MAHANOY CITY - During Monday's special meeting, the Mahanoy City Borough Council rescinded its approval of the low bid on the demolition of two dilapidated structures and selected the next-highest bidder.
However, the withdraw of the low bid by Northeast Industrial Services Corp., Shamokin, included conditions to be met by the company in order to avoid any legal action by the borough.
At its July 9 meeting, the borough council received two bids for demolition work at 416-418 W. Centre St. The adjoining properties located in the middle of the block show years of neglect from the front and are collapsing at the rear. Residents who live next door have been asking the council for years to have them removed but it was only recently that the borough has been able to secure ownership so demolition work can be done.
Northeast Industrial offered a bid of $18,700, which beat the $19,800 bid from Mr. Z Contracting, Shenandoah Heights. According to borough solicitor Michael A. O'Pake, Northeast Industrial contacted borough Manager Daniel Lynch and himself about a major error in how the bid was calculated.
"The reason for the withdrawal of the bid is that they computed the bid on only one of the properties, not both of them," O'Pake said. "However, the right to withdraw a bid is set forth in statute. It's very specific and particular for the reasons you can withdraw. Basically, lapse in judgement or error in judgement is not sufficient. It can only be for arithmetical errors."
O'Pake continued, "If we so wanted to, we could have challenged their right to withdraw the bid and since this is all by statute, it has to happen fairly quickly."
O'Pake sent a letter to Northeast Industrial stating that the borough was challenging the withdrawal.
"I received a call from the president of Northeast and I explained the situation to him," O'Pake said. "He was very congenial and forthright and said they couldn't do it at that price."
O'Pake said challenging the withdrawal could also result in other damages to Northeast Industrial, including the cost of rebidding the project. The original advertising cost for soliciting demolition bids was $2,200, according to Lynch.
"So, I offered an alternative to that in that he could pay the difference between the low bid and the next lowest bid, which is $1,100, and he agreed to do that," O'Pake said. "We're really getting it (the demolition) at the $18,700 that he bid but it will be done by Mr. Z."
Council Vice President Thom Maziekas asked about attorney's fees, which O'Pake said the statute does not address those fees so the borough will pay that additional cost, along with the cost to advertise the special meeting.
"Let's knock those houses down. That's the main thing," Maziekas said.
The council unanimously approved the bid withdrawal from Northeast Industrial and the agreement reached between the borough and the company, along with accepting the bid from Mr. Z.
The demolition should begin in the very near future as soon as the contractor receives a notice to proceed from the borough.