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Prior Lake, Minnesota

September 6, 2010 • (952) 447-6669
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Garbage hauler loses district contract

Submitted by Josh Chase on June 9, 2009 - 12:02pm.
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By Josh Chase, Staff Writer

A decade-long relationship between the Prior Lake-Savage Area School District and local garbage hauler Buckingham Disposal effectively ended Monday when the School Board approved a contract with one of the company’s competitors.

Lakeville-based Dick’s Sanitation was awarded the contract after Director of Business Affairs Margo Nash warned against changing the nature of the contract in order to benefit Buckingham.

“We should honor our bid practice, and my recommendation is to award [the contract] to the lowest bidder, Dick’s Sanitation,” Nash said.

Nash was told by the board in May to consult the district’s attorneys about the possibility of using a contract loophole that would allow the district to opt out of its agreement with Dick’s after the first year of service.

According to Nash, “legal counsel has said that we would not be following our bid specifications” if the district changed the contract from five years to one year so Buckingham would have another shot at the contract when the 2009-10 school year ended.

Buckingham, who won the previous two bids, offered to handle the district’s recycling and refuse over the next five years for $304,131, while Dick’s Sanitation offered to provide the same services for $260,053.

Owner Tom Buckingham said in May that his company’s high bid was the result of an accounting error that incorrectly factored taxes and fees. Because the company is based in Prior Lake, he said it pays local taxes and offers support to the community in other ways. For instance, he said, the company sponsors the annual PTC Carnival and the senior lock-in.

“That’s the benefit you get when you do business with neighbors,” he said. “We care for and support District 719.”

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Board Member Diane Ziemann, who was absent at the district’s most recent meeting, agreed with Buckingham at the May meeting and asked the board to table the measure, giving Nash the chance to seek legal counsel.

“I’m real saddened that a local vendor would lose the opportunity to provide services after 10 years of excellent service,” she said last month.

The motion to approve the contract with Dick’s Sanitation was approved by a 6-0 vote.

Attempts to reach the owners of both companies were unsuccessful.

Josh Chase can be reached at (952) 345-6375 or jchase@swpub.com.


Respectfully, Dan...

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Respectfully,
Dan Swanson
Another bad decision made by a bunch of bean counters who think everything is the same and price is the only difference. I guess doing an excellent job for 10 years means nothing, not to mention NOT supporting a Prior Lake business.


Submitted by swannyww on June 9, 2009 - 2:32pm.

Good God!! Do you people...

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Good God!! Do you people pride yourself on bad decisions? It seems that every thing from the School board to city hall has a bad case of the stupids!!

People of Prior Lake if you have Dicks cancel there service and sign up with a local company lets at least help offset the mistake of electing these officals.


Submitted by noconfidence on June 9, 2009 - 7:28pm.

Good for the School board...

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Good for the School board and elected officials. :)

If you are so unhappy with you School Board and City official’s take a chance and run for one of the up coming openings and see how you do in the election.

Then get ready to for the bad mouthing from people like you.

They have many people to please and for crying out loud you are not one of them.

I think that your comment about dumping the other Local Company that has been around just as long as Tom/Buckingham has was just wrong.

Two words for you" grow up"


Submitted by Priorlake on June 19, 2009 - 3:58pm.

Dicks is a Local company?...

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Dicks is a Local company? Run for the School Board? I would in a heartbeat if I didnt have to deal with the red tape and parents that think everyone deserves a trophy. As far as bad mouthing an elected official sorry its my right just as its my right to give them a pat on the back when they do something right,which trust me is few and far between. But you are right these men and women try to please many people but guess what they are not, just ask the men and women who pay more taxes to fund and empty school, just ask the owner of Dakota Liquor, just ask the people that are about to get a Kwik Trip in there back yard. But hey what about the houses that get to look out and see that non intrusive water treatment plant. You keep backing a school board that will ban baseball caps but do very little to curb the drug problem in the high school.

So Mr or Mrs Priorlake are you a board member or elected city official?

One Word for you " Clueless"


Submitted by noconfidence on June 19, 2009 - 9:37pm.

