Low bidder seeks legal recourse over Holly Street power plant.
As regular readers may recall, just before Christmas we reported on the fact that the City of Austin had taken a somewhat surprising decision to overlook a low bid from CST Environmental – which was itself $3.84 million above the city’s own estimated budget – and to opt instead for a $24.9 million bid from TRC Environmental for the demolition of the Holly Street power plant.
As we went to press, some were suggesting that this could result in legal action. Sure enough, papers shared with us exclusively and anonymously show that’s precisely what is happening. And it makes for fascinating reading.
Not only was the low bid totally overlooked, CST Environmental didn’t even get invited for an interview. To add further insult to injury, CST’s subsequent formal protest was dismissed by the city without a hearing.
In a 43-page document, CST goes on to say: “…CST is the second largest demolition contractor in the US. CST has performed substantially more jobs similar to the Holly Street Project than TRC has. In fact, TRC is not a demolition contractor; it will subcontract out all of the asbestos remediation work, which is the real substance of the project…”
We have a feeling that the legal repercussions on this one could run for almost as long as the demolition contract.
