6/4/09
A driveway and sidewalk construction project in two Española public housing neighborhoods was halted within days of construction due to bid protests from two contractors.
The Santa Fe Civic Housing Authority, which took over the Española Public Housing Authority in January, had requested proposals for new driveways and sidewalks on Calle Duran and in the Apple Valley neighborhood in March. The six-month project is the first phase of close to $1 million in construction and repairs Santa Fe Civic has planned in Española over the next year, according to Authority documents.
Contractor RG & Sons had replaced one curb and a driveway at Apple Valley on a $232,805 contract awarded in May when Santa Fe Civic said it would end the contract after 30 days and request new proposals from bidders, Executive Director Ed Romero said.
Santa Fe Civic had initially rejected the two complaints, submitted by contractors Ted Sanchez, of Albuquerque, and Cougar Construction Management, of Santa Fe, stating they had been submitted past a 15-day protest period, according to correspondence.
“Initially, we did say that,” Romero said. “But then we came back and said, ‘Look, there’s two protests here, why don’t we just bid it again.’ Just to be on the safe side.”
In a May 4 letter, Sanchez had complained to Santa Fe Civic Project Coordinator Pete Gomez that his firm did not receive additional information on construction materials and techniques given to other bidders, which would have allowed him to submit a lower bid.
“Every contractor should have received this information in an addendum,” Sanchez wrote. “This information would have significantly lowered our proposal price! I would be happy to participate in a new (request for proposals) that defines clearly how (Santa Fe Civic) wants block walls contracted and stucco applied.”
Romero said the additional information was provided to all seven bidders — a requirement under state law — after another bidder, Lockwood Construction, asked for it at Santa Fe Civic offices.
“We got the info to all other contractors,” he said. “We called and left a message. But we couldn’t prove that we called because we didn’t log it. So we decided it would be better to re-bid.”
In a separate protest, Cougar Construction Director Ricardo Ramirez called for Santa Fe Civic to re-bid the project because its request for proposals was “unexplainable and confusing.”
Sanchez and Ramirez did not return calls for comment.
The project will be re-bid next week. RG & Sons owner Richard Gonzales said his company will finish five driveways within the 30 days of its contract, and plans to submit a bid for the rest of the project.
“I really can’t comment too much, because I don’t want it to jeopardize our second bid,” Gonzales said. “But I don’t think it’s fair. We were the low bidder. I don’t know what happened between the housing people and the other contractors, but it’s not fair to us.”
The sidewalk and driveway project is just a drop in the $2 million bucket of overdue repairs Santa Fe Civic estimates are needed at the Authority’s three low-income housing neighborhoods.
Santa Fe Civic plans to address about half of it starting this year, using more than $500,000 in left-over capital funds from previous years and $365,777 in federal stimulus funds awarded to the Authority.
A second, roughly $400,000 housing unit renovation project at Calle Duran, Apple Valley and Calle del Pajarito will be bid out this summer, Romero said.
But Romero said the remaining $1 million in repairs — which include landscaping and replacing appliances — will come gradually over the course of years, if ever.
“I don’t know if we will ever catch up to the deferred maintenance we have at those sites, because for the past 30 years, housing has been shorted on capital funds,” Romero said. “For now, we’re just focusing on the emergency projects that absolutely have to get done.”