Edelson: ‘Town Doing Very Good Job Implementing Procurement Policy’

Southbury First Selectman Ed Edelson published a ‘First Selectman’s Message’ last week discussing the town’s competitive bid process and recent procurement activity.

Edelson explained the steps of the current bid process and discussed in detail the bids since he has taken office.

Since January 2012, there have been 29 competitive bids, 28 of them involved preparing a Request for Proposal, opening bids in a public setting, evaluating the bids and asking the Board of Selectmen for their approval. Of these, 24 had multiple responses to the request for a proposal, according to Edelson.

Edelson stressed the important of remembering why the town goes through all the steps of a competitive bid for projects. He explained the three objectives:

1. Make sure the bidding is fair – all bidders have the same information and must meet the same requirements.
2. Make sure the bidding is transparent – bid selection should be clear to be certain that there are no other factors being considered or other outside influences.
3. Bidding will allow choice of best value although in some cases this might not be the lowest cost.