One of the Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District’s largest contracts in recent years is at stake, and the construction firms vying for it are raising a stink about the district’s bidding procedures.
The low bidder on a $145 million, 4-mile sewer tunnel is urging MSD to approve its bid after months of delays. The second-lowest bidder, SAK Construction of O’Fallon, Mo., is accusing MSD of making exceptions to its bidding rules that would give a huge project to an out-of-state contractor.
With more than $3 billion left in projects as part of and comply with environmental rules, the construction world is watching the dispute closely. Around 75 people squeezed into a conference room at MSD’s St. Louis headquarters Thursday night to see whether MSD’s Board of Trustees would advance the project.
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MSD staff in September had recommended awarding the contract to the low bidder, a joint venture between Jay Dee Contractors of the Detroit area and Frontier-Kemper Constructors of California. But MSD’s trustees declined to confirm the award in a 5-1 vote in December.
The issue appeared to be with A.L.L. Construction, one of Jay Dee’s local minority contractors. After the board declined to award the contract, MSD staff asked Jay Dee to replace the subcontractor due to a “reasonable objection,†according to prepared remarks MSD Executive Director Brian Hoelscher delivered to the board last month. He cited the board’s vote “and other information available to me.â€
Jay Dee replaced the subcontractor but kept the $145 million bid the same for a project that had been estimated to cost $205 million. MSD’s Hoelscher said in his remarks that MSD could ask for the substitution but that “it was the first time in staff’s recollection†that the district implemented that provision of its bidding rules. A spokesman said MSD officials can’t comment further because the agency still has not awarded the bid.
But now the second-lowest bidder, SAK Construction of O’Fallon, Mo., is crying foul. The company, a major MSD contractor, argued the district should at least rebid the project because it allowed Jay Dee to substitute a subcontractor.
SAK has “never been asked to substitute a minority subcontractor,†SAK President Jerry Shaw told the board. “The bids were thrown out and rebid.â€
John DiPonio, a vice president of Jay Dee, said that $23 million worth of the project would be done by St. Louis-area minority contractors, in excess of MSD’s requirements. “We did everything fair and square,†DiPonio said.
Backing Jay Dee was the St. Louis chapter of the NAACP and minority contractor and labor advocacy group MoKan, who said out-of-town general contractors have done a better job at working with local minority contractors.
“We are concerned that this local company chose not to embrace and work with local black contractors,†said Yaphett El Amin, MoKan’s executive director.
MSD trustees approved introducing the contract ordinance on a 3-2 vote. Trustees still must give the contract with Jay Dee final approval, which requires two of three trustees from both the city and St. Louis County to give their consent.
