Council debates waterline bids after engineer recommends rejecting all submissions

City engineers urged Lock Haven City Council to reject all bids for the city's Contract 2025-03 waterline project, citing discrepancies between the bidding documents and the methods proposed by at least one contractor.

Devin Jarrett, project manager with Twin Dobson Borman, told the council that the engineering drawings, specifications and bid forms were geared toward directional drilling but one bidder submitted a proposal that was roughly 90% open cut. Jarrett said the bid forms did not contain adequate line items or unit pricing for the mill-and-overlay pavement restoration that open-cut work would require, creating a risk of disputes during construction. He said legal counsel and bond counsel advised the city that rejecting all bids and rebidding with clearer, updated documents would reduce legal and cost risks.

"The bid form and the bid documents and the bid drawings were all geared 100% towards directional drilling," Jarrett said, describing the mismatch between the bidding assumptions and the work proposed by one bidder.

Representatives for Harbor Utility Contractors, including project manager Matt Crawford, urged the council to accept valid bids rather than reject all of them. Crawford said his company's bid included means and methods consistent with the project specifications and that rebidding would disadvantage local contractors who have longstanding relationships with the city. He also said that unit-cost breakdowns from his bid had been shared with competitors and that rebidding after that disclosure would harm competition.

"This situation is very non-typical, and it puts Harbor Utilities at a disadvantage," Crawford said, urging council members to consider awarding the contract to the next qualified bidder if a single bid were deemed defective in form.

Council members pressed Jarrett and the city's legal advisers on the practical risks of accepting a qualified bid, including the potential for a bid protest by other offerors and uncertainty over restoration quantities in open-cut sections. Jarrett said that field changes during construction are managed as change orders, but the fairness of the bidding process depends on consistent bid items and fair opportunity for bidders.

After discussion and motions on how to proceed, the council recorded votes on a motion offered during the session related to the bids. The motion passed with a majority of council members voting in favor and a minority opposed; the transcript records roll-call responses for the motion.

Next steps: The council recorded its motion on the waterline bids and proceeded to other agenda items; staff and the engineer discussed rebidding the project with revised bid documents that include appropriate items for open-cut restoration and clearer unit pricing to reduce dispute risk.