Bridgeville must limit its spending on outside contractors, two councilmen said on Monday.
In separate reports to council, Nino Petrocelli, Sr. and William Colussy each said that Bridgeville should find ways to better utilize its in-house resources.
Colussy, who heads the public works committee, wants borough employees to take on more construction projects of the kind that are currently outsourced.
Public works can start with the failing support wall on Bower Hill Road, he said.
Outsourcing that project could prove costly, but there is concern within public works that the department doesn’t have the expertise to handle such a project.
“[I’ve been told] that the borough guys don’t want to tackle it,” Colussy said, “and I think they should be able to.”
Council President Michael Tolmer said that putting people on a project that’s over their heads could end up being more expensive that just hiring the right people the first time.
Colussy said that if the work truly is beyond the ability of public works, Bridgeville should explore hiring a consultant to oversee and direct borough workers, who can still do the labor.
Mayor Pasquale DeBlasio though it was an interesting proposal.
“Hire a consultant to supervise them and say, ‘This is how you do it?'” he said. “That could have some merit.”
Petrocelli, Sr., in his finance committee report, said that Bridgeville’s budget for legal and engineering fees is getting off-track.
A significant part of the problem, he said, is council frequently asking the engineer and solicitor for more information, even about somewhat basic questions.
“Check this, check that. A lot of time,” Petrocelli said, “it’s something that we already know. So maybe there’s another method to do this.”
When possible, council should first give such requests to borough manager Lori Collins, he said.
“Let’s be a little more careful. [The engineer and solicitor] do a lot of favors,” he said, “but when they’re ordered to do work, they have to get paid.”