Mar 1, 2007 By Amy Zalar 3 min read

The attorney for the man suing the Fayette County commissioners over his employer not obtaining a copy machine contract for the county told Fayette County Judge Gerald R. Solomon Wednesday that the county modified the bid illegally. In appearing in motions court and asking Solomon to grant an injunction against the county to halt implementation of a copy machine rental contract to Ricoh Business Systems of Bridgeville, Samuel J. Davis said his client is alleging that the commissioners “improperly awarded a copy machine bid.” The suit is asking that the contract should instead be awarded to Ford Business Machines Inc. of Uniontown because Ford had the low bid, and not Ricoh.

Fayette County solicitor Sheryl Heid argued that Ricoh’s bid for the five-year contract was lower.

The suit, filed by Dale Speggen of Uniontown, alleges that the Ford bid of $279,370 was lower than the $280,140 Ricoh bid, and should have been awarded using those figures. However, when the commissioners awarded the bid to Ricoh last month, they used a calculation of $284,160 for the Ford bid, thus making the Ricoh bid lower.

During the meeting when the contract was awarded, county manager Warren Hughes explained that the bid did not include a calculation for paper for the copy machine in the tax assessment office because it was a larger machine that used more paper, so companies submitting bids had to separately contact the tax assessment office to discuss paper usage. While Ricoh’s bid included the paper for the tax assessment office at no charge, Ford’s bid included a price for the paper that was not included in the total bid, and was thus added, raising the price.

When Commissioners Joseph A. Hardy III and Vincent A. Vicites voted to award the contract to Ricoh, they did so after Heid said Ricoh was the lowest responsible bidder. Commissioner Angela M. Zimmerlink voted against the action. By law, the county must award the contract to the lowest responsible bidder.

Davis said his client is asking, “At the very least, the county rebid” the contract. He contended that the county modified the bid. “What the county did was illegal,” Davis said. He said Ricoh added a line in the bid documents that should not have been added. He said the bid makes reference to the bidders to make a telephone call regarding copies for the tax assessment office. “It’s amazing, the county commissioners are supposed to be watchdogs,” Davis said, adding that the vote was not unanimous.

Heid said even if the tax assessment copier is left out of the calculations, Ricoh is still lower.

Both Davis and Heid pointed out that the new contract begins March 3, with Heid saying the county would like to move forward. Ford has the current contract.

After hearing both sides, Solomon said he was unsure which judge had been assigned the case, and opted not to make a ruling until that is decided.

When contacted later, Fayette County solicitor Joseph E. Ferens Jr. said the county will continue with implementation of the new contract until another order is issued. “We have no other choice but to continue,” Ferens said.