Lexington, KY - Lexington businesses are questioning city plans to spend $400,000 in borrowed funds with an out-of-state competitor to produce new wayfinding signs. City officials, however, counter that only one local company bid for the work, and the company's offer was far above that of the firm that won the city's business.
The Urban County Council, which last week approved an austere $274 million 2011 operating budget that makes ends meet by selling off city properties and dipping into the city's "rainy day" fund, is to hold a preliminary vote today and a final vote next week on a contract with a Virginia company to manufacture and install 100 of the green and white reflective signs distinguished by a logo featuring a blue horse named "Big Lex."
The council had already approved borrowing $1 million to pay for the signage program, but a significant drop in aluminum prices led to lower-than-anticipated bids.
"There were only 5 companies that bid on the project," said Kevin Wente of the LFUCG Public Works Department and manager of the signage project. "We submitted the information to all local sign companies, about 50 companies in central Kentucky, and it was published on Lynn Imaging's website, which is standard practice for projects. And we advertised it for two weeks on our website."
A call for RFPs for the project also was advertised in the Lexington Herald Leader on May 26, 2010, according to Willy Fogle, aide to Urban County Councilmember Julian Beard.
Wente said the local response was both surprising and disappointing. "Among all of those that we submitted to within central Kentucky, there was only one company that did bid on the project, and they were roughly $170,000 over our lowest bid, which was from Architectural Graphics out of Norfolk, Virginia."
"While I read the paper every day, I don't always scan the classifieds, nor do I take time to check websites on the off chance there might be a bid listed," noted SignsNow franchise owner Howard Stovall in a comment on this website. "If LFUCG contacted 50 local businesses to inform them of the project, I find it hard to believe that only one responded. I certainly saw nothing about it. We regularly receive bid packets from contractors and architects to bid on jobs and we do not have to go searching websites to see if there are any bids."
Wente said the construction of the signs had to meet recently adopted federal signage codes. "We also had to adhere to prevailing wage rates because we were estimating the cost of the project at over $250,000. Most of the companies came in with roughly the same costs for the actual fabrication of the signs and the posts, but the biggest difference, as far as the total amounts, was in the labor for the construction of the foundation for each sign. As a result, we had to award to the lowest bidder. Everybody was competitive and had a good offering as far as their capability of constructing and adhering to our specs."
The Lexington Convention and Visitors Bureau (LCVB) last year hired the international graphic design firm Pentagram to offer design options for an iconic logo for Lexington. The firm chose the likeness of "Lexington," a famed racehorse of the mid-19th century immortalized in a painting by portrait artist Edward Troye. The painting's owners approved the use of the image.
"There is a larger issue, however, than this one contract," said Stovall. "Any entity funded by taxpayer dollars, including LFUCG, universities and public schools owes it to those who pay the taxes to make every effort to include local businesses when awarding contracts for goods and services. It just makes good economic sense to increase the tax base. I might ask why the contract to design the "blue horse" logo also went out of state. Are Lexington area designers not considered good enough?"
Steve Baron, president of Local First Lexington, which represents the interests of local businesses, said "anytime that a city contract goes to an out-of-state company, Lexington loses out. I would encourage the city to try to find ways to ensure that local companies have a fair shot at getting these contracts and keeping the money here at home."
Baron, owner of CD Central, said his organization wants to work with the city to modify the bidding process.
"Right now we're studying what's happening in other cities, including Louisville, to see how they're handling it. Other cities have successfully implemented local bidder preference systems that would help in this area," Baron said.
"This has been one of my pet peeves," said councilmember Beard, a former LFUCG economic development director. "I think we ought to be giving Fayette County people 5-percent leeway over anybody outside the county. A 5-percent boost isn't a whole lot, but it does show that your heart's in the right place." Beard said he hoped council will pursue the issue in the near future.
Plans call for the installation of a large version of the signs at interstate exits and along major corridors leading into the city. Those signs will direct visitors to such major local sites as the University of Kentucky, Blue Grass Airport, Rupp Arena, Keeneland and the Kentucky Horse Park. Smaller signs to be posted throughout downtown Lexington would point the way to other attractions such as local parks, theaters and museums.