Controversial water bid OK’d

Friday, July 19, 1996 | 11:59 a.m.

The Southern Nevada Water Authority Board rejected the low bid and awarded a contract to build a vital drinking water network to a company accepting a labor agreement.

The board voted unanimously Wednesday to drop American Asphalt & Grading Co. and its low bid of $1.5 million. Rather, it hired Ames Construction for $1.74 million.

The job calls for completing, by 1997, a portion of a $1.1 billion project to increase the valley's capacity to deliver water. The entire project will take until 2017.

When American Asphalt submitted its bid, the company included a letter stating that it would not follow a "union-only" Project Labor Agreement, specific to the bidding requirements. The SNWA board adopted PLAs in March.

Meanwhile, the Southern Nevada chapter of Associated Builders and Contractors filed suit, challenging PLAs. American Asphalt joined the suit this week, ABC attorney Kurt Faux said.

"Nevada workers are being ripped off," Faux said.

District Court Judge Jeffrey Sobel is not expected to make any ruling in the case for more than a week.

But Deputy District Attorney Chuck Hauser, representing the board, said the water authority had little choice. Either award the bid to Ames or scrap all bids and start the process again, he said.

By dropping the PLA requirement and sending out new bids, the estimated $4.2 million project could be delayed for more than two months, water authority General Manager Pat Mulroy said.

Arnie Adamsen, board member and Las Vegas city councilman, made the motion to award the contract. "It's in the best interest of the water authority to move ahead with the bid," he said.

Bruce Woodbury, another board member and county commissioner, said he couldn't understand why a bidder wouldn't accept the PLA. All PLA contracts have hired local workers and non-union companies, he said.

"I don't know what's happening, but something smells here," Woodbury said.

Henderson Mayor Robert Groesbeck urged the board to wait until the August meeting because more than $225,000 -- the difference between the bids -- was at stake.

"We do have some time and the board has the discretion to hold special meetings," he said. He voted in favor of the contract.

ABC-Southern Nevada argues that this contract takes local dollars out of Nevada, said its executive director, Larry Litchfield.

"I don't care what they say, Ames is based in Phoenix," he said.

American Asphalt President Don Andress argued that by sticking to the PLA, the water authority might overspend by hundreds of thousands of dollars.

"While I'm sure the intentions of the PLA were good, it could eventually cost taxpayers more than $300 million during the life of the SNWA's entire capital improvement project," he said.

Mulroy rejected such claims. "There is no basis for that statement," she said. By avoiding worker strikes, the PLA could save money over time, she said.

The SNWA used a 1994 executive order issued by Gov. Bob Miller as the basis for issuing the PLA requirement and ABC-Southern Nevada opposed it, Litchfield said.

Carole Vilardo, executive director of the Nevada Taxpayer's Association, said her group also opposes PLAs.

"The reasons are the cost and the impact on local contractors and their full-time employees," Vilardo said.