Award Bid - Demo of 747-749 Harrison Ave Proj No 124-062 - Ritschard Bros

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Page 1 of 2 INTER-OFFICE MEMORANDUM DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC WORKS DIVISION OF ENGINEERING TO: Hillary Horvath, Clerk Board of Public Works FROM: Zach Hurst, PE, Sr. Project Engineer SUBJECT: Award Bid - Project No. 124-062 Demolition of 747/749 Harrison Avenue DATE: 02/25/2026 On February 10, 2026, the Board of Public Works opened and read bids for the above project. The scope of work is demolition of the former church complex at the intersection of Harrison Avenue and Van Buren Street. The City recently acquired the property, and the building is in a state of disrepair beyond salvaging. Five bids were received: Contractor: TOTAL: KLF Enterprises $385,000 Dore & Associates $404,800 Ritschard Brothers $443,486 Indiana Earth $455,060 Green Demolition $498,800 Upon review of the low bid from KLF Enterprises, two deficiencies were noted. First, the Women’s Business Enterprise (WBE) subcontractor listed on Form WBE-1.0 is from Grayslake, Illinois, which is outside of the geographical area from which MWBE subcontractors must be chosen (State of Indiana and Berrien County, Michigan) per Page 5 of the General Conditions included in the bid. KLF Enterprises listed no other WBE firms contacted on Form WBE-2.1 and as such has not met the threshold to be granted a Good Faith Effort waiver. Second, KLF Enterprises is not currently pre-qualified as a Responsible Bidder for City of South Bend public works projects; however, they completed the Pre-Qualified Bidder Checklist (General Conditions – 13) instead of the Pre-Qualification Checklist (For Bidders That Are Not Pre-Qualified) (General Conditions – 14). For these two reasons, the low bid from KLF Enterprises should be rejected as non-responsive. The second low bid from Dore & Associates must also be rejected as non-responsive. Dore & Associates is not able to show membership in an apprenticeship program approved by the U.S. Department of Labor, which is a requirement of the City’s Responsible Bidder Ordinance. The third low bid from Ritschard Brothers is complete and responsive. Ritschard Brothers is pre- qualified as a Responsible Bidder and is able to meet both the MWBE goals for the project.