Rockville Town Council Hears Opinions Regarding Demo Bid

By Maggie Sockwell

Sentinel Reporter

The Rockville Town Council held their first scheduled meeting for the month, Monday, March 7 at 5 p.m. at the Rockville Town Hall. Dave Brown, Council president called the meeting to order with members Brandy Asher, Clerk/Treasurer, Jeff Eslinger, town liaison, Steve Farrington, Melissa Buell and Nick Sauter, town attorney present. Council members Parke Swaim and Liddy Dowd-Wright were unable to attend the meeting.

The Council, in a special meeting held Monday, February 28, announced the winning contract bid for the demolition of the Jacks & Jacks building.  The contract was awarded to J.S. McCullough at a cost of $79,885. The demolition work began Monday, March 7 with a completion deadline of on or before May 13.

First on the agenda was Ed Kanizer of Kanizer Excavating. Kanizer asked why his company’s bid was rejected as well as why the bid from another company Dennis Trucking  was also not accepted. He asked for the name of the company that was awarded the bid. Brown explained that one form was missing from Kanizer’s bid and there were items missing from Dennis Trucking’s bid. Kanizer then stated he didn’t receive the complete specifications/engineering report. Sauter asked “Did you ask for a complete copy of the requested written report?” Kanizer said, “I am not truly sure if I did ask or not.” Eslinger explained that he sent everyone the same  documents.

Sauter explained the statute on the most responsible bid for the town. The engineers for the town reviewed all the bids and made the recommendation to the town. Kanizer then asked for a written letter why his bid was denied. Sauter gave a public verbal statement that the bid was denied because Kanizer’s did not submit the proper paperwork and meet the requirements for the bid. Sauter also stated that he did not have to provide a written document since his verbal statement is available in public records.

For the full article, see this week’s edition of the Parke County Sentinel.