County rejects low bid for carpet

MARENGO — Iowa County Supervisors reluctantly rejected a low bid for carpet for the courthouse when the bid didn’t correctly meet specifications.

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Supervisors accepted an $8,575 bid from Carpetland of Cedar Rapids during Friday’s regular meeting.

Aware that they are required by law to accept the lowest bids when choosing a vendor, supervisors debated their choices after a bid from Randy’s, of Coralville, came in at $7,865 but included gluing the carpet to the stairs rather than tacking and stretching it. Supervisors tabled their decision in August and gave Randy’s a chance to alter its bid to meet specs.

The second bid came in last week at $8,097 but still didn’t meet specs, according to Supervisor Abby Maas.

Supervisor Alan Schumacher objected to letting the vendor re-bid the project because bids had already been opened, so Randy’s knew what it was competing against.

Maas wrestled with rejecting the low bid but asking for a another correct to the bid didn’t seem right. “I don’t feel like it would be fair,” said Maas. “They didn’t bid it correctly – twice.”

Supervisor Kevin Heitshusen joined the rest of the board in voting to accept the higher Carpetland bid but cautioned that the supervisors have to “make sure we have just cause to reject the low bid.”

A third bid, for $10,291, was submitted by Bachmeier Carpet One, of Coralville.