Turn over almost any rock these days, and you’ll find some local-office holder freely exercising a conflict of interest. Right now in Highgate, the rock seems to be the source of the conflict. Here’s what we know so far:

Highgate Selectboard member Brian Rowell has been accused of impropriety with regard to the sale of a quantity of stone to the Town for reconstruction of a road (Mill Hill) washed out by heavy rains. The Town was the recipient of a Town Highway Emergency Grant from the state to address the problem, and apparently Mr. Rowell saw nothing wrong with writing the check to himself.

Details of the controversy were provided in two news stories that appeared in the St. Albans Messenger on Saturday, March 13 and Monday, March 15.  Mr. Rowell and his brother Bill are the owners and operators of Green Mountain Dairy in Highgate. Through their other business, Green Mountain Forest Products, the brothers sold the Town of Highgate a quantity of “riprap” stabilizing stone for $14,600.  The stone had been removed from their property in the permitted installation of a methane digester; but it appears that the stone was sold months before the permit was issued.  The brothers claim that they assumed the permit allowing installation of the digester also allowed sale of the stone but seem to have offered no explanation for the timing discrepancy.

At issue is not just the permit status of the stone sale, but also the price and apparent absence of a competitive bidding process.  According to the March 13 article:

The Messenger examined the Mill Hill project records at Highgate Town Hall and could find no record of any competitive bids or quotes for any aspect of the project.

While  acknowledging that obtaining quotes from multiple suppliers “would have been good practice,”  Alec Portalupi of the Agency of Transportation told the paper that this does not necessarily place the transaction in violation of the law.  Apparently it is up to the individual towns to establish rules for procurement, and Highgate has neither a purchasing policy nor one governing conflicts of interest!

However, that was not the end of Selectman Rowell’s problems; nor indeed, of the Town’s:

The Messenger reviewed all of the Highgate Selectboard  minutes for 2006 and could not find a record of a single vote in which the selectboard moved to hire any of the companies involved in the project…Depending on when and how those decisions were made, the town may have violated the state open meeting law which requires that all votes be taken in open session and recorded in the minutes.

Mr. Rowell might yet find himself in the running for the “Stinking Salmon Award” for 2010.

(This was a nice piece of investigative reporting on the part of Messenger staffer Michelle Monroe.  It’s a shame that the Messenger does not see fit to offer either article on the internet, but we will follow developments with interest; so look for updates.)