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By Erin Smith
The Elizabethtown Town Council met on Tuesday in the Council Chambers for their monthly noon work session and heard from Bridgett Williams with the W. K. Dickson Company regarding bids for the Airport Terminal project. First, the board conducted a pinning ceremony for Elizabethtown Fire Department’s new Deputy Chief Anthony Norris. He was joined by his wife and mother.
Following the ceremony, the Council got down to work. Bridgett Williams with W. K. Dickson addressed the board regarding the bid awards for the Airport Terminal project. Town Manager Eddie Madden told the board the bids were originally opened in June and nine bids were received. Town Attorney Goldston Womble was also present for the discussion and to assist the board with determining how best to move forward with awarding the bid to the contractor who is not the lowest bidder but instead was the “lowest and best responsible bidder,” said Madden.
“We spent quite a bit of time vetting these contractors,” said Madden. “Based upon that process we involved the attorney in helping us to arrive at the best procedure in which to award this bid.”
Williams explained to the board they were preparing to make a recommendation to the board to award the bid to the lowest bidder when a few weeks ago her company was made aware of some concerns regarding the lowest bidder. Williams said based on those concerns, they decided to do reference checks on the three low bidders. She explained that based on the negative feedback received on the first and second lowest bidders, there were concerns with moving forward with either of those two contractors based on their performance on previous projects.
“So, we sent a letter to Eddie (Madden) basically saying that we can’t make a recommendation moving forward with either of those bidders and instead are presenting the information we have on the references and we feel like the third bidder needs to be awarded this project,” said Williams.
Madden said the Airport Board has received the same information regarding the bids and they recommend the Council award the bid to the third lowest bidder. However, the board will need to adopt a process the bidders can use to protest the award. Neither the North Carolina Division on Aviation nor the Federal Aviation Administration have a protest process. Williams told the board the state requires the town to have a protest process in place. She explained the state reviews the process only to ensure no federal or state laws were violated.
When asked to explain some of the issues found with the first and second lowest bidders, Williams said there were issues with lack of control of subcontractors, no clear coordination of subcontractors and, based on that, work had to be redone, and comments regarding subcontractors not being paid. She said the third lowest bidder, Graca Builders of Columbus County, had no issues found with budget items and no excessive change orders.
Board member Dicky Glenn asked if the third lowest bidder came in under the grant amount. Williams said no but they will meet with the contractors and give them the opportunity to “tweak the project” and bring it more inline with the budget.
Madden told the board there is a difference of $85,000 in the bid amount and the Airport Board had noted the Council they are willing to pay the difference.
The Council will make a final decision on the matter at their meeting tonight.
Mayor Sylvia Campbell also told the board Elizabethtown Police Chief Tony Parrish has recommended the town implement a golf cart ordinance. The board will conduct a public hearing on the matter during tonight’s meeting.
“This is something our Police Chief Tony Parrish has recommend that we do to have it (the ordinance) where the golf carts can be used in most residential areas and neighborhoods for licensed drivers,” said Mayor Campbell.
She told the board that following the public hearing, the board will be voting on the matter. The public can sign up to speak on the matter.
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