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The city of Hannibal’s Stardust extension project took a detour Tuesday night when the city council opted to award the project to a local contractor - Bleigh Construction - rather than the low bidder - Cannon Company in Troy.
While the council’s final vote accepting Bleigh’s proposal was unanimous, the first two procedural votes were divided 4-3.
City Attorney James Lemon said that city ordinances allowed the council the freedom to “use its own judgment” in doing what it felt was best for the city. Noting the closeness of the bids, Lemon, while not endorsing either company, said he felt the council would be justified in going with the local company. Mayor Roy Hark was assured that language was included in the project’s bid specs which indicated the council had the right to choose what it deemed was the “best” proposal.
Bleigh Construction’s bid of $979,432.12 was approximately 1 percent higher than Cannon’s bid of $968,565.43.
Both bids were roughly 16 percent below the engineer’s estimate and what the city had budgeted for the project.
“I couldn’t be more on the fence,” said City Engineer Mark Rees, regarding to whom the council would award the project.
While Rees said he has the “highest respect for Bleigh,” he formally recommended that the low bidder - Cannon - be awarded the project, noting that he would “hate to alienate out-of-town bidders” by rejecting the low bid.
“It’s not your job to do our job,” Mayor Pro Tem Kevin Knickerbocker told Rees, regarding all the various factors which had to be taken into consideration.
Representatives of both companies made appeals to the council. Louis Vannatta of Bleigh Construction talked about the major impact that Bleigh employees have on the local economy. Joe Rivet of Gold Star Paving, speaking in behalf of Cannon, explained that their employees would also have an impact locally by renting hotel rooms and eating in restaurants. There was also a pledge from Cannon to use as many local subcontractors as possible.
Following the meeting, Rivet admitted the council’s decision was a bitter pill to swallow.
“I’m very disappointed,” he said. “We put a lot of time and effort into this proposal.”
Would the council’s action keep the Troy folks from bidding on a Hannibal project in the future?
“I’m not a quitter,” said Rivet.
At the end of the council meeting Knickerbocker requested that a committee be formed to explore changes to the city’s bidding process.
The city of Hannibal’s Stardust extension project took a detour Tuesday night when the city council opted to award the project to a local contractor - Bleigh Construction - rather than the low bidder - Cannon Company in Troy.
While the council’s final vote accepting Bleigh’s proposal was unanimous, the first two procedural votes were divided 4-3.
City Attorney James Lemon said that city ordinances allowed the council the freedom to “use its own judgment” in doing what it felt was best for the city. Noting the closeness of the bids, Lemon, while not endorsing either company, said he felt the council would be justified in going with the local company. Mayor Roy Hark was assured that language was included in the project’s bid specs which indicated the council had the right to choose what it deemed was the “best” proposal.
Bleigh Construction’s bid of $979,432.12 was approximately 1 percent higher than Cannon’s bid of $968,565.43.
Both bids were roughly 16 percent below the engineer’s estimate and what the city had budgeted for the project.
“I couldn’t be more on the fence,” said City Engineer Mark Rees, regarding to whom the council would award the project.
While Rees said he has the “highest respect for Bleigh,” he formally recommended that the low bidder - Cannon - be awarded the project, noting that he would “hate to alienate out-of-town bidders” by rejecting the low bid.
“It’s not your job to do our job,” Mayor Pro Tem Kevin Knickerbocker told Rees, regarding all the various factors which had to be taken into consideration.
Representatives of both companies made appeals to the council. Louis Vannatta of Bleigh Construction talked about the major impact that Bleigh employees have on the local economy. Joe Rivet of Gold Star Paving, speaking in behalf of Cannon, explained that their employees would also have an impact locally by renting hotel rooms and eating in restaurants. There was also a pledge from Cannon to use as many local subcontractors as possible.
Following the meeting, Rivet admitted the council’s decision was a bitter pill to swallow.
“I’m very disappointed,” he said. “We put a lot of time and effort into this proposal.”
Would the council’s action keep the Troy folks from bidding on a Hannibal project in the future?
“I’m not a quitter,” said Rivet.
At the end of the council meeting Knickerbocker requested that a committee be formed to explore changes to the city’s bidding process.
