Special Council Meeting July 21, 2003 – 5:30 P.M.
The West Burlington City Council met in Special Session at 118 W. Wheeler Street with Mayor Trousil presiding. Council Members Johnson, Hockett, Pilger, Lees and Crowner were present. Building Inspector Hoy was also present. Crowner moved, second by Lees, to approve the Agenda as presented. Voice vote. All ayes. Motion carried.Consider Ordinance on Second Reading – Establishing Chapter 14 Commercial Tax Abatement –
Crowner moved, second by Lees, to approve the second reading of an Ordinance establishing Chapter 14 of the Municipal Code providing for Commercial Tax Abatement. Roll call. Ayes: Crowner, Pilger and Lees. Nays: Hockett and Johnson.
Consider Resolution Waiving Third Reading of an Ordinance – Crowner moved, second by Lees, to approve a Resolution waiving the third reading of an Ordinance concerning Commercial Tax Abatement. Roll call. Ayes: Crowner, Pilger and Lees. Nays: Johnson and Hockett. Motion failed.
Consider Resolution Awarding a Contract for the Construction of New City Hall – Administrator Mandsager explained the contractors were asked to bid a base bid and five alternates which consisted of movable shelving, council table, brick versus Precast, security doors and security cameras. He said four bids were received. The low bid came from First Construction Group in the base bid amount of $1,710,768. He also bid the following alternates: Movable shelving - $18,536; Council Table (cast plastic versus laminate: - $16,980; brick versus Precast – minus $33,907; Security doors (card access) - $21,959; security cameras - $8,476. Other bidders were Carl A. Nelson; Bi-State Contracting; Frank Baxter and Todd Hackett Construction.
Council Members Johnson and Crowner said they had hoped the bids would have come in lower. KJWW reminded the Council that the projected rebate from Alliant for the heating and air conditioning is $30,000.
After discussion of the alternate bids Crowner moved, second by Lees, to approve awarding the contract for the construction of the New City Hall Project to the low bidder First Construction Group $1,710,768. with the inclusion of Alternate1 (movable shelving) $18,536; Alternate 3 (brick versus Precast) minus $33,907; T-2 security cameras $8,476; for a total bid in the amount of $1,703,873.00.
Council Member Hockett said he would like to read a statement and that it be included as part of the minutes. That statement follows:
"Most of us involved in Local Government are aware of the Iowa State Laws and City Codes governing the construction of large, expensive, public projects like the City Hall.
For example, there are State Laws that govern the bidding process itself as well as the pubic notification requirements of the bidding process. The laws were written to insure that the Public would be notified of each step in the process so that they would receive the lowest possible price by attracting the maximum number of competitive bidders.
Assuring that these laws are followed is also important for the winning bidder because if the law isn’t followed the construction contract could be declared invalid. The Mayor, Council Majority and City Administrator should follow the law so that they do NOT put a Contractor in that bad situation.
Let me state for the record that I believe that the process undertaken did NOT follow State Law or City Code. For example:
- The ‘Notice of Public Hearing and Letting" that was published in the Des Moines County News’ clearly states;
"Proposals will be received by The City of West Burlington on or before [July 14, 2003] and will be publicly opened and read at [West Burlington City Hall at 4:00PM Local Time]
Any proposals received after time and date stated above will be returned to the bidder unopened."
The Fact is, there were NO bids opened on July 14. Therefore, any bids received after that date should have been returned unopened.
- The City Administrator did call to say that the contractors were having difficultly meeting the July 14 deadline and wanted to extend the deadline to July 21. He then wrote a memo that stated;
"…the contractors asked that we extend the bid date one week to July 21, 4PM ... and then award the contract at a special council meeting at 5:30 PM. Please mark this on your calendar for the 21."
The problem with this is that City Administrator has NO authority to change the date by himself. Only the Council has the authority to change a hearing date and that can only be done by voting on a resolution in an Open meeting, in open session, after Public notice. No resolution to change the bid date was ever voted on by this Council in an Open meeting.
Therefore, the Public NEVER knew the REAL date of the bid opening. Not only was the Public kept in the dark, but there may have been additional Contractors who could have bid had they known the date had changed. Without the additional competition that more bidders bring, how is the Public to know if they are getting the lowest possible price?
It is well known that this Council, Mayor and City Administrator have had problems following the law in the past. In fact, we’ve been to court because of their failure to follow the law and the District Court issued an injunction ordering them to follow the law.
I’d like to remind Mayor Trousil, Councilmembers Lees, Crowner, Pilger, Johnson and City Administrator Mandsager of the Court’s Permanent Injunction, which orders you to;
"...perform the duties and obligations imposed upon [you] by state statute, administrative regulations or city ordinances, follow all applicable laws and regulations in conducting the governmental affairs of the City of West Burlington, and follow all applicable laws and regulations requiring [you] to take action by motion, resolution, ordinance, or amendment in open meeting, in open session, after public notice,..."
I recommend that the Mayor, City Administrator, and those on this Council that support the building of this extravagant City Hall start by reading Iowa Code Chapters 384 that deals with Sealed Bidding requirements and Chapter 362 that deals with Publication of Notices. It appears you may have to repeat this process starting with another Public Hearing.
• Councilman Dan Hockett
• June 2l, 2003"
Administrator Mandsager said the date of the Public Hearing for this project was not changed only the date to receive bids was changed and that the City Clerk had published a notice of the bid receipt date in the Des Moines County News.
Mayor Trousil called the roll on the vote to award the bid. Roll call. Ayes: Crowner, Johnson, Lees and Pilger. Nays: Hockett. Motion carried.
Consider Resolution Setting a Public Hearing and Letting on Proposed Drawings, Specifications, Form of Contract, and Estimated Cost for the Proposed Intersection Improvement Project – Mt. Pleasant Street & Gear Avenue – Crowner moved, second by Hockett, to set a Public Hearing and letting on the proposed drawings, specifications, form of contract, and estimated cost for the proposed intersection improvement project – Mt. Pleasant Street and Gear Avenue on July 28, 2003 at 5:30 p.m. Roll call. Ayes: Crowner, Lees, Hockett, Pilger and Johnson. Nays: None. Motion carried.
MAYOR’S INQUIRIES: There were none.
ADJOURN – There being no further business, the meeting adjourned at 6:12 p.m. upon motion by Lees, and second by Johnson. Voice Vote: All Ayes. Motion carried.
Approved Terrie L. Simonson, City Clerk