Nick McWilliams reporting – In the fallout from the Dover Light and Power spending scandal, the city has reported savings this far in 2022 under new policies.
Hundreds of thousands of dollars were spent by former Superintendent Dave Filippi without proper council approval, including renewed bids and contracts with various companies.
Dover officials made clear new standards in the aftermath, which includes full transparency in required maintenance work and the bid process for projects.
Interim Mayor Shane Gunnoe offered promising news, reporting what he said were much smaller bills for work that happens annually.
“The city has received all final invoices from RCR Services, related to the shutdown of our electric plant in May. Due to the changes that have been implemented by council recently, our costs for welding services decreased from an average of $175,000 over the last few years annually to $12,388.99 for 2022.”
Additionally, another company that received bids for shutdown work, Industrial Management Controls, is expected to stay within their allowed $50,000, which Gunnoe credited to the new rules put in place by council.
Superintendent Jason Hall was in attendance for Monday’s meeting, where he asked for work on switchgears to the tune of $950,000.
That total had already been budgeted for in 2022, and will be a significant safety upgrade in the plant, according to Hall.
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