BY VOICE STAFF
The mayors of Welland, Thorold, Pelham, Port Colborne and Wainfleet all have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to work together on joint purchasing and procurement and shared services initiatives.
Municipalities, as public sector corporations, purchase a lot of goods and services every year such as vehicles, equipment, road salt, paper towels, photocopy paper, toner cartridges and computers.
In a joint statement release last Friday, Mayors Frank Campion, Terry Ugulini, Marvin Junkin, Bill Steele, and Kevin Gibson said that it made sense for their municipalities to work collaboratively in order to take advantage of bulk pricing opportunities.
“We will explore joint Requests for Proposals (RFP’s) for a variety of contracts such as road reconstruction, sidewalk repairs, office supplies, etc. In doing so the municipalities covered under this MOU will realize cost savings to the benefit of our taxpayers.”
The mayors also asserted that sharing services among municipalities would also see cost-saving benefits.
“Service capacity and demand varies from municipality to municipality. Lower demand for services in some municipalities may not justify full-time staff to provide the service while other may have staff capacity and expertise to share. Sharing services is both efficient and cost saving.”
Welland, Thorold, Pelham, Port Colborne and Wainfleet are all members of the Niagara Public Purchasing Committee (NPPC), which is comprised of government, education, and health organizations from across the Niagara Region.
The objective of this co-operative purchasing program is to derive the maximum value from each dollar spent, through cooperation and inviting quotations or tenders on selected commodities and services. The MOU will be presented to participating municipal councils for final ratification.
“If council does in fact ratify this agreement,” Mayor Marvin Junkin told the Voice, “it is anticipated that the Town will realize significant savings in such areas as road salt, sidewalk repairs, and road ditching, to name but a few. This is exactly the kind of initiative that the provincial government is looking for from our municipalities.”
