Council struggles with process but okays expansion of manager’s house

Informal bid process to be used

While not taking a formal vote, the Crested Butte Town Council instructed the staff to allocate $15,000 to add a dormer to the town manager’s house at Teocalli and Ninth. The staff was instructed to informally solicit some bids and see if the project could come in at the $15,000 level. An abbreviated bid process will take place with the town accepting bids until Wednesday, October 16 (see page 40).

While some councilpersons wanted the money to come out of the affordable housing fund since it would be used to improve a town-owned affordable housing structure, others wanted to protect that fund for the potential upcoming low-income rental project being proposed. But no clear direction was given on where to take the money.
Town manager Todd Crossett was given the opportunity to live in the town-owned home rent-free as part of his compensation when he got the job earlier this year. He has a wife, kids and dogs, so he asked the town to finish out a room that was not completed when the house was built. A dormer and installation of a floor would help the current living situation. The former town manager was single and didn’t need the extra room.
So the staff took the proposal through the Board of Zoning and Architectural review process and received approval. On Monday, they asked the council for the money to pay for the project. Swift Construction originally built the house and the staff contacted the company about adding the dormer this fall. The company said it could start this month and finish this fall for a cost of about $16,700.
“The idea is that this expansion will benefit whatever manager is living in the house,” explained Mayor Aaron Huckstep.
“I’m concerned about the money coming out of the affordable housing budget,” said Councilperson David Owen. “We may need that money for the upcoming rental project.”
Councilperson John Wirsing, a local contractor, asked if there would be an opportunity for other companies to bid on the project.
Crossett said town regulations don’t require a RFP (Request for Proposals) on projects less than $25,000. Plus, he said, the project was facing a time constraint with winter approaching. “There are costs and time associated with RFPs,” he said. “A formal RFP could take months.”
The council and Crossett threw out ideas on how perhaps an “informal” RFP could be conducted by calling several contractors and asking them to bid on the project.
Councilperson Jim Schmidt said he thought the council should fund the project “out of the general fund so as not to stress the affordable housing fund. And a quick, informal RFP is okay.”
“I think we could save several thousand dollars with competitive bidding,” said Wirsing.
“Some sort of RFP is the right thing to do in the spirit of fairness,” added Councilperson Roland Mason.
“But no contractor who sits on council and plans to bid on it could vote on this proposal,” reminded town attorney John Belkin. The sitting council people who are contractors all said they would not bid on the project.
“The town policy is that bids are needed for town projects over $25,000,” said Huckstep. “This would be going against that policy, even if it’s informal in this particular instance.”
“It seems like we could improve the practice for bidding town projects,” added Wirsing.
Ultimately, the council instructed the staff to contact at least three contractors for bids and spend no more than $15,000 on the project.
Belkin indicated he was having trouble following the council’s logic. “If you are doing a bid process, the process is to put it in the paper and advertise—not call friends and see what they can do it for. That seems odd to me,” he said.
Belkin ultimately advised the council that the town could legally do what they were suggesting and he seemed comfortable with the council direction. On the Tuesday after the Monday council meeting, town staff submitted a request for proposals to the newspaper that asks for interested bidders to submit a proposal by next week. The project should be completed before the snow flies.