I think the school board...

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I think the school board does an excellent job. You are right, however, that the number one issue facing this district is the drugs in the high school. Bring the dogs into the classroom once and you'll be totally amazed at what you find. The kids are not stupid - they know the dogs will only be used to check the cars and lockers. So guess what? They are carrying the drugs with them. I'm tired of hearing about "student rights". This problem has to be dealt with. Anyone caught with drugs in school should be expelled. Period. In the end its as much a safety issue as weapons.


Submitted by Howe on June 20, 2009 - 8:20am.

No confidence, you are all...

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No confidence, you are all over the board on your subjects. You start out talking about the trash bid and how it was not fair? Then you go into the running for school board or the City Council. But bring up red Tape. There is no red tape involved with running for a Public office! You go down and apply.

Then you bring up Drug use in the Schools and Baseball caps in the schools.

First of all the School sets the rules and if they enforce it the Parents of the kids get upset.

Drug use in schools in not accepted. The school will and should enforce the policy. The parents of every kid in School should talk to the kids and take 100% responsibility of what the kids can and can't do in School if the kid get in trouble in school the parent should back the school. But most don't!!!

Get off your High horse and take a deep breathe and relax life is way to short to get worked up.

Clueless, I am not but the way you write about one subject and don't want to get involved is!


Submitted by Priorlake on June 23, 2009 - 3:33pm.

Im leaning towards you being...

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Im leaning towards you being a school board member now?

Let me dumb it down for you, so you will understand.

I made a comment about the school board making a bad decision, you came back with " Your just a bad mouthing parent why dont you run"

I gave examples of why I dont like the decisions our school board makes, and I will be honest with you though, I do have to say they have improved ten fold since the WesterFraud Era.

Real simple Buckingham is a Local company MY TAXES go to the School board I want them to use local products as much as they can, The bid was not that way of base for the service they received, I know this because I have been a customer of both Buckingham and Dicks ( A Lakeville company), and Buckingham has been nothing short of A+.

Sometimes you pay more for service plan and simple.


Submitted by noconfidence on June 23, 2009 - 10:17pm.

You switched the subject not...

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You switched the subject not I.

But, if that makes you feel better to push the blame on someone else so be it!!

The school did what they had to do on the contract.

Don’t blame them on how you raise your children!!!!

I guess, I didn't make my self clear. The school board tries every day to make decisions!!! They are all held back by parents that just can't say no to their own kids or parents that think they can do better on the School board!!!! It is not the school boards fault kids have drugs and other items in the school. It starts at home.

If a kids get's kicked out of school it's not the kids fault it's the Parents.

The school board works at the direction of the State and get's blamed for 75% of the problems the kids have in school.

If you can't control your child at home why should it be the responsibility of the schools?

And I am not on the School Board I am just a parent that say "No" to my kids and don't blame a elected official for my parenting.

I may not always agree with a elected official but someone else did and they got elected.


Submitted by Priorlake on July 13, 2009 - 7:29pm.

Yes, this is sad, however,...

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Yes, this is sad, however, the recommendation by Margo Nash and subsequent vote by the board was 100% correct. You can't change the bid rules because you don't like who won. The board is not the bad guy here, they did what they had to do. While unfortunate, the blame lies with Buckingham. It is they who submitted an incorrect bid.

Buckingham would be wise to stand up and be accountable and not let the board pay the price for their error.


Submitted by Howe on June 9, 2009 - 7:39pm.

Respectfully, Dan...

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Respectfully,
Dan Swanson
The board has the option to not choose the lowest bid because that bid winner will not in their opinion carry out the contract as needed. The board made this decision only on price, not excellent performance and Prior Lake jobs. What isn't written in a contract is what Buckingham did to earn an excellent record. He went above and beyond the contract to provide quality service, for which he was not monetarily rewarded. This is kind of like American companies moving to China to save money. In the short run companies save until the consumer finds out what is being made, isn't what they are used to. In the long run we all lose because the country has lost its job base, and once that is gone the rest of the economy fails.


