Elkhart City rescinds police vehicle upfitting contract after packet found incomplete; plans rebid

The Elkhart City Board of Public Safety voted Sept. 9 to rescind a previously awarded contract for upfitting police vehicles and to reject all bids for bid number 2501 after city legal staff discovered the awarded packet was incomplete.

Rose Rivera, city legal counsel, told the board that the packet for the contract awarded to Auto Obsessions lacked required material and that the omissions were substantial. "We had previously awarded that contract. At this time, we have discovered that the packet was incomplete, and so we're requesting that we go ahead and rescind that contract as required by law," Rivera said.

Rivera said required items that were missing included a bid bond and a required state form (referred to in the discussion as Form 96). She said there were also "substantial errors in the specs," and that some costs were not accounted for in the original bids. "We will likely be rebidding everything because there were also substantial errors in the specs," Rivera said.

A board member moved to rescind the contract and reject all bids for bid number 2501; the motion passed on a voice vote. The board did not announce a new timeline; Rivera said staff were still determining the rebid process.

Board members asked whether the bid specifications had been drafted in-house and whether a new workflow would prevent similar errors. Rivera said the specifications were prepared in-house and that the person handling the bid had not previously drafted bids, which she identified as a contributing factor. She said the city is discussing ways to avoid repeat errors.

The board did not provide further details about changes to the rebid schedule or whether Auto Obsessions will be allowed to rebid.