Low bid rejected on a technicality, while higher bidder gets a pass
Would Baltimore City Hall reject the lowest bidder of a $1 million-plus contract on a technicality, then allow a higher bidder with a more significant flaw to win the award?
That’s what happened yesterday when the Board of Estimates rejected a low bid because a single number was missing from a document, but accepted a higher bid whose “non-compliance” with Maryland tax authorities was deemed correctable.
As a result, a veteran local contractor (Potts & Callahan) won the contract, a newcomer from Washington, D.C., learned a lesson about Baltimore contracting, and taxpayers will fork out an added $169,407 for the demolition of the ex-Greyhound bus station on Baltimore’s West Side.
Goel Services’ low bid of $1,057,593 to tear down the bus station was deemed unacceptable by the city’s Minority and Women’s Business Opportunity Office (MWBOO) because it failed to include the exact dollar amount assigned to a minority subcontractor on a bid document.
Instead, the company – a federal contractor that only recently began bidding in Baltimore – included the percentage of the total award.
Read more here.
