Despite Plea, A New Backhoe for Bethany

Despite a plea from the representative of a company offering the lowest bid on a new backhoe for the town of Bethany, the Board of Selectmen opted to award a contract to the highest bidder - to a difference of nearly $30,000.

The selectmen cited safety over cost savings when making the 2-1 vote.Selectman Don Shea voted in favor of the cheapest model.

The plea came from F&W Equipment President Roger Funk, a Bethany resident, and was offered at a meeting held on July 19 at Town Hall. F&W is based in Orange.

The contract was awarded to W.I. Clark of Wallingford. It was selected from a list of other bidders that included a Caterpillar from Newington’s H.O. Penn and Funk’s Case backhoes. The Caterpillar was priced at $125,995. The Case backhoes were priced at $104,200 and $112,200, respectively.

The issue of what machine to select was not up for public debate at Tuesday’s meeting. Funk pleaded with the board to read his proposal to purchase a Case backhoe. The town of Bethany has been using a Case backhoe since 1995.

According to Funk, the letter was not considered.

“As a 44 year resident of The Town of Bethany, along with our 72 year old company being one of the three bidders as well as the supplier of the Town's current 16 year old, 7000+ hours of use, Case Backhoe, I must state I am surprised at the path this process has taken,” Funk wrote in the letter, addressed to First Selectwoman Derrylyn Gorski.

The subject was not open for debate at the meeting.

First Selectman Gorski said her reasoning for recommending the John Deere was that construction can be a very dangerous job, and the decision was based on a recommendation from operating evaluators.  

“Worker safety is very important,” Gorski said at the meeting.

The board agreed that the Deer and Caterpillar backhoes offered more operator comfort, which, they said, translates into better safety.

The John Deere will be expected to serve the community for the next 20 years. The town, however, has yet to make a motion whether to purchase or lease the machine.

The machine will be delivered to the Town of Bethany along with an operator’s manual, one repair manual, one parts manual and one operation and test manual. It will also come with the standard 12-month unlimited hour full machine warranty and fuel in its tank.

Update: Details about the vote has been added.