Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Procurement topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Rival bidder says critical Form 96 financial statement missing as county awards $804,813 concrete contract
Summary
A Rivertown Construction representative told the Vanderburgh County Commission that JBI Construction’s low bid omitted mandatory Form 96 financial attachments; county staff said the omission was not material and the commissioners voted to award the $804,813.10 contract to JBI.
A Rivertown Construction representative told the Vanderburgh County Commission on Oct. 15 that the apparent omission of required financial statements from the low bid for a concrete street repairs contract should be noted in the record.
Brady Rohr said JBI Construction, the low bidder on contract BC 24-08-04, did not include the financial statement attachment tied to the state Form 96 and that the form language says that bids missing that attachment are invalid. Rohr said he was not filing a formal protest but wanted the omission documented, noting a prior instance when a bid was rejected for a paperwork mistake that cost the county roughly $30,000 to re-award the work.
County staff responded that Form 96 is a state form and that the county’s own instructions to bidders allow the county discretion to consider whether an omission is material. A county staff member, identified in the record as David, said the missing pieces did not change the bid price or quantities, and that county staff had previously seen financial statements for JBI earlier in the year. Staff said the omission therefore was deemed non-material and curable; they also agreed to place the county’s general instructions to bidders into the record and to provide those instructions to Rivertown.
After the exchange, the commission moved to award BC 24-08-04 (concrete street repairs) to JBI Construction Incorporated, which had the low bid of $804,813.10. The motion was moved and seconded and recorded roll-call votes show Commissioner Gable and President Elpers voting “yes,” and the award carried.
Why it matters: Procurement paperwork and the standards used to evaluate bid completeness affect whether bids remain competitive and whether the county can demonstrate fair treatment of bidders. Rivertown’s statement placed a formal concern on the record; county staff described the omission as non-material because it did not change price or capacity information the county used to evaluate the bid.
What’s next: County staff said they would enter the county’s general bidding instructions into the meeting record and provide them to the concerned bidder. The commission took formal action to award the contract at the meeting.
