David Rael
Despite protests, the Wyoming Game and Fish Commission voted last week to accept a low bid from a contractor, whose ties to Wyoming were controversial, for the future headquarters of the Cody Region division. The $ 8.8 million bid from Vernal, Utah-based BH, Inc. was approximately $ 8,500 – less than 0.1% – below the competitive bid submitted by Groathouse Construction of Cody.
The commission’s vote was unanimous, but not before Cowley Commissioner David Rael protested the election.
“State money has to be spent with citizens,” said Rael before the vote, adding, “We are legally required to award this contract, but I hope lawmakers will listen and we can do something to avoid this in the future . ” . ”
Five construction companies are bidding on the project, with four of these bids being less than $ 88,500, or about 1% apart.
BHI has an office in Rock Springs which, like the four other bidders, has enabled it to qualify for preferential treatment as a Wyoming company. However, a group advocating Wyoming businesses had denied whether BWI is really a state-owned company.
A petition distributed by 307 First asked the Game and Fish Commission to postpone the award of the contract until the Wyoming Department of Workforce Services determined whether BWI qualified to favor Wyoming companies on state projects. Had BHI not qualified as a state-owned company, its bid would have been treated as if it was 5% higher – bringing BHI back to fourth place and making Groathouse the low bidder.
The commission postponed its January 5th vote to Thursday pending an investigation. However, the Department of Workforce Services ultimately confirmed that BWI qualified as a Wyoming company.
Game and Fish Deputy Director John Kennedy said the correspondence from Workforce Services was “fairly short and simple”.
“You’ve been watching this for a good couple of weeks, almost three weeks actually,” Kennedy said. “And with all of the evidence and interviews that they have done, they have established that [BHI] complies with statutory requirements and continues to hold Wyoming Resident Certificate. “
However, Commissioner Rael, who owns contractor S&L Industrial, said he had been informed that BHI’s Rock Springs office was “just one front”. Rael quoted the one employee who works in the office as saying, “I don’t know what I’m doing here.”
In a December interview, Adam Brown, BWI’s senior vice president, insisted the company has been based in Wyoming since 2000 and employed 73 people in the state. Brown said he was tired of constantly blaming the company’s residence, saying, “Someone keeps lighting a flame where there shouldn’t be a fire.”
At Thursday’s meeting, Commissioner Patrick Crank proposed that the contract be awarded to BWI and Douglas’s Gay Lynn Byrd agreed. Rael relented, saying he didn’t want to see any more delays for the project.
“This is a well-deserved project for Game and Fish and a well-deserved project for the residents of Cody,” he said.
The department hopes BWI will lay the groundwork for the new Cody office this month. Major completion is expected in May 2022, with final completion shortly thereafter.
The Game and Fish says it has significantly outgrown its current facilities south of Cody. The new facility is expected to include 19,000 square feet of office space with an attached 14,500 square foot two story store and 5,000 square foot outbuilding. The facility is located north of the city limits of Cody am Wyo. Highway 120 and will include a large common room for public hearings, hunter training courses, workshops, and other nonprofit events. There will also be an aquatic invasive species control station to replace the current North Cody control station near Newton Lake Road and a large public car park.
The project is funded entirely from the Game and Fish budget, which is largely funded by hunters and anglers, as well as federal taxes on the purchase of outdoor sports equipment.
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