Submitted by swannyww on June 10, 2009 - 10:07am.

I have no doubt that...

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I have no doubt that Buckingham did an excellent job and provided good service. However, we are talking about a difference of $44,000 here - enough to fund a teacher. Remember, this is the same school board who gets beat up for not being fiscally responsible. Spending an additional $44,000 for garbage service is not in the best interest of the tax payer. Mistake or no mistake it wouldn't be fair to allow Buckingham to re-bid. The board had no choice.


Submitted by Howe on June 11, 2009 - 11:44am.

Huh... are you really that...

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Huh... are you really that surprised? I mean come on... the bad decisions by our elected ones are the norm these days. I'm gonna be surprised when they make a REAL GOOD decision that doesn't hurt Prior Lake. Come on elected ones... SURPRISE ME!


Submitted by ILiveHereToo on June 11, 2009 - 12:25pm.

Buckingham made the mistake...

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Buckingham made the mistake not the school board. Again, Buckingham would be wise to take accountability for their mistake and not let the school board the heat. If the board gave the bid to a local company with a $40,000 higher bid it would destroy the credibility of the bid process for all future bids.


Submitted by Howe on June 11, 2009 - 9:11pm.

Respectfully, Dan...

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Respectfully,
Dan Swanson
The point was there are garbage haulers and then there are garbage haulers. There are doctors and then there are doctors. There are auto repairmen and there are auto repairmen. There are garbage haulers with excellent reputations and service and there are garbage companies. There are comparisons that a low bid contract doesn't show, so what seems cheap turns out to be expensive. If you think the hauler that got the bid isn't all ready figuring out ways to cut his costs or charge extra for service according to the contract , you are misinformed.


Submitted by swannyww on June 12, 2009 - 8:25am.

No doubt there are always...

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No doubt there are always risks when you change vendors. I do get the point about looking our for extra charges. I'm quite sure the adminstration did proper due dilligence on this. Again, if I were on the school board I would not be able to justify a 25% increase ($40,000) for garbage collection.

Again, what is being forgotten here is Buckingham admitted they made a mistake in their bid. My guess is they planned to come in close to the winning bid so I suspect the amount being charged for the job by the winning bidder is fair.

The message in all this is the integrity of the bid process. If you allow Buckingham to revise their bid you have put the integrity of all future bids in question. A govt agency can never do that. The board did the correct thing. I wish other govt agencies would follow suit.


Submitted by Howe on June 12, 2009 - 12:26pm.

Dont you Ever!!! say "the...

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Dont you Ever!!! say "the Board did the right thing", that is an oxymoron.


Submitted by noconfidence on June 14, 2009 - 6:20am.

The fact of the matter is...

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The fact of the matter is Buckingham participated in a fair process. I talked to a school board member and found out, as reported above, the the bid process is very clear that the low QUALIFIED bidder MUST be awarded the contract. The LAW is also clear that you must be able to prove that the low bidder is incapable of providing the fulfill their bid. I am sorry to see Buckingham lose the contract, and I support Buckingham by being a customer and appreciate when they are able to provide services to our local governments.

I applaud the board for having the resolve to maintain their credibility to honor a fair process and maintain a reputation that will draw competitive bids for future contracts, contuing to save the ditrict money and be financially responsible.


Submitted by GoLakers on June 13, 2009 - 7:42pm.

Buckingham made the mistake...

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Buckingham made the mistake not the school board. Again, Buckingham would be wise to take accountability for their mistake and not let the school board the heat. If the board gave the bid to a local company with a $40,000 higher bid it would destroy the credibility of the bid process for all future bids.


Submitted by bugaga on July 6, 2009 - 6:11pm.

Respectfully, Dan...

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Respectfully,
Dan Swanson
When I hauled it was pretty much up to me about service. The company had their official policy, but drivers really run their route. Drivers can go out of their way to provide excellent service (going above the contract) to gain a reputation of excellence in the community. Contracts, state at best, the minimum service, and the minimum isn't excellence. The school board should understand the difference because school is performance oriented.


Submitted by swannyww on July 8, 2009 - 9:27pm.

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