DERBY – The city’s finance committee Wednesday chose a $299,742 bid to remove and replace a 100-ton chiller at Derby Middle School, although an elected official questioned whether the process complied with the Derby City Charter.
The successful bid was from Blizzard Mechanical, LLC, a Derby-based company owned by Dan Blizman.
Blizzard’s bid was the lowest bid out of three considered during a public meeting of the Derby Finance Committee held online at 9 a.m. March 18.
The other two bids were from Sav-Mor Cooling & Heating for $316,000 and Southport Contracting Inc. for $365,000.
The money for the project is coming from a $6.5 million capital needs referendum voters approved in November 2025. The chiller project was quoted to Derby voters at $358,000.
Derby Middle School opened in 2010. The chiller’s mechanical problems have caused the school to dismiss early on hot days.
The members of the finance committee are Shirley Miani and Samir Patel, who were appointed by Mayor Joseph DiMartino.
Before Miani and Patel voted to award the job to Blizzard Mechanical, Derby City/Town Clerk Marc Garofalo said the bid process being used violated the Derby City Charter.
“The issue is we have a charter,” Garofalo said. “The charter of the City of Derby is the governing document on this.”
Garofalo pointed to Section 54 of the charter, which explains the duties of the finance committee. Essentially, the finance committee and the city’s finance director are supposed to handle bids, including where the bids get advertised. The committee is supposed to open the bids in public, according to the charter.
In this case, the school district and its facilities director prepared and advertised the bid documents, and led HVAC companies on a walk through of the middle school equipment in January.
“This was not done by the finance committee or the finance director. It was done, unilaterally, by school staff. This was city money approved at bond. It needs to follow the charter,” said Garofalo, who was Derby’s mayor from 1997 until 2005. He’s been town clerk since 2013.
Garofalo said he raised the issue internally before bids were submitted but no one said anything.
Jim Hoffman, the facilities director for Derby Public Schools, said he created the request for proposals for the middle school’s chiller replacement project. He said his work was approved by Superintendent Matthew Conway and the former school district business manager.
The request for proposals was posted to the Derby Public Schools’ website and two construction industry websites on Jan. 15, Hoffman said. There was a walk through of the site on Jan. 20, questions from potential bidders were due Feb. 10, and bids were due Feb. 20, Hoffman said.
Three bids were received and handed over to the city, he said.
Derby Finance Director Brian Hall said he was not aware of the bidding process until the walk through happened on Jan. 20.
Hall said the two-person finance committee would have to determine if the process used promoted competitive bidding.
Ultimately the two members of the finance committee decided it was, and voted Blizzard Mechanical the successful bidder.
Superintendent Matthew Conway said the quest for a new chiller has been ongoing since 2024. Meeting minutes from the Derby Board of Education show several discussions ongoing as to how to pay for the project before it was added to a capital planning referendum in 2025 by the capital planning committee and the Board of Aldermen & Alderwomen.
Conway said he was not aware of the charter’s rules regarding city bidding. He said the school district was trying to help the project along.
The finance committee has met four times since 2024, according to the Derby city website.
Hoffman recommended Blizzard Mechanical, saying the company had already examined the chiller and pointed out some piping repairs that resulted in the project planning going from a 200-ton chiller to a 100-ton chiller, which is less expensive.
The city’s lawyer has to review a contract with Blizzard Mechanical, and the contract has to be approved by the Board of Aldermen & Alderwomen, according to the Derby City Charter.