It was an unusual silence at Tuesday’s Calvert County Commissioners meeting. Commissioner Evan Slaughenhoupt (R-3rd District) had just moved to accept the low bid on a road construction project, after which Board President Susan Shaw (R-2nd) had asked, “Is there a second?”
Silence.
The problem wasn’t the builder. Rustler Construction had done business with Calvert County before, and in the words of the staff recommendation, “has provided satisfactory service for the County in the past for similar services.” The problem was the predominance of contracts awarded to firms not based in Calvert County.
At issue was improvements to Boyd’s Turn Road in Owings. Four bids were received, ranging from a high of $2,320,611 to a low (Rustler’s) of $1,449,633. The next-highest bid was $1,488,633 from a Calvert County company, Thomas L. Hance Inc. that was just over 2.5 percent ($38,870) higher.
“I’ve had a concern that about the amount of business we are sending outside the county,” said Commissioner Jerry Clark (R-1st). “Going back many years, I’ve had a problem where we pass up local businesses that employ Calvert County people where there is only a small difference between the bids.”
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