Lawsuit Could Halt Stadium Expansion Project

The University of Oklahoma is being sued by a construction company that submitted a bid to supply steel for the university's football renovations on claims that OU violated a bidding requirement.

Haas Metal Engineering Inc. (HME) is suing OU, claiming it violated title 61, section 117 of Oklahoma's Public Competitive Bidding Act.

According to the act, all public construction projects exceeding $50,000 "shall be let and awarded to the lowest responsible bidder, by open competitive bidding after solicitation for sealed bids..." The project, titled "Gaylord Family-Oklahoma Memorial Stadium Expansion and Renovation," is subject to the provisions of the act.

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In its petition filed on Oct. 5 to the Cleveland County Court clerk's office, HME alleged that its base bid for the project was $11,796,450. It also said the company the university selected to supply the project's materials was $11,880,680 — more than $84,000 higher. OU denied the base bid totals in its response to the petition, but did admit HME was the lowest initial bidder. The bids were submitted on Aug. 20, the petition says.

MORE: Report: Stadium Expansion Project on Hold

The petition also alleges that the day after the bid proposals were submitted, Flintco, LLC, the university's construction manager and agent for the product, contacted HME to inform it that OU would be changing an aspect of the project. Flintco "represented that it intended to remove the erection of pre-fabricated concrete panels from the project scope of work and award the Project to W&W as low bidder on the structural steel and erection scope of work." (Much more at OUDaily.com) NOTE: No court date has been set by a Cleveland County judge on whether if a temporary injunction might be issued.

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