ELGIN – Faced with a nearly $2 million bid for rebuilding Watts Road from Northeast 75th Street to Tony Creek Road, the Elgin City Council decided to delay action on the issue.
The council voted 4-0 April 10 to tab le Biggs Concrete Construction’s bid to do the work for about $1.99 million and revisit the bid at a s pecial meeting. That meeting had not been scheduled as of April 11.
The city had sought bids for three different approaches to reconstructing Watts Road: chip and seal, a method that combines a layer of asphalt with one or more layers of small stone; asphalt; or concrete. Contractors interested in the project were invited to submit bids for any of those options or all of them.
Biggs Concrete, which is based in Elgin, was the only contractor to bid on the project. Their bid called for rebuilding the road with concrete but did not include other options.
Councilman Travis Bennett said he w as concerned because the city had r eceived only one bid f or the project. Noting that construction may not begin for several months, he wondered if the city should seek additional bids.
“Would it hurt to put this back out for bid and have some more opportunities for other contractors to come in a nd bid on it?” Bennett said. “If it’s five months from now, what’s it going to hurt to do that ?”
Mayor JJ Francais said if the co uncil decided to seek new bids for the project, he would like to advertise it in m ultiple publications. The project was originally advertised in The Lawton Constitution, a daily newspaper.
“Let’s actually spend some more money and put it in The Journal Record, put it in some other venues,” he said, referring to an Oklahoma City-based publication that focuses on business and legal news.
Councilwoman Nettie Evans said she also favored putting the project out for bid again, since construction is not set to begin right away.
“What is it g oing to hurt to just p ut it back out there?” she said. “And if we don’t get anybody else, then guess what. We go with what we have.”
But a man in the audience, who did not identify himself, said seeking additional bids for the project could result in higher costs.
“If we don’t take the bid now and we wait another 30 days, and we still don’t get any other bids, this guy’s bid is not going to last very long,” he said. “He may go up on us.”