April 22, 2013|By ALEJANDRO DÃVILA | Staff Writer
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A disputed copier lease contract bid that rehashed talks about a bid preference ordinance and raised questions on a county request for proposal procedure could be awarded by the Imperial County Board of Supervisors today.
The issue comes a week after staff recommended the board award a five-year copier lease contract to Canon Solutions America, which wasn’t the lowest bidder but nonetheless came in first in a request for proposal ranking.
The request for proposal scoring was done by a committee of county employees from the larger copier-user departments, which rated the proposals and selected Canon Solutions over Digital The Fruth Group based on experience, corporation information, financial information and references — to name a few — according to a report to the board.
But Canon Solutions, whose $1.503 million bid is roughly $171,000 higher than Digital’s bid, also won the request for proposal by one point, prompting Digital’s officials to ask that the issue be revisited.
In doing so, Digital questioned the request for proposal score it received, touted savings for the same product offered as well as its condition as a “local” business.
Canon, however, said its business is as local as Digital’s, a company headquartered in Arizona.
Although Canon officials noted they don’t hold an office in the Valley like Digital does, they indicated they have local sales representatives and local service technicians just like Digital does.
The board didn’t question the validity of the bid procedure, but still continued the item to review both bids.
Last Tuesday’s discussion also brought back talks about a bid preference ordinance for local businesses, an issue the board first discussed last year.
Supervisor Ryan Kelley asked staff to bring back a local preference ordinance for the board’s review. But as noted in Tuesday’s meeting, such an ordinance raises various issues, including the definition of what is a local business, as exemplified in Digital and Canon Solutions situation.
County to comment on Joint Strike Fighter
The county’s comment letter questioning certain findings in the Navy’s F-35 West Coast Homebasing Draft Environmental Impact Statement could be approved today.
Naval Air Facility El Centro is one of the two bases considered to house the F-35C squadron. However, the DEIS lists Naval Air Station Lemoore as the preferred basing option.
The board’s approval of the comment letter was continued as staff learned that the DEIS comment period was extended to May 7.
County staff was expected to use the additional time to fine-tune the comments, which in part refute the DEIS based on what the county says is incorrect socioeconomic information and a defective project description.
In addition, the predetermination of Lemoore as the preferred option is based on economic factors, according to a report to the board, which notes the county alleges that this DEIS doesn’t meet National Environmental Policy Act requirements “because the determination of a move to Lemoore already has been made.”
Staff Writer Alejandro Dávila can be reached at 760-337-3445 or adavila@ivpressonline.com
If you go
What Imperial County Board of Supervisors meeting
When 8:30 a.m. today
Where 940 Main St., Suite 211, El Centro
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