Cliff Buchan
News Editor

Kicking tires is a tried and proven practice employed by many when buying a vehicle. In Keith Dunhamís case, kicking over stones might work just as well.

Dunham, a school board member in ISD 831, was the leader in a board decision last week to delay an administrative recommendation to spend more than $500,000 for seven new school buses. It was a delay, the board agreed, to allow time for more study of the transportation system and to weigh a second round of bidding.

For Dunham, the wait-and-see move is an opportunity to turn over every stone possible in the evaluation of the school-owned bus system and the budgetary review that is part of the planning for a fall levy referendum vote.

Dunham urged his fellow board members to ìdonít take your eyes off the prizeî as plans are shaped for that vote. He said the public will support a charity and a sound financial investment, but people also like to see ìgood financial management.î

Until the board does its due diligence on the transportation system, he said he would continue to oppose moves such as the purchase of seven new buses.

If outsourcing or moving to a private bus contractor was a more efficient way of doing business, that move needs to be fully explored, Dunham said.

It is an issue, he said, ìthat wonít go away.î If the board was not willing to look, Dunham said the board was ìnot turning over every stone.î

The bus plan

Superintendent Lynn Steenblock said the rationale for the purchase involved a desire to keep the bus fleet current. The district has not purchased new 71-passenger buses in three years as part of a budget that delayed bus purchases in order to protect other general fund needs.

The seven buses would replace nine 12-year-old buses purchased in 1994.

The district this winter sought bids from the three regional dealers, but received only one sealed bid from Hoglund Bus Co., Monticello. North Central Grande American of St. Cloud, and Superior Transit Sales, Inc., Becker, did not bid.

The net bid for the seven units was $475,313 after $14,400 was subtracted for the trade of the nine 1994 buses. With taxes of $33,271.91, the total purchase price rose to $508,584.91.

The cost per bus was set at $67,902 before taxes, according to bidding information.

Larry Martini, director of business affairs, said he believed the other two companies did not bid because they felt they could not compete with the Hoglund Bus bid.

Bus delivery was scheduled within 90 to 120 days of the award.

Decision on hold

But when the final decision on the bus purchase is made is not a certainty.

By way of a 7-0 vote, the board agreed to delay the matter until the regular meeting on Thursday, May 4. That will give the administration more time to come back with more information requested by the board.

The board requested more details on the buses to be sold and operational costs and maintenance records.

Martini said the board could delay a decision until May 4, but would need to rebid when the bids are no longer effective. When quizzed by the board, he said it was likely the board would see little change if the units go out for bid again.

The lack of more than one bid was troublesome to members, however.

Members Rob Rapheal and Julie Corcoran both expressed concern with the lack of bid comparisons.

ìI also know they are old,î Corcoran said of the buses to be traded. ìThis is a hard place to be.î

Member Eric Langness agreed with Dunham that a full analysis of privatization was in order before the board should spend dollars to buy new units.

Rapheal issued a note of caution, however, saying that repeated delays will result in the district ìpaying the piperî in the future.

ìThatís not smart money management,î he said.

The right call

Dunham agreed with the decision to delay the purchase. Based on his estimate of public opinion, the district is facing a 10 percentage point deficit in passing any levy based on the results from last fall.

ìThatís a lot of trust to make up,î he said.

Although public opinion experts said last fallís referendum had solid support, it lost, thanks to late summer hiring decisions that created an unexpected condition or situation in the school district that the pollsters warned against.

That event, he said, was the hiring of two non-classroom supervisory or administrative positions.

ìI supported those positions and still do,î Dunham said. ìThe timing was bad.î

It is now incumbent upon the district to make sure all actions do not create bad timing for this election, he said. To do so, he said, would involve turning over every stone involved in the budget process.

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