Saying to do otherwise would “gut” the city’s minority enterprise law, the Board of Estimates today unanimously approved a contract that was more than $500,000 above the lowest bidder.

The city’s purchasing office passed over the lowest, second lowest and third lowest bidder for the renovation of the Waverly Branch Library on East 33rd Street because the bidders all failed to meet the city’s guideline of 27% minority and 7% women-owned business participation.

The contract was given to J.A.K. Construction, whose $4,286,000 bid was $541,000 higher than Towson Mechanical, the lowest bidder.

Arnold Jolivet, managing director of the Maryland Minority Contractors Association, asked the spending board to put the contract out for bid again, saying taxpayers like himself suffer when the city accepts such high bids.

“Do the right thing, and I can assure you all of the bids will be lower the next time around,” he said.

Jolivet said he represented JLN Construction Services, a minority contractor whose bid was $412,000 lower than J.A.K., but whose African American subcontractor was ruled not to be certified to do the work stated in the contract.

Speaking on behalf of the board, City Solicitor George Nilson said failure to hold prime contractors accountable to a strict interpretation of the law would destroy the objective of increasing minority and women’s opportunities in municipal work.

MWBOO Rules

Thomas Corey, chief of the Minority and Women’s Business Opportunity Office (MWBOO), told the board that several of the rejected bidders wanted to use a Lancaster, Pa., minority contractor who was not certified by the city.

MWBOO maintains a list of qualified minority and women-owned businesses. Subcontractors that are not on the list – or are not approved to do the specific work cited in a bid contract – are ruled “non-compliant.”

In some cases (such as the Waverly Library renovation), the city rejects low bids on the grounds of non-compliance before the contract is presented to the Board of Estimates. In other cases, a vendor is given 10 days after the award is approved by the BOE to get into compliance.

The practice has been criticized as arbitrarily enforced by contractors who say they were not given a chance to comply with the law – or were even aware they were in violation – before their bid was rejected.

MMCA’s Jolivet calls the process “a lot of hocus pocus” (see here for more details).

In addition to winning the library contract, Baltimore-based J.A.K. was awarded a $133,000 contract to perform renovations on the Fire Department’s Station 53 in far West Baltimore.

To Remain Closed Until 2015

The Waverly Library Branch was closed last month and is expected to remain shut another 18 months to two years as the contractor undertakes a complete renovation of the facility, Roswell Encina, spokesman for the Enoch Pratt Free Library, said today.

The library was opened in 1971 and has undergone serious physical deterioration.

Plans to renovate the building started five years ago. “This has been a slow process and we are delighted to have reached this stage where construction can begin,” Encina said.

For library services, patrons can visit the Hampden, Hamilton, Northwood or Roland Park branches, he added.