Town Councilor Kaile Warren said at Tuesday’s meeting that his research has found examples of “wasteful spending” in a recent purchase by the town.

“I believe there are tens, if not hundreds of thousands of dollars going out the door,” he said.

In what he called “just the tip of the iceberg,” Warren said the school recently paid $5,000 more than a competing vendor for five identical parts.

“The part is called an “actuator” and it is used to open the bi-fold type doors on school buses,” he said. He added that he has only researched this one item so far.

Warren said during a phone call with the vendor, Portland North Truck Center, the employee gave the price of the actuator as $1,013.35 early in the conversation and $1,336.55 at the end.

He said the exact same item has two different part numbers, and the same part sells for $854.33 from W.C. Cressey, $398.75 from W.W. Grainger, and $321 from Eastern Bearing.

“I find the whole situation extremely troubling,” he said. “I do not believe there were any wrongdoings on the part of town employees. I do believe we have some serious issues with our systems.”

Warren said he wants the town to immediately freeze its account with Portland North Truck Center, and possibly with W.C. Cressey, while the matter is investigated further. He also wished to establish a blue ribbon panel of two councilors, two school board members and one citizen to complete an inquiry.

Portland North Truck Center did not answer when called on Wednesday.

Town Manager Tony Plante said that the school board is in charge of the purchase of this particular part, as the school buses are under its jurisdiction and not the town council’s.

Public Works Director Doug Fortier said the public works garage buys parts from Portland North Truck Center.

Warren also wanted to call Portland North Truck Center and talk about the matter at the close of last Tuesday’s meeting privately under executive session.

Councilor Carol Waig said the council needs to have more research before it does that.

“I think we need some cold, hard facts,” she said. The council did not call the vendor this week and planned to dig into the issue during the town council workshop next week.

Kaile Warren