Snow removal contract results in $55,000 loss

WINTERPORT – When Chris Hammer signed a contract to plow the town’s roads two years ago, he never dreamed he’d encounter a winter like the one that just ended or fuel prices that continue to soar out of sight.

“This year was far from normal,” said Hammer, explaining that numerous snowstorms and soaring fuel prices pushed his costs $55,000 above what he was paid to plow. “What’s killing me, basically, is the cost of fuel. Something needs to be done”

Hammer outlined his plight to the Town Council on Tuesday night but was unable to convince members that an adjustment was needed. Instead, he was told to draw up a proposal and received assurances that it would be given consideration.

Hammer’s company, Johnson Construction, began a three-year contract with the town in the winter of 2006-07. However, with another year to go, he is already looking for an adjustment. Though members have expressed a willingness to hear him out, they also remain adamant about holding Hammer to his contract.

“They [the council] said they were willing to work with him, but that doesn’t mean they will do something or won’t do something,” Town Manager Phil Pitula said Wednesday. “They need to get something from him that will allow them to make a judgment. They’re willing to consider something but they have to see what he’s proposing.”

The town paid Hammer $231,000 for plowing this winter and is scheduled to pay him $242,550 for the final year of the contract. Pitula said that if Hammer breaks the contract, the town would keep the $35,000 advanced at the beginning of the contract as a performance bond.

“When he came in last night the council reiterated that he needed to come up with some specifics,” Pitula said. “The council has put it on him to come up with a proposal, but they are intent on holding him to his contract.”

Big storms require many gallons of diesel fuel and this winter saw Hammer’s usage increase by nearly 5,000 gallons. He said that where he was paying $1.40 a gallon two years ago, he is now paying $4.14 per gallon. As a result of the increase, the company finished $55,000 in the red for this past winter. Hammer said he had to take money from his other business ventures to cover the loss.

“I’m not trying to hold them up,” Hammer said. “I have it all documented and I have fuel receipts. The cost of fuel has gone so high that I just cannot do it. They are basically holding me hostage. Either I plow next year or I lose the $35,000 cash bond.”

Pitula said the council was aware of the situation, but that members also were aware that it is difficult to predict from one year to the next how much snow will fall or what the price of fuel will be. He said it was possible that this winter was an aberration and might not repeat itself next year.

“It’s hard to predict the future on fuel prices but it’s also hard to predict what kind of winter we’ll have,” Pitula said. “If he has a similar year with prices continuing to go up and a lot of snow, he’s saying it will cost him more. But the year before was a mild winter and he obviously made out all right.”

wgriffin@bangordailynews.net

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