August 7, 2009
 

The Facts about the Pitts Chapel Road Bid Process

 
I have always been supportive of paving Pitts Chapel Rd. and I am happy to see that “the hill”, a long-time source of ongoing work and complaints, has been paved!  The “other part” of Pitts Chapel Rd. will soon be widened and paved as the BOC has awarded bids to use the SPLOST money voted on by voters in 2005.

 
Pitts Chapel Rd. is used by heavy garbage trucks and school buses and a fair amount of traffic; it was imperative that the specifications for the road took that usage into account.  The first contract recommended was based on a 4” road base and would have been accepted if the Board had not reviewed the contract. That contract was rejected because a 4” base would have quickly deteriorated and would have had to be redone in a short period of time.  This was something the BOC did not want to happen

 Here is a time line of how things progressed to accept the final bid: 

6/15/09 BOC Meeting:
Engineer Kaiser presented a contract to the commissioners.  Prior to that, the BOC had never seen any of the bids, the scope of work, or anything about the bids.  Kaiser gave us approximately 50 pages of data and wanted us to sign a contract he prepared that night. 

According to the Monticello News (6/18/09), Mr. Kaiser “met with Cummings Grading, the apparent low bidder, with a project scope. Cummings agreed to a price of $465,003 to finish the work on Pitts Chapel.”  

During the BOC meeting it was determined that a 4” base had been substituted for the 6” base that was supposed to be bid.  Mr. Kaiser indicated he had gotten this figure from standard GDOT figures.  (Note: no bidder bid on a 4” base during the unit price bid process)  It was also noted that there was no erosion control, no landscaping, and no fencing in the scope-all of which would be additional cost. 

It was during Mr. Kaiser’s talk that he mentioned that DeKalb Pipeline Co. was the second bidder.  Since I have done professional work for DeKalb Pipeline in the past, I discussed this with the county attorney that evening. He advised me that I could not vote on the bids or any contract but I could discuss the scope and issues that concerned the road itself.

 
7/6/09 BOC Meeting:
Engineer Kaiser presented a new contract “with a significant re-alignment of scope.”  (His words to the BOC.)  At this meeting I questioned how the scope could keep changing for the same job.  Comm. Pennamon questioned how machine hours were determined (those hours changed also).  Comm. Payne mentioned not all bidders had the same scope. 

The Monticello News reported (7/9/09) “Larry Kaiser with Collaborative Infrastructure Services, the engineering firm the county has contracted with to oversee the Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (SPLOST) projects, recommended that the county move forward with a contract for Cummings Site Development to complete the Pitts Chapel Road paving project.” 

By consensus, the BOC again delayed voting so they could review the new scope and bid and set up a work session with Mr. Kaiser to deal with the issues further. 

See how scope changed throughout process here:
http://www.marypatrick4jasper.com/changingscope.pdf

 
7/16/09 Work Session:
Engineer Kaiser met with the other 4 commissioners to discuss Pitts Chapel Rd.  I was absent from this meeting with Mr. Kaiser. 

7/20/09 BOC meeting:
Engineer Kaiser presented a contract based on cubic yards of dirt, a 6” base, as well as fencing, landscaping, and erosion control.  The vote was 4-0.  I abstained from voting. 

The Monticello News (7/23/09) reported, “Commissioners voted to approve the “annual on-demand construction services” bids that were presented by Larry Kaiser with Collaborative Infrastructure who oversees the county’s Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (SPLOST) road projects.  Then, the commission voted to authorize the chairman to sign a contract with DeKalb Pipeline for a maximum of $571,616 to complete the work on Pitts Chapel Road. Both votes passed with four commissioners voting in favor and Commissioner Patrick abstaining.”

See final bid and comparison on Pitts Chapel Rd. here:
http://www.marypatrick4jasper.com/PCfinalbids.pdf

 
7/30/09 Town Hall meeting:
Cummings Grading representatives questioned both Comm. Payne and I about their losing the bid.   When asked why they had a 4” base instead of a 6” base, Scott Cummings replied, “That’s what we were told to bid on.” 

According to the Monticello News (8/6/09) report on the Town Hall meeting, “A local road contractor was on hand to ask why the BOC had voted to award the contract to complete the work on Pitts Chapel Road to a contractor whose bid was $107,000 more than his bid. Mr. Payne answered by saying if we wanted a six inch bed the contractor we went with was the cheaper. The contractor said he was asked for a bid on four inch only and never got a call as the low bidder.  Mr. Payne said the BOC looked at the scope (pipes, landscaping and other accessories to a paved road), which changed several times and it resulted in the contractor who the bid was awarded to being the cheaper one.”
 

Did the commissioners make the best decision?
Most of the commissioners had been made aware through telephone calls and personal contact that Cummings Grading and Larry Kaiser apparently had a strong working relationship in Rockdale County while Mr. Kaiser was employed by Rockdale County.  It appears that Cummings had been told by Mr. Kaiser that they had the contract on Pitts Chapel Road before the BOC approved it.

To answer the question, “Did the commissioners make the best decision by awarding the bid to other than the apparent low bidder?” Yes!  The actual low bidder that would do all aspects of the job was awarded the bid, not the “apparent” low bidder using a 4” base with several missing components.