Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Procurement topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Board tables electrical bid package for Shadow Hills High Phase II after bidder-prequalification questions
Summary
Trustees voted to table bid package 22 for the Shadow Hills High School Phase II electrical subcontract after staff and contractors disputed whether an identified subcontractor was prequalified; board approved the remainder of the Phase II packages and asked staff to provide clarifying documentation.
The Desert Sands Unified School District board voted Wednesday to table bid package 22 — the electrical subcontract for the Shadow Hills High School Phase II project — after contractors and district staff raised conflicting information about whether the listed subcontractor, Time and Alarm, was prequalified to bid.
At public comment, Catherine (Catherine) Figueroa of Southern California West Coast Electric told the board her firm was the apparent low bidder for the electrical category and said the district’s rejection notice was inaccurate because Time and Alarm provided a prequalification letter dated May 1, 2024, that stated the company’s status was good for one year. “Based on this letter, Time and Alarm’s prequalification…is good through May 2025,” Figueroa said, and she asked the board to reconsider rejecting all bids and to award the project to her company.
Later in the meeting, staff briefed trustees about the apparent discrepancy in the prequalification documents and the bid-rejection recommendation. Deputy staff noted the letter provided was generic and referenced prequalification for a different project site, which created confusion about whether Time and Alarm’s prequalification covered the Shadow Hills wrestling-room bid package. The District’s construction lead explained that rejecting the entire package could delay the wrestling-room work that was estimated to be completed by December and could push work beyond next season.
Trustees agreed to remove the rejection of bid package 22 from the approval motion and to table package 22 to the next meeting while staff investigates. Trustee Alvarez moved to table the package and approve the remaining Phase II packages; the motion carried by the board’s recorded tally. The board asked staff to include clarifying information about the prequalification status in the district’s Friday update.
District staff said that tabling the electrical package preserves options: if prequalification documentation is confirmed, the district may proceed without re-bidding; if not, the district would need to reissue the package for bids.
Trustees approved the rest of the Phase II contract recommendations in the consent group and asked for prompt written clarification of the subcontractor prequalification window.
Action on the bid package was carried with the board instructing staff to return with verified documentation at the next board meeting.
