Palmer city council nixes local-bidder preference

PALMER - The Palmer City Council agreed by a unanimous vote Tuesday to eliminate the local-bidder preference from the citys codes.

The matter was reviewed at a public hearing during Tuesdays council meeting. On the whole, council members agreed that although the local-bidder preference seemed to be a good idea, its execution often resulted in problems.

I believe administration of the preference costs the city money and that its possible benefits are outweighed by the additional cost, Palmer city manager Tom Healy wrote in a July 6 newsletter to the council.

Some council members felt the vagueness of the code made it difficult to apply. Wording in the code indicated the council may choose to use the clause, but Palmers Mayor Henry Guinotte, at the meeting, said some contractors got upset if the council chose not to award the bid to a local bidder.

Vagueness concerning who was to be considered a local bidder also created problems, council members said. The code included wording which would give local preference to any contractor or business in the Mat-Su Borough.

I thought it was a good idea, however, if we really wanted to be practical, we should limit it to the businesses within the city of Palmer. Of course, Im not sure theres a single contractor inside the city of Palmer, council member Tony Pippel said in a Wednesday interview.

Council member Stephanie Dennis-Brown said she felt the preference was causing more confusion than it was helping local contractors.

In theory, its a great thing to have, but its not working anymore because everybody claims to be a local bidder, Brown said. Were just getting rid of it because it doesnt work any more.

Several council members said they were sad to see the local preference go.

I think nobody particularly wanted to do away with it, council member Joe Lawton said Wednesday, but it was just too unwieldy.