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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1994.07.25 Council MinutesMINUTES PASCO CITY COUNCIL SPECIAL MEETING JULY 25, 1994 CALL TO ORDER The meeting was called to order at 7 30 P M by Joyce DeFelice, Mayor ROLL CALL By City Manager Councilmembers present Joyce DeFehce, Michael Gamson, Edgar Hargrow, Chris Jensen, Charles Kilbury, Dan Lathim, and Carl Strode Also present Gary Crutchfield, City Manager, Greg Rubstello, City Attorney, and Kurt Luhrs, Administrative Assistant UNFINISHED BUSINESS Declaration of Intent to Award the Contract for the Bio Solids Drying Beds Mr Wright explained that last week staff presented an item on the agenda declanng Council's intention to award a contract to the low bidder for the Bio Solids Drying Beds Contract After this item was presented staff asked that it be pulled Staffs concern at the time was that the bid of K Kaser Company, Inc had several irregulanties that needed clanfication before approval by Council Staff has researched the irregularities and met with attorney's for the low bidder, the second low bidder and the City Attorney Staffs recommends that Council should declare the bid of K Kaser Company, Inc , as being irregular and reject it Council should then declare it's intention the award to contract to the second low bidder, Hughes Sellers, Inc The two bids were approximately $2,000 00 apart Three issues were raised 1) the second low bidder expressed a concern that the low bidder did not submit, in a timely manner as required by law, the list of subcontractors, 2) there was no written amount on one bid item required by law in all contracts where there is trenching which exceeds 4' in depth, 3) the low bidder felt that his bid was being scrutinized a little more than necessary and that the second low bidder did not adequately meet the goals required by the contract for the MBEWBE, which is the Mmonty or Women's Business Enterpnse goals as required by the State of Washington for the City's loan fund Staff did consider the low bidder's request to look into that issue and were told by the Department of Ecology (administrators of the grant) that if the contractor has properly documented his attempts to seek bids from minority and women subcontractors He does not have to have bids he only has to have sought to have those bids included The low bidder states that he did seek those and did not receive any quotes, therefore, he would be in compliance with those regulations Mr Terry Miller, Attorney for K Kaser Company, Inc, explained that K Kaser Company, Inc was satisfied (after talking with their engineer) that this project did not require trenching more than 4' deep This is the whole issue before Council He pointed out that the contract states that if there is no bid item inserted then the City may reject the bid Mr Miller felt that the second low bidder, Hughes Sellers, Inc , did not identify women business enterprises at the time of the bid opening The contract is explicit and says that failure to complete the women business enterprise and minority business enterprise forms shall be due cause for rejection of a bid K Kaser Company, Inc , has identified a problem with the Hughes Sellers, Inc , bid that they feel is MINUTES SPECIAL MEETING PASCO CITY COUNCIL JULY 25, 1994 more significant than the blank line in their bid and request that Council reject both bids, or if the Council is not willing to do that, then suffer the delay to the project and rebid It is in the City's best interest to accept the low bid, save the money, deal with the problem that is less significant than the second low bidders problem, and award the contract and get on with the project K Kaser Company, Inc , is asked Council to accept their bid Mr Jensen asked Mr Miller if it was the desire of K Kaser Company, Inc , to have their bid accepted or that both bids be rejected 9 Mr Miller stated that their first choice is that the bid of K Kaser Company, Inc, be accepted Mr Jensen asked for a response concerning the failure of K Kaser Company, Inc , to provide a subcontractor list as required by law Mr Miller stated that the new State law was not identified in the bid package and it was his understanding that Hughes Sellers, Inc provided a copy of the State law to the City The effective date for this revised law is June 9, 1994, and it's his understanding that the invitation to bid went out before the law took effect Mr Rubstello explained that the basis for rejecting the bid from K Kaser Company, Inc, rests with the "trench safety excavation" line item Mr Gamson informed Council that because of a working relationship with one of the bidders he would have remove himself from the discussion or from voting on this issue Mr John Sellers, of Hughes Sellers, Inc , explained that the advertisement for bidders was dated June 13, 1994, several days after the June 9th effective date for the law He also knows that the other company was involved in a bid on a project three to four weeks ago for the State of Washington with the one hour requirement included in the language, and Transtate Paving lost a major project because of their failure to live up to that Mr Sellers also pointed out that his bid contained approximately $80,000 worth of work being done by minority subcontractors and women enterprises that were contacted were not interested in the project Mr Strode questioned the wording in the bid package and wanted to know if it specifically stated the amount of cover required on the piping Mr Tony Crutch, of HDR Engineering, explained that the plans in the bid package clearly stated that the amount of cover over the top of the digested sludge piping would be 4' to finish grade The digested sludge piping is 8" to 10" in diameter making the total depth of the trench from finish grade would be 4' 10" at the maximum depth Mr Dale Nichols, of K Kaser Company, Inc , stated that a contractor only has to provide a list of subcontractors if they're over 10% of the contract and his company has no subcontractors that are over the 10% requirement He felt that, as far as the trenching requirement is concerned, the grading is within, +/- one tenth of a foot (1-1/4") and if the contractor is that tenth low with the grade they would be within the 4' requirement -2- ,..-.1.1,..-..-4 elice, Mayor Joy I MINUTES SPECIAL MEETING PASCO CITY COUNCIL JULY 25, 1994 Mayor DeFelice questioned what kind of problems would the City encounter if the bid is awarded to Hughes Sellers, Inc , regarding the minority and women owned contractors'? Mr Rubstello felt there wouldn't be any problems with the State, who will be reviewing the contract, for compliance with specific State law Mr Jensen felt that the basis for rejection of K Kaser Company, Inc , was the omission of the line item Which appears to put the City in jeopardy of an apparent law suit Mr Jensen stated that there appears to be no other way around this situation other than to deny all the bids and start from scratch However, this would cause a time limit problem for the City MOTION Mr Jensen moved to reject the proposal of K Kaser Company, Inc , as being irregular and, further, to declare Council's intention to award to contract to the low responsive bidder, Hughes Sellers, Inc, in the amount of $688,377 38 Mr Kilbury seconded the motion Motion earned (No - Hargrow, Gamson abstained) . L d 1 - - „ V-- ' No further busmesslpthe meeting was adjourned at 8 02 P M ADJOURNMENT ATTEST I Cathenne D Seaman Deputy City Clerk PASSED and APPROVED this I day of , 1994 I -3 -