Selectmen amend winter roads contract

SUMNER — The Sumner Board of Selectmen made some amendments to a proposed winter roads contract at its March 22 meeting.

The contract stipulates requirements and payment for a contractor who would be responsible for plowing, sanding, and salting the roads starting next winter. When it is completed, the town will be soliciting bids.

A portion of the discussion centered around the circumstances under which the town would pay a contractor more than originally intended due to extraordinary fuel costs. Initially, the contract had called for extra fuel costs to be compensated for only in the case that a single winter endured more than 45 storms. In such a case the contractor would be compensated up to $1,000 on top of the contracted amount.

Selectman Glenn Hinckley raised concerns about a rule that determined compensation by number of storms rather than the amount of fuel used.

"What if he plowed hard all winter and he used more fuel than he thought?" wondered Hinckley.

Road Commissioner James Keach also weighed in against the 45 storm requirement. According to Keach, contracts generally establish roughly 20 storms as the number to be reached before extraordinary pay kicks in, and the most Sumner has ever had in one winter is 30.

Chairwoman Mary Anne Haxton agreed with Keach, claiming that setting such a high requirement would essentially make it impossible for a contractor to be compensated for extra fuel costs.

"If we're saying it's got to be 45 [storm] events to look at fuel costs and our record is 30, it sounds like we're saying he can go fly a kite," Haxton said.

Following the discussion, the board decided to drop the requirement that called for a threshold on the number of storms, and replace it with language requiring a contractor to provide proof that he or she had used an extraordinary amount of fuel.

"To be compensated for extraordinary fuel costs, the contractor will have to supply a record of all fuel costs," suggested Haxton.

The board agreed to the amendment, but decided that the extra costs should not exceed 3 percent of the total contract or, according to Town Clerk Susan Runes, roughly $4,000.

Selectman Mark Silber did express some concerns that the town would have to rely on the contractor being honest about where and how the fuel was being used.

Said Silber, "We would need some sort of proof that the fuel was spent on Sumner."