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Only one bid received for Okanogan County legal‑newspaper contract; Gazette Tribune preliminarily leads
Summary
County opened bids for its designated legal newspaper; a combined Midtown Valley News / Okanogan County Gazette Tribune (Sound Publishing) submitted the sole bid and, based on preliminary scoring, will be the recommended award on April 24, staff said.
County staff opened bids for the contract to provide Okanogan County’s designated legal newspaper of record and told commissioners the county received a single proposal.
An auditor/staff presentation said the bid package was evaluated using a scoring sheet that compares circulation, cost per package, column width and compliance with the bid notice. "We do have a scoring sheet. So what I'll do is I will what I normally do is when we have 2 bids, I will do a comparison of the 2, showing the pulse complying with the bid notice requirements and then the cost per package... And the board gets that information and looks up for that and makes a decision," a staff member explained.
Staff reported that Midtown Valley News combined with Okanogan County Gazette Tribune — both owned by Sound Publishing — was the only bidder. The staff member said the preliminary count favors the Gazette Tribune and that the formal award is scheduled for the contract award meeting on April 24. No formal award motion was made during this meeting; staff said the contract opening occurred and the board will see a staff comparison and the award at the later date.
Why this matters: county law requires the contract for the county's designated legal newspaper be let by the first Monday in April; the comparison staff provides typically includes circulation and cost metrics that the board uses to decide the award.
Next steps: staff will prepare a comparison sheet laying out circulation, cost per column‑inch and other bid criteria, and the board will consider a formal award at the April 24 meeting, the auditor's office said.
