The Columbus Municipal School District is moving forward with a new bus company for the 2013-2014 school year.
During a special meeting Tuesday night, the CMSD school board voted 4-1 to approve Ecco Ride’s contract for the upcoming year. Ecco Ride is a Rhode Island-based company that recently outbid local company, Waters Truck and Tractor, for a four-year bus contract with the district.
The board voted to accept Ecco’s Ride’s bid of $7,572,131 over Waters’ $8,859,331 bid during its May board meeting. Tuesday night’s meeting was the last step in the process to get the buses on the road.
Before the board voted to approve the contract, board member Angela Verdell asked Deputy Superintendent Craig Shannon if he felt switching from Waters to Ecco Ride had been a smooth transition.
“I have had a chance to visit with the Ecco Ride representatives this past week and the month of June,” Shannon said. “We have made the transfer from Waters to Ecco Ride and I have to commend both organizations on doing a very professional job and making sure everything was taken care of.”
Shannon said Ecco Ride will house the buses on Cleda Drive, located off of Martin Luther King.
“I have visited that facility and it is conducive for a bus shop with the acreage necessary to house all of the buses and three maintenance bays or mechanical bays to work on our buses. All of the equipment that was owned by Waters has been transferred over to Ecco Ride with inventory taken, also.”
All of the necessary drivers have been hired as well, Shannon said.
Shannon presented the board with the insurance documents. Board member Glenn Lautzenhiser pointed out that the insurance certificate said Ecco Ride had automobile liability but not general liability.
“The contract that I’m looking at says the contractor shall provide and maintain comprehensive general liability (CGL) and comprehensive automobile liability (CAL) insured at a minimum of $5 million. The certificate just handed (to) me shows liability, automobile liability, but there is no evidence of general liability on this certificate, so this certificate is inadequate as it is presently presented,” Lautzenhiser said. “This insurance certificate does not conform to the contract agreement that we’re being asked to approve tonight.”
Board attorney David Dunn said the company should have had general liability insurance in place, as per their agreement.
“What you’re asking me, is to approve the agreement before they can begin to run buses. They’re going to have to have general liability before. They should have had it by now and proof of it by now,” Dunn said. “This agreement is a formality. My guess is they probably put it in place, they just didn’t provide the certificate. If they didn’t provide the insurance, we’ll know (Wednsesday),” Dunn said.
The board voted 4-1 to approve the contract with Spears opposing.
Reached this morning, Ecco Ride Director of Business Development Mark Szyperski said Ecco Ride did have all of the proper insurance coverage, including general liability.
“We have all necessary insurance,” he said. “We’re sorry that the proper documents weren’t presented last night but we’ll get them in order and get them to the school board right away.”
Shannon confirmed later in the morning that the company had provided the necessary documentation of the general liability insurance required by its contract.
Sarah Fowler covered crime, education and community related events for The Dispatch.
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