The Fort Bend (Texas) district has halted construction of an elementary school because it did not follow proper procedures for construction bids.
Oscar Perez, the district’s executive director of design and construction, told the board this week that Fort Bend’s bid proposal for construction of an elementary campus in Richmond, Texas, was not properly advertised in a newspaper, as the law requires.
The district says that 486 vendors downloaded bid solicitation documents for the project in March, but while subsequently reviewing procurement procedures, officials could not verity that newspaper advertising took place.
“We are disappointed that such a mistake was made, and we are thoroughly investigating this matter to identify how and why the bid package was not advertised,” Superintendent Charles Dupre says in a news release.
The school board awarded a $27.5 million construction contract in May to Drymalla Construction Company. It was one of two firms to submit a sealed bid.
The unnamed school, dubbed “Elementary #49” in district documents, will be a two-story, 123,440-square-foot facility. Situated in the Harvest Green planned community, it is scheduled to open in August 2017.
Fort Bend is soliciting new bids on the project and is following the advertising requirements with a goal of having a contractor in place by next month.
“We remain hopeful that a construction company can be procured in September 2016, allowing for work to resume on this project,” says Perez.
He added that the construction halt is not a reflection on Drymalla’s work. “We will recommend that they be paid for all work to date.”
