 Winning bid possibly not the lowest bid
At the Aug. 24 workshop meeting, bids were opened for the
construction of a new storage building to be located at the city's
waste treatment plant.
Bids were received from Morton Buildings, coming in at $39,526;
FBI Buildings at $35,784; and Wilson-Schleder Construction submitted
a bid of $37,000.
Tuesday night Alderman Buzz Busby made a motion that the bid be
awarded to Wilson-Schleder Construction.
The motion was seconded by Alderwoman Marty Neitzel, who
immediately asked why the bid was being awarded to a company that
was not the lowest bidder.
Busby said there was a $1,300 difference between Wilson-Schleder
and FBI Buildings, but that Wilson-Schleder was providing a larger
building.
He said the would-be winner had submitted a bid for a building
that measured 104 by 24 feet because in doing so they would not have
to cut metal to obtain the bid length.
He noted that when comparing square footage costs, FBI and
Wilson-Schleder were neck and neck on their bids.
Mayor Keith Snyder said that of the three bids submitted, none
had the same dimensions for the building.
Morton had designed a building that measured 99 by 24 feet, FBI's
building was 100 by 24, and Wilson-Schleder's building would measure
104 by 24.
City engineer Mark Mathon said that while the request to bid
specified a 100-by-24-foot structure, there was a provision that the
bidder could deviate from the specifications as long as that was
made clear in the bid.
The discussion that ensued centered around the idea that the bid
request was based on a completed project and not the cost per square
foot.
City attorney Bill Bates voiced his concern that the other
bidders were not being given an opportunity to bid on the larger
building. He asked how the council could be sure that given that
opportunity, the low bidder might not have still been the low
bidder.
Alderman Tom O'Donohue wondered if the low bidder was going to
feel this had been handled unfairly, and Bates quickly responded
that he certainly would.
As this discussion ensued, Neitzel withdrew her second from the
motion, which effectively stopped the discussion. However, Alderman
David Wilmert spoke up and said he would offer the second so that
discussion could continue and the issue be settled without delay.
In the end it was Alderwoman Joni Tibbs who effectively settled
the matter, saying that it's stated in the bid packages that the
city reserves the right to reject any and all bids without cause.
Bates asked Mathon to confirm this and he did. Therefore the
issue went to a vote.
With Armbrust absent for the evening, the vote was 5-4. The
council members who voted no were Stacy Bacon, Neitzel, Jeff
Hoinacki and O'Donohue.
With the subject appearing to be closed, the council moved on to
other discussions.
However, just before the meeting adjourned, Bates spoke briefly
with the mayor, who in turn explained that on this issue there was
going to have to be an amendment to the vote.
Because the council had not chosen the bidder who was lowest in
the package bid, notwithstanding the square footage cost, the voting
rules stated that the motion had to pass by the majority of elected
officials, not the majority present. Because Armbrust was absent for
the evening and had no opportunity to vote, it was not certain that
this would have been a majority decision. Therefore, it had to be
treated as a tie vote with the mayor breaking the tie. Snyder
immediately voted to accept the bid, bringing the vote to 6-4.
Comcast responds to issues raised at evaluation
Snyder said he had a meeting with Libby Stehn of Comcast on
Tuesday afternoon, and she addressed the issues that had been raised
at the Comcast evaluation meeting on Aug. 24.
The problems with varying volume levels from channel to channel
have been addressed and repaired.
The issues with business-class Internet service turned out to be
a firmware issue that has also been resolved.
Comcast has also looked at the camera in the City Hall council
chambers and it is now in good working order.
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In regard to the subscriber survey that the city had asked to see
copies of, Stehn said that by Illinois law the survey does not
have to be given to the city. Snyder said that Bates would review
the laws to see if he came to the same conclusion.
Snyder said there was also a provision whereby the city could
control the rates of services provided by Comcast, but only for the
most basic of cable services: the lower 24 channels. He said there
were federal regulations that established a formula for that rate
and the city would have the right to hold Comcast to that formula,
if it was a rate-regulating city. He said that if this was something
that they want to pursue, there is an online application they would
have to fill out and submit to become a rate-regulating city.
He and Stehn also talked about the technology forums that were
mentioned at the original meeting. Snyder said he wants a more
complete description of what they would be doing in regard to
information provided and when and where the workshops would be.
In regard to the need for a local service number, Snyder said
the response was pretty much identical to what it had
originally been. Comcast has six call centers in Illinois and they
feel this is the method that makes the most sense for them. Snyder
said he asked that Comcast offer a better explanation in writing.
Stehn also said that Comcast is willing to provide airtime for
the Tuesday night workshop sessions of the council. To do so, Comcast
will need a written request from the city, and they still need to
work it out with Tim and Celeste Rogers, the owners of CITV-5.
Snyder said there is still a need for a second channel that is
true public access. He said that such a channel would be good for
airing governmental meetings and also could be used as an
educational tool. He intends to continue pursuing this.
Finally, Snyder said Stehn asked that he write a letter to
Comcast stating that the evaluation had been conducted and that the
company was found to be in complete compliance with their service
contract with the city.
Snyder said he would write the letter stating that there had been
an evaluation, but he would not specify that Comcast was in
compliance with the service contract. He noted that the evaluation
meeting had not been for the purpose of examining every detail of
the contract; therefore, he was not willing to make that claim.
EMC gives presentation on improvements to the city's South Plant
Bob Tackett, who is the city's waste treatment manager, offered a
presentation on the construction work that has been taking place at
the waste treatment "South Plant."
Tackett said the lift station structure located near Salt Creek
to the east of Old Route 66 and the railroad bridge was built in the
1950s. Over time the building had deteriorated and developed issues
with electrical boxes and other components of the facility.
He noted that one serious concern was the means by which electric
current came into the building, via a pole and lines strung in the
air to the side of the structure. He said there was evidence of
unauthorized visitors to the plant. It was noted that at some time,
one of those visitors had actually hit the electric pole with a
vehicle.
Tackett went through a slide presentation showing the demolition
of the old structure, the rebuilding project and the stairway access
to it. He also showed pictures of the new electrical boxes and new
switches for the system, as well as photos of the installation of a
generator for the facility.
He said a great deal of the work on the new building had been
done by waste treatment staff and that they had used professional
services only when absolutely necessary.
Tackett said the original budget for the project had been
approximately $50,000, but because they had done so much of the work
without contractors, they were currently well under budget.
He also noted that there are still a few things to be done at the
station, including the installation of a fence around the building,
which will include barbed wire to help keep would-be trespassers
from getting to the actual building.
[By NILA SMITH]
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