Litigation holding up Ephraim

Canyon Road project

James Tilson

Staff writer

7/19/2018

MANTI—The paving project for Ephraim Canyon Road has been delayed due to litigation from one of the contract bidders from out of state.

            GC Works, Inc. out of Miami, Florida, has filed an official protest with the Federal Government Office of Accountability (GAO) against the bid awarded to Staker Parsons, Co., dba Hales Sand & Gravel from Richfield.

The protest maintains that Staker Parsons is not a “legitimate certified bidder.” Staker Parsons is a large construction company headquartered in Ogden, but with locations all over Utah, Idaho and Nevada. It has bought up a number of local construction companies, including Hales Sand & Gravel, and submitted its bid for the Ephraim Canyon Road project as “dba (doing business as)” Hales Sand & Gravel.

GC Works’ position is that the naming of Staker Parson’s bid was misleading, and may have been done to pose as a local Sanpete business.

County Commissioner Claudia Jarrett expressed great concern that the delays from the protest could put the entire project in danger of not being completed in time, or at all.

            The paving project was supposed to start in May, but has not started yet, waiting on a decision from the GAO. Jarrett said the project was originally set to finish before October, so as to avoid the heavy traffic associated with hunting season. According to Jarrett, “We were pushing it to get it done in one summer. Now, I don’t know if it can get done in one season at all.”

            Jarrett said she was told on June 10 that a decision from the GAO could be expected “within 10 days.” But that time has long passed, and now she’s worried that the original bid will no longer hold. She said, “Every delay leads to a greater possibility that the cost will go up, and less of the road will get paved.”

            The winning bid by Staker Parsons came in at $3,797,469.50. GC Works bid came in nearly $1 million over that bid, at $4,583,605.00.