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Paving company sues Sebring over contract
YOUNGSTOWN
A Canton company has sued the village of Sebring, protesting village council’s award of a paving contract to a Dalton, Ohio, company despite the Canton company’s status as the lowest bidder.
Central Allied Enterprises Inc. sued the village in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court, protesting the Feb. 9 award of a 2015 street resurfacing project to Northstar Asphalt Inc. of Dalton.
CAE said it was the lowest bidder at $350,192, which was $8,628 lower than Northstar.
With two alternate paving jobs included, CAE still was lowest by $513, the complaint said.
The contract is for repaving 15th Street between Kentucky and Nevada avenues, and the alternates are for repaving some side streets off 15th Street, said Richard Giroux, village manager.
CAE seeks an injunction to prevent Northstar from beginning work on the project and an order awarding the project to CAE.
The Canton company said the village’s award to Northstar was illegal because CAE was the lowest bidder and because the village made the award without notifying CAE by certified mail of the reasons for not awarding it the job.
Attached to the lawsuit was a letter to CAE from A. Matthew Miller, construction coordinator with the city’s civil-engineering firm, W.E. Quicksall and Associates Inc. of New Philadelphia, saying the village intended to award the contract to Northstar, which the letter described as “the apparent lowest and best bidder.”
Quicksall recommended Northstar to village officials after evaluating the bids in detail and vetting the companies, Giroux said.
“The village chose the lowest and best bid. We’re not obligated to choose the lowest bid” under Ohio law, Giroux said. “We made our determination based on our engineer’s recommendation,” he added.
The lawsuit is assigned to Judge Lou A. D’Apolito.