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Contract dispute over health‑department renovation prompts board to pull bid award for review
Summary
Swinderton Builders, originally identified as the low bidder, was declared nonresponsive on a health‑department renovation contract after staff detected a statutory omission and calculation discrepancies; the board pulled the consent‑agenda award for further review.
A contested award for a Gaston County health‑department renovation appeared on the consent agenda Dec. 9 but was removed for public discussion after Swinderton Builders raised objections.
Kevin Smith, division manager and vice president for Swinderton Builders and a Gaston County resident, told the board the company had been certified as the low bidder and later was advised by county staff that its bid was declared nonresponsive. Smith said counsel previously issued a written opinion confirming Swinderton as the low bidder, and he asked the board to withdraw the item from the consent agenda so the matter could be discussed in open session. He also said the county may have failed to advertise a change to the bid opening date, which, if true, would merit rebidding.
County staff and legal counsel explained the sequence to commissioners: at bid opening Swinderton's base bid appeared lowest, but county staff identified a calculation discrepancy between the base bid and the fixed allowances/contingencies applied to derive the total bid. Swinderton was permitted to accept the correct calculated total or withdraw; staff offered that opportunity and Swinderton acknowledged the corrected figure. Subsequently, staff identified a separate statutory omission: the bidder did not fill the required section identifying historically underutilized business subcontractor participation. County counsel and procurement staff said that omission is a material deviation under North Carolina statute and gave Swinderton no advantage; staff recommended declaring that bid nonresponsive and moving to the next lowest bidder.
Given the dispute and public comment, Commissioner Sheehan moved and the board voted to pull item P (the contract award) and item R for separate discussion; the motion passed unanimously. County staff said they would provide additional documentation and that legal counsel could offer further details as requested.
Next steps: Item P will be returned for board consideration following additional review and response to Swinderton’s objections and public record requests.
