Group disputes Wyoming residency of low bidder on new Game and Fish office

Posted 12/31/20

The Wyoming Game and Fish Commission is delaying a vote on a $8.8 million contract for a new Cody Region headquarters, after a Wyoming business advocacy group asked the state to investigate the low bidder on the project.

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Group disputes Wyoming residency of low bidder on new Game and Fish office

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The Wyoming Game and Fish Commission is delaying a vote on a $8.8 million contract for a new Cody Region headquarters, after a Wyoming business advocacy group asked the state to investigate the low bidder on the project.

A petition circulated Monday by 307 First asked the state to hold off until the Wyoming Department of Workforce Services determines whether BH, Inc. qualifies for the preference given to Wyoming companies on state projects. BHI contends it meets the residency requirements and the entire effort is due to sour grapes amid a very close group of bids.

But in response to the concerns, the Game and Fish Commission canceled a special Tuesday meeting where it was set to select a general contractor for new Cody office; the commission will instead take up the subject on Jan. 28.

Companies from outside Wyoming can win public projects, but in-state firms are given preference if they’re within 5% of out-of-state competitors. In this case, three Wyoming companies were within 5% of BHI, with Groathouse Construction of Cody coming in less than 0.1%, or $8,587, higher than BHI’s bid of $8,831,913.

As part of its bid submission, BHI filed an affidavit saying it has offices in the state. The Vernal, Utah-based company lists nine individual offices on its website, including Rock Springs.

“We’ve been in Wyoming since 2000,” BHI Senior Vice President Adam Brown said in a Tuesday interview. “We’ve had offices all over from Douglas to Pinedale to Casper to Cheyenne, and now Rock Springs. And we’ve had the Rock Springs office since 2007.”

However, 307 First board member Patrick Allen claims BHI prepared its bid in Utah and said two previous BHI offices in Pinedale and Rock Springs sit empty after being placed on the market well before the bidding process began.

“Apparently, the state doesn’t investigate whether they have satisfied all the requirements, because [their Rock Springs building] has been for sale for quite some time,” Allen said.

He’s concerned that, even if Workforce Services finds BHI in violation of state regulations, it may be too late to stop the Cody project bid from being accepted.

“It appears that this investigation may result in a revocation of BHI’s certificate for future projects but may not be retroactive to the Cody Regional office project,” Allen said.

There is an active listing for the BHI’s building in Rock Springs, an 8,000-square foot building constructed in 2008 with a reception area, offices, conference and meeting rooms, as well as a large shop. Brown said BHI is looking to move its Wyoming operation to Laramie or possibly Casper.

“And so [the Rock Springs office] has been for sale for, I don’t know, two years now, or maybe a year and a half,” he said. “But we are still operating out of it. And that’s our home base in Wyoming.”

Allen claims the building sits empty, yet Brown said work continues there.

“There’s a project engineer that works out of that office, so it’s not empty. His name’s Wyatt Christiansen and he’s there right now,” Brown said Tuesday; he also said some fabrication work was recently completed in the building.

Brown said BHI has 73 employees working on projects in Wyoming. Brown added BHI went through an investigation by Workforce Services in July when it obtained its current residency certificate.

Workforce Services has investigated BHI’s residency status a couple of times and is again looking into the matter, said communications manager Ty Stockton.

“Our residency preference program looked into BH, Inc. when they initially applied. At that time, BHI met the statutory requirements for residency. We contacted BH, Inc., again this summer, and they provided proof that they were still eligible to have a residency certificate,” Stockton said. “Our residency preference program is currently looking into the matter again.”

Game and Fish Communications Director Rebekah Fitzgerald said Tuesday that, “based on the information that we have, BHI is a qualified company with residency status and has a certification from the Department of Workforce Services.”

“Because we don’t know when that investigation is going to conclude, we’re moving forward with the information that we have,” she said, adding that, “state statute requires that we move forward with the lowest bid.”

However, Fitzgerald said late Wednesday afternoon that next week’s special meeting was being canceled; the vote will be added to the agenda for the commission’s regular Jan. 28 meeting, she said, which will give more time for Workforce Services to finish its pending investigation.

Five companies participated in the competitive bid process, including Groathouse and Sletten Construction, which also has an office in Cody; Sletten came in $45,087 higher than BHI and less than $450,000 separated all five bids.

Fred Bronnenberg, president and CEO of Groathouse, said the company never likes to lose in the bidding process, but it’s part of the business.

“It definitely stings a little, but that’s the process,” he said.

Bronnenberg insists if BHI is found to be a legitimate Wyoming business, it should win the contract. But he also noted the Game and Fish Commission has yet to make a selection.

“We don’t know for sure who they’re going to award the contract to at this point,” he said Tuesday.

Brown claimed Groathouse was behind a disinformation campaign.

“Unfortunately, our competitor is causing the stink in this issue. Groathouse is actually a partner of ours, and we’ve done several different jobs with them. And they’ve used our residency certificate on other jobs that have been to their advantage, like the state hospital,” Brown charged. “But they lose a job and get second place and now they’re throwing a fit.”

Brown said several of the company’s employees are members of the 307 First movement and they agree with the goal “to keep it all local.” But he’s tired of the continuous accusations, saying “someone continues to light a flame where there shouldn’t be a fire.”

More than 1,500 people have taken action on 307 First’s petition drive, Allen said. The group’s lobbying efforts have also included Game and Fish commissioners and Allen was also seeking a meeting with Gov. Mark Gordon ahead of the commission meeting.

“What we’re questioning here is, has BHI ever set up residency in the state? I don’t think they had at the time they signed their affidavit,” Allen said. “We can’t reward them for falsifying an affidavit.”

Allen said the state is obligated to investigate BHI, and can’t understand why it was issued a residency certificate for 2020. “[BHI] is supposed to be doing their bidding process here. In the bid itself it says it was prepared in Vernal, Utah.”

Commissioner David Rael of Cowley — who is also the owner of S & L Industrial, a large in-state construction company — said he has considered the issue carefully.

“If BHI doesn’t qualify, then the contract should go to the next lowest bidder,” he said. “But it appears they have been certified by the state.”

Rael said the debate is taking away from all the hard work the Game and Fish Department has done to build a facility “truly representative of northwest Wyoming’s great outdoor resources.” He hopes it doesn’t delay the opening of the new regional headquarters.

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