Owen Sound will have a new transit operator — Miller Transit Limited of Markham, a division of the Miller Group headed by city native Leo McArthur.
Not everyone is happy with the decision to come out yesterday’s city council meeting.
Jim Donnelly is the president of Aboutown NorthLink Transit — a firm which bid unsuccessfully on the contract to operate and maintain the transit system along with the downtown transit terminal.
Donnelly isn’t necessarily upset that his company wasn’t selected for the job, but he is dismayed that Aboutown didn’t even get an interview with the city despite submitting a proposal that said it could do the job for 70 thousand dollars less than Miller.
Miller’s bid was 2.8 million dollars over three years.
Aboutown which already offers inter-city bus service between Owen Sound and London..came in at 2.7 million.
Donnelly was told by council the process was conducted fairly and that price was only one of the factors that would determine which company would get an interview.
He requested council send the matter back for further consideration and was turned down.
Donnelly called the entire process a travesty and says he’ll be talking to his ‘legal advisors.’
Councillor Bill Twaddle — the Chair of the Operations Advisory Committee — says Donnelly is welcome to his opinion but the request for proposals was handled properly and fairly.