PHOTO COURTESY OF GRUNDY COUNTY — Wolf Creek Recreation Area is a 93-acre multi-purpose recreation area located between Gladbrook and Beaman in Grundy County. The office of State Auditor Rob Sand recently found that a contract for an electrical project involving Wolf Creek’s campground was incorrectly awarded to a company owned by the brother of Conservation Director Nick Buseman, constituting a conflict of interest.

GRUNDY CENTER — Findings from Grundy County’s most recent audit – conducted by Auditor of State Rob Sand’s office – point to a conflict of interest relating to bidding procedures for electrical upgrades at the Wolf Creek Recreation Area located east of Beaman.

The Feb. 28 report covers the fiscal year ending on June 30, 2023. Findings include a contract awarded by the Grundy County Board of Conservation to Buseman Electric owned by Cole Buseman of Wellsburg.

The report states, “The Grundy County Conservation Board accepted a bid of $69,930 from Buseman Electric, Inc. for the Wolf Creek electrical project after obtaining multiple bids. However, after additional work on the project was identified, the Conservation Board rescinded the original bid and accepted a revised bid of $89,980 from Buseman Electric. Additional bids were not received after the initial scope of work changed.”

Cole Buseman is the brother of current Conservation Director Nick Buseman.

Wolf Creek Recreation Area features a total of 22 designated camping sites – 11 of which have electricity, according to the county’s website.

“Although bids were provided in writing and publicly opened, the bids were not publicly advertised. Therefore, the initial bids received for the project were not properly competitively bid and represent a conflict of interest in accordance with [the Code of Iowa],” the report reads.

Once the original bid was rescinded, the report states, the Conservation board should have “received revised competitive bids for the project in order to meet the conflict of interest exemption.”

According to Chapter 331.342 of the Code of Iowa, an officer or employee of a county shall not have an interest – direct or indirect – in a contract with the county unless certain exemptions are met. Exemptions include “contracts made by a county upon competitive bid in writing, publicly invited and opened.”

The Auditor’s recommendation was for Grundy County to “consult legal counsel to determine the proper disposition of this matter.”

Conservation’s response

Nick Buseman wrote Grundy County’s response and described the report’s narrative as “inaccurate and not representative of what occurred.”

“Prior to receiving bids on this project, an email exchange between myself, the County Auditor, and the County Attorney confirmed that competitive bids were not required on the project as the scope was less than $100,000,” Buseman said. “With my brother’s business interested in the project, I requested another bid from a company that does work for the County. The competitive bidding was implemented voluntarily by our office to avoid any possible conflict of interest concerns.”

Initial bids on the project amounted to $78,853.69 from Konken Electric and $69,930 from Buseman Electric, the director said. The Buseman bid was accepted as it “provided electrical hookup boxes at every site.”

During a subsequent meeting with the chosen contractor, Director Buseman said he was made aware “there was not a panel in the bid for the back half of the campground.”

At the next meeting of the Conservation board, the Wolf Creek project was addressed. The new quote from Buseman Electric – which included the missing panel – was $82,980.

“The Board decided to stay with Buseman Electric as Buseman Electric had an electrical hookup box at every site,” Director Buseman further stated. “The Konken bid did not offer this and would therefore not be an acceptable/comparable alternative. The Board thought it would be wise to rescind the initial bid.”

Director Buseman contended that all decisions made as part of the Wolf Creek electrical project were made without his influence “so as to avoid any possible conflict of interest.”

“In conclusion, due diligence was taken at all steps of this process to ensure that the Board was well informed and there was no room for doubt upon hiring Buseman Electric. The Board and our office went above and beyond to ensure no conflict of interest occurred,” he wrote.

Auditor’s response

In his brief response, Auditor Sand reiterated, “The initial bidding did not follow competitive bidding procedures identified in Chapter 26 of the Code of Iowa. Therefore, the conflict of interest exemption … was not met.”

In other words, by not following competitive bidding procedures which include a public advertisement for bids, the Conservation board failed to satisfy the conflict of interest exemption, which reads: “Contracts made by a county upon competitive bid in writing, publicly invited and opened.”

Elsewhere in the report, the Auditor found the County’s revenues totaled $16,678,488 for the year ended June 30, 2023 – a 3.9% increase over the prior year. Expenses for County operations totaled $14,868,884 – a 1.8% increase over the prior year.

The increase in revenue was due primarily to an increase in American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) proceeds.