North Las Vegas delays action on North 5th Street project

Meadow Valley Contractors Inc. was North Las Vegas’ first choice to finish the city’s multimillion-dollar North 5th Street improvement project, just not its last.

The Las Vegas-based construction firm first won a $24 million contract to complete the city’s nine-figure North 5th Street overhaul in November.

But city leaders tore up that agreement last month, handing the project, with an extra $1 million, to North Las Vegas-based construction giant Las Vegas Paving Corp.

The move triggered legal threats from Meadow Valley and prompted plenty of interest from officials with the Federal Highway Administration, who warned they would pull funding if the project were granted to Las Vegas Paving.

That threat didn’t go unnoticed at City Hall, where council members moved 4-0 Wednesday to push back final action on the bid award until Feb. 19. Councilman Wade Wagner, who has a family member employed by Las Vegas Paving, abstained from this week’s vote.

Federal interest in the city contract stems from a protest bid filed to block Meadow Valley’s hiring in December.

The Las Vegas Paving-backed protest suggested subcontracts awarded under Meadow Valley’s winning bid ran afoul of Nevada Department of Transportation-enforced minimums on the number of disadvantaged or minority business owners hired to work on the project.

An official NDOT review of Meadow Valley’s bid found the contractor “did not demonstrate a good faith effort” in meeting the state’s 12 percent disadvantaged business hiring goal.

A third-party review conducted by Clark County Aviation disputed that conclusion, an opinion shared by federal officials and city staff who recommended council members put off final action on the bid award until later this month.

“It was really just a courtesy to Las Vegas Paving,” City Attorney Sandra Douglass Morgan said. “Las Vegas Paving met the (Disadvantaged Business Enterprise) goal, and Meadow Valley did not. …The (federal authorities) are simply saying we followed the right administrative review procedure.”

Councilman Isaac Barron admitted city leaders’ U-turn on the bid had plenty to do with federal officials’ decision to throw their weight behind Meadow Valley.

He is still on the fence about whether they can sway his support for Ward 1’s disadvantaged contractors.

Meadow Valley “just didn’t follow the rules,” the Ward 1 councilman said Wednesday. “They fell well short of the (disadvantaged business enterprise) requirement.”