In an article published on Nov. 29, 2023, Saranac Lake Mayor Jimmy Williams told the Enterprise that the village was soliciting public questions about the emergency services complex proposed for 33 Petrova Avenue.

The mayor was planning a public information session the following January, bringing in Rob Krzyzanowski of Wendel/Five Bugles Design to address those questions. Twenty-five months later, the community is still waiting for that forum.

The first question Wendel needs to answer goes back to the beginning of the process: Why did Wendel draw up a contract for the job before they submitted their bid, before bidding was closed, before bids were compared and the winner selected?

In June 2022, Saranac Lake asked engineering firms to bid on a feasibility study for a single facility to house police, fire and rescue services. That Request for Qualifications (RFQ) was explicit in the scope of services sought by the village. Among these were a budget for the project and a “preliminary tax impact calculation.”

Not surprisingly, the RFQ did not ask bidders to determine the size of the building with a “programming needs analysis.” Saranac Lake’s village board sent Police Chief Darin Perrotte, Fire Captain Dominic Fontana, and Rescue Squad Director Ben Watson to a Station Design Conference in Chicago three weeks earlier. On their return, the delegates shared with the board their need-based calculation for a 35,160 square-foot facility.

The RFQ set a deadline for bids of Aug. 3, 2022.

Wendel/Five Bugles Design, a sponsor and presenter at the Chicago conference, submitted its bid for the feasibility study on the final day. Two days earlier, the company drew up and submitted a seven-page contract for the job. Ordinarily, a contract is drawn up after the winner is selected. Nonetheless, Wendel’s contract included a new programming needs analysis, a step that ultimately inflated the project by 91%. It also omitted any taxpayer impact calculation, a critical feature that allows the public to weigh a project’s affordability.

Not only did Wendel appear to presume they had the job sewn up in advance, they were also bold enough to modify the terms of the job to their eventual benefit. The contract Wendel drew up referred to the feasibility study as “Phase 1.”

Saranac Lake’s village manager signed the contract without changes on Sept. 13, 2022, after the village board approved Wendel’s bid. The village board, in a divided vote, eventually awarded Wendel the first installment on a $1.78 million design contract. That contract was not put out to bid.

Mayor Williams might be able to explain this unorthodox sequence of events. As ranking member of the advisory committee that issued the original RFQ and recommended Wendel to the board, he requested all bids be sent directly to him, bypassing Saranac Lake’s village manager. Since 2023, his refusal to address these and other questions related to the project offers little hope for answers now. That leaves Wendel/Five Bugles Design. If they have a reasonable explanation, now would be the time to provide it.

If this is a case of bid rigging, it is a breach of the public trust. New York’s Office of State Comptroller oversees the conduct of 1,525 municipalities and their contractors. Pursuing questionable activity takes time. In Saranac Lake, Election Day on March 18 offers village residents and taxpayers a faster path to restoring transparent governance and accountability from our elected officials. Our village board needs to spend taxpayer money wisely, ensure open government, and provide the overdue and critically important improvements to facilities for Saranac Lake’s first responders.

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Mark Wilson is a resident of Saranac Lake.