BROOKLINE — Selectman Clarence Farwell said he “fell asleep at the wheel” when he voted in favor of hiring his son to do work on a road project in town, but said the project would have passed whether he had abstained as he usually does or not.

The issue of a conflict of interest is a perennial one in Brookline when it comes to the Farwell family, which over the years has been heavily involved in town government, business, and community organizations.

Clarence Farwell is a selectman and his son, Gerald Farwell, is the town’s road agent who runs for office every year. But the two men are also involved with Farwell Construction which, among other things, does road and paving projects.

Over the years, the Farwells have often performed work for the town, whether the jobs are put out to bid or awarded to a company without following a bidding process. Because the Farwells are familiar with Brookline’s roads, the town’s specifications, and because Gerald Farwell is a civil engineer, they’re often able to underbid other companies, said Clarence Farwell.

According to Town Administrator Tad Putney, when Gerald Farwell was getting ready to move forward with a $60,000 paving project, he approached the board of selectmen to ask if he needed to have engineering plans drawn up so the project could be put up to bid.

But instead of spending the estimated $4,000 to $5,000 to prepare the plans, Putney said, the board exercised its option under the town’s purchasing policy to award the project to Farwell Construction.

But Finance Committee member Dennis Skey said the loophole that allows selectmen to bypass the purchasing policy needs to be closed. He would like to see all projects over $20,000 be put through a formal bidding process so that every company in Brookline has a fair shake.

“The selectman awarded this project to a single source based on exemptions to the policy, but there’s nothing in the policy that spells out what those exemptions are,” Skey said.

He’d also like to see Clarence Farwell abstain from voting on projects that involve his son and his company.

Farwell said when the vote came up on the project July 23, he “fell asleep at the wheel” and cast a vote in favor of awarding the project to his son.

“I made a mistake,” he said. “But I was one of four people voting that night and it would have passed either way.”

Putney, who served on the board with Farwell, said that Farwell has always been diligent about abstaining from any vote involving his company.

“I can’t remember a time when he didn’t abstain,” Putney said. “He’s always very careful about that.”

But Farwell said he stands behind the decision to award the project to his son.

“The finance committee wants to be able to prove that Gerry is the lowest bidder,” said Farwell, “but it’s going to cost the taxpayers $4,000 to $5,000 just to determine that. That’s money that could be spent on the roads.”

But Skey said the point is that without a bidding process, nobody will ever know if Brookline is getting the best deal.

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Nancy Bean Foster may be reached at nfoster@newstote.com.