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Low bid for Riley County IT remodel flagged for missing paperwork; award paused for legal review
Summary
The county received three bids for an IT/GIS office remodel. The apparent low bidder missed a required contractor qualification statement; staff recommended the only fully compliant bidder and county counsel was asked to review whether the lower but incomplete bids are non-responsive.
Public works staff reported three bids for the IT/GIS remodel on the building's east half of the second floor and recommended awarding the contract to the only bidder that fully complied with bid packet requirements.
Sean Ellerman of public works said Schultz Construction submitted the apparent low price but failed to include the contractor qualification statement required by the bid documents; BHS was the only bidder to provide the qualification statement. The bid tabulation listed Schultz at roughly $1,287,900, BHS at about $1,326,700 and Riley Construction higher.
Brett Belaloo, president of Schultz Construction, told the commission his firm had overlooked the qualification form and urged the board to accept the lowest cost. "We were the apparent low bidder by almost $40,000," he said, adding that Schultz has completed past county work and could start earlier.
County staff said the qualification statement was a stated requirement and recommended selecting the responsive bidder that met the packet instructions. Given the disagreement, commissioners asked county counsel to review whether the missing document renders the low bids non-responsive; the board left the award pending that legal review.
Next steps: legal counsel will analyze responsiveness under the bid terms and advise the commission before staff proceeds with a contract award.
