FLINT, MI— Lawns and sidewalks torn up for service line work in Flint will have to wait a little longer before being restored.

The city first awarded Goyette Mechanical a $12.1 million contract to perform the work on June 24. Then on July 2, city administration requested City Council rescind the contract and give the job of restoring those homes to WT Stevens Construction for $10.2 million.

Goyette’s contract was first rescinded after the city noticed a “discrepancy” in its bid process, then Flint officials changed the bid requirements, recalculated the bids for the seven responsive bidders and found a new lower bidder.

At July 8 special affairs committee meeting, council voted 5-4 to drop the resolutions rescinding the contract from Goyette and giving it to WT Stevens, essentially taking a step back.

Council members Eric Mays, Ward 1, Charles Davis, Ward 2, Jerri Winfrey-Carter, Ward 5, and Herb Winfrey, Ward 6, dissented.

Council weighs in

Mayor Karen Weaver held an emergency meeting with the seven companies that bid on the work and her Chief Economic Development Adviser Aoine Gilchrest at 4 p.m. on July 8.

Goyette Project Manager Joe Parks said the administration wants to reopen the bid. The companies would have until July 19 to submit their bids.

“All of our bid numbers have been exposed,” Parks said. “It is completely unfair, inconsistent and unethical procurement practice to change the bid units after the bids were opened.”

City officials are willing to answer council’s questions at a Wednesday, July 10 special meeting in its City Hall chambers, Council President Winfrey stated. Some council members wanted to hear how the administration made decisions regarding its request to stop Goyette’s contract.

Mays made the motion to subpoena Weaver, Flint City Attorney Angela Wheeler and Gilchrest. City administration, beside Wheeler, were not present to answer questions at the special affairs meeting.

“How the hell we supposed to find stuff out when people won’t talk to us?” Mays asked.

Other council members didn’t want to wait that long. Councilman Guerra, Ward 3, motioned to drop the resolutions and Councilwoman Monica Galloway, Ward 7, supported.

“Whether the administration is here or not, there are things as a legislative body that we can do to address this situation right now,” Galloway said.

Flint’s ordinance states the city cannot terminate contracts without City Council’s approval.

How Flint bid the work

Bids for Flint’s 2019 restoration work were opened on May 9.

Flint required companies to bid prices on 11 different units. The contractor with the lowest total bid is awarded the work.

Goyette had the lowest responsive bid with roughly $934,174 for one zone and $3.73 million for all four zones in Phase Six of service line work.

WT Stevens Construction, of Flint, was right behind Goyette with a $3.9 million bid for all four zones.

Flint’s ordinance requires city officials to narrow the bids based on a criteria list. The list considers things like whether the contractor is equipped to finish the project in time and the scope of the conditions attached to the bid.

Goyette was required to restore 15,000 homes by Dec. 15. The company said it would increase its soft surface crews from 2-3 to 3-4 crews, and its hard surface crews from 3-4 to 4-6 crews. That deadline was tentative to Goyette beginning work Monday, July 1.

Flint Purchasing Manager Joyce McClane request Goyette’s contract be rescinded at a July 2 City Council finance committee meeting.

The state had “discovered a discrepancy in the calculations with this project,” McClane wrote to Parks in a July 1 letter rescinding Goyette’s contract.

What changed

Flint is required to provide the public with tabulations of each bid.

The state has limits on the amount reimbursed to Flint. The department handling Flint’s water project funding hasn’t been provided with the bid calculations so it can’t determine what can be reimbursed.

State officials, who manage the funding for Flint’s restoration work, requested those tabulations in a June 27 email. Flint was not asked to change the requirements of the bid, said Scott Dean, communication adviser for the state.

The Department of Public Works reviewed Goyette’s bid and reduced the 11-item list to what city officials estimate to be most likely used, according to the department’s director, Rob Bincsik.

Rather than reopen the bid, Flint recalculated the bids for each of the contractors according to the prices they initially submitted. The city calculated WT Stevens had the lowest responsive bid, $10.2 million, to restore lawns or sidewalks at 15,000 addresses.

WT Stevens was also one of two contractors awarded more than $5 million to replace or inspect water service lines this year. Flint officials previously stated contractors had until July 31 to complete service line work, but that’s “a self-imposed deadline for contractors,” Bincsik previously said.

Rhonda Grayer, WT Steven’s chief executive officer, said she wasn’t notified of the city’s decision to contract with her company. Grayer said WT Stevens can complete the restoration work required.

“If we didn’t think we had the capacity to complete the work, we wouldn’t have bid for it,” Grayer previously said.