The president of Kincardine Cable is baffled that his proposal for expanding high speed internet got no consideration for a million dollar Bruce County project.
Byran Walden has added his voice to local internet providers who’ve been left out by what they call a flawed process and unqualified consultant for the county’s broadband project.
Walden told the county’s corporate services committee his proposal for high speed internet would have cost customers less for better service that would be available nine months earlier than the contract Bruce County accepted two months ago.
But Walden’s proposal didn’t make the list evaluated by consultant Les Tutkaluke for county councillors in November.
“Why it was overlooked, I’m just astonished. It’s unbelievable in my mind,” Walden said.
Walden heard from county staff that his proposal got a strong score, but was excluded because it covered selected areas rather than the whole county.
That was not a condition of the project until the last minute, Walden said.
County council selected Bell Aliant as the contractor for a project that will expand high speed internet in the Wiarton and Brockton areas. The project includes $1 million in incentive grant from the Ministry of Rural Affairs.
Local providers say that grant money should be used to boost the local economy.
The shifting criteria and incomplete bid reporting system are just some of the problems in what Walden called a flawed process.
“It’s a complete mess. They made mistake after mistake,” he said.
It’s not too late for Bruce County to review its decision, according to John Schnurr of N-visible Links. A contract has not yet been signed, he said, and even a signed contract can be rescinded under the terms of the request for proposal.
“I think they should at least read the RFPs that were submitted before they award it to somebody else,” he said.
“The object of the game is to have (council) take a second look at it because there were some serious mistakes made in the whole process.”
Among the problems Schnurr listed are delays in getting information from county staff, inaccurate basis for selecting the service areas, and a consultant who lacks credentials and has business ties to Bell Aliant.
Walden and four other local internet providers are asking Bruce county council to put a hold on the broadband contract and review the process.
They are prepared to take legal action if the county doesn’t reconsider the tender process, he said.
Three councillors – Gwen Gilbert, Larry Kraemer and Charlie Bagnato – tried but failed to get council to take another look at the tenders before it finalized the bylaw in December.
Warden Mike Smith said Thursday that with a legal challenge in the works, council won’t comment on the broadband issue.
“We are confident that we followed the proper procedure and were fair to everyone involved,” Smith said.
“We’ll wait and see what the legal challenge brings.”