Commission member questions awarding welding company jobs with no competing bids

By Charlene Sims

info@linncountyjournal.com

MOUND CITY – Linn County Commissioner Alison Hamilton questioned Public Works Administrator Jesse Walton about recommending JRK Portable Welding for the job to repair compactor boxes without taking bids at the Monday, Nov. 10 meeting.

“Is this something we always go to JR for or have you looked into someone else?” asked Hamilton.

“This is something that they have done with just J.R. Kerr,” said Walton. Kerr is the owner of the Mound City-based metal-fabrication business.

“Because its exceeding that. It’s quite a bit of money,” said Ali. “So I was just wondering if there was someone else we could get another bid from, make sure we are making the right choice on that?”

“I don’t think your cost difference is going to be a whole bunch with that estimate on their from my experience,” said Walton. “You’re going to be right around that same ball park number.”

“And what’s a new box cost, do you know?” asked  Commission Chair Jim Johnson.

“$10,500 for new box,” said Walton.

“$10,500 for a new box and repairing two boxes are $5,000 each,” said Hamilton.

“Yep,” said Walton.

New containers purchased from a company in Oklahoma run about $12,000 each.

“If you want to think about it for a week, I’m OK with that,” said Walton.

“I’ll wait a week,” answered Hamilton.

At last week’s meeting when Walton brought up that he had talked with Kerr about three compactor boxes that needed to be repaired and Kerr said that he was still more than willing to repair the boxes for the county.

Last week, Johnson had said that he would like to get a cost estimate from Kerr and to have him bid each box individually.

Walton came back this week with the following prices:

The one that needs rails only on it and the rest of the box is in good shape $2,250.

Two boxes that are going to need floors and sides and fronts, $5,000 each.

One that needs the back part of the door frame repaired, $1, 250 to repair.

Walton told Hamilton and Johnson that he would like to get them all repaired eventually but would like to get the one with the rails and the one with the back door frame repaired first.

The county has often gone to JRK for work without seeking competitive bids:

• In April 2023, company owner Kerr was approved  as a consultant to develop a plan for the repair of the existing transfer station. He was paid $16,500 to repair the tipping floor. No other bids were mentioned in the minutes of the meeting where the approval to proceed with the work was granted..

• The commission voted to purchased a container from JRK on May 1, 2023 for $10,500 rather than purchase one for $10,766 (including shipping) from Custom Manufacturing Inc.

• The commission approved paying  JRK for the repair of several compactor boxes for $4,600 to $5,750. No other bids were taken.

• Paid JRK for new railings on front and back courthouse steps. No other bids were taken. For the south side the cost was $8,250. For the north side the cost was $5,000.

• Paid JRK $19,500 for demolition of the old county attorney building in 2025. The other bid from Marbery Excavating and Hauling for $12,650 was not recommended by Walton. According to Walton, the Marbery bid was not as specific about the finishing of the lot.

The Linn County policy on purchasing services states that for purchases under $5,000 there is no specific requirement for bidding or seeking quotes. The handbook also says that bids $5,001 and over shall go through the bidding process and contracts should not be knowingly staged or separated into smaller units or segments solely for the purpose of evading competitive bidding requirements.

In other business, the commissioners:

• Spent 30 minutes in executive session for attorney client privilege with the Foulston law firm, County Counsel Jacklyn Paletta, Hamilton and Johnson, and Commissioner Jason Hightower by phone.

• Heard a report from GIS/Mapping Administrator Jason Parker. Parker said the said that there had been an issue with the state hosted Orca website but it has been corrected. Parker said that they have updated the emergency helicopter landing zone maps for emergency management, updated road closure maps to reflect changes, and worked on the cemetery map.

• Approved Information Technology (IT) Director Chris Martin to spend $9,072 on the dual multifactor authentication system. The cost for the work was included in this year’s budget.

• Assigned Martin as the leader of working on developing the new website with CivicPlus.

• Learned from Walton that the equipment for working on the perimeter berm at the landfill has been moved in.

• Learned from Walton that Baskerville Road will be closed between 1700 and 1800 Road this week.

• Approved a burial permit for Page Enterprises for two road crossing to put in a 4-inch poly line.

• Decided to have county truck that was damaged last week repaired but will wait to pay until a payment is received from the insurance company. The repair estimate was $5,319.

• Went into executive sessions for 15 minutes for trade secrets with Walton, Paletta, Hamilton and Johnson, and Hightower on the phone.

• Went into executive session for five minutes for non-elected personnel, with Walton, two commissioners, and Rose Mohler for human resources.

• Learned from newly appointed Planning and Zoning Director Jennifer Cummings that planning commissioner Cheryl Carney from District No. 2 turned in her resignation to be effective immediately.

• Learned from Cummings that a planning commission workshop will be held Tuesday, Nov. 11, where discussion will continue on BESS, the battery energy storage system, and   conversations will begin regarding the proposed Beta center and topics of Bitcoin.

• Spent an hour in executive sessions for department head evaluations with the two commissioners, Mohler and Paletta.