Questionable actions on road maintenance

I attended the open house hosted by the recently elected Schaumburg Township Highway Commissioner Tim Buelow on Wednesday, July 30. Attendance was mostly from residents of unincorporated areas of Schaumburg, who were there to be assured that their services would not be cut by the new administration. Questions were asked about the two contracts for development and maintenance of a new website regarding the 10.6 miles of roads that were under the jurisdiction of the township.

It should be noted that the development contract was awarded to a company that has Daniel Lee as one of its principal officers. This is the same Daniel Lee who unsuccessfully ran for the office of the clerk of the township on the Schaumburg Township Republican Organization slate in the April election. The cost of this website and maintenance would be approximately $4,000 per mile of road

According to Mr. Buelow, the information proposed for this new website is already available on the township website, so there was no need for this new site. The contract was signed by the then existing highway commissioner, after he had been defeated in the April township election. Schaumburg Township requires all bids over $40,000 be open for competitive bidding. To avoid this requirement, two contracts were awarded, each under the limit, but together totaled more than $40,000.

The incoming commissioner, Mr. Buelow, learned of this contract only on the day he was installed as new commissioner. No details of this website are available and it has yet not been delivered. Mr. Buelow has requested a refund of the approximately $41,000 paid for development and maintenance and, as of this writing, has not received a reply.

Robert Frankel

Schaumburg