By CRAIG FREILICH

POTSDAM -- A former village trustee has formed a new company that he hopes can help the village administration save money on engineering consulting costs.

Nick Sheehan of J.E. Sheehan Contracting Corporation says he is forming Atomic Engineering largely as away to help the village save money by advising them on preliminary scoping of projects and assisting with in-house inquiries such as maintenance questions before the village goes ahead with them.

His proposal was outlined to village trustees by Village Administrator Greg Thompson at the board meeting April 5.

The proposal from Sheehan includes a suggested $4,000 retainer that could be drawn on as he puts time in on village requests.

“Atomic Engineering can help us put into words what we want” in terms of project outlines and grant proposals, for instance,” Thompson said. “He can help us with language such as explanations for grant seeking” as a way to be specific when hiring consulting engineers, which could result in “substantial savings.”

“I’ve got a pretty diverse engineering background,” Sheehan said by phone after the meeting. He is working on a couple of more credits for his engineering license “so I’d be able to work with engineers with issues that come up in the village.”

His proposal “could fit the bill. That’s why I proposed it. I’m not pushing for anything else,” Sheehan said.

“I did enjoy being a part of everything and working with everybody,” he said.

Thompson said he was advising the board of the proposal, which would be looked at in more detail and discussed by the board before any decision is made.

Thompson said he believed there would not be a conflict with the new company and the contracting company Sheehan works for, but that is one of the issues that has to be examined before any deal could go through.

Sheehan resigned from the board this past winter when it became clear, in spite of earlier advice to the contrary, that his position with Sheehan Contracting could constitute a conflict of interest with village operations, particularly where contracts with the company were concerned.

The board had been told by a well known engineering contractor that his employment would not conflict with village contracts.

It became clear that that advice was mistaken when a low bid by Sheehan Contracting on a village project was disallowed because of his position with the company.

Sheehan felt obliged to resign by time constraints, he said at the time.

When he left the village board in February, he felt he was abandoning some responsibility and wanted to find a way to keep contributing to the life of the village, and creating Atomic Engineering is the result.

“I was upset at leaving and that would be my way of helping,” he said.