by Michael Monks
|
THE RIVER CITY NEWS MORE COVINGTON NEWS THAN ANY OTHER SOURCE
|
Citing "enough irregularities" in the bid process to build River's Edge at Eastside Pointe, the public housing project that would replace Jacob Price, Florence-based CDS Associates recommends to the City of Covington that a new bid process take place. In an email obtained by The River City News from CDS to Covington City Manager Larry Klein, the architecture and consulting firm reviewed the bid process which was overseen by Atlanta-based Integral Group which ultimately awarded the River's Edge contract to one of its own subsidiaries, IBG Construction Services.
|
"While IBG appears to have submitted the low bid for the project, their bid excluded builder's risk insurance and permit fees," writes CDS Director of Architecture James Turney in the email. "Their bid also included unusually low numbers for lap siding, carpet and landscaping/irrigation."
|
The email continues, "IBG did not answer CDS's questions as to whether certain line items in their bid represented "hard" bids from subcontractors and/or vendors, or simply numbers IBG budgeted for the work. CDS is aware that this practice takes place in the construction industry, where contractors estimate the cost for an item of work and then "shop" it, or bid the number after being awarded the contract. Failure to secure hard bids for items of work can, however, represent a serious risk to the contractor and project. If the contractor is unable to secure sub-contractors for less than the budgeted amount, the contractor may find itself without sufficient funds to complete the project. CDS does not recommend awarding projects to contractors who have not secured hard bids for all the major items of work."
|
This story continues below the fold, just click below.
|
The report from CDS may be the motivation behind the harsh rhetoric from two Covington City Commissioners, Steve Frank and Shawn Masters who have complained publicly about the Housing Authority of Covington and its Executive Director, Aaron Wolfe-Bertling. HAC assigned Integral to award the Jacob Price contract which will develop and manage the completed project. At Tuesday night's joint caucus meeting with the Housing Authority and the City Commission, Frank promises "fireworks".
|
River's Edge at Eastside Pointe is a $17 million project expected to be a catalyst in the revitalization of Covington's Eastside neighborhood. The housing development seeks to be inhabited by mixed-income households, some paying market-rate rent with others using government-subsidized vouchers. But the bid process as handled by Integral, CDS reports in the email, was less than forthright and possibly unethical.
|
"The due date for the bid was clouded by conflicting information and last-second changes by Integral to the due date," Turney writes. The original request-for-proposals included a due date of December 14, 2011 but on December 7, following a question from a prospective bidder, Integral altered the RFP to allow for electronic bids by December 14 with hard bids then due on December 15, the report states. CDS would not recommend electronic submittal of bids for major projects "without some measures for their secure storage prior to opening. We also would not recommend establishing different dates for electronic and hard copy submittal."
|
Integral, on December 13, then rescinded the electronic copy allowance and required hard copy bids only with a due date of December 15. This change also bothered CDS because they happened so close to the due date for the bids. "In order for out-of-state bidders to have their documents in Georgia on December 14, they would have likely been sent on December 13 or earlier, so the issuance of the addendum on December 13 could have easily been received by the bidders only after they had already sent their bids," Turney wrote.
|
Additionally, IBG may not have submitted the lowest bid after all. A bid analysis for the project was performed by Campus + Community Strategies and Miles-McClellan Construction Company on behalf of Gilmore Kean, LLC, a Washington, DC-based consultancy specializing in public housing. Gilmore Kean is under contract with the Housing Authority of Covington, Integral's partner in River's Edge, for consultant services related to the federal HOPE VI project (which is mostly funding River's Edge). That report from Campus + Community found that if IBG were to include the builder's risk insurance that their bid could climb to $11,897,000 "which would put them into a virtual tie with McShane which is at $11,834,760." CDS, as noted in the email, begs to differ. "These changes do not create a tie but place McShane as the low bidder by $62,240," Turney writes.
|
"Campus's report also does not acknowledge that McShane offered four deducts totaling $344,722, which, if accepted, would make them the low bidder," Turney writes.
|
"While a publicly bid project that demonstrated the irregularities cited above might ordinarily be re-bid, Integral does not appear to be under any contractual or legal obligation to do so," Turney writes. "However, by ignoring the irregularities and moving forward with IBG as contractor, Integral's conduct leaves open the potential for a third-party observer to question whether the bidding process was fair and proper." Turney notes that re-bidding the project has its own advantages and disadvantages, a primary advantage being Integral's relationship with IBG and how that may allow for positive flexibility in the project as it moves forward.
|
"However, CDS recommends that, given the irregularities that occurred, Integral re-bid the project using the public bid process, thereby eliminating the issues surrounding the process it has employed to date, and allowing the bidders to bid the project on a level playing field," Turney concluded.
No comments:
Post a Comment