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Local vendor questions district recommendation to highest cleaning bidder; business office cites responsiveness requirements
Summary
A representative of Cleaning Services of Hudson Valley questioned the district’s recommendation to award summer cleaning services to the highest bidder; the assistant superintendent said the district must award to the lowest responsible and responsive bidder and some proposals failed to meet specifications.
A representative of Cleaning Services of Hudson Valley raised concerns at the May 20 board meeting after the district’s business office recommended awarding the 2025–26 summer cleaning services contract to Apple Maintenance Service, the highest-priced bidder in the solicitation.
Herman Dominguez, vice president of Cleaning Services of Hudson Valley and a resident who addressed the board during public commentary, told the board he was seeking clarification on why the business office recommended a bidder that was more than $100,000 higher than the lowest submitted price. Dominguez read the three bids into the record: Cleaning Services of Hudson Valley, $793,881.55; SJ Services, $858,688; Apple Maintenance Service, $895,010.
Assistant Superintendent for Business and Operations (miss Espinal) responded that municipal law requires awarding to the lowest responsible and responsive bidder. She explained that “responsive” means meeting the bid specifications and that, in this procurement, some vendors did not meet all specifications or requirements set out in the bid document, which led the business office to recommend a different vendor.
The exchange on the record confined itself to the public-comment question and a staff-level explanation of the procurement standard; no award vote or contract approval for the cleaning services contract appears in the meeting record provided.
