Ask MRN: Why did the Quincy School Board not put contract for HVAC unit out for bid?

Dear MRN: 

I have a question about the Quincy School Board’s decision to hire a St. Louis company to replace a heating and air conditioning unit in one of its buildings. Why wasn’t the contract put out for bid? 

The Quincy School Board unanimously voted at its March 23 meeting to approve a proposal from Thermal Mechanics Inc. of St. Louis to replace the heating, ventilation and air conditioning unit for the Board of Education building at 14th and Maine for $932,135.

The finance committee, chaired by Richard McNay, had recommended days earlier that the board approve the proposal.

Ryan Whicker, chief of business operations for the Quincy School District, said the project was put out for bid.

“They were nationally bid,” he explained. 

Whicker said the school district belongs to a co-op called OMNIA Partners in Franklin, Tenn. Omnia claims on its website to be the “most experienced cooperative purchasing organization” for state and local government, K-12 education, colleges and universities. It connects thousands of public agencies and educational institutions with hundreds of supplier partners. 

Whicker said the bid for a heating ventilation and air conditioning unit like the one Quincy wanted goes through OMNIA to major manufacturers such as Carrier, York or Daikin, instead of going to local businesses.

“OMNIA is part of the largest school system in Texas,” Whicker said. “They posted their bids in the Wall Street Journal, because that’s where they figure they’re gonna get the most responses for bids. They’re not posting their bids in the local newspaper.”

Whicker also said the bid from TMI is a “turnkey solution.”

“Daikin has their own folks install it, and then they put in a guarantee with it,” he said. “For instance, this one was maintenance and parts and labor covered for 10 straight years. We’re not paying another dime.”

McNay said that if the HVAC proposal went out to local bids, the school district typically would have been given a regular manufacturer’s warranty — unless the district specifically requested or stated that there has to be a 10-year guarantee.

“With all the new school systems we built, this is the first one that we have that long guarantee with,” McNay said. “This is an option we have, and you know, with all the new schools we built, we didn’t go that route. This was an option, and we wanted to try it. So it’s perfectly legal.”

Muddy River News obtained a Jan. 12 email from Jeff Escott, account manager for TMI, to Dane Barnes, director of maintenance for the Quincy School District, through a Freedom of Information Act request. 

Escott wrote, “OMNIA Procurement is an agency that meets the statutory bidding requirements of the (request for proposal) process. In using an OMNIA contract, all this bidding has already been done.”

The Quincy School District followed a similar process in 2017 when it replaced the lights at Flinn Stadium. The Quincy School District was part of the National Joint Powers Alliance, which bought the lights directly from Iowa-based Musco Lighting.

“There are all kinds of these co-ops — for school supplies, paper, anything,” Whicker said. “They’re all over the place. We can buy from anyone. We just have to be a member of the right co-op.”

McNay said he wasn’t sure if the school district will use a co-op like OMNIA again.

“We’ve got to wait and see how this plays out,” he said.