Mike Cunningham, owner of Midwest Audio Visual and a Warren County resident, told the Warren County Board of Commissioners he was protesting an award of a contract for audio-visual work at the county emergency operations center.

Cunningham said his company bid $87,113 on July 31 for the AV upgrade. He said the apparent winning bid was $155,500 for the same installation and product set and that he was told his bid was not selected because it “did not include a network plan.” Cunningham said the procurement contact, Joseph Newton of Warren County Telecom, told him the award would go to another vendor and that Newton sounded “shaky” and “emotional” when he relayed the decision.

Cunningham asked the board to investigate the award to TechConnect and said the price disparity was “egregious.” He identified himself for the record as living at 5261 Fisher Road in Clarksville, Ohio and said Midwest Audio Visual has been in business for about 35 years and works for large regional contractors.

Commissioners responded that the county would perform due diligence. A commissioner suggested a work session with the county telecom staff to review the procurement file; county staff collected Cunningham’s contact information and said the administration would look into the matter and get back to him.

No formal action or vote on the contract award was recorded in the public meeting. The commissioners instructed administration to review the procurement documents and said they would schedule further review or a work session if warranted.