By DAVID DUPONT
BG Independent News
So, the good news in January turned out to be too-good-to-be true news in March.
The Wood County District Public Library met Tuesday at noon to rescind the bid for a new boiler awarded to Earl Mechanical Services of Wauseon.
The contract had not yet been signed.
Library Director Michael Penrod told the board that questions arose shortly after the bid was awarded. The library’s legal counsel, the county prosecutor, scrutinized it, and it was determined that there was material needed to do the job, that hadn’t been property accounted for in Earl’s bid.
Though it was in the bid documents, there was confusion, which was shared by other bidders.
Penrod said it was decided that it was best to rescind all actions and deem the entire bidding process invalidated.
So, the project will be rebid. The estimated cost of the project, including both alternates, was $295,000.
Earl’s bid was $214,537, 27 Percent under the estimate. There were six other bidders. The highest was about $311,000.
Replacing the boiler is a scheduled upgrade. The plan is to replace it before it fails in the middle of winter, said Ken Frisch, president of the Board of Trustees.
He said he was confident that the bid process should be completed in time for the work to be done later in the summer.
The system dates back to 2002 when the renovated library reopened in downtown Bowling Green. The library administration was told at the time that the system had an expected life span of 20-25 years.
Penrod said Kleinfelder Engineering has a provision in its contract to allow for rebidding, so that will not cost the library any extra money.
