LA GRANGE, IL – The La Grange Village Board on Monday passed up the lower bidder for sidewalk projects throughout town.
That was because of a rule that some trustees questioned.
In a unanimous vote, the trustees chose Cicero-based M&J Asphalt and Paving Co., which bid $183,705 on the project. The low bidder was Elgin-based J&F Paving, which came in at $125,000, nearly $60,000 less.
Find out what's happening in La Grangewith free, real-time updates from Patch.
Six firms bid on the project, with the highest by Everlast Blacktop of South Elgin, at $270,421.
In late June, the board was set to vote on giving the contract to J&F. But Village President Mark Kuchler said questions had been raised. The trustees delayed a vote.
Click Here: new zealand blues jersey
Find out what's happening in La Grangewith free, real-time updates from Patch.
According to the village, J&F withdrew after it became aware that it lacked the 10 years of experience that the village requires. It had two years.
Trustee Glenn Thompson questioned the requirement. He said the state Department of Transportation has no such rule.
“We’re missing out on new vendors coming into business,” Thompson said. “It would be nice if we could reduce that, so we could use newer vendors and more favorable pricing.”
Village President Kuchler said it was a good issue to look into, acknowledging that 10 years seemed high.
At the same time, Kuchler said J&F did not provide any references indicating it did sidewalk work for another town. Rather, it gave a reference from another village for hauling work, but that had nothing to do with concrete, he said.
“I’m a strong believer that we should be hiring professionals to do these jobs,” Kuchler said.
However, Trustee Beth Augustine pointed out that village staff gave a good assessment of J&F in its paperwork for the June meeting. A village memo stated, “Reference checks for J&F Paving were positive from both past private and municipal clients.”
“Maybe in future meetings, we’ll need more detail that could be provided because otherwise, we were going to vote on something that we now think we shouldn’t have,” Augustine said. “Luckily, we didn’t.”
Kuchler credited Trustee Lou Gale with pointing out the issue.
Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.