Gilbert council member raps downtown sign bid award

Jul. 8—A Gilbert councilman is all for the Town helping its residents and visitors better navigate the Heritage District with signs — but when it came to the cost, he balked.

Councilman Jim Torgeson cast the sole dissenting vote against an $180,000 contract with Airpark Signs & Graphics to fabricate 80 vehicular and pedestrian signs for the Heritage District. The Tempe company is expected to have the signs installed by the end of the year.

"I very much believe in the program that's being done down there for a wayfinder system," Torgeson said at the June 18 council meeting. "I have a problem with the dollar figure attached to it. I cannot in good conscience approve that dollar figure."

Now he's pushing for a third-party expert to help the Town vet big-money bids from contractors.

A consultant last year stressed the importance for Gilbert to have a wayfinding packet unique to its downtown.

The signs will not only point people to parking and other downtown areas to explore but promote the character of the district and create a sense of place, according to the consultant.

Gilbert received three proposals to make and install the signs, according to spokeswoman Kailey Latham.

Besides Airpark's bid, the other two came in at $351,206 and $72,948, Latham said.

"The lowest overall price contractor was not recommended by the evaluation panel due to qualifications," Latham said in an email.

After Airpark was selected for the job, Latham noted that during the contract negotiations, the price was reduced from $191,021 to $179,594.

At the June meeting, Mayor Brigette Peterson pushed for approval, saying the project has been talked about for years and she didn't want to delay it further.

Latham said that a request for proposal considers more than just the cost.

"For this specific project, items considered included industry expertise, project team, availability of materials and previous experience to ensure that the firm selected could achieve the full scope of the project," Latham said.

Torgeson, who owns and operates a sign shop in Mesa, last week disagreed with the town's assessment of the low bidder.

"I would not have ever used the terms 'not recommended by the evaluation panel due to qualifications,'" Torgeson said. "That was literally a call made over whether the lowest bid had experience with a downtown in the area of wayfinding."

Torgeson said that the low bidder has "done industrial complexes, shopping malls, high schools, massive subdivisions and more."

"They are a quality company," he said. "Shopping mall wayfinding is not that different from our downtown wayfinding needs. The lowest bid in this case is an extremely qualified vendor."

He added that all three vendors do excellent work but that the lowest bidder "has wanted to do business with the Town for a very, very, very long time and wanted to prove exactly how qualified and quality their company is."

Torgeson, who does not bid for work from Gilbert due to public perception, said that his bid "would likely have been in line with the lowest bidder."

"Bidding for a government project takes a lot of time, hence inflated costs," he explained. "But the quick-pencil version produced a $75,000 bid."

Torgeson said he's discussed with the town manager the idea of bringing in a "third-party subject matter expert to review larger bids."

"It was actually unfair to ask staff to make these kinds of recommendations without giving them more tools to make what will truly be the best decision," he said. "Staff really does want to do what's right."

Torgeson said that he knows that the lack of experts has cost the town money and pointed to Cactus Yards as an example.

In 2018, the then-council moved to execute a nearly $250,000 contract with a sign company to fabricate and install crowd-scene graphics on the outfield walls of the sports facility, which features eight scaled-down pro-baseball fields.

Gilbert was under a time crunch to re-open Cactus Yards following a 19-month closure for extensive fixes. Staff had given assurances that they were comfortable moving forward after having called around on the pricing, which also included design and installation costs. No other vendor could match the bid.

The Town later accused the sign maker of swapping out the premium aluminum it paid for with a sub-par product, which was confirmed by lab tests. The company ended up paying $20,000 to Gilbert to avoid a lawsuit.

"The former council was in such a rush, no one questioned the materials being used and (the Town) had no truly competitive bids," Torgeson said. "That was a huge mistake.

"I have seen some low-level purchases that make my head spin. I've seen $6 yard signs cost $90. I've seen $150 aluminum composite signs cost $1,200. Our procurement procedures need an overhaul. On a lower level of signage, we should probably go in-house."

Torgeson also requested the Town provide him with sign bids it has approved and he discovered one bid that was "extremely high."

"That company is crème de la crème with producing quality work but they get huge money for their time," he said. "I'm not saying they are overpriced, but why pay for a Lamborghini when you need a Lincoln?"

Latham said that there are two more phases in the Heritage District wayfinding project.

"The additional two future phases will include the remainder of the vehicular and pedestrian signage along with character-enforcing signage such as gateway entry signs for the Heritage District," she said. "The wayfinding signage Phase II budget is $225,000. A Phase III wayfinding budget will be developed once the design for the Heritage District gateway signs has been completed."

Timing for completion of the future phases will be contingent upon approval of funds, according to Latham."