Commissioners reject lone $289,228 restoration bid for college repairs, order new RFP

Lincoln County commissioners on Feb. 11 rejected a single bid to repair interior damage at a county college facility and instructed staff to reissue the solicitation to solicit competitive bids.

County staff presented one proposal from Complete Restoration LLC listing itemized restoration work at $289,228.47 for repairs to tiles, sheetrock and other interior damage caused by a leaky roof. Commissioners and county engineers said the solicitation resembled restoration work rather than traditional construction and recommended reworking the request to attract regular contractors and meet the county’s procurement policy to obtain at least three bids.

"This bid came in higher than I thought it was going to," one commissioner said during discussion, noting the engineer’s informal estimate had been substantially lower. Commissioners debated whether to break the project into sections to reduce unit prices and increase competition.

A motion to deny the existing bid and reopen the project as a new RFP was made and seconded; the motion carried after a call for public comment, though the chair recorded that one commissioner opposed the action.

The county said reissuing the RFP could yield lower costs and better competition; commissioners also discussed monitoring the rebid and considering dividing the work into separate contracts. No firm new timeline for the RFP was announced at the meeting.

The county clerk’s office will prepare the formal action and staff will notify the bidder. Commissioners stressed they wanted to follow procurement rules and avoid awarding a high-cost restoration contract without competitive pricing.