What the truck!?

From $50 bluetooth speakers to multi-billion dollar defence contracts, buyers seek multiple options in order to get the best deal. The Langley Township Council is apparently an exception, even though the money they spend is not theirs, but entrusted to them by taxpayers.

In reviewing publicly-available Council documents, the Langley Monitor has uncovered that two contracts worth a combined $11,505,855 were handed out to a single vendor, Commercial Emergency Equipment Co. with minimal scrutiny, and no shopping around.

Normally, it’s standard practice for the Township to use an RFP process for purchases over $100,000.

With one of the no-bid contracts being worth over $10.8 Million the usual threshold was exceeded by a factor of 108.

Let’s break it down:

Sole-Source Deal #1 (the appetizer): $661,000

The gravy truck began in July 2023, with a $661,000 sole-source award to Commercial Emergency Equipment Co., for a Ford F550 Mini-Pumper truck and associated equipment. It was unanimously approved at the July 24, 2023 Regular Council Meeting.

To make matters more bizarre: the idea to purchase the equipment came from the vendor, not the Township!

The purchase idea was pushed to Council in such haste that the Langley Fire Department admitted they did not know where they would be stationing the truck when asked by Councillor Kim Richter at the meeting which approved the spending.

It’s worth watching the (shockingly brief) Council deliberation of the purchase:

• Only Councillor Richter asked pointed questions about the idea to sole-source a $661,000 asset at the suggestion of the vendor

• Councillor Michael Pratt pitched a somewhat-rambling softball

• Councillors Tim Baillie and Mayor Eric Woodward formed the cheerleading contingent.

Sole-Source Deal #2 (the main course) : $10,844,855.00

Flush with $661,000, Commercial Emergency Equipment Co. wasn’t done tapping the well with Township Council.

At the March 11, 2024 meeting, Council handed the company five years of Fire Department procurement (2024–28)—a whopping $10,844,855 before taxes—with no opportunity for competitive bids.

The order secured seven fire apparatuses for the Township and two additional mini-pumpers, plus associated equipment.

Clearly unimpressed with the 2-page report (p. 94–95) justifying such a major purchase, only Councillor Richter thought to ask why it should be exempted from a competitive process, and was the sole opposing vote. Fire Chief Jason de Roy stated there would be some cost savings from fleet standardization, though no dollar figure could be provided.

Funding for the deal had to be sourced from capital reserves that exist for other critical civic purposes. Mayor Woodward, in a Freudian slip, described the financing as “creative”:

Councillor Barb Martens noted that the deal abandons the Langley Fire Department’s usual practice of custom-designing the vehicles to match its unique needs, instead opting for off-the-shelf rigs which would then be modified.

Aside from Councillors Richter and Martens, the rest of council contributed either cheering (Councillors Baillie, Ferguson, van Popta, and Mayor Woodward) or silence to the discussion about a significant capital outlay by the Township.

Something Doesn’t Add-up

The Monitor cannot find a reasonable justification for not even checking out the competition on purchases of this magnitude.

Interestingly, the Township has a published criteria (pdf p. 202) for sole-source awards over $100,000—and none of the conditions are met in either case.

Firstly, a Sole Source Justification Form must be prepared and submitted with the Council Report and Council Minutes. No justification form was provided for the 10.8 million dollar purchase!

However, Chief de Roy did submit a Sole Source Justification for the $661,000 Mini-Pumper:

However, the justification (for both purchases) doesn’t pass muster with the Township’s own criteria.

1. Contractor has unique qualifications of skills – no, the industry has many, and in some cases better, qualified suppliers.
2. Project is a follow-up assignment most appropriately done by the original contractor – also no!
3. Timeframe for delivery is very compressed and the tendering/RFP route will put the project well behind schedule – the mini-pumper wasn’t even the Township’s idea, and the $10.8 million deal spans five years—this one’s a huge nope.
4. Emergency situation – also a no.

It seems strange that there was hardly even an effort to spin the purchase deals as conforming to the Township’s criteria (or frankly, to common sense), perhaps they were counting on Langley Township voters and taxpayers just not to take any notice.

Could hubris be setting in with Mayor Woodward’s council majority? It looks like they have a lot to answer for in this matter, and we at the Monitor will be seeking those answers.