Bentonville council selects firm for wastewater plant repair

BENTONVILLE -- The city will spend an extra $24,000 on a project involving the Wastewater Department's clarifiers by rejecting the lowest bidder.

Clarification is one of the final steps before water is released into Town Branch Creek. The water is clarified by separating the micro-organisms from it.

Council action

Bentonville’s City Council met Tuesday and approved:

• Setting a May 8 public hearing for a fire access easement vacation at 2505 S.W. Arbor Road and a utility easement at 1401 N.E. John DeShields Blvd.

• Accepting a $90,000 grant from the Arkansas Department of Aeronautics for the west side airfield infrastructure improvement at the municipal airport.

• Hiring Tri Star Contractors for $70,000 for the hangar infrastructure improvement project at the municipal airport.

• A traffic signal at the intersection of Moberly Lane and Southeast Eighth Street for $286,065.

• Buying a Ford F550 crew cab pickup for $51,289 from Mark McLarty Ford.

• The 2018 street overlay program.

• Working with Centerton to improve Brookside Road and spend $20,067 for its overlay.

• Buying a custom water pump from Evans Enterprises for $22,340.

Source: Staff report

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The project is to replace several parts on the city's 33-year-old clarifiers, according to Mike Bender, public works director.

The City Council unanimously approved accepting Seven Valleys Concrete's $431,200 bid over Crow Construction's $407,036 bid at its meeting Tuesday. The vote came after the council tabled the item at its April 10 meeting.

Brian Rohlman, president of Morrilton-based Crow Construction, contested city staff's recommendation the City Council accept the second-lowest bidder at the April 10 meeting and again Tuesday.

Rohlman argued information presented to the City Council about his company was "false, inaccurate and damaging to our firm."

Department officials said Crow's references, which included the city, weren't complimentary. The company has a history of underbidding then requesting increases after receiving the bid, not complying with safety protocols and completing sub-par work, according to meeting documents.

Rohlman refuted those claims at the April 10 meeting.

"I just ask that the facts be brought to light," he said Tuesday.

The city's case against Crow wasn't presented as clearly as it should have been, Bender said. Some statements needed to be retracted, such as Crow underbids projects then requests increases after receiving the bid.

"That was erroneous on our part," Bender said, apologizing. "It was not based on fact or finding."

There was a negative reference about Crow from Conway Corp. in the April 10 meeting's documents. Those statements were accurate but not complete, Bender said. Crow requested more money to cover work overlooked, but Conway denied the request and has said Crow is in good standing with them.

The clarifications don't change the staff recommendation to accept the second-lowest bid, Bender said.

"As stated before, our previous experience wasn't smooth," he said. "We had several issues."

The city hired Crow in 2016 to repair a crack in the concrete floor of one of the city's two clarifiers.

Crow's superintendent was unprepared and continually asked city staff for tools and equipment covered in the contract, Bender said. They also didn't follow the engineer's instructions and failed to abide by city safety protocols.

"When something makes it as far as on to the agenda, we have vetted it with our staff," said Mayor Bob McCaslin. "And we believe, to the best of our ability, that we are being good stewards of the taxpayers' assets and we're making recommendations to you that we believe are the wisest and most appropriate."

Council member Chad Goss said it was a sticky situation and thanked Bender and Rohlman for their transparency.

NW News on 04/25/2018

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