A temporary restraining order issued Tuesday by a Flathead District Court judge has halted the demolition of grain elevators at the county-owned Kalispell Feed & Grain property while a legal battle plays out over a missing cover page in the winning bid application.

Spoklie Gravel and Oilfield Service was awarded a $48,400 contract on Feb. 16 and began work last week at the elevator site on U.S. 93 south of Kalispell. The demolition crew had not yet done a substantial amount of work on the project that was expected to last six to eight weeks, county Public Works Director Dave Prunty said.

Spoklie Gravel was not the low bidder for the project, but edged LM Excavating of Columbia Falls by two points following a review committee’s scoring of seven proposals.

LM Excavating was the low bidder at $40,000.

Now LM Excavating is suing Flathead County, alleging the county commissioners should have considered Spoklie’s proposal insufficient because of a missing cover page.

The complaint said Tom Heinecke of Morrison-Maierle, the county’s project engineer and a member of the review committee, stated in a Jan. 6 email that Spoklie’s submittal “should have been deemed non-responsive” and discarded for consideration.

LM Excavating further noted in the lawsuit that Flathead County Administrator Mike Pence acknowledged in a Jan. 8 email that proceeding with Spoklie presented a “significant liability issue.”

Commissioner Gary Krueger also had pointed out that under state law, Spoklie’s proposal “was non-responsive and an award is not warranted.” Commissioners Phil Mitchell and Pam Holmquist nevertheless voted on Feb. 16 to award the contract to Spoklie.

Whitefish attorney Sean Frampton, representing LM Excavating, wrote to Deputy County Attorney Tara Fugina the day following the contract award, asking the county to cease its dealings with Spoklie and begin negotiations with LM Excavating.

In a Feb. 25 letter, Fugina said the commissioners didn’t intend to stop working with Spoklie.

“There were multiple levels of review for the submitted proposals, and Spoklie Gravel’s omission of the cover sheet went unnoticed through each review,” Fugina stated, adding that the missing cover page was discovered after negotiations with Spoklie Gravel had begun.

She maintained the cover sheet was not necessary to evaluate the proposals. Fugina alleged the commissioners “deeming a proposal non-responsive is discretionary.”

Spoklie submitted a cover page after the fact on Jan. 8, but the lawsuit asks the court for a declaratory judgment that Spoklie’s proposal “was incomplete, illegal and non-responsive.” LM Excavating wants the court to void the county’s contract with Spoklie.

The lawsuit also asks the court to issue a permanent injunction to stop further work by Spoklie Gravel at the site.

District Judge Heidi Ulbricht has scheduled a show-cause hearing on the matter at 2:30 p.m. March 9, but Frampton moved to replace Ulbricht with District Judge Amy Eddy, so the hearing date may change.

Commissioner Phil Mitchell said he’s frustrated over another legal battle for the county. During discussion on Feb. 16 prior to awarding the contract on a 2-1 vote (Krueger voted against it) Mitchell said he believed the cover page is “inconsequential” and not a substantive piece of documentation.

“If this was such an important piece of paper I would expect [Morrison-Maierle] to say it at the time the [committee] was doing the calculations,” Mitchell said.

Holmquist noted the commissioners initially had unanimously voted to move forward with negotiating a contract with Spoklie.

“I’m going to rely on our legal service,” she said prior to the contract vote for Spoklie. “I believe we should move forward.”

The county acquired the 15-acre Kalispell Feed & Grain site through a tax deed 10 years ago. Nearly $1 million in back taxes was owed on the property and buildings when the county took it over.

In 2009 the county unsuccessfully attempted to auction the property. 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 for a new county jail.

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