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Friday, April 13, 2007

Ind. Gov't. - "Airport mowing bid questioned"

Ben Zion Hershberg writes today for the Louisville Courier Journal about a very interesting public bidding situation in Clark County. Some quotes:

The board that oversees the Clark County Airport put off a decision yesterday on bids for one of its major expenses -- mowing 365 acres -- so its lawyer could determine if the lowest bid was legal.

The board received 10 bids. The highest was $197,314 from Frank Otte Nursery. The lowest that specified an amount was George Lynch's $31,552.

But Hap's Aerial Enterprises, which is owned by airport manager Hap Happel, submitted a bid of "$1 lower than the lowest bid," said consulting engineer John Toombs. * * *

The airport board must determine if the form of Happel's bid is legal. "If not," Toombs said, "put it to the next lowest bid." That would mean giving Lynch the contract.

"I want our attorney to research it," board Chairman Bill Halter said of Happel's bid.

This story may have added interest because of the Court of Appeals decision last fall in City of Fort Wayne v. Pierce Manufacturing, Inc. (see list of ILB entries here), where, to quote a 9/6/06 story in the Fort Wayne Journal Gazette: "The city of Fort Wayne won a legal victory Tuesday when the Indiana Court of Appeals ruled a company that lost a bid for $4.8 million worth of fire trucks had no legal standing to sue." The case was later denied transfer by the Supreme Court.

Posted by Marcia Oddi on April 13, 2007 08:13 AM
Posted to Indiana Government