Madison County staff told the board on Dec. 1 that C.W. Matthews Contracting Co. was the lowest responsive bidder on an Off-System Safety Project (FY2026) covering widening and overlay work on Sanford Road and Rogers Mill Road. Staff said Matthews met bid-bond, insurance and other requirements and that the contract award must account for coordination with a DOT contractor doing the widening while the county contractor overlays the roadway.

Ms. Baxter reported the bid opening and recommended awarding the contract to C.W. Matthews. Commissioners asked whether the county was required to accept the low responsive bid under the invitation-for-bid process and raised practical questions about how two contractors would coordinate work on the same corridor and which contractor would carry responsibility if one contractor’s work affected the other’s.

County staff said the invitation-for-bid procurement method is governed by funding and procurement rules that generally require accepting the lowest responsible responsive bidder rather than evaluating other qualitative factors, and that some aspects of the procurement approach were mandated by the funding source. Staff noted the DOT contract covers the widening; the county contractor’s work will be coordinated to follow and overlay the DOT work. The recommended contract will be sent to the county attorney (Mr. Pruitt per transcript) and staff will set a coordination meeting with the contractors and county officials.

Commissioner Adams moved to approve the award to C.W. Matthews; the motion was seconded and approved by the board. Commissioners acknowledged the practical concerns and said they expected staff and the contractors to coordinate schedules and responsibility for shared work.

The board removed a separate item (Item 6 referenced in the agenda text) from consideration during the discussion. No contract value or completion date was read into the minutes at the time of the award; staff said the contract completion would be linked to the DOT contractor’s completion schedule and additional administrative coordination would follow.