Daggett County MBA accepts low bid from Patriot Construction for Dutch Draw water improvements

The Daggett County Municipal Building Authority voted unanimously to award the Dutch Draw Water System Improvements contract to Patriot Construction for $1,514,109.50.

Brian Myers of Sunrise Engineering told commissioners the authority received four bids and had corrected minor clerical and rounding errors before tabulation. "We received 4 bids from 4 different contractors," Myers said, and read the totals: Stubbs and Stubbs $2,471,878.22; Bodell $3,605,938.81; Patriot Construction $1,514,109.50; and Guardian Construction $2,573,810.70. "Our low bid is Patriot Construction," Myers said, and recommended the authority accept the bid. "Sunrise's engineering's recommendation is to go with [the] low bid, which is Patriot Construction on this project," he added.

Myers and staff explained two bid adjustments: a mislabeled Stubbs and Stubbs line item that was corrected using unit prices, and a rounding-dollar issue in Guardian's submission. They also cautioned that the project includes a "solid rock excavation" line item listed as a quantity of one, which is difficult to quantify in advance. Myers said the team used square‑yard unit pricing to limit open-ended exposure and suggested budgeting a contingency based on the building footprint; "rough numbers" for a maximum excavation contingency were estimated at about $30,000.

Staff flagged a likely typo in Patriot's HAWK equipment line that would make the actual cost roughly $20,000–$25,000 rather than the smaller figure appearing in the bid. Engineers said they would seek verification from the bidder but noted that any post‑award change would require a formal change order. "It will require a change order if this bid is accepted as is," Myers said.

Commission discussion noted Patriot's experience on prior local projects and lower mobilization and foundation costs compared with other bidders as plausible reasons for the price gap. "They do a lot of foundations," Myers said, citing Patriot's work on the project's tank phases and his firm's positive experience with the contractor on prior local work.

After questions and brief discussion about excavation measurement, equipment pricing, and building reuse (demolishing treatment work inside the existing facility and converting the shell into a maintenance building), an attendee moved to award the contract to Patriot Construction for $1,514,109.50. The motion was seconded and carried; the vote was recorded as 'Aye' and the presiding speaker announced, "Motion carries unanimously."

The board also noted a change order for a check valve had already been handled by the county commission and would be funded from a drinking water grant rather than CIB funding. With business concluded, the meeting was adjourned.

Next steps: the authority will proceed with award paperwork and staff follow-up on the flagged HAWK equipment line-item to verify whether a vendor pricing error occurred and whether a change order will be necessary.