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By Scott Nicholson
Watauga County, in accordance with a change in state statutes,
is revising its plan to solicit more minorities and small-business
owners for its capital projects.
The county has an existing policy dating back to 1989 and has
a goal of 3 percent of all building construction contracts going
to businesses owned or operated by minorities.
The new policy will make it easier to comply with state standards
and also broaden the avenues in which companies can find out about
and bid on county projects.
The state has a system in place that tracks contracts awarded
to HUB businesses.
The Office of Historically Underutilized Businesses serves as
an advocate agency for minority, female and disabled business
owners and attempts to expand the public bidding process to allow
such businesses to compete for contracts.
Qualifying businesses must be majority-owned by minorities, women
or the disabled and is also a resource for such businesses to
learn about upcoming projects.
According to assistant county manager Deron Geoque, the revised
policy will make it easier to meet mandated policies in contracts
awarded for the new high school, which is under construction in
eastern Boone and is expected to cost up to $70 million.
Geoque said the county had the 3-percent HUB goal in its existing
policy but actual contract awards to HUBs were probably less than
that.
Contractors typically bid from the northwestern North Carolina
region, though for larger county projects bids often come from
companies based in Charlotte or Raleigh.
Under the revised policy, the county will advertise its bid projects
on both state and county Web sites.
The change in statute requires each city, county or local public
entity to adopt an outreach plan. State statute requires a bidding
process for any public project that exceeds $300,000.
The proposed policy reads, “It is the intent of these guidelines
that Watauga County, as awarding authority for building construction
or repair projects, and the contractors and subcontractors performing
the construction contracts awarded shall cooperate and in good
faith do all things legal, proper and reasonable to achieve the
goal of 3 percent for participation by minority businesses in
each building construction or repair project as required by [state
statute].
“Nothing in these guidelines shall be construed to require
contractors or awarding authorities to award contracts or subcontracts
to or to make purchases of materials or equipment from minority-business
contractors or minority-business subcontractors who do not submit
the lowest responsible, responsive bid or bids.”
The policy is especially challenging because only 3.5 percent
of Watauga County residents considered themselves non-white in
the 2000 U.S. Census, with blacks and Hispanics about evenly divided
in their racial identification among non-whites and Asians and
Native Americans also making up measurable percentages.
Under the proposal, the county will work with economic development
entities like Caldwell Community Collge & Technical Institute
and the Small Business Development Center, encourage contractors
to receive bids from minority-owned businesses and expand local
business relationships.
The county will also maintain a database of minority-owned businesses
and advertise upcoming bids in media that targets minority audiences.
A hearing on the policy change will be held during the next regular
county commission meeting on March 3 at 9 a.m. |
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