To whom it may concern,

In response to the articles on Walpole’s Town Meeting.

Since well before I became Road Agent in 2002 The Town of Walpole has bought equipment on quotes – not by a formal bid process. If the townspeople want to go to a formal bid process the Selectboard or myself have no problem with that.

In the fall of 2008 I sought quotes (not bids) on a new truck from International and Freightliner to be put in an article in the 2009 town meeting. A quote was never received from L&B Freightliner. It was later decided by the Selectboard to withhold an article for a truck that year because of the economic environment.

L&B Freightliner was given specifications for a truck to be put in for at the 2010 town meeting. They did not give me a quote until two weeks before town meeting and long after the public budget hearing where the public could have questioned any article or budget matters before they went to print. Even then the quote from L&B Freightliner did not meet the specifications that were asked for. (ie. – a smaller motor with less power and torque, no transmission retarder, 23,000 lb. rear axel instead of a 30,000 lb. rear axel, smaller fuel tank and smaller tires among many other items. ) To this day the only written quote that I was given by L&B is $34,000 more than the quote from International. The lesser quote from L&B was only by word of mouth after the price was questioned. If this had been a formal bid process L&B’s bid would have been rejected as soon as it was opened.

The truck from International that was rejected at town meeting is virtually the same as two previous trucks that the town voted in 2006 and 2008. This model truck works well for our requirement, is not out of line for town trucks in New England and would help standardize our fleet.

The truck that we sought to replace cost the town a lot of money in repairs last year and lost trade in value. This years repair bill will probably be higher because we put off some repairs in anticipation of replacing the truck this summer.

I would like to suggest that anyone that is interested in purchasing policies or the budget join in the process instead of joining a free for all at town meeting fueled by disgruntled business owners who didn’t do their homework. There were only two residents at the public budget hearing this year other than town employees and elected officials. No one from truck dealerships was present. This would have been the place to question and air concerns. This was the time something constructive could have been done. But no one was there.

To me the biggest loser from this situation was the townspeople – for many reasons.

Jim Terrell

Walpole Road Agent