It’s back to the drawing board after the Gering City Council twice this month decided against approving a staff recommendation to award a new fuel contract to Sapp Brothers.
During the first meeting in April, Sapp Brothers had the lowest bid, but council members expressed concerns expressed about fuel quality and timely delivery in case of emergency, and several also expressed frustration the recommended bid did not come from a company with a direct local presence.
Told that local preference could not be considered, they rejected the bid 2-6, but City Engineer Annie Folck brought it back to them last week, primarily because fuel prices had been rising rapidly. “We contacted Sapp Brothers to make sure they would hold their bid for this meeting. We did not contact the other vendors on the advice of legal (counsel), they said basically, if we’re not going to accept Sapp, they would strongly discourage us from accepting one that is not the low bid,” Folck said.
A Sapp Brothers representative told the council the gasoline they provide to the area is the same 87 octane that the other bidders offer, and in fact, they all pull fuel out of a terminal in Sidney. When asked about the ability to make emergency deliveries, the council was told Sapp Brothers has a terminal in Sidney, and has local contracts with farmers, ranchers and businesses for about a million gallons of gas and diesel, so they have delivery staff in the area every two or three days.
Council again rejected the Sapp Brothers bid, this time on a vote of 3 to 4. Near the conclusion of the meeting, attorney Matt Turman then explained the council had additional options that needed consideration.
“If you want to make a motion to reject all bids, you can certainly do that, or authorize staff to re-bid, because otherwise, we just have a failed award of bid,” said Turman. “So I wanted to mention that to you in case you want to take any action today, and if you don’t want to, that’s still going to be fine.
After the council followed up with a vote to reject all bids, staff was instructed to re-let the fuel contract, and include language on fuel quality and emergency delivery as part of the bid specifications.
However, bid publication requirements in state law mean the issue won’t likely return to the Gering Council until late May, with City Administrator Pat Heath telling us the city has been and will continue to be paying closer to retail price since the prior fuel contract has been fulfilled.
