By Dawn De Busk

Staff Writer

NAPLES — The Town of Naples will go back to square one with the much-needed Middle Road improvements. 

The project will go back out to bid after one of the contractors involved in the bidding process pointed out the unfairness in how the job had been changed without going back out to bid. 

Earlier this summer, only two companies bid for the Middle Road improvements project. As usually is the case, the Naples Board of Selectmen awarded it to the lowest bidder, which was P&K Sand and Gravel. Then, the scope and the price of the job changed and the lowest bidder kept the job that had been awarded. That happened publicly during a June 14 meeting. However, there had been some discussions between P&K and town officials prior to the meeting.

On Monday, the other contractor appeared before the selectmen saying that in order for the town to be transparent, the bidding process should start over —  especially since the project shifted to using Geofabric on the entire road versus the initial plan of putting down Geofabric on only the worst spots. 

Randy Baldwin, who owns Baldwin & Son Excavation in Naples, spoke during public participation time.  

“If you are jumping away from the original task, you put it out to bid again,” Baldwin said. “Why did you do a special deal with P&K? You didn’t do any with me. Why did you make special time to talk to them, instead of going back to the beginning?”

“I know how to do roads right. I am the one who suggested the Geofabric,” he said. 

Baldwin said that seven people in the community alerted him to the selectmen’s meeting on June 14. 

Going forward, the Middle Road upgrades will go back out to bid at the beginning of July. 

The selectmen voted, 4-0, to send the project back through the bid process. The timeline is that the bid proposal should be returned prior to the July 19 meeting. It’s likely the selectmen will hold an emergency meeting to award the bid sooner than the regularly scheduled meeting on July 19.  

During the discussion, Selectman Ted Shane asked the other board members if they wanted to go back out to bid. Shane had been singled out by Baldwin because Shane works as the Director of Public Works for the Town of New Gloucester. His knowledge was the reason he worked on lining up the Middle Road project.

“If we are away from what the original bid was, we need to go back out to bid,” Baldwin said. “Everything here has state and federal money. It is about everyone being on the same page. If you want people to bid for more stuff in town, you have to be transparent. I bid jobs every day, from $100,000 to $1,000,000 jobs. You have to talk to both guys. You have to be transparent.”

The board began discussing the logistics of putting the project back out to bid.   

“It is going to throw off the timing of the project. If we put it out to bid now, you [the selectmen] won’t see it until the end of July. It won’t be done until late fall,” Town Manger Hawley said.

“That is still paving season,” Baldwin said.

Hawley said he could have the requests for proposals (RFP’s) completed by midweek, and the deadline for bid returns would be two weeks later. 

“The two contractors already know what is involved in the job,” Shane said.

Caron asked whether the project should be open only to the two bidders or completely open to all contractors.

“Now, everyone knows what the cost is,” Selectman Kevin Rogers said. 

Caron said, “Who will sharpen the pencil the most?”

Outside of the Naples Town Hall, Baldwin said that although he lives in Naples, he rarely does bid proposals because it seems that the town favors P&K and a few other companies.

“If the town wants good bidders, it needs to be more transparent,” he said.

Hawley said that town officials have been transparent and consistent.  

“Since I have been here, all the bids have gone to the lowest bidder. If the perception is that those awardees are part of a good ole boy club, it is a little short-sighted because the select board members I have been working with have been consistent by sticking with the lowest bidder,” Hawley said. 

He explained the condition of the road. 

“Middle Road is one of the remaining gravel roads under town jurisdiction. It was never constructed to meet any road standard and each spring the road becomes very soft, muddy, and on some occasions impassable, even to emergency vehicles. Residents have demanded for years to have the road improved,” he said. 

Hawley confirmed that Baldwin offered the suggestion of using Geofabric, but other people expressed the same opinion.