Cookeville council rejects bids for Spring Street multimodal sidewalk; to rebid with TDOT concurrence

The Cookeville City Council voted unanimously Thursday to reject two bids for phase 2 of the East Spring Street multimodal sidewalk project and to rebid the work after Tennessee Department of Transportation staff determined a bid was unresponsive and the other exceeded the project budget. Mr. Ward, planning division staff, told council the project is a TDOT Local Programs project funded through a 2021 multimodal access grant under a 95% state, 5% local match.

Why it matters: the project is intended to extend pedestrian infrastructure along Spring Street as part of a multimodal access grant; rejecting and rebidding the work delays construction but follows TDOT’s recommendation when a submitted bid did not comply with an issued addendum and the remaining bid exceeded available grant funding.

At the meeting Mr. Ward said the city opened bids on Jan. 7, 2025, and that an addendum to the bid book revised the bid form. He said Mac Construction did not acknowledge the addendum and TDOT deemed that bid unresponsive. The other bidder, Rogers Group, submitted a bid above the project budget. Mr. Ward said city staff has sought TDOT approval to increase funding but that TDOT recommended rejecting the bids and rebidding the project.

Council made and seconded the motion to reject and rebid; the motion carried on a 5-0 vote.

What the council said and asked: no additional conditions or alternatives were recorded in the discussion. Mr. Ward told council staff will proceed to rebid the project after receiving concurrence from TDOT.

Next steps: city staff will seek formal concurrence from TDOT to rebid the project and return to the procurement process. The council did not set a new rebid schedule at the meeting.