County terminates award, reassigns Gabs water-tank rehabilitation contract after federal registration issue

Nye County commissioners on Aug. 26 authorized a 30-day termination notice to Brand Energy Services and approved awarding the Gabs water-tank rehabilitation contract to Viking Painting LLC after county staff concluded the originally awarded contractor did not maintain an active SAM.gov registration required for reimbursement under the project's federal grant terms. The board acted after public comment from a representative of the originally selected firm and staff presentations on grant compliance.The contract in question was funded through ARPA subgrant dollars administered by the State of Nevada. County staff reported that state grant monitors require that vendors working on federally funded projects be registered and active in the federal System for Award Management (sam.gov). Although Brand Energy had earlier obtained an identifier, county staff said the vendor did not have an active SAM registration when the county prepared to issue a notice to proceed; staff said state reimbursement requires an active registration. A Brand Energy representative argued in public comment that the SAM registration was not included in bid documents and that federal rules require a bidder prequalification; county staff replied the state now requires active SAM registration for reimbursement and that the county sought a waiver but did not receive one.County manager records show the board authorized a 30-day termination without cause and approved awarding the contract to Viking Painting LLC for $164,100; the motion used grant fund 10340 as the source. Commissioners voted 4-0, with one commissioner absent. County staff said they had already contacted the second-lowest responsive and responsible bidder and verified an active sam.gov registration for that firm. Staff also said purchasing policy will be changed to require sam.gov registration before bid submission in future federally funded procurements. "We are taking steps to prevent this in the future," the acting comptroller said.Policy context: The project is part of a county ARPA-funded infrastructure effort; federal grant terms and 2 CFR Part 200 compliance govern eligible costs and reimbursement. County staff told the board they had attempted an exception but the state required an active SAM registration for payment. The board directed staff to process the termination and move forward with the replacement bidder to avoid losing grant funds.