The Pine Bluff City Council held two special-called meetings via Zoom on Friday to discuss and vote on resolutions regarding solid waste management and professional auditing services.
Both resolutions involved waiving competitive bidding, a point of contention for some council members.
The first meeting centered on a resolution to waive competitive selection and authorize the mayor to enter into a contract with Solid Waste Specialist LLC. The resolution aimed to facilitate the procurement process for new sanitation services as the current contract with Waste Management of Arkansas is set to expire on Oct. 31.
Solid Waste Specialist would prepare the request for proposal, evaluate responses, assist with negotiations and make recommendations. The city would initially pay Solid Waste Specialist $42,660, which would be reimbursed by the selected vendor within 30 days of contract award.
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Council member Lanette Frazier raised several concerns regarding the solid waste resolution. She questioned the nature of the bidding process.
“When we do bidding, usually it’s a sealed bid, so nobody knows what’s in those bids until the bids are open. But in the contract it was saying that you all were going to have meetings with the people that are looking to set a bid for a proposal for this project … and I’m a little concerned about that because we’re not supposed to have, if my understanding is correct, which it might not be,” she said.
“We shouldn’t be having conversations with people in reference to bids because then that’s going to put us in some kind of legal issue because bids are supposed to be sealed.”
Pine Bluff Mayor Vivian Flowers clarified that it was a request for proposal process, not a sealed bid, and that Solid Waste Specialist would act as a procurement department.
“The proposals and the cost amounts are still closed off to the public and closed off in the process, and I’ll add that the process that was laid out to us and described to us is one that has been approved by attorneys across this state and others that have utilized this process,” she said. She also noted that City Attorney Althea Scott would serve on the local selection committee.
Frazier also questioned the reimbursement clause.
“How do we even know that they’re going to agree to that?” she asked.
Flowers responded by saying it was part of the process successfully implemented in other cities and that several companies, including Waste Management, had expressed interest and familiarity with the process without raising this as an issue.
A third concern from Frazier was the presence of dates in the contract that preceded the council’s approval.
Flowers assured that any signed contract would have corrected dates to reflect activity occurring after the signing.
“Whatever contract we sign obviously would necessitate that we augment those dates to reflect the beginning of the activity to occur after signing of the contract,” Flowers explained.
Council Member Steven Mays Sr. also expressed a preference for the current vendor, Waste Management.
“Personally, I’m supporting Waste Management, who has done a lot better … when I call them, they respond,” he said.
He also felt the public was not adequately informed, saying, “We’re just throwing this down at our citizens; they don’t know what we’re doing.”
A motion was made and seconded to amend the resolution to specify that the funds for Solid Waste Specialist would come from the “consulting line item” in the mayor’s executive budget.
This amendment passed with a roll call vote of 5-1, with Mays voting no and Lloyd Holcomb absent. Council Member Yvonne Denton was present on Zoom but did not answer during the vote.
Council Member Bruce Lockett then requested clarification on the justification for waiving competitive bidding.
“The reason for the waiver is really the time sensitivity in order for us to meet the timeline so that we not only complete the procurement process, but we also give whoever wins the bid time enough to prepare to begin the contract,” Flowers replied.
She emphasized that a traditional bid process would take too long and hinder the transition.
Frazier made a second amendment, asking for language in the resolution stating that “the contract will be corrected with the new dates.”
This amendment was seconded and passed with a roll call vote of 5-1 (Mays voting no, Holcomb absent).
The resolution, as twice amended, passed with a roll call vote of 6-1 (Mays voting no, Holcomb absent) including a vote by Denton.
Immediately following the first meeting, the second special-called meeting commenced to address a resolution waiving competitive bidding for professional auditing services and authorizing an agreement with Forvis LLP.
The resolution noted that the city had historically used BKD LLP, now part of Forvis LLP, and wished to continue with the firm due to their familiarity and experience with the city’s audits.
It stated that competitive bidding for these services would be “inefficient and impractical” and cited Arkansas Code Section 14-58-303(b)(2)(b), which permits waiving competitive bidding when it is “not feasible or practical.”
Before the vote, a roll call confirmed seven council members present: Glen Brown Jr., Lockett, Frazier, LaTisha Brunson, Denton, and William Fells III, with Holcomb absent. Mays’ presence was unclear during this roll call, though he voted on the subsequent motion.
A motion was made and seconded to adopt the resolution.
With no further discussion, the resolution passed with a roll call vote of 7-0.
Frazier requested that the final, corrected contract for Solid Waste Specialist be emailed to all council members.