Regents President Jamie Koch reminded presenters at the Finance and Facilities Committee meeting Monday that accepting the lowest bid is no longer the law.
Koch interrupted Mary Kenney, associate director of facility planning for the Health Sciences Center, as she presented plans for Phase I of a new education building.
Koch made it clear it was not a good idea to just accept the lowest bidder. He said it makes companies think if they offer the lowest bid, they will get the job. That shouldn't be the main consideration, he said.
Kenney added that the Health Sciences Center had not decided how they would bid the project.
Normally they use a two-step bid process. The first step is to prequalify vendors. The second step is a lump-sum bid.
After Koch's reminder, Kenney said there are other options for bidding the project. She said she is considering sending out a request for proposal bid that would make the price tag one consideration among others. Kenney said they are hoping to put the project out to bid in January or February.
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The committee will recommend the project today at the full Board of Regents meeting. The regents recommended the project on the condition that the bidding process receives approval from the committee. If the full board approves the project, it will move on to the Commission on Higher Education for approval.
The issue of low bids continued to surface in other construction presentations following the Health Sciences Center project.
Roger Lujan, director of facility planning for the UNM main campus, was asked during his presentation about upgrading the softball facilities and what kind of bidding system he would be using for the project.
He said the cost of the project, among other items, will be considered when choosing a vendor.
Completion is slated for May 2005, with a project bid set to go out this month.
The committee recommended the renovation of the softball facilities, with a $626,429 budget. It also recommended hiring Molzen Corbin-Jaynes Corp. as the architect and contractor for the conversion of the gymnastics building into a basketball practice facility. The project budget is $4.2 million.
