County approves tender agreement to finish jail shower work after contractor underperformed

Ada County commissioners on April 22 approved Resolution 3185, authorizing a tender agreement with the bonding company and an agreement with Pacific Source to pay a replacement contractor to finish work left incomplete by an underperforming contractor.

"We had an underperforming contractor and we had to go to a bonding agency to bond around their performance," said Josh Brown, Operations, explaining that the bonding company will pay the new contractor to complete the work and that contingency funds will be held outside the tender agreement. The operations director will be authorized to sign any change orders tied to the agreement.

A commissioner urged the board to publicize the need for procurement-policy changes after the county discovered a loophole in state law that, in the commissioner’s view, can allow a poorly performing contractor to compete for subsequent county work. The commissioner said the sponsor of a recent state procurement bill has agreed to help the county pursue changes next year.

The board moved and seconded a motion to approve Resolution 3185 and Agreement 31404 and authorized the chair to sign. The motion carried on a voice vote with three ayes.

The tender covers completion of work on a shower and Pod C that the county said was not completed to specifications; the bonding company will fund the replacement contractor. The county will retain contingency funds separate from the tender agreement as a procedural measure.

The board did not set a separate timeline in the public discussion; staff said attorneys had worked with the bonding agency to develop the agreement and that staff would return with additional documents or change orders as needed.