Evansville board acknowledges sole bids from Heritage Petroleum for commercial and bulk fuel; takes proposals under advisement

The Evansville City Board of Public Works on an unnumbered meeting date opened sealed proposals for two fuel solicitations and acknowledged that Heritage Petroleum LLC was the sole respondent to both, then voted to take the proposals under advisement.

Board members opened a request for proposal for commercial fuel supply (RFP APA002-25) and a sealed bid for bulk fuel delivery and fuel-management services (APA004-2025). Purchasing staff told the board Heritage Petroleum submitted the only response for the commercial RFP and the only bid for the bulk-delivery solicitation.

Why it matters: the city and partner agencies rely on these contracts to supply vehicle and facility fuel. Purchasing staff and the supplier discussed whether the bids should be treated as fixed prices or as flexible-market prices tied to industry benchmarks; the board left further action to staff.

Purchasing staff described APA002-25 as a request for proposal (commercial fuel) and APA004-2025 as a bid (bulk delivery). The board voted to open and acknowledge receipt of both submissions and then to take the proposals “under advisement” so purchasing and controller staff can score the RFP, negotiate terms and return with a recommendation.

Heritage Petroleum's vice president of sales, Brian Smith, told the board the bid materials specified both fixed- and flex-price options and that some posted numbers reflect an OPIS-based flex price “plus an adder.” He said the flex pricing “is good for today only, and it's not a fixed price.” Purchasing staff said final pricing can be negotiated and that the controller’s office ordinarily coordinates hedging or fixed-price arrangements with the selected vendor.

The bid worksheet presented to the board listed multiple line items for the bulk-delivery package. For diesel (low sulfur No. 2) the board record shows two line figures reported during discussion: a transported fixed-price figure and a tank-wagon fixed-price figure. For unleaded 87 octane the transcript records a flex price posted as $2.3886 per gallon; a separate diesel flex option appeared as $2.4698 per gallon. Purchasing staff and the vendor both emphasized that posted flex prices are benchmarks and that the city, county and school partners (where applicable) can negotiate fixed or hedged prices before final award.

Board members also discussed contract scope. Purchasing staff said the bulk-fuel agreement is a joint city-county contract that may serve Vanderburgh County School Corporation and the Metropolitan Evansville Transit System (METS), while the commercial fuel arrangement is primarily for city card-lock stations and retail-style purchases used by police and other departments. Purchasing staff estimated annual use for commercial fueling at roughly 500,000 gallons annually (figure presented as an approximate guide during discussion).

Next steps: purchasing staff will score the RFP response per standard protocol, remain in communication with the vendor about market opportunities, and return with a recommended contract or negotiated terms for board consideration. The board took both items under advisement by voice vote.