Miron Construction sues Green Bay over park project bidding process

A Fox Valley construction company is suing Green Bay and a contractor over concerns about the city’s bidding process for a park pavilion project. 

Neenah-based Miron Construction filed the lawsuit last week to block the city from awarding a contract to Hatley-based 8Pine Inc. The company argues that irregularities in 8Pine’s bid for a park project made Miron the lowest responsible bidder under state law.

On Dec. 9, the Green Bay Redevelopment Authority discussed awarding a $4.95 million contract to 8Pine to construct a new pavilion in Leicht Memorial Park. The project also includes site improvements like landscaping, pedestrian pathways and utility connections. 

The redevelopment authority sent the decision to the city council, without making a formal recommendation to award the contract to 8Pine.

The City Council had been set to vote on the award at its meeting on Tuesday, but that item was not on the amended meeting agenda.

A spokesperson for the city declined to comment, saying it was city policy not to comment on pending litigation. 8Pine did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the suit.

The city issued a notice to contractors for the project in early November that indicated the city would award the contract to the lowest bidder, according to the lawsuit.

The city also issued four updates to its request to “modify, explain or correct” the project’s plans and specifications. 

One of those updates was “critical” because it told bidders to “account for any site conditions” in their total bid, providing “more certainty that the Project’s contract price would not change later” due to “unforeseen site and soil conditions,” the suit states.

Miron claims that it and four other contractors did address each of the four updates from the city, but 8Pine did not.

“8Pine’s bid could be hundreds of thousands of dollars higher than Miron’s depending on the site and/or soil conditions,” the lawsuit reads.

The suit argues that 8Pine’s bid was “incomplete and unresponsive,” so it should’ve been disqualified. 

The same day as the redevelopment authority meeting, Miron filed an open records request with the city for 8Pine’s bid materials and any correspondence between the city and 8Pine.

David Voss, executive chairman of Miron Construction, brought the issue up at this month’s redevelopment authority meeting.

“There’s a lot of things here, folks, that aren’t adding up,” he said. “The numbers don’t add up. The bid form from 8Pine doesn’t add up.”

The suit claims the city appears poised to award the project to 8Pine, despite Miron’s objections and claims that 8Pine provided an incomplete bid.

Doing so, the lawsuit argues, would violate a state statute requiring public contracts be awarded to the “lowest responsible bidder.”

“The city disregarded Wisconsin law when it identified 8Pine as the lowest responsive bidder, even though 8Pine did not submit a responsible bid due to its failure to submit a timely, full, complete and responsive bid,” the suit reads.

Miron is asking a court to declare that Miron submitted the lowest responsible bid for the project under state law, and that any contract between the city and 8Pine or any contractor other than Miron would be unlawful. 

The company is also asking for an injunction to prevent the city from entering into a contract with anyone but Miron and requiring all bids receive a “fair and equitable review, without favor to any bidder.”