Proposal to change road service area contract raises a tempest at borough assembly Tuesday, sparks recall effort against assemblyman Mokie Tew

A resolution that would change the borough’s method for contracting for local road services in the Big Lake Road Service Area has caused a tempest among local residents.

It is also sparking a recall effort for the assemblyman who sponsored the measure, Mokie Tew.

The initial proposal would have implemented a pilot program in the Big Lake area for a “time and materials” procedure, where the contractor charges on the basis of hours at work and materials used.

The current procedure involves a competitive bid by a contractor for services over a three-year period. The resolution sponsored by Tew would also have terminated the current contract held by McKenna Brothers Paving, a veteran contractor that does work in several Mat-Su Road Service Areas.

Big Lake residents turned out in force Tuesday night to protest the action, arguing that time and materials-type contracts have not worked well where they have been tried, such as on the Kenai Peninsula.

“Time-and-materials looks like a cost-plus contract to me,” because there’s little incentive for a contractor to be efficient, said Mike Symanski, a Big Lake resident and a former state senator from Anchorage.

Irene Crowley, another resident of the area, said that when the time-and-materials approach was tried on the Kenai Peninsula it led to 8 percent increase in road service costs to local property owners in one area, 8 percent in another and 7 percent in a third.

Crowley said she and her neighbors were happy with service and rates being charged by the current contractor, McKenna Brothers Paving, and don’t understand why assemblyman Kew wants to make a change.

“We don’t see any benefits to the residents of Big Lake in this,” she said.

Shawn McBride, another local resident, said, “This (new procedure) puts the contractor in a conflict situation with local residents, and if an unscrupulous contractor is involved it could be a financial disaster for people.”At the end of the evening the assembly put the matter on hold. Tew proposed an amendment to his resolution that a task force be appointed to study the matter and make recommendations. Borough manager Mike Brown would appoint the task force. The amendment is pending.

Meanwhile, a recall effort against Tew is being organized by Terry Gorlick and a group of Big Lake residents, Gorlick said. He argued that Tew has a conflict of interest in the matter since his company once held the Big Lake road service contract.

Over 400 signatures were gathered on a petition opposing Tew’s proposed change in the contract method that was presented to the borough assembly Tuesday night, Symanski said.