Roswell's plan to install nearly $3 million in new synthetic turf at park athletic fields appears to be stalled while the city evaluates allegations made in protests filed by companies that lost out on the contract.
The three losing bidders claim the city’s awarding process was riddled with irregularities. All three submitted bids lower than the winning contractor, Medallion Athletics of Mooresville, N.C.
Medallion’s bid to install turf at seven fields was originally $3.1 million, almost $400,000 higher than the next closest bid. It was later lowered to $2.9 million after the company adjusted the grade of its product in meetings with city staff.
Acting on staff recommendations, the City Council awarded the contract to Medallion on Jan. 14.
But the losing bidders and some Roswell residents aren’t the only ones upset with that decision. Councilwoman Betty Price, who cast a lone dissenting vote, said she is not satisfied with the way the process was handled.
She said sorting through the documents and interviewing those involved in the selection gives her the impression staff decided on Medallion early on and discounted the formal selection process.
She added that city guidelines for the project very clearly state “that you have to meet specs, you have to respond to the questions, nothing more and nothing less.”
“I didn’t see anything in there that said you get to pick the company you want to do business with,” Price said.
City staffers have been silent since the protests were filed in late January, but the competing companies who lost the contract have not.
Chris Daniluk, president of Deluxe Athletics out of Marietta, has been in business 15 years. This is the first time he has filed a protest over a bid award.
“Everything the city is saying to justify why they picked the other company fits everything we sent to them to a tee,” he said. “We were still less than the higher bidder.”
Daniluk also said he found the criteria for the project confusing. None of the three losing bidders, he said, had the opportunity to negotiate or discuss points of their proposals.
“I played sports my whole life and I understand there’s winner and losers,” he said. “We just all wanted a fair game.”
Rom Reddy, CEO of Sprinturf of Atlanta, another unsuccessful applicant, said there is overwhelming evidence Roswell staff made a bad recommendation, and city leaders should correct it.
“The right thing to do is appoint an independent expert to review the protest and not have the protest reviewed by the same staff members who were involved in the original decision,” he said. “An even better decision would be to rebid the job the right way and save taxpayers at least a half million dollars.”
Representatives from Sports Turf, the other unsuccessful bidder, offered no comment.
Brian Simmons, director of marketing for Medallion, said the company would not comment during the protest process.
Under Roswell code, the city’s purchasing manager will review the protests and file a recommendation to the city attorney within 30 days.
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