South Whitehall commissioners

Original article posted at wfmz.com

South Whitehall Township commissioners had to make a close call Wednesday night between two companies competing to sell them a new phone system for the municipal building.

The hangup for the commissioners: the proposals put together by the two companies were less than $200 apart. Ecomm of Wayne, Chester County, said it could do the job for $135, 374. ET&T of Bethlehem’s bid was $135,567.

In the end, the commissioners, by a unanimous voice vote, went against the recommendation of the township administration and awarded the contract to ET&T.

Before the vote, Commissioners Thomas Johns and Glenn Block both said that given the closeness of the numbers, they preferred that the work to be done by a Lehigh Valley company.

However, Commissioners David Bond and Dale Daubert said they felt obligated to follow the recommendation of the administration and go with Ecomm’s lower bid.

Commissioners President Christina Morgan seemed unable to choose a side, saying she was “torn.”

Making the decision more difficult was the presence of Ecomm representative Mike Carty and ET&T’s president, Fusun Bubernack, and vice president, David Turek.

All three tried hard to sway the commissioners’ decision. Bubernack seemed to strike a chord by saying her 44-year-old company likely has provided employment to some in South Whitehall. “We are a Lehigh Valley business,” she said. “Let’s keep business in the Lehigh Valley.”

The logjam ended soon after solicitor Joseph Zator said the commissioners were not legally obligated to choose the low bidder, because both companies are on a list of state-approved contractors. He said the township was not even required to get more than one proposal, if they chose a company from that list.

Another deciding factor: Under questioning from Block, township purchasing agent Lenore Horros said the administration recommended the Ecomm proposal solely based on price.

South Whitehall officials said the purchase of a new phone system has been in works for almost three years. The commissioners had set aside $120,000 for the project in the budget, so last night, they were prepared to transfer the money needed to make up the difference.

It turned out they didn’t need quite as much as they thought. ET&T’s Bubernack announced before the vote that she would install a wireless option at Ecomm’s price, $7,270, rather than her company’s bid of $8,405.

“That’s a great start to this project!” said Morgan appreciatively.

And Daubert asked Bubernack: “How long are you going to stick around?”