Commissioners open bids on HVAC systems

Ozark County Commissioners reviewed bids that were opened last week for replacing three HVAC systems on the second floor of the Ozark County Courthouse, and chose a Mountain Home, Arkansas, company as the winning bidder.

Custom Heating and Cooling of Mountain Home was the winning bidder with a bid of $24,659.43, although they were not the lowest bid received. By law, commissioners don’t have to select the lowest bid. The lowest bid was Countywide HVAC, a Gainesville company that submitted a bid of $21,707.98. A third bid was received from Reese Heating and Cooling of Vanzant for $26,200.

Western District Commissioner Layne Nance, in making a motion to accept the Custom Heating and Cooling bid, explained that they were the only company that will have a bid for HVAC work at the sheriff’s department, so it would be more streamlined if the county could work with just one company on both projects.

Nance said Countywide HVAC originally bid on the sheriff’s department HVAC project but asked for their bid to be removed when they were told that the HVAC units would need to be removed from the roof to the ground since the county was replacing the roof at the jail with a metal pitched roof.

Bids for the sheriff’s department’s HVAC project will be opened on May 30.

In other bidding action during Monday’s regular weekly commission meeting, county commissioners voted to accept the one and only bid for road oil from Coastal Energy of Willow Springs. The bid was for $3.13 per gallon with a $125 pump charge. Nance said the county usually buys 15,000-20,000 gallons of road oil per year.

Commissioners also rejected all bids for hot mix Monday when it was discovered that they were buying less than the $12,000 bid threshold amount. By law, any purchases over $12,000 must be let for bids by county governments.

Nance said that the transaction amount for hot mix was never more than $10,000.

Commissioners also noted that, ideally, hot mix for the east side of the county should be purchased from West Plains if possible, and from Mountain Home for the west side. That’s because the hot mix plants need to be close to the projects so the mixture stays “hot.”

County Clerk Brian Wise suggested the commissioners purchase the hot mix as needed, and bids would not be required unless they break the $12,000 threshold.

Commissioners meet every Monday at 9 a.m. on the second floor of the courthouse. Next week, the meeting will be moved to 9 a.m. Tuesday due to Memorial Day. The meetings are open to the public.

Ozark County Times

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