Contractor questions city’s choice for dust control

A Brandon-based contractor said he is disappointed after the City of Brandon awarded a contract to a Winnipeg-area company, despite what he described as a minimal price difference.

The city awarded the contract for the supply and application of dust control products at a bid price of $0.378 per litre to Fort Distributors, while Brandon-based Prairie Liquid Feeds submitted a bid of $0.385 per litre.

Prairie Liquid Feeds co-owner Sean Spruyt said the decision was frustrating for a local, family-run business that has handled Brandon’s dust control work in recent years.

“We’re very disappointed with the City of Brandon,” he told the Sun. “All of our product, our 35 per cent calcium chloride, comes out of Alberta, so it’s all-Canadian product. Our storage tanks are right here on the edge of our building. We’re four or five blocks away from the City of Brandon compound.”

He questioned why the city would choose an “outside company” over a local taxpayer for what he described as a marginal cost difference.

“We’re disappointed in the city over 0.007 cents a litre difference,” Spruyt said in an interview. “On a tandem load worth of product, that’s about a $65 difference.”

According to Spruyt, Prairie Liquid Feeds has completed two contracts with the city over the last four to five years and has not encountered performance issues.

“We’ve always held our end of the deal,” he said. “If they need us to spray, we spray. They give us 24-hour notice, and we go out.”

Spruyt also alleged that a company previously failed to complete portions of an earlier Brandon dust control contract, prompting the city to contact Prairie Liquid Feeds to finish the work.

“They were told they wouldn’t come back out to spray for less than $5,000 worth of product,” he said. “Yet they had a signed contract, so they actually called us, and we came out and finished it.”

He said he has since emailed Brandon’s procurement division regarding the decision, but has only received confirmation that his concerns were received by procurement staff.

“I have heard nothing back from them, which I find sad,” Spruyt said. “Why aren’t you supporting a local tax-paying business that contributes to the City of Brandon?”

Spruyt said Prairie Liquid Feeds also works with several surrounding municipalities, including Cornwallis, Oak Lake, Boissevain and Killarney.

“We do lots of municipalities, and they’re all happy to support Canadians,” he said.

When contacted for comment, the City of Brandon defended the procurement process.

In a statement provided through Merrilea Metcalf, the city said: “This contract was evaluated and awarded through a fair procurement process. The City complies with the obligations as outlined in Provincial and Federal trade agreements. In accordance with these trade agreements, preferential treatment to local bidders is not permitted.”

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