05/13/74 Board of Public Works Minutes

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REGULAR MEETING MAY 13, 1974 Mr. George Roberts, Attorney,; was present with Mr. Bartolini of the Bartolini Excavating Company. Mr.. Roberts said that the .bid submitted by the Bartolini Excavating Company last week on the Oak Park Sewer project was not signed. Mr. Roberts said it was his under- standing that bids that were not signed have been accepted in the past, subject to their being completed. He said, in one instance, a bidder had not signed the Home Town Plan form and he was allowed to sign it at the time it was opened. Mr. Roberts said he felt the Board was using selective enforcement of procedures. He said if the Board awards this bid to H. DeWulf, it will be unfortunate since this is a Barrett Law project and the property owners will each have to pay about $100 more for the work. He said he would suggest that the Board rebid this project. He said he would hope that, in the future, there would be strict enforcement of all bidding requirements. Mr. Roberts said, in view of the fact that 50% of the bids received last week were thrown.. out because of procedural irregularities, he would ask that the Board not award the bid at this time and the project be rebid. Mr. Farrand then responded that he feels the Board has always been consistent in the way bids are handled. He said the only time the Board has ever negotiated was when a single bid was received and was not responsive. ® The Board then has the right to negotiate a contract. He said the Q0 Board has never let a bidder complete any part of the bid after the bid was opened. Mr. Roberts then commented that, since a bid can be pa withdrawn at any time before it is accepted, he feels that it could also W be signed after it has been read. Mr. Roemer then responded to Mr. Roberts statements. He said there is no question about the fact that the bid in question was rejected because it was not signed.. He said when a bid comes before the Board and the bidder has not done something he was required to do, the Board has to reject that bid. He said it is possible that there might be something that could be overlooked, but the fact that the bid was not signed was not a minor defect. He said it is his opinion that the Board had the right to reject the bid. The Board now will have to determine whether they have time to rebid the project or whether time is of the essence in this matter. He said the Board can legally decide to award the bid today or to rebid the project. Mr. Roemer said the Board would want to determine whether they would be setting a precedent in this matter. Mr. Farrand said he felt the Board would have to follow their procedure of checking each bid when it is opened to see that it is completed and that they could not rebid projects whenever a bidder requested them to do so. He then made a motion that the Board accept the recommendation to award the Oak Park Sewer contract to the H. DeWulf Mechanical Contractors, Inc. on their low bid of $40,606.60. The motion was seconded and carried. REQUEST TO ADVERTISE FOR BIDS FOR A VEHICLE - YOUTH SERVICES BUREAU The Board received a request from the Youth Services Bureau fo adver- tise for bids for a van. There was some discussion on the request. It was noted that all vehicle requests were to be channeled through the Municipal Services Facility so that bids could be advertised for the entire fleet of City vehicles at one time. Upon motion made, seconded and carried, the matter was tabled and a representative of the Youth Services Bureau will be asked to attend the next Board meeting to furnish further information about the request. REQUEST FOR BLOCK PARTY - 1600 BLOCK EAST LA SALLE The Board received a request from Mrs. Horace Clarke to hold a Block Party in the 1600 block of East LaSalle Street on Tuesday, June 11 from 5:30 to 9:00 p.m. Upon motion made, seconded and carried, the request was referred to the Bureau of Traffic and Lighting for review and recommendation. PETITION TO VACATE A PORTION OF CLEMENTS STREET DENIED A petition to vacate 30 feet of Clements Street, filed by Ira Jennings, was referred to the Bureau of Engineering for preliminary review. The Bureau reported to the Board that this is in the area of the Portage Gardens Sewer project which is now underway and it was recommended that the petition not be approved. Upon motion made, seconded and carried the petition was denied.