Rockville council throws out graveling bids, orders rebid with set tonnage and testing

The council heard a detailed presentation on three graveling bids for municipal roads: one bid from Herberg Construction at $14.75/ton (Barry/Herberg figures), Joe Hendricks at $15.80/ton and Knife River at $19.65/ton (the Knife River submission lacked full tonnage details). Public works staff (Barry) said bids used inconsistent tonnage or depth assumptions, producing non–apples-to-apples results that made award decisions unreliable.

Staff reported an independent testing quote of $7,150 but said half-sample testing (recommended for the roads on this year’s list) could be completed for about $3,500. Barry also proposed using staff-set tonnage figures to normalize the bids. Councilors expressed concern that awarding on the submitted per-ton price alone could result in higher actual costs if contractors used more material than assumed.

After extended discussion about budget constraints and procurement fairness, the council voted to throw out the bids, revise the bid specifications to fix tonnage/quantity per road, and rebid. The council also voted to reallocate $21,612.48 from the chip-seal/ seal-coating budget to help bring the project under a $90,000 cap and to instruct staff to prepare a corrected bid ad and timeline for rebidding.

Council recorded no specific contractor award at the meeting. Staff said a rebid will require the standard advertisement period and time for bidders to respond; council asked that staff make the bid and tonnage clear on the advertisement and consider opening bids publicly in council chambers for transparency.