Sometimes Low Bidder Is Good, Sometimes Not

We had a yard sale once featuring an old easy chair.

You know the kind - Mom and Dad had it for years, and when you got your first place they eagerly gave it to you. That’s how we got it.

It was a great chair, a swivel rocker. It followed us around and rocked the babies to sleep. Then, when it no longer fit the decor, it was time for it to go.

Because we had been given the chair, we wanted to pass it along the same way. We hung a sign on it, “Free to a good home,” and expected it to be the first thing to go.

Instead, people were suspicious. They circled it - wary cats around a sleeping dog. A few brave souls would stretch out a careful hand and give the cushion a tentative poke. There must be something wrong with it, we heard one man mutter to his wife.

Our assurances were useless. We could not give the chair away.

Toward the end of the day we put a new sign on the chair, listing a price of $5. Within minutes two couples were fighting over it. They had to draw straws to determine who drove away triumphant.

If a price is too low, people look askance at the offered product or service. They wonder, if this person places such a low value on what they are offering, is it really any good?

This should be Spokane County’s viewpoint when they look at companies vying for sewer construction projects, for the lowest bidder is not always the best choice.

It seems like the Valley sewer project has been going on forever, with no end in sight. At any given time, you can find a neighborhood in agony somewhere.

Several years ago, we watched in horror as the process neared us. Streets were annihilated, cars were trapped in driveways for days and mud was rampant. At night large holes gaped, invisible in the dark, waiting to swallow the unsuspecting. Our turn was next, and we dreaded it.

All too soon, that day came. Norm’s Utility Contractors appeared. They swept down our street like a fire storm. Diesel engines roared, asphalt crumbled. Massive trucks came to haul away the debris, dust flew. Driveways were unusable, a car trip down the street was impossible, the chasm Norm’s created would have consumed us. Our fence suffered a major wound. We huddled in the house, afraid.

Then the day ended. The street, though unpaved, was smooth and passable. All driveways were open and every hole was filled.

The fence was healed - so well the wounded spot could not be found. Almost before we could get a good head of steam up to complain about the sewer mess, the crews were done and gone.

Amazing.

Lucky us. We had the good fortune of the low bidder for our portion of the sewer project being one of the best.

Since then, when we see the telltale signs of digging, we look for Norm’s name on the equipment. If it is there, we rejoice for the homeowners, if not, we know they could suffer for weeks at the hand of less-competent contractor.

Wouldn’t it be a good idea for the county to have the freedom to look at skill and speed as well as price?

When the roof on our home needed replacing, we obtained three bids. Each company gave us a list of examples of their work. The work of both the high bidder and the low bidder was shoddy. We chose the one in the middle. We have a fabulous roof, done quickly, with no mess left behind. The few dollars more spent were saved by not having to pay for cleanup and in knowing the roof will last its guaranteed years.

It would seem logical that the county should be able to do the same thing. Send someone out to talk to the folks who are just emerging, shell-shocked, from a protracted sewer line installation project. (The neighborhood in the Knox-Argonne-Vista area springs to mind.)

Take a look around. Is the project truly done? Have the streets, sidewalks, curbs, driveway entrances been replaced so they look at least as good as they did before, if not better?

I know the low bid requirement is law, but is the law written in stone? Shouldn’t a company’s past performance, or lack thereof, have an impact on its being chosen again?

For even when it comes to a sewer project, you get what you pay for.