Everett allows low bid for animal shelter despite omission

Published 11:10 pm Thursday, March 20, 2008

EVERETT — A Bellevue contractor failed to convince the City Council on Wednesday to scuttle the winning $3.32 million bid to build the city’s new animal shelter on Smith Island.

An attorney for Powell Construction Co. asked the council to kill a proposal by Allied Construction Associate Inc. because the company did not list in words the dollar amount of its bid proposal.

Everett’s bid policy requires contractors to write out the full sum in Arabic numerals and also to spell out the sum in words.

In the case of a discrepancy between words and figures, the city’s policy says words are treated as the bid amount.

Powell Construction’s attorney Daniel Heffernan of Kirkland told the council that Allied Construction’s omission gave the Everett company an unfair advantage over other bidders.

That’s because the company could use the incomplete bid document as a legal basis for bailing out of the contract if it wanted to, Heffernan said.

“That’s a very distinctive advantage,” Heffernan said.

Powell’s bid was just $10,000 more than Allied’s. Both were well under $1 million below the engineer’s $4.8 million estimate.

Bruce Jones, with the Everett city attorney’s office, said Allied wouldn’t likely prevail if it attempted to back out of a contract by saying it’s not enforceable because of a blank line on its bid form.

They would likely be “laughed out of court,” he said.

Scott Bejella, president of Allied, told the council his company has a proven track record having successfully completed 45 city projects.

At the podium, Bejella turned from the council to face Mike Brehm, Powell’s vice president, and Heffernan.

“Times are tough when you’ve got to sacrifice your integrity to get a job,” he said.

Chris Knapp, an attorney with Anderson Hunter, the Everett firm that was hired as the city’s interim city attorney, said the council was within its discretion to waive the requirement as a minor irregularity.

The council voted 6-0 Wednesday to award the contract to Allied. Councilman Mark Olson was absent.

The city’s decade-old animal shelter on 36th Street is scheduled to be demolished to make way for a $500 million redevelopment project on the Snohomish River east of I-5.

After the vote, Brehm shook hands with Bejella outside the chamber doors.

Reporter David Chircop: 425-339-3429 or dchircop@heraldnet.com.