Friends:
for the next few weeks, I will furnish published reports on school districts that have rejected Tremco, Garland, and the Purchasing Cooperative Roofing SCAM.
The story is always the same: "Exclusion" vs. "Fair Competition".
NOTE: Retired 2003, do not solicit nor accept compensation or personal advancement of any kind.
We'll start off with this one, and continue as a "Series'. It happens in all 50 states, and hopefully will include a district near you.
I'll try not to ramble on, and just provide the reports without much commentary.
You will find the link before each report so you can verify, and read in it's entirety. I've only furnished a portion of the report, but provided direct links to the publisher.
Respect to Ms. Diane Petryk of The Daily Item.
Here we go:
for the next few weeks, I will furnish published reports on school districts that have rejected Tremco, Garland, and the Purchasing Cooperative Roofing SCAM.
The story is always the same: "Exclusion" vs. "Fair Competition".
NOTE: Retired 2003, do not solicit nor accept compensation or personal advancement of any kind.
We'll start off with this one, and continue as a "Series'. It happens in all 50 states, and hopefully will include a district near you.
I'll try not to ramble on, and just provide the reports without much commentary.
You will find the link before each report so you can verify, and read in it's entirety. I've only furnished a portion of the report, but provided direct links to the publisher.
Respect to Ms. Diane Petryk of The Daily Item.
Here we go:
State could punish district
·
By Diane Petryk
The Daily Item
The Daily Item
·
May 7, 2010
MIFFLINBURG — A state
Department of Education spokeswoman said there could be consequences if the
Mifflinburg School District employs a roofer without an open bidding process
first.
"Open," Leah
Harris added, "at the time of the project."
In February, the Mifflinburg
school board went along with a CSIU-picked roofer that had bid for unspecified
projects — back in 2008.
Consequences for
improper bidding, said Harris, in the DOE's Harrisburg office, include fines or
disciplinary actions against reimbursed projects — whether the project involved
is reimbursable or not.
The chosen roofer,
Tremco subsidiary Weatherproofing Technologies Inc., of Cleveland, passed a
generic bidding-to-qualify process conducted by the Association of Education
Purchasing Agencies, a multi-state bidding program. The Central Susquehanna
Intermediate Unit, based in Montandon, participates in the program.
The Mifflinburg board
decided on the one-stop shopping for 30,000 square feet of new roofing on its
elementary school and roughly 7,000 square feet of repairs on two other school
roof sections "because of the size of the job," school board
President Jill Shambach said in a phone call in April. Shambach did not return
phone calls Thursday.
Charles Peterson Jr.,
CSIU's cooperative business services director, told the Mifflinburg board that
Weatherproofing Technologies was picked from a pool of one.
Valley roofer Max
Bossert said that form of pre-job bidding for future work, especially with only
one firm likely to be able to meet the specifications, circumvents the state's
legally established fair-bidding practices.
Cost double what's
needed
The process also
results in a roof twice as expensive as need be, Bossert, a former Union County
commissioner, asserts.
Based on discussions
at school board meetings, the work is expected to cost roughly $600,000, he
said. That's about $16 a square foot, when the average price is about $8 a
square foot. Bossert's company, Boss Insulation & Roofing Inc., in West
Milton, completed the high school roof for slightly less than $8 a square foot
last year, he said.
Engineer Jim Hague, a
roofing specialist with Foreman Architects Engineers of University Park, said
that without the involvement of an independent architect or engineer, it is
difficult to assess what roofing needs really are.
The bidding
specifications, bid responses and contract for the Mifflinburg roofing work
have not been made public, despite The Daily Item's requests for them,
initiated April 21, under the Freedom of Information Act. The CSIU has requested
30 days to respond.
Bossert said he
requested the specifications for bidding from the school district and was told
there were none.
Ads in big-city papers
only
The CSIU figured the
price by square foot and previous Tremco information. The 2008 call for bids
was advertised only in large-city newspapers outside the local area, Peterson
said.
Mifflinburg school
board members Tom Hosterman and John Bohn voted in March to rescind the
contract decision and open the job up to fair bidding practices, but they were
defeated, 7-2.
Hosterman said in an
April interview that information presented was confusing and there were
questions unanswered.
Prices bid years ago
can't be reflecting the current market, Bohn said.
"I'm not sure
this is the best we could do," Bohn said.
Shambach, the school
board president, said CSIU's brokering the deal was attractive "because
they provide service from start to finish."
CSIU also gets a 1.5
percent fee for their assistance.
The turn-key service
Shambach likes means Tremco will arrange its own architectural service and
inspections, but that's problematical, too.
The state Department
of Education rejected a Tremco contract at Riverside High School in Beaver
County in 2008, stating that architectural services for a project must be
obtained by the district, not through Tremco or a purchasing agency like the
CSIU.
CSIU's attorney
confirmed that five years ago.
Law: Districts must
comply
In a 2005 letter to
then-CSIU purchasing services manager Jeffrey Kimball, CSIU's attorney, Ellen
Enters, of Fox & Rothschild, in Lansdale, said: "Pennsylvania public
school districts must continue to independently comply with section 751.1 of
the Public School Code … regarding engagement of an architect. ... (They)
should not utilize the services of the successful vendors architect or engineer
... (but rather) engage its own independent architect or engineer."
Hague, the University
Park roofing specialist, said his firm's experience is that school districts are
paying a premium to employ that purchasing agent service, even as it violates
bidding ethics and education department requirements.
It's practicing
engineering and architecture without a license, he said,...................
-------------------------------------------------
I will thank Mr. Michael Ducharme of Carlisle Syntec for his tireless effort on behalf of taxpayers. An honorable man, and an honorable company. Steadfast is GAF's Ms. Helene Pierce protecting contractors, and taxpayers nationwide. Both do great work, and believe me, it is very difficult and time consuming. The roofing world should salute them.
Again, please click the link below for the entire story.
As a courtesy:
My best advice: NEVER buy a taxpayer funded roof through a Purchasing Cooperative. It is a SCAM, and you will pay approximately 40% MORE for an average roof, and worthless warranty.
Choose competition between multiple roofing material manufacturers like: GAF, Carlisle, Firestone, Johns Manville, Barrett, etc. They are honorable, and do not scam our schools. NOBODY in the private sector uses Tremco, or Garland. What does that tell you?
Reject negativity in all forms, and always remember to keep looking "UP".
NOTE: Retired 2003, do not solicit nor accept compensation or personal advancement of any kind.
Respect.
Robert R. Solomon
Public Procurement Analyst
Licensed Roofing Consultant
Florida State Certified
CCC 1325620
RobertRSolomon@aol.com
