City of Topeka’s process for picking street project contractor questioned

Topeka’s city government is receiving criticism for the way it chose the company to which it anticipates paying $683,000 to replace the roadway for a heavily traveled stretch of S.W. 21st Street.

City officials say they followed the city’s procurement policy last month when they bypassed their normal bidding process because the situation was considered a public safety emergency.

They picked the contractor, Lawrence-based Sunflower Paving, using bids submitted a few weeks earlier for a project they considered to be similar.

Councilman Mike Lesser said this past week he doesn’t doubt that the city acted within its rights, “but just because you can, doesn’t mean you should.”

Lesser suggested the process the city followed lacked transparency, wasn’t fair to other companies and might not have gotten the city the best possible price.