Thursday, Sept. 9, 1999 | 10:39 a.m.
A District Court lawsuit claims that an apparent back-door deal has resulted in the awarding of a contract for communications wiring at UNLV's new library to the fourth-lowest bidder.
The lawsuit, filed Wednesday against the University and Community College System of Nevada through attorney Charles E. Thompson, claims the sweetheart deal could cost taxpayers nearly $120,000.
Communication Electronic Systems is seeking an injunction from District Judge Mark Denton to rescind the award to Tele Data Contractors -- a company the lawsuit charges was not even qualified to submit a bid under the published rules.
Communication Electronic Systems submitted the low bid at $462,000 for the wiring project that was estimated by university engineers to cost about $480,000.
Tele Data's bid was $580,682. In between were bids of $470,949 from Southwest Systems and $531,318 from Mastec. The high bid was $610,770 from a company called Apex.
The lawsuit states that after the Aug. 19 bid deadline "rumors began to circulate in the local communications industry regarding certain improper contacts between individuals in the Purchasing Department at UNLV and representatives of Tele Data."
Contact between bidders and university officials was specifically prohibited in the bidding rules, Thompson noted.
While the lawsuit states that Communication Electronic Systems originally dismissed the rumor of improper contact, "when the contract was eventually awarded to Tele Data, the rumors took on credence."
The contract was "disturbing" because of the excessive amount compared with the estimated cost and the fact that Tele Data has been the subject of three complaints with the State Contractors Board, the legal action contends.
"Unless Tele Data submitted with its bid a letter from the contractors board showing proof of exoneration, the acceptance of Tele Data's bid was in contravention of the bid schedule," the lawsuit states.
The lawsuit claims the university did not adequately investigate Tele Data before "erroneously and in bad faith awarding the contract."
Thompson says in the legal action that Communication Electronic Systems was not only the lowest bidder but the Nevada partnership also complied with all requirements listed in the bid schedule.
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