Council rejects sole bid for landfill tower removal; city will reissue RFP

The Midland City Council voted unanimously to reject the single bid received for removal of the Midland Landfill Tower and the Police Department monopole, then directed staff to reissue a solicitation with corrected procurement coding.

City staff said the original solicitation used an incorrect commodity code that limited which vendors received the notice, producing only one bid. Jody Siskindor, identified in the meeting as the city chief information officer, told council the error prompted the rejection and that staff will "go back and release RFP again and make sure we have the correct commodity code." She said the city will also seek to register more local vendors in its purchasing system so future solicitations draw a wider pool of bidders.

Council members pressed staff on whether the tower posed an immediate hazard. Siskindor answered directly: "No, no, there is no safety issues, no." Councilmembers and staff framed the action as a procurement- and process-improvement step rather than an emergency safety removal.

City staff and council described several follow-up steps. Those steps include: correcting commodity codes on the solicitation, reissuing the RFP, encouraging more local vendors to register in the purchasing system, and reviewing procurement procedures to reduce similar errors going forward. A city staff member noted the procurement review is part of a wider organizational effort to increase vendor participation and reduce single-bid outcomes.

The motion to reject the sole bid and re-release the solicitation carried unanimously.

Officials said the city will monitor responses to the reissued RFP and return to council if safety concerns or additional procurement complications arise.