While most people and organizations are moving away from using paper as much as possible, in some cases it's just not feasible.
In the case of the City of Port Moody, the municipality still relies on printers for a myriad of tasks.
This week, council awarded a new printer-replacement contract to a company called Ricoh.
The contract will see the printer company handle 20 multi-function printers to be leased for 42 months.
According to a staff report, the cost of the contract is pegged at $271,892.
But council approval of the contract was not unanimous.
Coun. Gerry Nuttall voted against the awarding of the contract over concerns about the bidding process.
In all, the city received six bids, with the cost ranging from $200,000 to a top bid of $285,000.
The Ricoh bid came in fourth-highest on the list.
Nuttall said he couldn't support the contract without seeing the reasons why the other bids were not accepted.
"Until I see that, I find it very difficult to support this," he said.
Nuttall suggested the decision could be challenged by one of the bidders, if it's deemed unfair in some way.
City staff told council the reason why the specific information on each bid was not included in the public report was the potential that details might reveal sensitive competitive information about each company.
Staff didn't want to include the information without an in-camera hearing.
Nuttall countered by arguing council is there to do good for the public of Port Moody.
"I'm sorry, they put their bid in, and they put in their specifications and all of this should be explained to us in writing," he said.
The city previously had a 42-month contract with Xerox to handle 16 printers, but it expired this month.
The staff report noted Ricoh's bid was 20-per-cent less than the previous contract with Xerox.
The new contract will include replacing the old devices and adding four new printers - two in the Port Moody Public Library, one at City Hall and one at Fire Hall No. 2.
jdeutsch@thenownews.com
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