraud, to which he pleaded no contest. When questioned about his legal problems by board member Charles Koch on April 2, Anglin said only his personal property is up for sale in his attempt to raise the money for restitution, and that, while other owners of the company continue the day-to-day operations when he is absent, he would be available for work under the city's contract.
Anglin said in his letter that board member Reid Stangel continued the questions "that by no means pertained to the contract at hand or the quotes presented by Anglin, LLC, but were more so a personal attack at me personally." Those questions, he wrote, "were used as an indirect means of tarnishing the image of" and "to influence a negative decision by the other members toward" Anglin and the company.
"We worked hard to get our bid down," Anglin said, "...to get a good price for the community where we spend our money."
Koch raised the question of the city's legal liability, pointing out that the city has made a practice in the past of "always taking the low bid."
"We ran into legal problems when we didn't," he added.
Service contracts are not subject to Wisconsin statutes on bidding, said City Attorney Rex Ewald, and hauling of materials is a service, with quotes, not bids, submitted for the service.
Anglin also said board member Tyler Schultz should have abstained from voting because of a conflict of interest stemming from business his father, Gene Schultz, does with and in competition with Anglin LLC. However, Ewald said, Tyler Schultz is independent from his father and receives no compensation or support from his father, making the conflict of interest claim null.
The board adjourned without making any motions to change its earlier decision.
Tony Anglin, part owner of Anglin LLC, a Monroe trucking company, appealed the decision after the board voted April 2 to go with other suppliers. Anglin LLC submitted the lowest quotes in five of the six different material categories. All were rejected in favor of three other companies on a
3-to-2 vote, costing about $390 more than what Anglin had bid.
Approved quotes were: 75 tons each of aggregate base and sub-base at $6.45 per ton from Rock Road Companies, Inc.; 75 tons each of clear stone aggregate base and crushed limestone at $9.80 per ton from Reese Construction; and 1,300 tons of Birdseye pea gravel at $9.50 per ton from Janesville Sand and Gravel Co.
Anglin appealed the decision through the city clerk's office in a letter dated the following day.
On Monday, Anglin asked why his low quotes weren't accepted and whether the board's decision was really best for the city or was based on a personal opinion of him. He maintained that the board would not have voted as it had if "any other name was on the top of that quote."
Anglin said the higher quotes will cost the city more and that the company receiving the majority of the contract does not spend money in the city or the county.
Anglin also questioned "whether (his) criminal history was used" by board members to determine his company's ability or eligibility to fulfill the contract.
Anglin was sentenced in March to a year in jail and ordered to pay about $100,000 in restitution for a felony conviction of Medicaid fraud, to which he pleaded no contest. When questioned about his legal problems by board member Charles Koch on April 2, Anglin said only his personal property is up for sale in his attempt to raise the money for restitution, and that, while other owners of the company continue the day-to-day operations when he is absent, he would be available for work under the city's contract.
Anglin said in his letter that board member Reid Stangel continued the questions "that by no means pertained to the contract at hand or the quotes presented by Anglin, LLC, but were more so a personal attack at me personally." Those questions, he wrote, "were used as an indirect means of tarnishing the image of" and "to influence a negative decision by the other members toward" Anglin and the company.
"We worked hard to get our bid down," Anglin said, "...to get a good price for the community where we spend our money."
Koch raised the question of the city's legal liability, pointing out that the city has made a practice in the past of "always taking the low bid."
"We ran into legal problems when we didn't," he added.
Service contracts are not subject to Wisconsin statutes on bidding, said City Attorney Rex Ewald, and hauling of materials is a service, with quotes, not bids, submitted for the service.
Anglin also said board member Tyler Schultz should have abstained from voting because of a conflict of interest stemming from business his father, Gene Schultz, does with and in competition with Anglin LLC. However, Ewald said, Tyler Schultz is independent from his father and receives no compensation or support from his father, making the conflict of interest claim null.
The board adjourned without making any motions to change its earlier decision.