Low bid for roof job may be tossed out

Royal Roofing and Siding of Pasco was the low bidder Monday to replace the roof on the county-owned building at the corner of Main and Island streets in Colfax, but the company may not get the job.

Royal bid $50,300 for the re-roof, which is less than half of the next lowest bid.

Bob Reynolds, Whitman County facilities manager, said the company did not participate in last week’s pre-bid walk through, which was a requirement in the bid package.

Reynolds suspects the fact that the company did not check out the project to see the extent of work required was reflected in its low bid.

Eight firms inspected the roof during the pre-bid walk through tour last Tuesday, Aug. 11.

The building, which sits next to the county public service building, today holds the county emergency communications office and some county storage.

Construction of the new roof will require extensive removal of the existing roof. Reynolds said the previous owners of the building put a new roof “a forearm’s length,” over the old roof, rather than repairing the old one.

The county’s remodel project will include removal of the top roof, which Reynolds estimates will make up the bulk of the project cost.

Reynolds has asked Prosecutor Denis Tracy for an opinion on how to proceed with his recommendation for a bid award. Commissioners are expected to award the contract at their Aug. 31 meeting.

The next lowest bid came from All Surface Roofing and Waterproofing, Spokane. The firm turned in a quote of $105,571. Their bid literally came in at the last minute, time-stamped as received by county commissioners at 10 a.m., the deadline.

Third lowest bid was $109,510 from Metalworks of Montana, Inc., Missoula. Also bidding were Icoa Corp of Spokane, $113,800, Brown Contracting and Development of Spokane Valley, $159,203, and R&R Construction of Moscow, $185,500.

The new roof is sought for a future remodeling of the building to house the county’s elections department. The interior of the building is expected to be renovated with grant funds from the federal Help America Vote Act.

The roof project will be paid out of county proceeds from the state real estate excise tax. The county can only spend proceeds from that revenue source on infrastructure improvements.