It wasn't until last Tuesday that the city's elected leaders found out that the relationship might be tainted.

"There's been a two-year period where there was a conflict of interest and we didn't know it," Mayor Mont Evans said Friday.

The so-called conflict: The president of the Sandy-based company - Kent Cram - is the brother of City Manager Mark Cram.

While Evans' concerns have led the southwest Salt Lake Valley city to pull back $92,770 intended for the purchase and installation of an emergency generator by GSL, the issue isn't straightforward.

One of the complicating factors is that Kent Cram reportedly wasn't the company's president until January.

"I believe he was there [when the project began in mid 2003]," said Lance Blackwood, Riverton's economic-development director. "I don't know what his position was with the company."

GSL officials, including Kent Cram, didn't respond to telephone calls on Friday. Mark Cram also was unavailable.

Another complicating factor: Riverton doesn't have a direct contract with GSL. That position is held by general contractor Layton Construction.

The contract - it totals nearly $6 million to transform an elementary school built in the 1930s to a city hall and civic center - was awarded to Layton in June 2003. GSL, as a subcontractor, agreed to do nearly $650,000 in alarm and electrical upgrades.

"It's a subcontractor we didn't pick," the city's Blackwood said. "In my mind, we didn't hire these guys."

Still, Evans contends, Mark Cram should have said something.

"It's not a problem that there is a conflict," he said. "The problem is, it wasn't revealed."

Others aren't as harsh as the mayor.

"I haven't seen anything that says Mark Cram has done anything wrong," said Bill Applegarth, a City Council member. "But at the same time, we have to be very, very careful with what we do with city funds."

They are actually dealing with federal funds.

The generator is bankrolled by federal homeland-security dollars. According to Derek Jensen, a spokesman for the Utah Department of Public Safety, the feds only require that the city follow its own purchasing policies when using the money.

The issue came to light Tuesday night as Blackwood was detailing a "change order" for the generator that Mark Cram signed a day earlier. Since the generator was to serve City Hall, the city manager believed he could go through Layton Construction and its subcontractor for the work instead of going to a competitive bid, Blackwood said.

According to Allan Rindlisbacher, a spokesman for Layton Construction, GSL was a logical choice because it knows the electrical system now in place and the construction contract remains open.

"This has simply been an extension of our contract with GSL," Rindlisbacher said.

Blackwood - instructed by Mark Cram - also briefed the City Council on Kent Cram's position.

On Wednesday, Evans cancelled the change order. The work now will go out to bid.

It's not known whether there will be repercussions. Topping the upcoming City Council agenda for next Tuesday is a closed-door session to discuss a personnel issue. Evans declined to say whether the discussion involves the city manager, but the mayor did say he remains confident in Cram's ability to lead the city.

"I want him to continue as city manager," Evans said.

jsantini@sltrib.com