AG 2001 07 23 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Events of the Cabarrus County Exposition Park - Phase t Invitation to Bid July 10, 2001 2:00 p.m. Multi-Prime Bids Due (But not opened) 3:00 p.m. Single-Prime Bids Due and All Bids Opened 1. Arrived at Board of Commissioners Chamber at 1:50 p.m. 2. At 2:00 p.m., in the Board of Commissioner Room, I announced that we would be using the clock on the wall in the boardroom for bid purposes of calling time on the bids. I stated that everyone may have different times on his or her watches, but the official time for the bid opening is the clock mounted on the rear wall on the Board of Commissioners Room. I then announced publicly that the bids would close in 45 seconds, then again in 10 seconds, and then at 2:01 by the clock I closed the bids. 3. Between 2:02 and 2:10 (approximately), three more bidders arrived and were told there bids were late and could not be accepted. 4. Three 3 bidders disputed the time clock used as inaccurate and that their bids were to be set aside. 5. For clarification we then contacted Frayda Bhiestein, Institute of government, whose principal field of activity is Local government purchasing and contracting and our county attorney, Fletcher HartselI. 6. Through our conversations with them, we outlined the disputes protested by the concerned bidders. She advised us that we acted properly by using the boardroom clock as the official time and that those three bids should be rejected. Our County attorney concurred with her. 7. Ail of the bids remained sealed until the scheduled time of opening at 3pm. 8. Prior to entering the Boardroom for the 3 o'clock bid opening, I asked the representative from Beers if he had a single-prime bid for 3 o'clock. He was walking into the conference room to be interviewed by Mr. Clifton concerning his disagreement about rejection of his bid and asked a few questions regarding the 2pm bid process. He stated he did have a bid but that his bond was enclosed in the multi-prime sealed envelope. I told him he needed to turn in his bid in order to be on time and I would find out if we could use his bid bond from the sealed multi-prime bid that had not yet been opened. As the bids were still in custody, I could not give him back his envelope. As 1 was heading to the Board of commissioners room for the 3 o'clock bid opening, he handed me his bid, unsealed which I accepted it in order to record it as arriving on time. I accepted all the bids and called time on the receipt of the bid process at 3 o'clock bid and realized he handed me an unsealed bid and it was therefore not valid. After closing the 3 o'clock bids, I returned to the conference room and confirmed that his bid would be invalid due to the fact that is was unsealed with Ms. Bluestein and Fletcher Hartsell, who were still on the conference calk This occurred prior to opening any bids. I was advised to reject the 3 bids from 2 o'clock and the one bid fi.om 3 o'clock. Beer's representative has stated several issues in dispute of the bid process. It was indicated that Beers arrived at 1:57 p.m. The representative was in the building by his own admission at 1:30 and went into the Boardroom. He left and went downstairs until he returned to the boardroom after the bids had been closed. According to Frayda's interpretation, if he knew the location of the bid opening, he had the opportunity to check the clock and therefore was responsible to arrive on time for the bid opening Upon the close ora bid, no other bids can be accepted. The boardroom was open prior to the bid opening and the Beers representative indicated that he knew the location of the bid opening. We waited an additional minute on the clock for safety measure. The Beers representative states he was led to believe that a County representative would take care of his bid by removing the bid bond from the multi-prime bid, place that item with the single-prime, and would close the bid document. No County staff member, at that time could open Iris bid and remove the bid bond prior to the bid opening. As stated above, I asked the Beers representative if he was submitting a single prime bid. At that time, his multi-prime bid was still awaiting the ruling as to whether it would be accepted or rejected. I stated that he needed to turn in his bid before time ran out. I never stated I would seal his bid. The ad placed in the paper and GS 143-129 section (b) states that Bids shall be sealed. It is the responsibility of the bidder to seal his own bid.