After dispute, a local firm, not Colorado company, wins KCI concrete contract
A disputed contract for concrete work at the new single terminal at Kansas City International Airport will now go to a St. Joseph firm, not one based in Colorado, after the City Council intervened earlier this month — the first time it has taken formal action to alter such a contract since the project began.
Some council members have watched closely as the terminal’s developer, Edgemoor Infrastructure & Real Estate, of Maryland, and its general contractor — a joint venture known as Clark Weitz Clarkson — have chosen subcontractors. Council members worried the team won’t live up to its promise to award at least 35% of the work to firms owned by women and minorities, known as WBEs and MBEs.
Edgemoor-CWC initially chose the low bidder, ESCO Construction of Colorado, to lead a portion of the concrete work. But local trade groups and several council members criticized the move, claiming ESCO didn’t have enough M/WBE participation.
Council members voted to reject ESCO’s bid and ask it and Ideker Inc. of St. Joseph to submit best and final offers. The city’s Aviation Director Pat Klein notified interim City Manager Earnest Rouse on Friday that Edgemoor-CWC chose Ideker’s final bid for the contract, which company president Paul Ideker said was worth about $75 million.
Ideker, also the contractor preferred by the Heavy Constructors Association of Greater Kansas City and the Greater Kansas City Building and Trades Council, was the low bidder in that round.
Geoff Stricker, managing director of Edgemoor, declined to confirm the specific price and M/WBE details of each bid.
“While there were a number of factors that went into our decision, the winning bid resulted in the savings of several million dollars to the new terminal project at KCI,” Stricker said. “The Edgemoor team is thrilled to see our project partners support the MBE and WBE goals we set in order for the new terminal project to have a transformational impact on the Kansas City community.”
Paul Ideker said his firm and its subcontractors and unions were excited to start the work.
“The mayor and the City Council and the Aviation Department — I think they did the right thing,” Ideker said.
Ideker said there were some changes to the scope of his bid so he could lower the price. And he said his team would slightly exceed the 20% MBE and 15% WBE goals
Representatives with ESCO Construction said in an interview they were disappointed and would not be bidding on future concrete work at KCI. The firm’s owner, Eric Clark, said the City Council used its muscle to force Edgemoor-CWC to pick Ideker.
Clark said that Ideker had the low bid, but that ESCO’s best and final offer included more M/WBE participation, over 48%. He noted the purported purpose of seeking final offers was to increase that participation.
“What that does is absolutely discredits the entire purpose of the (best and final offer),” Clark said.
Lisa Garney, owner of ESCO’s would-be subcontractor G2 Construction, a WBE, said in a statement that ESCO and G2’s original proposal had the lowest price, best qualifications and most M/WBE participation. She said the council’s “stated goal of more participation for local minority and women-owned businesses was not really what this was about.”
“City Council voted to do an unprecedented best and final offer after our competitor had already seen our winning bid,” Garney said. “ESCO and G2 submitted what the politicians said they wanted: a lower cost, qualified proposal that included the most transformative M/WBE team in the history of the new KCI project with 48.4% M/WBE.”
The Star has not been able to independently confirm either company’s price or M/WBE participation as Edgemoor won’t release the bids until there is a signed contract. Ideker said his firm has not yet signed a contract.
Bridgette Williams, executive director of the Heavy Constructors, said she was happy to see the work go to a local contractor, which she believed was more experienced.
“I think what this does is it sends a message that the community is watching and taking seriously the promises that were made when the job was awarded” to Edgemoor, she said.
She said ESCO’s previous M/WBE participation was primarily one WBE, G2 Construction, but she did not have details on the latest bid.
Asked about ESCO’s statement that its M/WBE participation was higher than Ideker’s, Williams said she did not have the details on the firm’s latest bid. But she said ESCO’s previous bid relied heavily on G2 Construction to fulfill its M/WBE obligations.
“Whether or not they’ve added M/WBE, I think at the end of the day is when it is an experienced local contractor who meets the M/WBE requirements, it should always fall to the local contractor,” Williams said. “That was how the program was sold, and I don’t know how it balanced out on either side, but I do know that Ideker definitely increased their M/WBE participation … and cut their cost.”
Councilman Kevin O’Neill, 1st District at-large, who sponsored the legislation to put the contract out for best and final offers, said he thought Ideker was best for the city.
“I always hate best and finals because you wonder why we weren’t given that in the original plan,” O’Neill said. “For me, I like having a local contractor. I think that’s important. This is a transformative project. We need more small MBEs and WBEs.”
Crews broke ground on the new KCI terminal last year. It’s expected to be completed in early 2023.
