Kimball likely to get bid for City Hall contract
POST FALLS – Post Falls new City Hall will most likely be furnished by local manufacturer Kimball Office even though the company did not offer the lowest price to provide all the desks, cubicles, chairs and other furniture.
The city received only two bids for the job – one from Kimball Office/Contract Resource Group and another from Boise-based Intermountain Design.
Intermountain Design’s $186,881 bid was almost $27,000 less than Kimball’s, making it the apparent winner, but City Administrator Eric Keck said Intermountain Design’s plan did not meet the specifications lined out by the city.
“I’m making the recommendation to the council that we reject their bid and accept the bid from Kimball,” Keck said.
At $213,784.66, the Kimball Office bid still falls below the $225,000 Post Falls officials budgeted for City Hall furnishings.
It’s no secret that city officials wanted Kimball Office to win the bid so that the bulk of the furniture would be made locally at the company’s Post Falls plant, but Keck said that’s not why Intermountain Design’s bid should be rejected.
Intermountain Design substituted some items in the bid, offering different furniture, said Keck, who said he struggled over the weekend to make sense of the bid and ensure that it met all the requirements. He said that ultimately became impossible because the company did not submit enough information backing up its price.
While Kimball submitted a detailed tally sheet accompanied by a 2-inch binder filled with product specifications and photos, Intermountain only provided a 12-page bid accompanied with a furniture catalog, Keck said.
“That to me was not responsive to the specifications that we gave out or the bid instructions,” he said.
Keck went on to explain that Intermountain Design did not detail quantities or prices for each item. If the city needed to buy an additional chair, Keck said he had no way to know what that would cost.
Intermountain Design Vice President Jay Nagel said he had no comment on Keck’s characterization of his company’s bid’s deficiencies other than, “We try to take care of our customers the best we can.”
The Post Falls City Council will consider the issue during a wastewater workshop at 5:30 tonight. Should they decide to reject Intermountain Design’s bid, the council must wait seven days before awarding the contract to Kimball Office.
The one-week delay is required to give Intermountain Design the opportunity to protest the decision.