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Abilene council approves Crow Group for zoo 'Africa' rebuild after rebid; members debate price vs. timeline
Summary
After a required rebid, the Abilene City Council approved Crow Group to build the zooAfrica expansion, accepting a slightly higher price in favor of a faster schedule and higher evaluation score; councilors debated the weight of best-value scoring versus lowest bid.
The Abilene City Council on Feb. 12 awarded the contract for the Abilene Zoo's "Africa" expansion to Crow Group after the project was rebid because the city failed to publish a required second notice. Leslie Andrews, director of parks and recreation, said staff used the same scope and scoring method in the second round and that Crow's revised proposal scored highest on the evaluation matrix.
The vote follows a contentious debate over best-value scoring. Andrews told council the rebid produced more complete, competitive proposals and that the evaluation was conducted blind by a different committee. "This time Crow's proposal was completely different than the first time," she said, arguing the committee awarded points for a substantially faster timeline and overall score. The council approved the contract by voice vote.
Why it matters: taxpayers approved a $15 million bond to support the project; the balance of the roughly $23 million-plus total cost will come from the Zoological Society and private donors. Council members pressed staff on whether to prioritize the lowest bidder or weighted scoring, since the lowest-cost proposal (Tynart/Tynard) was roughly $330,000 cheaper than Crow but scored only slightly lower on evaluation metrics.
Zoo director Jesse Pottebaum stressed timing and animal welfare as factors favoring a faster schedule. "Timing is of the essence when it comes to animal acclimation, staffing, and our fundraising events," Pottebaum said, arguing that an earlier completion would reduce the risk of disrupting the zoo's fall and holiday programming and help acclimate animals to new exhibits.
Public commenters included a representative of Sidalco Construction, which had been the prior recommended contractor, and Crow Group's president, who defended his company's aggressive schedule and cited past local projects as evidence of capacity to meet the timeline. Janelle Benham, president of the Abilene Zoo Board, urged the council to let the project move forward so fundraising and ground-breaking can proceed.
Council direction and vote: Councilman Craver moved to accept staff's recommendation; the motion was seconded by Councilman Yates and carried unanimously.
What happens next: staff will finalize contract documents with Crow Group and proceed to construction oversight and scheduling with the zoo and donors.
