Martel Awarded 5-year School Transportation Contract

School board members praised the service and reliability of Martel Transportation as they awarded the company a five-year transportation contract, despite the owner's 2009 arrest.

With two members absent for the vote, the board unanimously took the recommendations of its finance committee in selecting Martel’s $4.1 million bid.

The bid, one of three that were submitted, represents an increase from the current $3.9 million contract, but was the lowest offer, Business Manager Edward J. Hoyt said.

Much more than price went into the selection process, Hoyt said, including reference checks, state-collected data, quality analyses, an assessment of legal issues and safety reviews and records.

Each category was scored and Martel’s was highest overall, Hoyt said.

Martel was not highest in every area. One was legal issues, where the score was 1.3, lower than competitor M&J, yet higher than Specialty Bus Company.

Dean Martel, the owner of Martel Transportation, and an employee were arrested in 2009 on charges of second-degree larceny based on allegations that they had used town fuel and gas cards for personal vehicles, according to The Hartford Courant.

Martel was granted a special form of probation known as accelerated rehabilitation, and paid restitution to the town, several officials and board members said. The town received a $5,000 check from Martel, Chief Administrative Officer Robert Skinner said. 

Granting the contract to Martel did not sit well with everyone in town.

“I am beyond disappointed that the BOE did not feel that a violation of public trust which landed Dean Martel in criminal court, did not disqualify Martel from being awarded the contract,” Selectman Bruce Lockwood said.

Lockwood said he will move to have contractors sign ethics agreements in the future to prevent similar incidents.

Board Chairwoman Beth Kandrysawtz said the board looked at all the factors in the process, including legal issues, and determined Martel was still the top choice.

“Martel was clearly ahead,” she said.

Martel said he loves working in Canton but had no comment on the past charges.  

“There’s no public record of this and I have no comment,” he said.

In the accelerated rehabilition program, charges against a first offender are dismissed if the accused satisfactorily completes a probation period. 

Superintendent Kevin Case said at the meeting that he couldn’t say much about the issue and declined further comment Friday. 

At the board meeting, school officials did praise other aspects of Martel's relationship with the schools.

“Their services has always been really outstanding,” Kandrysawtz said.

Hoyt said Martel’s references and recommendations from parents were much higher than competing companies. He said parents had high praise for the company’s attention to any issues that have come up with bus routes, stops or other matters.

In the references category, for example, Martel scored a 4.7 out of 5 while the others were at 3.0 and 2.7.

“They’re extremely responsive,” Hoyt said, adding that the company is usually in the midst of solving a problem by the time he checks up on it.

Superintendent Kevin Case added that complaints around bus transportation are “extremely low.”

Martel said he is happy to receive the contract and believes that he has a good working relationship with school staff, kids and parents.

“I love doing business in the town of Canton,” he said. "The kids in Canton are great and we have a very good relationship with the parents.”