Procurement News Notice |
|
| PNN | 4723 |
| Work Detail | Water is a trade secret that could be costing the Paradise Irrigation District an extra $16,000. The board of directors will talk about it during a special meeting Wednesday afternoon. When Division 5 Director Cliff Jacobson was researching zinc orthophosphate, a corrosion-preventing chemical used during the water treatment process, he found the district may be overpaying for the raw material. Jacobson distributes for Brenntag, a company that sells the material for .52 cents per pound delivered, as opposed to the .86 cents per pound delivered the district is already paying to NTU Technologies. The difference is about a $40,000 price tag compared to a $24,000 price tag. He brought the matter to a recent board meeting. Jacobson said he only talked to one company, but the material is generic and available from various distributors. Division 1 Director Ken Hunt was concerned about whether the two materials are comparable. He said that NTU Technologies notes that “a specific chemical identify and/or percentage of composition has been withheld as a trade secret.” “That’s correct, that the water portion,” Jacobson said. “Is that true?” Hunt asked. “That’s their trade secret? It’s water?” “Yes, you can trade secret anything in the formulation, and water is part of the formulation,” he said. “If you trade secret water, then you don’t have to come up with all of the other hazardous things that you have to file and submit.” “Wow,” Hunt said. District General Manger George Barber said that the current contract with NTU originally did go out to bid. He further said the district has tested and proven out the material they buy from NTU to meet all legal standards. “If we go to a different brand, different technology we don’t know what the results are,” he said. Barber noted that it is similar to the chlorine that the district buys, which Jacobson has previously said is the best brand available. “There may be other zinc orthophosphates out there, but we know this one works,” Barber said. Jacobson said he’s been a distributer of Brenntag’s product for almost 40 years. “I would be extremely confident in substituting this product, you’ll notice absolutely no difference,” he said. “Except that you’ll have saved almost $16,000.” Since Jacobson is a distributer of the material, he suggested that perhaps PID contact NTU to try to get them to drop the price, but Barber said the district’s purchasing policy doesn’t allow for bargaining back and forth. The product either has to go out to bid so everyone has a chance, or the board authorizes a sole-source justification to purchase the material. There was also the concern over conflict of interest with Jacobson being a distributer. But PID attorney Dustin Cooper clarified that the district cannot buy directly from Jacobson’s business. The issue was near to being settled, but Hunt will still chewing on the idea that water can be a trade secret. “Are you kind of indicating you think that distributors or companies purposefully mislead their consumers by saying they have a proprietary secret recipe when in fact they don’t?” he asked. “Yes,” Jacobson said. “To be competitive, some smaller companies will hide the fact that their product is generically the same as another because that’s the only thing they have to sell.” He used sodium hypochlorite as an example. Essentially, it is just bleach, but companies can brand it differently. “I don’t expect you to know that, but the chemical guys, we now that,” he said. “That’s the game we play. I’ve been playing that game for 40 years. I know how it works. So, when that game is played against me, I’m not buying it.” He said he has a responsibility to find the best value. “I’m not going to look at and go, ‘I’ll let you get away with it.’” he said. “You’re not going to get away with it. So, yes, it’s water.” The special meeting will be at 4 p.m. in the district’s chambers located at 6332 Clark Road. |
| Country | United States , Northern America |
| Industry | Chemicals & Fertilizer |
| Entry Date | 03 Sep 2016 |
| Source | http://www.paradisepost.com/20160830/pid-director-exposes-h2o-as-trade-secret |
