Commission directs rebid of courthouse copper roof after questions about piggyback contract

The board considered a staff recommendation to authorize replacement of the courthouse clock-tower copper roof under a piggyback contract with O'Neil Roofing for $334,518.83. Staff and procurement counsel explained the proposed contract would use a competitively bid, open-ended roofing contract that the Suwannee County School Board separately had bid and renewed in 2022, allowing other government entities to "piggyback" on the pricing.

Commissioner Perkins and others asked why the county would not go back out for local bids to make sure the price was competitive and to allow wider local contractor participation. County procurement and project staff explained the school-board contract breaks work into pre-priced line items (linear foot, square foot, installed price) and that, when the school-board solicitation was awarded in 2022, two vendors bid and O'Neil was the low bidder. Staff said the piggyback route commonly is used to save time and realize competitive pricing when another public entity has conducted a compliant solicitation.

Commissioner Mobley moved to deny the piggyback authorization and send the project back out for bid; Commissioner White seconded. The board carried the motion.

Staff noted the courthouse roof repair is a budgeted item and said the damage had been caused by the 2024 hurricane; Durham (county staff) said he expects the project to be a FEMA-eligible repair and that the county expects to seek reimbursement, though insurance deductibles and FEMA processes apply. Staff also said O'Neil had included a contingency in its quote (Durham said he believed the contingency figure of $16,500 is in the contract language); staff agreed to obtain written confirmation from O'Neil if the board wanted a guarantee that unused contingencies would be returned.

The board directed staff to rebid the courthouse roof replacement and to return with updated cost estimates and procurement documents.