Canfield council authorizes city manager to contract street paving after questions about one alternate bid

Canfield City Council at its meeting moved to authorize the city manager to enter into a contract for the purchase, installation and grinding of asphalt concrete street paving, after council members asked why one bid alternate was significantly higher than others.

Councilman Green read the ordinance on the floor and stated, “An ordinance authorizing the city manager to enter into a contract for the purchase, installation, and grinding of asphalt concrete street paving. I move for passage.” The council had dispensed with the charter requirement for two readings and proceeded to consider the ordinance on first reading.

The council’s discussion centered on differences among bidders’ alternate proposals. A council member asked, “Was there any explanation as to why alternate 5 was so much higher than the other bidders?” Council discussion and staff commentary noted that on Alternate 5 one bidder’s price was “more than doubled” compared with others, but no detailed cost breakdown or engineering explanation was given on the record.

Council members said they had been provided the bid documents and that staff recommended awarding the contract to the bidder offering certain alternates; the city manager explained the recommendation was driven by alternates included in the low bid. After a second was made, council voted to approve the ordinance.

The ordinance authorizes the city manager to finalize and execute the contract; the council did not specify a contract start date on the record. Council discussion did not include a precise dollar amount for Alternate 5 in the public remarks, and no timeline for when work would begin was provided.

Council members and staff signaled that questions about the alternate pricing would be followed up with staff outside the meeting record. The city manager will proceed with contract execution as authorized by the ordinance.