Storage facility was not what city paid for

CHENEY – Sometimes the low bid isn’t always the best bid.

The city of Cheney received a reminder of this to the tune of a $42,429 bid for work replacing the metal roof of a covered storage facility for the Light Department at the Utility Building on Anderson Road. Originally bid in April 2018 at a price of $96,900, the contractor, Itasca Construction, was found to be in default after an inspection revealed the structure’s roof failed to meet the manufacturer’s — Metal Building Assemblies — guidelines and could not be warranted.

To get the building to a useable state, the city solicited a bid f...