KIMBALL, Tenn. — City administrators said they had no choice but to reject the low bid for new rescue equipment and instead approved a bid that cost the town about $9,000 more.
Last week, officials said the lowest bid for work on a new rescue truck came from Custom Truck & Body Works Inc. in Woodbury, Ga., for $91,950. The bid is only for the rescue “box” that sits on the chassis and holds the rescue and medical equipment and doesn’t include the chassis or the driver’s cab.
“We went over the bids pretty carefully, trying to go with the lowest bid,” Kimball Fire Chief Jeff Keef said. “One problem that we ran into with the lowest bid was that they showed no proof of insurance on the bid.”
Keef said he spoke with a representative from Custom Truck and was told the proof of insurance was included in the company’s bid package.
“Those bids were opened [at city hall] publicly. There’s nothing else in that bid package,” Kimball Mayor David Jackson said.