Author: Gabriel Tynes

The Fairhope City Council voted July 24 to award its conditional disaster debris removal and disposal contract to the lowest responsive and responsible vendor — D&J Enterprises Inc. of Auburn — effectively ending an arrangement the city had since 2012 with State Sen. Trip Pittman, who chose not to seek another term in the Legislature this year in favor of a bid for the U.S. Senate. The annual contract must be rebid every three years, but extensions can be granted to existing contractors within the three-year time frame. Pittman said unlike last year, he was never approached about exercising an extension on his existing contract, which was approved in 2015. Rather, he received new bid documents in January. “That was our notification that [the city] was going to seek new bids,” he said. “We just made the decision to — with what was going on with the state budget and possibly running for [the U.S. Senate] seat — just decided not to rebid.” At the City Council meeting July 24, Council President Jack Burrell lamented Mayor Karin Wilson’s decision to rebid, noting D&J’s low bid of just under $1.8 million is still $115,000 more than it would cost to extend Pittman Tractor Co.’s contract for an additional year. “Every nickel we save is a nickel earned in this city,” Burrell said, before Wilson defended her decision by stating the...