By Terry Witt – Spotlight Senior Reporter
A roofing contractor from Bronson Tuesday questioned why the Levy County Commission isn’t communicating with local contractors about its electronic bidding system that resulted in a roofing contract for the road department being awarded to a South Florida company.
Charlie Kennedy told commissioners he recently learned about the county’s use of the online DemandStar electronic bidding platform from a county employee but wasn’t informed by anyone from the commission’s board office in Bronson about the use of the bidding service.
The low bidder for the contract on the county road department roof was CMM Roofing, Inc. from Port Charlotte, Fla., with a bid of $107,000. The other bidders were from Dothan, Ala., Largo, Fla., Lake City, Fla., Dunnellon, Fla., and Irving, TX. None of the roofing contractors that bid on the project were from Levy County.
“I am a taxpayer in the county. As I stand here today, I express my concerns about what I feel are lack of communications from the county office to vendors in Levy County,” he said. “I recently learned from a county employee about a week before a pre-bid meeting for a roofing project at the road department that the Board of County Commissioners uses a bidding service known as DemandStar. I was never notified by anyone at the board office that they were switching to this process. I think local vendors should have been notified by the board week or months ahead of this in order for them to prepare and get signed up for this process.”
Kennedy said as far as he knows, if the county commission ever has a major problem with a plumbing issue or a roofing issue and needed to get it repaired quickly, it would be a ‘whole lot better to have somebody closer than farther away.”
“I understand it is easier for procurement to do this. I understand that. I know you have to do certain things for the money that you have, but I really think something needs to be worked out where you don’t forget about local vendors,” Kennedy said. “It would also be beneficial to give the correct specifications for these types of jobs. I decided not to bid on this roof because the specs were incorrect. I figured it would be re-bid because the specs were wrong. After speaking to numerous contractors in the area, they said they quit bidding on Levy County projects because they would bid on them and the jobs were never finished or they could never get the bid on to go any further.”
Kennedy closed his remarks by telling commissioners that they have a great Development Department administered by David Meyers and he thinks Meyer’s staff is doing a great job especially considering they have had to work without air conditioning in one of the rooms of the Development Department for more than a year.
“I’m sure the staff would really appreciate this being fixed sooner than later. “One final comment I would like to make. You work for the taxpayers of Levy County. The board office works for you. Thank you for your service to Levy County Citizens,” Kennedy said.
Commission Chairman Matt Brooks cited the broken air conditioning units in the auditorium of the Levy County Government Center as an example of what could happen if a company from another state or from South Florida wins the bid for replacing the units. He said it would be better if the AC units weren’t supplied by a company from Alabama or Miami when it comes to repairing them if they break down. For clarification, none of the bidders for the auditorium AC units were from Alabama, according to County Procurement Coordinator Alicia Tretheway.
The board chambers, located in the former Bronson High School auditorium, has been without adequate air conditioning for a couple of months. Temporary portable air conditioning units have been added to the auditorium until the new units arrive, but the roaring of the portable air conditioners has made it difficult to hear commissioners, staff, and members of the public speaking during meetings.
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Board of County Commission Regular Meeting August 8, 2023; Posted August 9, 2023
