Cordell Board of Education Awards Roofing Contract

The Cordell Public Schools Board of Education voted Tuesday evening, May 12, to approve a $24,985 contract with Brox Industries to repair the north section of the gymnasium roof.

Superintendent Brad Overton recommended the board accept the Brox bid despite having a significantly lower bid from local contractor Nurnberg Roofing of Corn. The board members - Ronnie McKee, Dale Selman, David Thain, Mike Reimer, and Nocona Cook - unanimously, and without any question or discussion, approved Overton’s recommendation.

Overton told the board members that he had checked out Brox Industries and they had a good reputation. He offered no reason why they were the contractor best suited for the job, nor why the school district should pay almost $5,000 more for the work than the amount bid by the local contractor. Nurnberg’s bid for the job was $20,020.

Nurnberg Roofing has previously worked for the school. In 2016 the company was contracted to replace the roofs on the south and east side of the gymnasium. Following the school’s refusal to pay for the work on the south roof, Nurnberg filed suit and after four years of legal battling, a Washita County jury ruled on Jan. 8, 2020, that Nurnberg had performed the work according to the terms of the contract. They ordered the district to pay the face amount of the contract, $31,700, plus Nurnberg’s legal fees.

Lee Nurnberg, of Nurnberg Roofing, expressed his displeasure at both the board’s process and the result.

“As a small business employing local people as well as taxpayers on multiple properties in the Cordell School District, we’re very disappointed in the school’s bidding and contracting process,” he said.

Nurnberg sent a certified letter to Cordell Public Schools in April, and followed up with an email to each of the board members individually, requesting that his company be notified of upcoming projects and be given the opportunity to present bids for such work. According to Nurnberg, no such notice or invitation to bid was given. He said he found out about the project when he looked at the board’s agenda on the day of the meeting. He was able to bid the job because he performed the same work on the south and east sections of the roof in 2016.

Oklahoma’s Public Competitive Bidding Act of 1974, 61 O.S. §103.B, the district is required to award construction contracts on the basis of the lowest responsible bidder.

“Except as provided in subsection D of this section, other construction contracts for the purpose of making any public improvements or constructing any public building or making repairs to the same for Fifty Thousand Dollars ($50,000.00) or less shall be let and awarded to the lowest responsible bidder by receipt of written bids or awarded on the basis of competitive quotes to the lowest responsible qualified contractor...”

Subsection D specifically includes school districts in that requirement.

“D. The provisions of this subsection shall apply to public construction for minor maintenance or minor repair work to public school district property...”

During the meeting, there was no discussion of the lowest bidder, Nurnberg Roofing, not being a qualified or responsible bidder, which is also required by Oklahoma law when a public body decides to award a contract to a bidder other than the lowest, according to 61 O.S. §117.

“If an award is made to other than the lowest bidder, the awarding public agency shall accompany its action with a publicized statement setting forth the reason for its action. Such statement shall be placed on file, open to public inspection and be a matter of public record.”

No such statement was presented at the meeting where the decision to award the contract, and no such statement was publicized on the Cordell Public Schools website as of Thursday, May 14.

Brox Industries, however, is no stranger to Cordell Public Schools. Jason Brox, of Brox Industries, was a witness for the school district in the Nurnberg Roofing case. Despite his appearance as a defense witness, neither Jason Brox nor Brox Industries appear in the list of invoices and payments provided in response to The Cordell Beacon’s request for all billing and payment information for all attorneys, consultants, and expert witnesses paid in the course of the litigation.

Interestingly, the other contract awarded by the board during its Tuesday evening meeting was a $3,000 maximum contract to LWPB Architects of Norman, to provide for management of the contract. James Howard, one of the principals at LWPB, also testified on behalf of Cordell Public Schools, but there is no mention of Howard in the invoicing and payment information provided in response the The Beacon’s records request, either.