Construction on the Legacy Park urban renewal improvements will not begin any earlier than August because new bids will be sought for the project.
The McCall Urban Renewal Agency decided reluctantly on Monday to re-bid the project due to questions about the bidding process raised by a contractor.
New bid notices are scheduled to be published July 19, and a successful bid could be awarded no earlier than Aug. 3.
The agency board had come to an agreement in negotiations with Petra Inc., of Meridian, two weeks ago for about $2.5 million, and the project was to have started as soon as this week.
But the board decided against signing the contract due to questions raised about the agency's bidding process by Hillside Landscape Construction Inc., of Boise.
Last week, the agency went over the negotiated contract particulars with the city's contract engineer, CH2M Hill.
Board chair Rick Fereday was empowered by the board to sign the document if he felt comfortable with it. He did not sign it and instead set a meeting for this week to discuss the possible re-bidding of the project.
In a protest letter written on June 11 by Hillside Landscape Construction, attorney-Keely E. Duke of Boise questioned the district's negotiations with Petra.
"The size of the project package, given that the major components of the bid schedule were bundled together, as well as the city of McCall's current financial difficulties made the project as originally bid impossible to bond for Hillside," Duke's letter said.
The only bid received by the agency during the second bidding process was from Petra, but it was for $6.1 million and it was rejected. The project was broken down into different schedules for that bid.
The agency then negotiated various elements of the first two schedules with Petra and came to an agreement for about $2.5 million in negotiations.
Negotiations challenged
The letter also challenged the agency's decision to hold "open market" negotiations on the basis that the negotiations were held exclusively with Petra.
"Negotiating with a single party, to the exclusion of all other potential bidders which may be able to perform the project in a more economical manner, violates the 'open market' requirements of Idaho code," the letter said.
At a minimum, the agency should entertain offers from other contractors such as Hillside to determine which ‘open market' bid permits the project to be performed in a more economical manner," Duke's letter said.
"It is presently Hillside's understanding that five primary components of the project might be unbundled, and the schedule for completion altered, in an attempt to secure a bidder for the project," Duke said. "This revision of the terms of the project materially alters the terms of the project and, as such, should be re-bid."
The planned park improvements include a 108-space parking lot, a new restroom, a pedestrian promenade and street improvements to East Lake Street.
Funding for the project is from the remainder of $5 million in bonds issued earlier this year by the urban renewal agency to be paid with property taxes generated by growth within the district.
