By Ann McCreary
Twisp Town Council member Bob Lloyd resigned from the council last week because his company, Lloyd Logging Inc., was the successful bidder for a $163,689 contract with the town.
Lloyd Logging was the low bidder on a project that will construct curbs, gutters and sidewalks along Twisp Avenue between Highway 20 and Lincoln Street.
State law prohibits municipal officials from benefiting from contracts and sets limits on how much a municipal official can receive under a contract with a municipality.
RCW 42.23.030 establishes the allowable contract amount at $1,500 in any calendar month, which totals $18,000 a year.
Lloyd submitted his resignation just before the council meeting, saying he was stepping down “to avoid any conflict of interest.”
Lloyd was in his second term in council position 1, which expires at the end of 2017. The council took no action last week to begin the process of appointing someone to the vacancy. Lloyd also served on the Twisp Council in the 1980s.
“Your time and service to this town has been greatly appreciated. We will miss you (and) the fresh perspective you brought to this table,” Mayor Soo Ing-Moody told Lloyd at the council meeting.
She also thanked Lloyd for the “expertise you’ve been able to lend to our Public Works department.”
“Many times you’ve been the only person on one side of an issue,” said council member John Fleming. “I appreciate your integrity. You voted as you saw best.”
“It has been interesting to once again serve on the Twisp Council and I appreciate the dedication that you, your staff, and the other council members put into serving the citizens of Twisp,” Lloyd said in his resignation letter.
