>> COUNTY COMMISSIONERS
Baldwin County will have to wait at least another week before deciding what company will provide ambulance services here beginning in November.
Grady EMS operates the current ambulance service in the county but notified the Board of Commissioners on Aug.1 that the contract, which expires in November, would not be renewed.
Proposals to replace Grady, effective Nov. 5, were received and opened recently, and the commissioners were set to award the contract to Atrium Health Navicent at a called meeting last Friday.
County Manager Carlos Tobar told the commissioners that he recommended Navicent, whose proposal was for a $195,000 annual subsidy, which Grady has been charging under the current contract. That offer did include a 10 percent increase in years four and five of the contract.
Patriot EMS submitted a proposal that called for the same annual subsidy with a five percent cost of living adjustment (COLA) each year.
Tobar said the rating set by the county for the proposals was 60 percent for price and 40 percent for qualifications.
“The top scorer, the one we recommend to you, to authorize the county attorney to enter into contract negotiations, is Atrium Health Navicent,” Tobar told the commissioners.
However, County Attorney Brandon Palmer immediately indicated there was a potential problem.
“It is my understanding there were a couple of irregularities in a couple of proposals that were submitted,” Palmer said. “So, it’s a question for the board as to whether to waive those irregularities, or the other option would be throw out, reject all the proposals, and authorize Mr. Tobar to send out another request for proposals.”
The county manager gave a general explanation of the problem at the meeting.
“When we reached the second proposal and opened it, we noticed an omission, and it was addressed right then and there,” he said. “We proceeded to open the rest of the proposals.”
Tobar explained later the specifics of the issue, stating that Navicent did not include a total price.
“They put in the pricing of what residents would pay for services, but they didn’t state what their net operating subsidy (from the county) would be,” Tobar said.
According to Tobar, a Navicent representative was at the bid opening and was asked what would be the net subsidy needed from the county.
“He told us right then and there it was $195,000. We subsequently opened proposals three, four, five and six, and the ones that offered $195,000 were the ones who protested.”
Since the proposal of Patriot EMS had not been opened when the Navicent issue arose, Navicent presumably had no knowledge of their $195,000 proposal.
The commissioners discussed the options, and Palmer agreed with Chairperson Emily Davis that there is a difference in bids and proposals.
“This was a request for proposals,” Palmer said. “The county’s policies and procedures handbook does give the county much more leeway in handling irregularities and allows for negotiations in the proposal process, should the county so desire.”
Discussion among board members was brief, and District 3 Commissioner Sammy Hall addressed the situation.
“Based on comments from talking to our county attorney and, as much as I hate to do this, I think it is going to be in our best interest to request proposals again and turn all these down,” he said.
Hall offered that as a motion, and it was approved unanimously.
The board also concurred with Tobar’s timetable of getting proposal requests out that day (Sept.15) with offers due no later than noon this Friday.
Tobar said later he was making one change.
“This time I’m requiring them to submit a form, a signed form stating what their net operating cost is,” Tobar said.
As of The Baldwin Bulletin’s deadline, no date for opening proposals had been set.