School board postpones sanitation deal

FORT SMITH — An attorney told Fort Smith School Board members Monday they shouldn’t accept a bid to hire Fort Smith for its sanitation services because the city wasn’t providing a recycling service when it submitted its bid.

Joey McCutchen, who represented the School District’s current sanitation provider, Altes Sanitation, told the School Board members they should accept Altes’ bid even though it’s more than $ 18,000 more than Fort Smith’s $250,000 bid for the three-year contract.

Altes contract expires Friday.

McCutchen also said Fort Smith probably will be sued by Marck Recycling over the city directors’ decision last week to hire 3rd Rock Recycling and Pen Sales to provide recycling services for the city.

The School District’s sanitation service could be affected if the city is entangled in litigation.

Third Rock began collecting recyclable material for the city Monday, Deputy City Administrator Jeff Dingman said.

McCutchen said he believed Marck would sue the city over the directors’ hiring of 3rd Rock because 3rd Rock submitted its bid after a January deadline passed.

Dingman told School Board members 3rd Rock wasn’t hired by a competitive bidding process but through requests for proposals and was legal.

“The request for proposal and negotiation procedure was followed with reference to the proposed contract regarding recycling services,” City Attorney Jerry Canfield wrote in a letter Monday on the 3rd Rock hiring issue.

The School Board didn’t make a decision on awarding

the sanitation contract Monday but opted to table the issue until the board’s July meeting. Board Member Bill Hanesworth said he was concerned about “unintended consequences” if the city is sued over the recycling issue.

The School Board had been recommended by staff to hire Fort Smith, the low bidder, to handle its sanitation services for the next three years. But the members hesitated during Monday’s

meeting when Bobby Altes said his company had been providing recycling for the district for the six years it has had the district’s sanitation contract.

Board members seemed surprised. They had been told at the board’s committee of the whole meeting June 12 that Altes didn’t provide recycling for the district.

Board members asked school staff members in the audience Monday if they

could verify Altes’ company was providing recycling services but none could answer whether it was or wasn’t.

Altes said Monday the company had recycling bins at every School District building even though it didn’t appear to school officials it was widely known.

Board members stated they wanted to postpone awarding the contract until they could further discuss Altes’ claims.