Plainfield company will build Elburn's tot lot

The Elburn village board moved Monday to accept a bid of $38,560 from Fuerte Systems of Plainfield to build a tot lot on a quarter-acre lot at Shannon and Babcock streets despite "no" votes from two trustees. The project will include fencing, erosion control fabric and rubber mulch at additional costs.

The vote came after a 45-minute discussion on budget concerns and awarding bids to local contractors, and on how the bid was delivered to the village.

Trustees Gordon Dierschow and Patricia Romke voted to table the vote, then voted against accepting the bid when that motion was overruled. Both Dierschow and Romke stated they wanted a local contractor to be considered.

"We get two bids from local people and we're going outside," Dierschow said. Dierschow also said the board should make sure the money was in the budget.

"We're not waiting for revenue, the money is there," Village President James Willey said.

Romke wanted the board to consider a bid from A.E. Frasz of Elburn which was only $1,000 higher than the bid from Fuerte Systems. The other local bidder was G. Snow and Sons of Elburn with a bid of $44,467.

Village president Willey and trustees Bill Grabarek, Tom Burgholzer and Jeff Humm voted against tabling the motion and voted to accept the bid. Trustee Craig Swan was not at the meeting.

There was some concern over how the bid was delivered after William Gain of Rempe-Sharpe Consulting Engineers told the board that a representative of Fuerte had handed the sealed bid to an Elburn police officer in the village parking lot about 6:30 a.m. on May 23. Bids were due at 10 a.m. that morning. The police officer went on his rounds and gave the bid to the village around 2:15 p.m. that day when he returned to the village hall.

Gain said the bill was accepted because the officer was an agent of the village and the bid had been delivered before the deadline. Village attorney Robert Britz told the board he also considered the bid to be legitimate.

Fuerte's bid of $38,560 was the lowest of six bids which the village received. The highest was $57,940 from The Kenneth Company of Bolingbrook.

The board also voted to buy tot lot swings at a cost of $2,682 and climbing equipment for $16,177. The village purchased the land last year.