Triple J Saipan Inc. is suing the Public School System and Education Commissioner Cynthia I. Deleon Guerrero to invalidate a contract that PSS awarded to a company for five buses.
\nTriple J, through lawyer James R. Stump, wants the Superior Court to stop PSS and Deleon Guerrero from implementing and paying a PSS contract that had been awarded to Morrico Equipment.<\/p>\n
After a hearing last Thursday, Associate Judge Kenneth L. Govendo will resume the hearing on Thursday to allow PSS and Deleon Guerrero to respond to the lawsuit.<\/p>\n
Tiberius Mocanu appeared as counsel for PSS and Deleon Guerrero.<\/p>\n
As of press time Thursday, Saipan Tribune was still waiting for comments from PSS.<\/p>\n
PSS, which was seeking to buy five school buses, issued a competitive sealed bid process on March 10, 2017, requiring bidders to provide warranty coverage for \u201cone year\/12,000 mile miles bumper to bumper and five years\/60,000 miles power train.\u201d<\/p>\n
According to Stump in Triple J\u2019s complaint, Morrico Equipment submitted its bid on April 13, 2017.<\/p>\n
Stump said that Morrico\u2019s bid only identified the total bid price of $709,995 and individual bus bid price of $141,999 for each of the five buses.<\/p>\n
Stump said the Morrico bid did not identify or discuss the required maintenance and warranty requirements.<\/p>\n
He said the bid submitted by Triple J was $799,375 or $159,875 for each of the five buses and provided a detailed description of the proposed maintenance and warranty requirements.<\/p>\n
When asked if the Morrico bid addresses the maintenance and warranty requirements, a Morrico representative finally responded on April 20, 2017, Stump said, a week after the invitation for bidding was due. It said the Morrico bid included warranty requirements but not the maintenance requirements.<\/p>\n
On May 26, Triple J Motors representative Randy Steele asked about the results of the bidding and was told that the bid had been awarded to Morrico, Stump said.<\/p>\n
That same day, Triple J submitted a bid protest, saying the contract with Morrico failed to comply with requirements for a competitive bid\u2014that Morrico was not a responsible bidder, the bid submitted was not responsive, and that PSS failed to tell Triple J of the award of the bid.<\/p>\n
According to Stump, Deleon Guerrero responded to Triple J\u2019s protest last May 30, saying that Triple J failed to file a bid protest within 10 days and failure to notify the other bidders of its protest within three days.<\/p>\n
Triple J then appealed Deleon Guerrero\u2019s decision to the Board of Education.<\/p>\n
Stump said that Triple J\u2019s challenge rests on four issues: violation of requirements for competitive bidding, Morrico was a non-responsive bidder, claims of untimeliness are inappropriate, and PSS violated the requirements of good faith.<\/p>\n
The BOE appeal committee issued a decision last Sept. 5, saying it lacked jurisdiction to consider the appeal.<\/p>\n
The committee also determined that Triple J was not prejudiced by the award to Morrico and that Triple J did not provide adequate notice to Morrico.<\/p>\n
Stump said the Triple J\u2019s protest is not against the bid by Morrico but against the failure of PSS personnel to comply with the requirements of bid and bidder evaluation. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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