Opinion ID: 1630832
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: whether the city council's decision to award the contract to caldwell was arbitrary or capricious and whether it was supported by substantial evidence.

Text: ¶ 9. On appeal, Landmark argues that Caldwell unilaterally deviated from the established bid specifications by using four feet forms instead of six to twelve feet forms and thereby tainted the competitive public bidding process. Landmark asserts that Caldwell gained an unfair economic advantage in this deviation and that the city council's vote to award the contract to Caldwell was not based on substantial evidence. Landmark raised the issue in letters to the different parties and at the meeting before the city council. ¶ 10. The city council argues that the contract reserved for it the right to waive any informalities not affecting time, price or changes in the work, and that the deviations from the specifications were just that, informalities. At the hearing, the city council focused on and ruled on whether the deviation from the specifications was substantial so as to make Caldwell a nonresponsive bidder. It concluded that the deviation was not substantial, would not affect time or price and would not significantly affect the structure of the tank. ¶ 11. In considering this matter, we are reminded that we apply the same standard of review to a circuit court's review of a municipal authority's decision as we apply to administrative agencies and boards. See Wilkinson County Bd. of Supervisors v. Quality Farms, Inc., 767 So.2d 1007, 1010 (Miss.2000) (citing Barnes v. Bd. of Supervisors, 553 So.2d 508, 511 (Miss.1989)). The reviewing court is to determine if the judgment of an administrative agency (1) [w]as supported by substantial evidence; or (2)[w]as arbitrary or capricious; or (3)[w]as beyond the power of the lower authority to make; or (4)[v]iolated some statutory or constitutional right of the complaining party. URCCC 5.03. See also Quality Farms, 767 So.2d at 1010 (citing Bd. of Law Enforcement Officers Standards & Training v. Butler, 672 So.2d 1196, 1199 (Miss.1996)). ¶ 12. We have noted that [t]he purpose of provisions requiring that contracts with public authorities be let only after competitive bidding [is] to secure economy in the construction of public works and the expenditures of public funds for materials and supplies needed by public bodies; to protect the public from collusive contracts; to prevent favoritism, fraud, extravagance, and improvidence in the procurement of these things for the use of the state and its local self-governing subdivisions; and to promote actual, honest, and effective competition to the end that each proposal or bid received and considered for the construction of a public improvement, the supplying of materials for public use, etc., may be in competition with all other bids upon the same basis, so that all such public contracts may be secured at the lowest cost to taxpayers. Hemphill Constr. Co. v. City of Laurel, 760 So.2d 720, 724 (Miss.2000) (citations omitted). Further, we have strictly construed the procedural requirements for bidding on public contracts as set forth in Miss.Code Ann. § 31-3-21 (2000). See City of Durant v. Laws Constr. Co., 721 So.2d 598 (Miss.1998). We recognize the principles of strict construction stressed in City of Durant but note that it deals with a specific statute that is not at issue in the case sub judice. ¶ 13. After reviewing the record, we find that the city council specifically reserved the right to waive any informality not involving price, time, or changes in work and that the city council found Caldwell's deviation to fall within the definition of informality as noted in the project manual. This is the information upon which the city council based its decision, and the record supports that decision. ¶ 14. At the meeting, Landmark's president testified that the deviations from the bid specifications could affect the bid price. However, no testimony or evidence was offered to support or rebut this contention. Also, Landmark did not offer any evidence to indicate specifically how the prices would be affected. There is nothing in the record before the city council that evinces an economic advantage Caldwell may have had over the other bidders. Moreover, there was testimony at the hearing that the use of different size forms is a mere construction technique or methodology and would not affect the structural integrity of the water tower. The public works director and the project engineer testified that the structural integrity would not be in danger. Also, the portion of the manual that mandates strict enforcement of the concrete and form work requirements specifically states that the purpose is to ensure concrete of the highest practicable structural and architectural standards. The testimony offered at the meeting undeniably shows that the structure of the water tank will not be affected by the use of four feet forms as opposed to six to twelve feet forms. ¶ 15. Landmark did not rebut any of the testimony offered at the meeting. Further, Landmark admits in its brief that there was no evidence presented that Caldwell was at an economic advantage, and that Landmark and the other bidders were at an economic disadvantage. Landmark raised the issue; and therefore, the burden was on it to prove what it contested. The burden was not on Caldwell. ¶ 16. The city council discussed and heard testimony as to whether the use of different size forms was a material deviation and determined that it was a mere informality that did not affect price, time or a change in the work. The decision to award the contract to Caldwell was not arbitrary or capricious, and it was based on substantial evidence.