By Ashley M. Casey
Staff Writer
While trying to wrap up the books for 2016, the town of Lysander hit a snag when it came to reconciling the sale of road millings. Over the last few weeks, the town board has been going back and forth with Highway Superintendent Gene Dinsmore about a particular transaction with Gypsum Express from last summer.
Dinsmore provided the town with a spreadsheet of millings transactions for 2016, but did not provide an invoice to Gypsum Express for 2,040 tons of millings from a Cold Springs project in late June or early July 2016. The company agreed to pick up 102 loads of millings as the highway department worked. Dinsmore figured it was a wash between the cost of the millings and the cost of trucking.
The transaction in question — $4,080 — is a drop in the bucket compared to the overall town budget but Supervisor Joe Saraceni said it’s not about the money, it’s about following protocol. The previous town board voted to standardize the price of millings at $2 per ton, so Dinsmore should have informed the town board about any deviation from that policy, Saraceni said.
“In order for the board to fulfill its fiduciary responsibility in how it handles community assets, we need our department heads to communicate with the board,” Saraceni told the Messenger.
During the work sessions preceding the Feb. 16 and March 2 town board meetings, Dinsmore accused the town board of “ganging up” on him.
“Whatever your question is, put it in writing and I’ll research it and give you a full explanation, but you can’t sit here and gang up all at once,” Dinsmore said Feb. 16. “I’m one person.”
Dinsmore said his secretary has been on leave since January and he has repeatedly asked the town board to hire a deputy highway superintendent to help him with his workload.
“You didn’t like it when I gave you a verbal (explanation),” Dinsmore said. “You’re asking for an immediate answer to a complex question that will take me some time to develop an answer.”
According to the town board, the question is not complex at all: Was the town paid for its millings? And if not, why didn’t Dinsmore let anyone know?
“It’s your numbers, so I don’t know what’s so complicated about finding out if we got paid,” Deputy Supervisor Bob Geraci said. “Gene, you’re playing games with us. Where is the money for 2,040 tons of millings?”
Saraceni said the town’s millings policy will be revised. Currently, the policy passed by the previous town board only sets the price for millings and does not take into consideration factors such as who will transport the millings, where they will be transported and whether buyers can come collect the millings during a road project, as Gypsum Express did. But until that revision, Dinsmore should stick to the script.
“A highway superintendent doesn’t have the right to negotiate community assets,” Saraceni told the Messenger. “The dollar value … is what it is. It would have been totally fine if Gene had come to the board.”
In addition to following the existing millings policy, the town board is concerned about keeping accurate records in case of an audit. At the Feb. 16 work session, Councilor Bob Ellis said, “Honestly, I’m trying to protect you.”
“What gets municipalities in trouble is handshake deals,” Saraceni said.
The disagreement continued at the March 2 work session, when Geraci told Dinsmore he should have called Saraceni or the board immediately after the Gypsum Express decision was made or let them know at the next town board meeting in July.
“If you don’t do that, it looks like you’re unilaterally making decisions that completely flout the laws that are on the books,” Geraci said.
Saraceni asked Dinsmore if he wanted to respond.
“Nope,” Dinsmore said. “Obviously you have your opinion and I have mine.”
Dinsmore’s account of what happened differs from Saraceni’s.
“The supervisor thought we should charge Gypsum Express more for the millings that they received,” Dinsmore told the Messenger.
He said the total amount of millings received and billed for was not calculated until the fall of 2016, which is not uncommon.
“We’re busy, and it’s surplus junk. We’re glad to get rid of it,” Dinsmore said. “It was not a high priority to worry about calculating the charges.”
Dinsmore said he had provided the board with the proper information, both verbally and in writing.
“You did something that I wish you would acknowledge that you wouldn’t do in the future. If you would just do that, we could move on because I do have some solutions that I’d like to present to the board,” Saraceni said at the March 2 work session. “But I need to hear an acknowledgement that on the fly you can’t make handshake deals when it relates to town assets.”
“I won’t do any more millings unless you’re out there and I’m available and I can get your permission,” Dinsmore said.
Dinsmore said the highway department works all hours so it is not always feasible to contact the supervisor or the board before every decision he makes. He said the decision for Gypsum Express to haul the millings directly from the job site was made at 6 a.m. on the day the Gypsum Express trucks arrived.
Saraceni said Gypsum Express allowed the town to finish the Cold Springs process more quickly, but dealing with a private business instead of seeking shared services with other municipalities was not ideal, especially since Gypsum Express is not on the county bid list.
In addition to his concern over Dinsmore not seeking the town board’s approval of the Gypsum Express deal, Geraci said he was concerned about the lack of an insurance rider for Gypsum Express during the trucking process.
Saraceni and Councilor Roman Diamond both said they did not think Dinsmore had any ill intent in not billing Gypsum Express for the 102 loads of millings, but were trying to follow procedure.
“I’m entertained,” Dinsmore said.
“That’s not the right response,” town attorney Tony Rivizzigno said.
An angry Geraci stepped away from the work session for a moment before returning to the discussion.
Saraceni said he directed Comptroller David Rahrle to send an invoice to Gypsum Express, but it contained a typo, listing the amount owed as $4,800 instead of $4,080. Saraceni said Gypsum Express owner John White presented the town with an invoice for trucking the millings, which came to roughly $7,650. Saraceni said White’s invoice reflected the county bidding standard of $85 per hour.
“At no time do I think Gypsum Express did anything inappropriate,” Saraceni said. “He was willing to make this a wash.”
Essentially, the town and Gypsum Express will swap checks for $4,080 without violating procurement policies and creating the proper paper trail in case of an audit.
“Nothing really changed,” Dinsmore told the Messenger. “The end result was the same, just they created a paper trail.”
