Cheney reuse plant improvements hits snag

CHENEY – The city’s proposed upgrade of its reclamation plant enabling it to produce irrigation-suitable water is on holding pending the outcome of a bid protest by a manufacturer of one of the main components.

Nexom, Inc. is protesting the city’s award of the bid to Aqua Aerobic Systems, Inc. for manufacture and installation of a pile-cloth disk filtration system. Nexom, based in Post Falls, Idaho, was the lowest of the two bidders at $349,569, with Aqua Aerobics well above this at $686,031.

Nexom’s bid was disallowed after an evaluation by the city’s consultant, Esvelt Environmental Engineering, determined it was non-responsive to bid requirements and specifications in seven separate areas.

A pile-cloth disk filtration system allows wastewater to pass through a chamber containing a number of cloth covered discs on a center spindle. Waste particles in the water pass through the cloth and are filtered out, with the water then exiting the chamber.

In protesting the bid, Nexom operations manager Todd Hansen wrote in a July 30 letter that the manufacturer did explain the product it was providing, where it met specifications and how any departure from those specifications still met the city’s needs. One of the main points is a contention some of the specifications were built around Aqua Aerobics products and that the Love Park, Ill. manufacturer took part in the bid evaluation process.

“That would be highly irregular and would have predictable results,” Hansen wrote. “By way of analogy, it would be foolish to denigrate Ford Motor, Co. as illegitimate or decline buying a Ford F-150 by arguing it has ignition problems all because the Ford Model T used a hand crank. It would be all the more heinous to allow a Ford competitor to be part of the process in deciding against Ford when public money is involved.”

In documents presented to the City Council July 28 for awarding the bid to Aqua Aerobics, part of consultant Allison Esvelt’s letter included a section titled “History of Nexom’s Infini-D Disk Filter” with the statement “This document summarizes information that Aqua Aerobic Systems has gathered from existing installations of this (Nexom’s) system.”

“It seemed very strange that a competitor would be participating in the review process, one of the bidders actually,” Nexom representative CJ Strain said in arguing the company’s case before the city’s Public Works Committee on Aug. 18. “It’s not typical of most suppliers to want to smear another supplier, and that’s what that document looked like to us.

Strain said the document referenced two of three installations that had been decommissioned “long before Nexom bought” the filter line.” He said the third installation, located in New Baden, Ill., was also “misrepresented” in that it is included in their reference list of installations.

“It was pictured with a pile of rubble in the documents and it is described as not working, and obviously that is not the case,” he added.

In defending her decision, Esvelt said reasons Aqua Aerobics was selected was their ability to show they could meet water quality standards in Washington, that they have installations in the state which can be visited and that Nexom failed to provide technical data on how their equipment would meet the specifications and successfully satisfy the city’s needs.

“Nexom doesn’t get to determine what is important for the city of Cheney,” Esvelt said. “The city of city gets to determine that.”

She said Nexom failed to submit a pre-qualification request as an alternate bidder, and noted in her evaluation the manufacturer only has three similar installations in the U.S., the largest of which is designed to handle 3.6 million gallons per day of flow whereas Cheney is requiring the capability to handle 6.5 million gallons per day.

“It does not appear that Nexom has manufactured this configuration before, so this project would be the first,” Esvelt wrote.

In explaining how the specifications were developed, Public Works Director Todd Ableman said they toured 30 installations in the state looking at filter and ultraviolet disinfectant systems. He said Esvelt also reviewed specifications from other manufacturers and incorporated relevant points in the bid documents.

“One of the most important things we need to look at is this filter system needs to work,” Ableman said. “I understand that cost is a high priority but we have to have certain assurances we are going to meet our water reuse criteria through our permitting with the Department of Ecology.”

City Administrator Mark Schuller said consideration of Nexom’s protest was a last-minute addition to the City Council’s Aug. 25 agenda, with a recommendation being provided by city attorney Stanley Schwartz and the Public Works Committee members. He added the information provided by Aqua Aerobics expressing concern about Nexom’s product was not a factor in Esvelt’s decision.

“Obviously, the price tag for Nexom’s bid was very attractive, but in the end, we have to select a product that is of known quality,” Schuller said. “The fact that Nexom did not have an installation that dealt with the volume required for the system we are implementing was of great concern.”

Editor’s note: The City Council voted to deny Nexom’s protest and accept the Aqua Aerobics bid.

John McCallum can be reached at jmac@cheneyfreepress.com.