Skagit County pulls March's Point landfill remediation bid after bidders raise responsiveness concerns

Skagit County Board of Commissioners pulled the award of the March's Point Whitmarsh Landfill remediation bid from its consent agenda during its March 10, 2025 meeting after multiple bidders questioned how the county evaluated supplemental qualification materials.

The decision matters because the apparent award would lead toward a multimillion-dollar construction contract for remediation work at the March's Point site. One bidder said its price was more than $2 million lower than the bid the county listed as the apparent low responsive bid.

Commissioner Lisa Janicki opened the discussion by inviting Cameron Bell, who had submitted written comments, to speak to the board. Cameron Bell identified other people in his room and told the commissioners the county had deemed his firm nonresponsive even though, he said, they had submitted supplemental qualifications after the bid opening but within the time frame they understood to be allowed. "As far as we're concerned, we were the low responsive and responsible bidder," Bell said. He added that the bid the county listed for Strider Construction was "just over $10,000,000," about "$2,000,000 higher than what we bid the project for."

Steve Falkwist, civil division deputy prosecutor for Skagit County, explained the county's procurement process and why staff had considered some bids nonresponsive. "I think one of the criteria that we had was experience on previous similar projects," Falkwist said. He told the board the county's procurement staff had not received documentation required by the bid specifications with some packets and that, without that documentation, those bids were treated as nonresponsive. Falkwist also clarified that at this stage the county would be "awarding the bid to Strider" but not yet executing a construction contract and that statutorily the formal protest/notice periods take effect later in the process.

Representatives from Glacier Environmental Services also addressed the board. Lauren Golombuski said Glacier was the second-lowest bidder on the base bid and argued that, if alternative bid items were used, Glacier could be the lowest apparent bidder. Golombuski asked to have the county consider alternative bid items and the supplemental submittals.

County staff and commissioners said there was conflicting information about when the supplemental qualifications were received. Bell said his company emailed the supplemental materials on Feb. 12, which he said complied with the contract provisions that allowed submission by noon of the second business day after bid opening. Procurement staff indicated some materials were received after the bid opening and cited that as the reason to deem some bids nonresponsive. Janicki and other commissioners concluded there was new information that required more review.

By consensus the board removed the March's Point award (agenda item 36) from the consent agenda and placed it on hold for further review. No construction contract was signed or approved during the meeting.

Next steps indicated at the meeting included a staff review of the timing and receipt of supplemental materials and further coordination with the county prosecutor's office and procurement staff. Commissioners did not set a specific date for returning the item to the agenda.

Votes and formal motions recorded during the meeting show the consent agenda was approved minus items 36 and 47; item 36 was specifically pulled for additional review and not acted on.

Ending

The county has not executed a contract for the March's Point Whitmarsh Landfill remediation work. Commissioners asked staff and counsel to resolve questions about the receipt and timing of supplemental qualification materials before the award proceeds to contract execution.