Commission takes four bids under advisement for racetrack pipeline; engineer to review

Anderson City commissioners opened and read four bids for a pipeline segment of the racetrack project and voted to take the submissions "under advisement" so the city engineer can review compliance and recommend an award.

The clerk read each package aloud, saying the bids included required documents such as a bid bond, certificate of liability insurance and Form 96. The clerk identified SLB Pipe Solutions of Bedford, Indiana, with a base bid of $1,440,642 and an alternate of $640,570; B.L. Brown Construction and Excavation Inc. of Pendleton, Indiana, with a base bid of $1,253,776 and an alternate of $647,467; and SNS Directional Boring LTD of Bryan, Ohio, with a base bid of $2,179,247.69 and an alternate of $664,378.51. The transcript records the first bidder's alternate as increasing the price by about $640,000; the company name for that first package was not specified in the meeting record.

The clerk read aloud the procurement standard the commission will follow: "award shall be made to the responsible offeror whose proposal is determined in writing to be the most advantageous to the governmental body taking into consideration price and other evaluation factors set forth in the request for proposals." The clerk also reported the engineer's estimate for the base work was about $1.6 million and noted that at least one bid fell below that estimate.

After the clerk finished reading the packages a motion was made "to take the bids under advisement to the engineer for review." The motion was seconded (a commissioner named Kenny was identified as having seconded), and the commission approved the motion by voice vote. The transcript records members responding "Aye. Aye." The clerk told the commission the engineer will check each bid for compliance and prepare a written recommendation; the engineer's recommendation could be returned as soon as the next meeting or may take longer depending on the review.

The meeting closed with a motion to adjourn; during closing the clerk referenced the item as the racetrack project. The commission did not take an award decision at this session; the documented next step is a compliance review and a written recommendation from the engineer, with a potential award at a future meeting.