The Escambia County Commission will meet again today. Reportedly Comm. Kevin White will make a motion to reconsider the rebidding of the Maplewoods drainage project.
The Associated General Contractors (AGC) has been polling its members. Some are asking for a class-action suit against the county over what many is perceived as preferential treatment for Road, Inc. –a regional contractor who claims he made a $100K error that, if corrected, would have made him the low bidder.
“I believe (the board) were trying to go with a local contractor, but its in violation of the competitive bid law,†says Matt Boles, the director of Alabama Associated General Contractors, the Northwest Florida Chapter, a trade association for general contractors. “I think they might have tried to do the right thing but it ended up being wrong.
“What we’re trying to do is protect the bid process law in Florida and Alabama. What they are doing is really breaking the law since (Gulf Equipment) was the low bidder.â€
The local chapter of NAIOP, the Commercial Real Estate Development Association, has also come out against the rebidding. They believe such an action hurts the integrity of the bidding process, according to the board members with which I’ve spoken.