Global says it's sticking to its bid (PENTICTON)

By JOHN MOORHOUSEMonday, February 5, 2007 http://www.pentictonherald.ca/article_2982.php

Global Entertainment Corp.’s $45.8-million bid on the South Okanagan Event Centre presented by last spring remains firm today, says the company’s president.And that has some in the community suggesting Penticton city council should consider cancelling its contract with Giffels Partnership Solutions. Even with the penalties associated with such a move, they claim the city would be better off.Rick Kozuback, president and CEO of Global Entertainment said Friday the company would have guaranteed the price it submitted last April in its application to the city.Global released documents last Thursday which outlined its bid -- including a price "at this time estimated at $45,820,000" for the event centre, community ice rink and galleria linking it to the Penticton Trade and Convention Centre.

Kozuback said the company sticks by its bid, even at this date. The company recently recalculated construction costs for the project and came out with roughly the same figure included in its original proposal."We felt we had enough of a contingency built in when we first bid the job that we could do it for the same price," he said.Larry Kenyon of Greyback Construction of Penticton, the general contractor for Global’s project proposal, said Friday the original bid was meant to be firm and was recently reconfirmed."A couple of weeks ago we checked with most of the subtrades and we still feel it was a valid price," he said.Kenyon noted construction industry costs in B.C. haven’t climbed that much since last April, pointing to lower lumber prices as an example.Kenyon declined to speculate whether Giffels had designed a better building, but said Global’s costs would not have increased substantially if it had wrapped its design around the community centre as did the Giffels proposal."A building is a building. You just move the location," he said. "We could argue back and forth where the best spot is, but it would have been nice to have that argument."

The city opted for Giffels after its initial bid came in at $39.6 million for the event centre itself. That figure jumped to $54.6 million by the time a contract was signed in December. The bill for the entire project is up $17 million to $73.6 million.Kozuback reiterated his concerns over a lack of communication from the city, explaining why their submission was rejected."What I'm concerned about is, if you're telling the people our bid was too high - and you're giving it to someone who's $17 million higher than they originally bid - then you need to tell us particularly, and the citizens, what is involved with Giffels' project that is that much better than Global's."However, Kozuback said so far he has heard nothing from city hall."We have waited six-plus months for them to give us a letter saying: "Here's why you weren't selected." he said."There is something that's wrong and it stinks."

Kozuback described as ludricrous, assertions by Mayor Jake Kimberley that such a review would delay the project by nine months. He said the company likely only have needed 60 days to come up with final deal for the event centre, not months as suggested by the city.The city contract with Giffels includes allowances for suspension of work or termination of the contract for no fault. However, such a move would come at a cost.The city would have to pay Giffels "reasonable and substantiated costs" for all work performed to date and other costs, including any profit Giffels would have made it had been allowed to complete the contract.Commenting last Thursday, Kimberley declined direct comment on the Global information. He reiterated the city’s position that Giffels had presented a superior bid, with closer links to the Penticton Trade and Convention Centre, and felt going back to Global would have delayed the project too much.The city had referred all requests for details of Giffels and Global’s bids to the Freedom of Information Act process. Global last week released the four-page executive summary of their bid along with a cover letter to the city.