This project consists of the extension of Boxelder Road from Burma Avenue to Skyline Drive (Highway 50). The roadway section will be 3 lanes with curb and gutter on the north side, a detached sidewalk on the north side, and a 10’ wide detached pathway on the south side. Future conversion to a 5 lane section would occur by widening the pavement and installing curb and gutter on the south side of the proposed project. Storm sewer, water main, and sanitary sewer main will also be included in the project. The overall length of the Boxelder Road Extension, Phase III is approximately 2,365 feet.

Bids were opened on July 22, 2015 at the office of the City Purchasing Division, with five bids being received as follows:

Mountain View Building, Inc.                       $2,617,463.00

Earth Work Solutions (WY)                         $2,640,972.04

DRM, Inc.                                                   $2,755,970.00

S&S Builders, LLC                                      $2,810,356.00

Powder River Construction, Inc.                   $2,993,786.75

Mountain View Building, Inc. (MVB) although the apparent low bidder, is not qualified and responsible based on their recent past performance of contracts for the City of Gillette. For that reason, staff recommends the bid should be awarded to Earth Work Solutions (WY), the lowest qualified and responsible bidder.

Wyoming Statutes Section 15-1-113(c) provides that if the contract is let for bid, the contract "shall be let to the lowest bidder who shall be determined qualified and responsible in the sole discretion of the governing body."

Mountain View Building, Inc. (MVB), has previously completed the four (4) projects for the City of Gillette as listed below:

Boxelder Road Extension, Phase IIB
Water Tank Rehabilitation
Pavement Management System 2012 - Schedule C
Interstate Industrial Park Drainage

Liquidated Damages were assessed on the two projects most recently completed due to not completing the projects within the specified contract time as a result of not allocating adequate resources to the project (manpower and equipment). Based upon discussion held during the review of the bids, their approach to this project follows this same pattern. MVB indicated they will provide two scrapers for the dirt work compared to Earth Work Solutions (WY) indication of providing four (4) to six (6) scrapers for the dirt work. The staff and corresponding equipment proposed by MVB seems clearly inadequate to achieve completion within the specified contract time.

The contract requires the earthwork and underground utility work to be completed within 60 working days before a winter suspension of contract time (within Calendar Year 2015). An additional 60 working days are permitted when contract times commence to run in the spring of 2016 to complete the remaining work (road base, paving, etc.). Once Substantial Completion is reached in 2016, the contract allows 15 working days to reach final completion of the contract. The Boxelder Road Extension, Phase IIB project was also bid as a one-year project and due to the lack of manpower and equipment resources provided by MVB, the project took nearly two years.

MVB has also neglected to perform warranty repairs in a timely fashion. Warranty repairs for the Interstate Industrial Park Drainage Project still existed at the time bids for this project were opened. MVB was put on notice in May of 2013 that neglecting to address these warranty repairs in a timely manner would impact their rating for future work.

The bids were reviewed by DOWL Engineering and they determined that all required documents were submitted and found no irregularities in the bids. DOWL contacted both apparent low bidders after the bid opening to assist in their evaluation and have recommended an award to either one of the apparent low bidders.