Craig Daily Press / County waives 2 bid processes

Archive for Wednesday, September 23, 2009

Road and Bridge lease, Pavilion renovation given no-bid contracts

September 23, 2009

At its Tuesday meeting, the Moffat County Commission:

• Approved, 2-0, allowing city staff to take seniors to South Dakota with the Maybell senior van. City officials will cover the vehicle and passengers with its insurance.

• Approved, 2-0, a $16,296 bid from Steamboat Springs-based Wilson Roofing to reshingle the Social Services building.

Wilson submitted the lowest bid, which was about 9.4 percent less than the next lowest bid, submitted by a local company.

Gray and Mathers said they would like to help local companies, but the county does not have a written bid policy to that effect.

Gray said it would be more ethical to write out a local policy instead of adding stipulations after the fact. He and Mathers agreed to meet with other county officials and see if they can create a local provision.

The Moffat County Commission approved, 2-0, waiving a formal bid process for two separate projects at its meeting Tuesday.

Commissioner Audrey Danner was absent.

The commission waived a bid process for the county road and bridge department to rent a special bulldozer to help build a new trash cell at the county landfill.

Bill Mack, road and bridge director, said he leased the machinery from Wagner Equipment for $2,525 a week and planned to use it for two weeks.

Mack said Wagner was the only local dealer that had the right equipment available at the time.

The commissioners approved waiving the bid process and leasing the equipment but were surprised when Mack said he already leased the equipment before coming to the commission for approval.

"We ought to know about this ahead of time," Commissioner Tom Mathers said.

"Especially if we're going to be asked to waive a bid process," Commissioner Tom Gray added.

Mack said his department couldn't get a contract request through the county routing process in time to use the equipment because the county attorney was on vacation.

Gray said that shouldn't hold up normal procedures and that he would organize a staff meeting in the future to discuss the issue.

He added that the commission had little choice but to approve Mack's request, given that he already used the equipment and denying payment would only hurt Wagner.

The commissioners also approved, 2-0, waiving the bid process for sheetrock and paint work at the Moffat County Fairgrounds Pavilion.

Fairgrounds Manager Bill Sixkiller said he thought the projects would cost less than $5,000, which would put them below the county's mandatory bid amount.

However, after receiving quotes from all of the local companies registered with the county, he saw they would both be more than $5,000 and he would need special clearance from the commission.

The commission approved a $6,000 contract with Sunset Drywall and a $6,890 contract with Duran's Paint Service.

Both are local companies and provided the lowest quotes.

Gray said the county does not plan to remodel and expand the Pavilion as once discussed because of price issues.

However, in addition to new sheetrock and paint, officials plan to install new floor tiles throughout the building and retile the bathroom walls, which Gray added would be an open bid project.