What West Windsor does with the debris collected by the Department of Public Works has also come under scrutiny. At the August 20 Council meeting, Councilman Bryan Maher questioned a contract the township was awarding to Britton Industries. To him it appeared that a service that was once free was one West Windsor has started paying almost $40,000 per year for.
“It’s my understanding that we’re giving them trees and branches which ends up being turned into mulch, processed, and then sold. We’re basically giving Britton Industries or whoever gets this contract a substantial portion of their cost of goods sold. I was told that previously we paid nothing – we gave it to them and they took it.”
“Based upon what is going on with the economy and their business, all of a sudden we are paying $39,900 per year to give them their cost of goods sold. This is peculiar and it is not an insignificant amount of money,” Maher said.
Business Administrator Marlena Schmid confirmed that Britton was the only bidder for the contract that followed through, as a second bidder picked up materials but did not bid. “There aren’t many vendors provide this type of service,” she said.
“It is a little questionable to get just one bid from the guy we were giving this to before, and to go from zero to $40,000,” Maher said.
Schmid says by law the town had to advertise in one of the town’s legal newspaper because the amount of the contract was over $17,500. “In terms of the marketplace itself, I don’t know how far those newspapers are circulated,” she answered.
