HomeMy WebLinkAbout1998-10-27; City Council; Minutes (2)0 0
MINUTES
MEETING OF : CITY COUNCIL and
CARLSBAD MUNICIPAL WATER DISTRICT BOARD
JOINT SPECIAL MEETING
DATE OF MEETING: October 27,1998
TIME OF MEETING: 6:OO p.m. PLACE OF MEETING: City Council Chambers
CALL TO ORDER: MayorRresident Lewis called the Meeting to order at 6:36 p.m.
ROLL CALL:
Present: CouncilA3oard Members Hall, Kulchin, Nygaard, Lewis
Absent: CouncilA3oard Member Finnila
CONSENT CALENDAR.
WAIVER OF ORDINANCE TEXT WADING:
The Council/Board waived the reading of the text of all ordinances and resolutions at this meeting.
9. AB #14,911 - AWARD OF CONTRACT FOR CANNON ROAD WEST REACH 1, PROJECT
NO. 3 184.
Principal Civil Engineer Richard Allen, stated that three bids had been received for this project and that
Brutoco Engineering and Construction had filed a protest regarding staff recommendation to award the
bid to Hazard Construction Company. Mr. Allen stated the contract requires that 50% of the project be
performed by the contractors own work forces, and Brutoco Engineering and Construction did not
complete the Designation of Subcontractor form which prevented the city from determining the amount of
work they would perform. Therefore, their bid was declared non-responsive.
Mr. Allen also reviewed the bid proposal submitted by Hazard Construction Company. He stated that this
company did not attach an explanation sheet for two subcontractors, therefore staff assumed that all of the
work would be completed by the subcontractor. Even under that assumption, the total amount to be
subcontracted would be between 41% and 43%. Therefore, the failure to attach the was considered to be
only a minor irregularity.
Mr. Allen stated that Brutoco Engineering submitted information, 13 days after the close of the bid,
indicating the subcontractor work they were to have done would only be 38%. Mr. Allen said that it
would be unfair to the other two bidders, who did submit all of their information prior to the bid deadline,
to consider the information that was submitted late. He also mentioned that in a letter from Brutoco
Engineering, they stated they found the forms to be confusing and that they were not completed since they
did not understand them nor believed them to be a requirement prior to the bid closing. Mr. Allen stated
that the other two companies did not report having any problems completing the required forms. Mr.
Allen said that based on the bids received, staff is recommending that the bid be awarded to Hazard
Construction Company as the lowest responsive bidder.
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October 27, 1998 MUNICIPAL WATER DISTRICT BOARD and CITY COUNCIL Page 2
9. AB #14.911 (continued):
Richard Soll, 150 W. First Street, Suite 280, Claremont, Attorney representing Brutoco Engineering and
Construction, stated that he is protesting the City’s intention to find the bid submitted by Brutoco
Engineering as non-responsive and the awarding of the contract to Hazard Construction Company.
He stated that his client did not fully complete the forms entitled “Designation of Subcontractor and
Amount of Subcontractor’s Bid Item” because the forms were ambiguous. He said that the City Attorney
sent him a letter on September 22, 1998 admitting there was an error on the forms and what information
was supposed to be listed in the Overhead and Profit Column. Although Brutoco Engineering did not
fully complete the forms, they did list in their bid to the City, all of their subcontractors and the items of
work that were going to be subcontracted out which is in full compliance with Section 4104 of the
Government Code. He also stated that Brutoco Engineering did submit an analysis to the City 13 days
later, as staff indicated, giving a breakdown of the exact amounts to be subcontracted. The information
that was given to the City was that 38% would be subcontracted which meets the City’s 50% requirement.
Mr. Soll stated that the instruction book states that the information is to be provided by the general
contractor before the work is actually done. It does not state that the information is to be provided on bid
day.
Mr. Soll also stated that it is important to note that Brutoco Engineering did not gain any competitive
advantage by not filling out these forms. The reason the forms were not filled out is because they were
vague, ambiguous and subject to interpretation, especially in light of the letter received from the City
Attorney. Mr. Soll stated that since confusion was created by the City Attorney’s Office and staff in how
they told his client to fill out the forms, Council has the discretion to waive the requirement.
Mr. Soll pointed out that more importantly, Hazard Construction’s bid was defective in that the
explanation sheet for the two subcontractors were not filled out. He stated that this raises the question as
to why Hazard Construction was allowed to submit something less than is required by the City but
Brutoco Engineering was not. In addition, they performed their own analysis, and had determined that
more than 50% of the work under Hazard’s bid would be subcontracted.
In response to query, Mr. Ball stated that the City is allowed to have contract specifications and
requirements that are different or exceed that of the Green Book. The intent of the forms is to get the
information that would assist the staff in making a recommendation so that the contract can be awarded to
the lowest responsive bidder. In this case, the lowest responsible bidder is Hazard Construction
Company.
In response to query regarding the word “may,” Mr. Ball stated that the word “may” does not require the
City to exercise the discretion one way or the other. It simply allows for the discretion and in this case
staff is saying that there was a material defect. It is in the nature of submitting new information that was
tantamount to a new proposal and that is a material defect that staff believes cannot be waived. Therefore,
based on the information and analysis that was done, the recommendation is to the lowest responsible
bidder.
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October 27, 1998 MUMCIPAL WATER DISTRICT BOARD and CITY COUNCIL Page 3
9. AB #14,911 (continued):
Mr. Ball introduced into the record, his letter to Paul M. Mahoney, Esq., dated September 22, 1998. It
was noted that the letter could not have confused Brutoco since the letter was sent almost one month after
the bid opening date.
ACTION: On motion by Council Member Kulchin, Council adopted RESOLUTION NO.
98-356, accepting bids and awarding a contract to Hazard Construction Company
for the construction of Cannon Road West Reach 1.
AYES: Lewis, Nygaard, Kulchin, Hall
ABSENT: Finnila
ACTION: On motion by Board Member Kulchin, the Board adopted RESOLUTION NO.
1029, accepting bids and awarding a contract to Hazard Construction Company
for the construction of Cannon Road West Reach 1.
AYES: Lewis, Nygaard, Kulchin, Hall
ABSENT: Finnila
ADJOURNMENT:
By proper motion, the Joint Special Meeting of October 27, 1998, was adjourned at 7:20 p.m.
Respectfully submitte
ALETHA Lktkid. L. RAUTENKRANZ &
City Clerk
Sherrie D. Worrell
Deputy City Clerk