Common Sense For New Hampshire

(And it’s not good.)

From the Star Ledger:

FEMA warned Christie administration that AshBritt contract could jeopardize federal funding

The Federal Emergency Management Agency warned the Christie administration just days after Hurricane Sandy that its decision to award a no-bid contract to a politically connected firm to haul away debris could jeopardize maximum federal reimbursement for towns, The Star-Ledger has learned………

……….FEMA strongly discourages the use of “piggybacked” contracts and subjects them to greater scrutiny, Lautenberg (in a letter) told Christie. As a result, he wrote, FEMA will determine whether AshBritt’s rates are reasonable and may penalize towns by cutting reimbursement if it finds the costs are out of step with the marketplace.

And in the Asbury Park Press:

Watchdog: Point Beach holds Ashbritt payment, calls for parking lot repairs

The heavy equipment that hauled the debris from superstorm Sandy caused thousands of dollars in damage to a popular parking lot for summer visitors, borough officials said.Citing that damage, the Borough Council decided last week to delay paying a bill of more than $1 million for the debris pickup and removal it hired AshBritt Inc. to do after the storm. The officials said the Florida-based company should repair the lot instead of leaving that cost to taxpayers…………………………………….

………….Council President Kristine Tooker said Corbally spoke first, but she had the same idea. She wanted borough officials to wait to make certain the cost matched the work.“Not only did we overpay, in my opinion, but based on what I’ve read, we definitely should be made whole for the damage to our parking lot that we rely on for a lot of our income in the summer so I’m in agreement with holding back the payment until we can work this out,” Tooker said.