A decision by board members in Orland Park-based Consolidated High School District 230 to rebid plumbing work at two of three high schools means at least a two-week setback in part of the district’s major renovation project.
District spokesman Jim Sibley said that the board voted Monday to rescind its approval of bids from R. J. O’Sullivan Inc. of Palos Park for plumbing work at Andrew High School in Tinley Park and at Sandburg High School in unincorporated Palos Township.
“There was some question about the bid process,” Sibley said. “The board wanted to make it as clean as possible.”
O’Sullivan’s bids for the work, part of a major renovation project called Schools of Thought that is under way at the district’s schools, totaled nearly $3 million.
“We would have preferred the plumbing portion be moved forward as soon as possible,” Sibley said, adding that starting the bidding process from scratch would cost at least two weeks.
John Chitkowski, an attorney representing Dawn Cos. of Frankfort, which also bid on the work, appeared at the board’s Nov. 6 meeting to object to O’Sullivan’s bid. At the time, Chitkowski said the bid did not qualify for consideration but declined to give specifics.
He could not be reached for comment.
Supt. Tim Brown said Dawn Cos. had sought a restraining order against the district, which could have meant more construction time lost in court.
“This could have been dragged out a long time if we went through the process of deciding who was right,” Brown said.