The Flathead County commissioners on Monday selected Spoklie Gravel and Oilfield Service of Kalispell to demolish the grain elevators at the county-owned Kalispell Feed & Grain property south of Kalispell.

The county acquired the 15-acre site on the west side of U.S. 93 South through a tax deed in December 2006. Nearly $1 million in back taxes was owed on the property and buildings when the county took it over.

In 2009 the county attempted to auction the property but got no bidders. The commercial property was appraised at $1.9 million at that time.

Recently county officials suggested the Feed & Grain site could be a potential location if the county were to build a new jail.

The county received proposals with cost estimates from seven companies, with estimates for the demolition widely ranging from $450,000 by Nelcon of Kalispell to $40,000 by L-M Excavating of Columbia Falls.

Spoklie Gravel estimated the demolition at $48,400 to remove everything except a concrete block building the county will use for storage.

A review committee ranked the seven proposals based on each company’s qualifications and references, workload and related experience, among other criteria.

Spoklie Gravel ranked the highest, followed by L-M Excavating and TCI Excavation of Libby.

The commissioners voted to accept Spoklie’s proposal without including the cost estimate, acknowledging that requests for proposals are not the same as formal bids from contractors.

“The scores that were created by consensus are more just a guideline to help the commissioners make a decision,” Deputy County Attorney Tara Fugina said. “Once the commissioners decide on a firm, then it goes through a contracting process.”

The scope of the project and the price are subject to change during the negotiation process, she said.

“Usually an RFP [request for proposal] is a process for getting information to the county on a way to do a project,” Fugina advised the commissioners. “This one is a little different because the RFP process was used to get more information” about how different contractors would complete the project.

With requests for proposals “everything is still on the table” until the county concludes the contract, Fugina added.

Commissioner Gary Krueger disclosed that Spoklie had helped him extensively with his campaign for commissioner. He said it was important to him to have the commission consider Spoklie’s proposal without the estimated price.

“I did not want to be perceived as looking at dollars” with Spoklie’s proposal, said Krueger, who voted with the other two commissioners to accept Spoklie’s proposal. “I wanted to be perceived as looking at qualifications.”

Features editor Lynnette Hintze may be reached at 758-4421 or by email at lhintze@dailyinterlake.com