GILROY
– The city has received bids well under engineers’ estimates for
planned improvements to its maintenance and corporation yard,
following a second round of bidding linked to a controversy over
the way the city initially handled bids for the project.
GILROY – The city has received bids well under engineers’ estimates for planned improvements to its maintenance and corporation yard, following a second round of bidding linked to a controversy over the way the city initially handled bids for the project.
At approximately $2,612,753, city officials said the base bid from Kent Construction was the lowest of the seven received last week for the corporation yard project, which had an engineers’ estimate of $3,444,706.
If Kent’s bid package checks out, that’s hundreds of thousands of dollars in savings for the city – a welcome sign after bids for the city’s new police station came in last week over $8 million – or nearly 50 percent – higher than engineers’ estimates.
“I feel like I won the lottery today,” said Bill Headley, the city’s parks and facilities development manager, last Thursday after the corporation yard bid opening.
The corporation yard bid process has not been without its own complications, however.
Kent’s bid for the corporation yard was initially rejected by city officials as late during the initial April 9 bid opening ceremony, but company officials protested the decision. Kent later turned out to be the low bidder.
City officials said further investigation indicated that their decision to reject the bid may have been inappropriate. However, officials said they didn’t have full copies of Kent’s bid package in order to ensure all requirements were met. On the advice of the city attorney, the city decided to re-bid the project.
That decision drew protests – and threat of legal action – from San Jose’s Robert Bothman Inc., the firm that would have been the low bidder if Kent’s bid was rejected. Bothman was the second-lowest bidder in the second round of bid openings, city officials said.
City Administrator Jay Baksa has said the initial confusion was the result of multiple bids coming in at the last minute and an inexperienced person involved in their receipt. He said new procedures have been established in the wake of the incident.
The project at the Old Gilroy Street corporation yard site will replace decades-old metal storage sheds that serve as offices and workrooms with new and remodeled buildings for the city’s maintenance personnel.
