Trumbull commissioners plan to cancel water-cooler contract

It was the first time the contract had been awarded through competitive bidding.
By STEPHEN SIFF
and PEGGY SINKOVICH
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
WARREN -- The supply of free bottled water for Trumbull County employees will soon dry up.
Today, county commissioners were expected to rescind a $23,000 contract awarded last month to a Warren company to supply and refill 50 water coolers in 15 county-owned buildings.
They paid about $24,000 for the service last year.
"It is an expense the county can't afford right now," said county Commissioner Michael O'Brien.
Employees who wish to continue the service for their department can take up collections and pay for the water, he said.
The contract to be rescinded today was the first one to be formally awarded for the service, although the county's bottled water bill has been more than $15,000 for five years. That's the point at which state law requires counties to either use state purchasing or award the contract to the lowest bidder.
In comparison
Mahoning County, which has many more employees than Trumbull, spends less than half as much as Trumbull County on bottled water, said Mahoning County Auditor George Tablack.
Commissioner James Tsagaris said that he did not know why commissioners plan to remove the coolers, scheduled to take place Dec. 1.
"It was Denny's idea," Tsagaris said, referring to county Prosecutor Dennis Watkins. "He said anywhere there are water fountains we shouldn't have water coolers."
Most employees also have access to coffee makers and vending machines for pop.
The prosecutor and Judge Wyatt McKay of Trumbull County Common Pleas Court both sent letters to commissioners asking that water coolers be removed from their departments, O'Brien said. The letters came after a Vindicator story about the expense of the service.
"The way I've always felt about this is, if the employees want it, they can pay for it, but it is difficult to justify it to the public as a taxpayer expense," O'Brien said.
siff@vindy.com sinkovich@vindy.com