C.R. Kirby Contractors, Inc. v. City of Lake Charles

606 So. 2d 952, 1992 La. App. LEXIS 2860, 1992 WL 275407
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedOctober 6, 1992
DocketNo. 91-642
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 606 So. 2d 952 (C.R. Kirby Contractors, Inc. v. City of Lake Charles) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Louisiana Court of Appeal primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
C.R. Kirby Contractors, Inc. v. City of Lake Charles, 606 So. 2d 952, 1992 La. App. LEXIS 2860, 1992 WL 275407 (La. Ct. App. 1992).

Opinion

WILLIAM A. CULPEPPER, Judge Pro Tem.

This is an action for injunctive relief. Plaintiff, C. R. Kirby Contractors, Inc., submitted a bid proposal to the defendant, City of Lake Charles, for a concrete patching project on a city street. The plaintiff’s bid was rejected, even though it was the lowest bid, for failure to list its subcontractors, as required by a city ordinance and by the bid specifications. The plaintiff seeks to enjoin the City from awarding the contract to the next lowest bidder, defendant, Asphalt Associates. The trial court denied the permanent injunction. Plaintiff appealed.

FACTS

The City Council of the City of Lake Charles authorized the mayor on October 17, 1990 to advertise for sealed bids on the project. The specifications contained a statement requiring bidders to list proposed subcontractors to be used in completion of the project. This statement was in accordance with Ordinance No. 8528, adopted October 7, 1987, by the City Council, which requires submitting, with the bid proposal, a list of subcontractors to be used on the project.

Seven firms submitted bids, and on December 5, 1990, the bids were opened. As each bid was opened, the bidder was identified and the total amount of that bid was read. The city council was also orally informed of the presence or absence of a bid bond, and an executed or non-executed subcontractor’s submittal list. All of the bidders executed a subcontractors list, with the exception of defendant, C. R. Kirby. The bid submitted by C. R. Kirby was the lowest bid at $337,330.55, and the second lowest bid was by defendant, Asphalt Associates, at $340,742.80.

On December 10, 1990, the mayor received a letter from a representative of C.R. Kirby, Carl Poarch. The letter stated that C.R. Kirby did not intend to use any [954]*954subcontractors on this project. On December 14, 1990, the attorney for Asphalt Associates raised an objection to the bid of C.R. Kirby because no subcontractor was listed with its bid proposal.

On December 19, 1990, the city council held a meeting and a motion was adopted, to accept the Kirby bid, since it was the lowest. Asphalt Associates again raised their objection to the Kirby bid as not meeting the specifications for failure to submit a list of subcontractors. At that time, Roger Kirby, of C. R. Kirby Contractors, Inc., told the council Kirby would use a stripping subcontractor and requested the council to allow it to submit the name at a later date.

The council debated and discussed the purpose of the requirement of submitting the list of subcontractors with the bid proposal. Councilmen stated the purpose was to prevent general contractors from bid shopping for subcontractors after the bid was awarded. The council then voted to accept the bid of Asphalt Associates as the lowest “responsible” bidder or lowest bidder who was in compliance with the requisite specifications.

C.R. Kirby then filed this suit for an injunction to prevent the city council from awarding the bid to Asphalt. The trial court denied the permanent injunction. C. R. Kirby filed this appeal and makes the following assignments of error:

(1) THE TRIAL COURT ERRED IN DETERMINING THAT THE C.R. KIRBY BID WAS NOT IN COMPLIANCE WITH THE SPECIFICATIONS OF THE PROJECT BECAUSE IT DID NOT LIST A SUBCONTRACTOR.
(2) THE TRIAL COURT ERRED IN FINDING THAT THE INTENTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL TO PREVENT BID SHOPPING JUSTIFIED ITS REJECTION OF THE C.R. KIRBY BID.
(3) THE TRIAL COURT ERRED IN FINDING THAT THE CITY WAS NOT ARBITRARY OR UNFAIR IN REJECTING THE C.R. KIRBY BID.
(4) THE TRIAL COURT ERRED IN FAILING TO DETERMINE WHETHER THE REJECTION OF THE C.R. KIRBY BID MET THE “JUST CAUSE” STANDARD OF LA. R.S. 38:2214(A)(2).

LAW

The pertinent portions of the specifications of this project are as follows:

1.50 SUBCONTRACTING:
The Contractor may utilize the services of specialty subcontractors on those parts of the work which, under normal contracting practices, are performed by specialty subcontractors.
The Contractor shall submit with his bid a list of subcontractors he proposes to use on this contract (if any) on the Subcontractor Submittal Form included in these documents. The submittal shall include the proposed category or scope of work the subcontractor will perform. No subcontractor not previously submitted with the bid will be allowed to perform any work on the project unless approval is received from the Lake Charles City Council.”
29. SUBCONTRACTOR LISTING:
Each bidder shall submit with his bid a list of the names of subcontractors he proposes to use, if any, on this project, including which category of work the proposed subcontractor will be performing.
No subcontractor whose name has not been included on the list submitted by the successful bidder may engage in any portion of the work unless the same has been approved by the City Council.

These specifications are governed by Ordinance No. 8528, which reads:

SECTION 1: Each bid on a project of public improvement shall contain a list of names of subcontractors proposed to be used by the bidder in connection with the project, which list shall form part of the contract between the City and the successful bidder. (Emphasis added)
SECTION 2: The specifications on projects of public improvement shall provide that no subcontractor whose name has not been included on the list submitted [955]*955by the successful bidder may be engaged in connection with the project as bid or perform work in connection therewith unless the same has been approved by the City.

The award of this contract is controlled by LSA-R.S. 38:2212, which mandates the contract be awarded to “the lowest responsible bidder who bid according to the contract, plans and specifications.” Thus, whether or not the city council was correct in rejecting Kirby’s bid depends on whether or not Kirby was the lowest responsible bidder.

The language of the bid specifications and the ordinance includes two provisions. First is mandatory language proclaiming that any bidder who intends to use a subcontractor “shall” submit the name of the subcontractor which he intends to use. The second provision contains language giving the council discretion to approve the use of a subcontractor “whose name has not been included on the list.”

The minutes of the council meeting include statements by council members stating that one of the purposes of the second provision, “No subcontractor whose name has not been included on the list may engage in any portion of the work unless the same has been approved by the city council,” was to allow a substitution where a subcontractor had gone out of business or was otherwise unable to perform. This expresses a clear intent to have the subcontractors identified when the bids are submitted.

After submitting its bid, Mr. Poarch, of C. R. Kirby, sent a letter to the mayor stating that Kirby did not intend to use any subcontractors. Then at the meeting of the council where the contract was to be awarded, Mr. Roger Kirby, of C. R.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Skyline Contractors, Inc. v. Spokane Housing Authority
289 P.3d 690 (Court of Appeals of Washington, 2012)
Boh Bros. Const. v. DOTD
698 So. 2d 675 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 1997)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
606 So. 2d 952, 1992 La. App. LEXIS 2860, 1992 WL 275407, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/cr-kirby-contractors-inc-v-city-of-lake-charles-lactapp-1992.