Council tables $693,000 Marsh School boiler contract after procurement, signature concerns

The Methuen City Council on Wednesday tabled consideration of a contract for boiler replacement at the Marsh School after extended discussion about procurement procedure, contract form, and signatures.

Why this matters: Councilors said the procurement did not follow the city’s expected contract template and that the contract had been executed and work begun before the council or all required signatories had signed. The vote to table was 5–3, with Councilors Campagnon, Sotto, Cirillo, Valle and Chair Marston voting yes.

What councilors heard: The mayor told the council the contract had been executed and "had not been signed off by me or the CAFO, before work had actually begun last week," but said the work was time-sensitive because state boiler inspections had failed and the school could not operate without repairs. The mayor also said the contract "comes with a 1 year warranty," which he called insufficient but necessary in the circumstances.

Legal and payment risks: The city solicitor told the council that if the contract is not approved the city could still be responsible to pay the contractor for the reasonable value of work performed and any ordered parts. "We will be responsible to pay for the work, the reasonable value of the work that has been done," the city solicitor said. Staff told the council work had been underway for about two and a half days and that parts might already have been ordered.

Contract form and procurement questions: Councilors and the solicitor said purchasing had previously been advised to move to a new city standard contract template; staff said the Marsh contract used an older template that went out with the bid. The solicitor said legal comments were not incorporated into the final contract and that several contract provisions in the bid—such as liquidated damages required by council ordinance—had been crossed out by the contractor.

Council action and next steps: Councilor Sotto moved to table the item subject to follow-up conversations between the administration, purchasing and the vendor; the motion passed on roll call, 5–3. Staff said the quickest resolution would be either to negotiate amendments with the current vendor or to re-run the procurement with the city’s updated contract templates, both of which would return to council for final approval.