FAYETTEVILLE -- The bid opening for Washington County's planned $20 million jail expansion has been delayed after the county courthouse was closed Wednesday due to a winter storm.
Brian Lester, county attorney, said the county advertised for bids on the project with the bids due by the end of the business day Wednesday. With the courthouse closed due to the winter weather, Lester said, there was no one at the courthouse to accept any bids that may have been meant for delivery.
"The law on bids is very technical," Lester said. "Our options were to extend the time to accept bids, which may have been subject to legal challenge, or to cancel the bids altogether and reschedule."
County Judge Patrick Deakins said the decision was made to cancel the bids out of an abundance of caution.
"This is a critical issue for Washington County, and it's something of a hot-button issue as well," Deakins said. "We're trying to make the process as transparent as possible."
Lester said state law allows the county to advertise for bids for a period of as short as 10 days, and Deakins said Thursday afternoon he expected a new, 10-day bid period to be posted later in the day Thursday.
Sheriff Jay Cantrell said delaying bids on the project into early February shouldn't substantially delay the project, which has a timeline for completion of 24 to 28 months.
The Arkansas Justice Reform Coalition is gathering signatures on a pair of petitions seeking to block the two ordinances approved by the Quorum Court in December to pay for the jail expansion project. One ordinance spent $10 million for the jail project, and the second spent $8.8 million. The petitions ask for the ordinances to be put to a public vote in the November 2024 general election.
The group is having petition gathering events from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday at St. Paul's Church in Fayetteville and reaching out to church and civic groups and setting up tables at community events, according to Sarah Moore, executive director of the group. The deadline to submit the petitions to the Washington County Clerk's Office for verification is Feb. 21.
Moore said Thursday the delay in bidding doesn't change the group's plans or goals.