Five bids for a new bookmobile came before Humboldt County commissioners last week, but all were rejected due to bidders' safety concerns about placing the generator on the roof of the vehicle or cost.
County Roads Superintendent Ben Garrett, Library Director Sherry Allen and bookmobile specialist Ginny Dufurrena came before commissioners to present the options, but the ultimate decision was that re-bidding was the best way to proceed. The county has been working toward a new bookmobile for nearly three years now and commissioner Jim French expressed concern that something needs to be done - and soon.
"Every time we re-bid the cost goes up," he said. "We're quickly approaching the point where this isn't going to be feasible."
The county received its first set of bids last October, but rejected them because they did not adequately address the bookmobile's dust problems and heating, cooling and electrical systems. When the library board went out to bid again in January of this year, it thought that all the problems had been solved. Unfortunately, new problems arose.
The library actually received six bids this time around, but one was not submitted on time and therefore not considered. The viable bids were: $233,100 from OBS Specialty Vehicles, $275,919 from Matthews Specialty Vehicles, $285,800 from Farber Specialty Vehicles, $326,489 from LDV Inc. and $367,046 from Summit Body Works.
The library has a total budget of $313,000 budgeted for the bookmobile (including $63,000 in community contributions), but Dufurrena said she wants to stay closer to $250,000.
The main problem with the bids began with OBS expressing concerns about placing the generator on the roof of the bookmobile. According to the bookmobile bid review, OBS said the issue was the Supreme Body cabin structure is not built to withstand the 800-pound generator and its housing. OBS said it was not willing to build the bookmobile to the library's specifications.
When the library board heard of the concerns from OBS, it approached the other bidders to ask if they had the same thoughts. Matthews and Farber both expressed concerns about the safety of placing the generator on the Supreme Body cabin structure. The bids from LDV and Summit included custom bodies, however, and those would support the project but with a much higher cost.
The library was presented with two solutions: either reinforce the generator on the roof, which could negate warranties, or move the generator to the inside of the bookmobile.
Commissioners were in agreement that something needs to be done in regard to acquiring a new bookmobile, especially because community contributions are growing "stale." Commissioner Dan Cassinelli said he thought the library should re-bid with the generator on the inside of the bookmobile.
"I think we need to get this thing done," he said.
The other option was to submit a change order, but commissioner Mike Bell said he was worried they would see some challenges from bidders if the project wasn't completely re-bid with the new specifications in order to give all bidders a fair chance.
All commissioners voted to reject the bids and proceed with new specifications regarding the generator.
The next step is to adjust the specifications, re-bid and hopefully make a selection once the next set of bids are opened.
Contact Jessica Powell at j.powell@winnemuccapublishing.net.
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