Council to weigh center's repairs

Skipped bid step, NLR agency told

For the second time in two months, the North Little Rock City Council will be asked to retroactively waive bidding and approve funds for a purchase after a city department failed to follow proper bid procedures.

An ordinance to go before city aldermen at their 6 p.m. meeting today asks to waive formal bidding requirements and approve a $45,642.04 payment to a construction company for remodeling work completed in June at the North Little Rock Community Center, 2700 Willow St. The center is overseen by the city's Parks and Recreation Department.

Any purchases by the city of more than $20,000 require City Council approval beforehand. Bids must also be sought or the bid requirement formally waived by the council.

In July, the City Council retroactively approved $67,737.64 for equipment the city's Fire Department purchased for 24 new firefighters in March. Mayor Joe Smith said at the July meeting that the City Council's action was "covering our back end" because proper purchasing procedures weren't followed.

The error by the Parks Department is similar, said Danny Bradley, the mayor's chief of staff.

"It's one of those cases where someone failed to follow the procedures," Bradley said. "They started a project and then realized they didn't have enough money to do some additional work and commissioned some additional remodeling. They didn't realize that in the process of doing that, they were violating a rule."

The work involved a meeting room that is used monthly by the North Little Rock Parks and Recreation Commission, city Parks Director Terry Hartwick said. The work by American Structure Repair of North Little Rock involved remodeling a kitchen and two bathrooms and replacing the room's ceiling and flooring, he said.

"It was quite a project," Hartwick said.

Hartwick explained that because the work was done in sections and billed under five separate invoices, staff members overseeing the project didn't go through the bid process.

"There was no conflict of interest, and there was no intent to do wrong," Hartwick said. "The women's bathroom was going to cost this much, and the men's bathroom was this much, and we said go ahead and do it. But when you put it all together, it was above where the bid process comes in. That was wrong."

The Fire Department's purchase in March involved protective gear and other equipment bought from a company that had previously supplied fire equipment to the city. The equipment was for 24 new firefighter positions filled through a federal grant. The city was reimbursed with federal money to fund the positions.

The improper expenditures by the Fire Department and the Parks Department were flagged by the city's new computerized accounting software, which is programmed to catch purchases that exceed the required bid limit, city officials said.

"[City Finance Director] Karen Scott caught it and called me," Hartwick said of the Parks Department's error. "It was just a matter of trying to fast-track the work and get it done in a hurry. Everything was done under what I had in our budget. I told the mayor, but I need to get the [contractor] paid."

The city also will work on the human side of city's purchasing actions to prevent future mistakes, Bradley said. He, City Attorney Jason Carter and purchasing Director Mary Beth Bowman are involved in coming up with a "comprehensive policy written in plain language" for all city employees who oversee purchasing orders, Bradley said.

"The rules have been around for a long time," Bradley said. "We are going to be re-enforcing those rules with a comprehensive policy, and we will do training on it. We're trying to do the right thing."

Metro on 09/26/2016

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