It’s back to the bidding process for Biloxi street work

A Harrison County judge has found there was not substantial evidence for the Biloxi City Council to reject the low bid from Oscar Renda and award a contract to Hemphill Construction for completing infrastructure work in East Biloxi.

The ruling means the city must re-bid the work to repair and replace water, sewer and storm drains south of the railroad tracks, a process that will take several months.

Circuit Court Judge Lisa Dodson, overseeing an appeal filed by Oscar Renda, ruled Friday the contract with Hemphill should be set aside.

The city in January rejected Oscar Renda’s bid of $82.9 million in favor of a Hemphill Construction bid for $93.7 million because Oscar Renda didn’t include a state-required document as part of its bid.

The re-bidding of the south contract, which extends from Point Cadet to west of I-110, will allow the city to exercise more care with specifications intended to minimize disruptions, said Mayor Andrew “FoFo” Gilich, who took office in May 2015 after the proposed contract was written.

“We’ve all seen what happened with the massive disruption in East Biloxi north of the CSX railway,” Gilich said. “Re-bidding of this contract means two things. First, the north contract will be winding down as we enter this south contract, and second, we’ll be able to handle the work more precisely. We will not see every road in east Biloxi torn up at the same time.”

This story was originally published July 26, 2016 at 2:30 PM with the headline "It’s back to the bidding process for Biloxi street work."