City officials will gather today for a called City Council meeting to reconsider a motion made in its scheduled assembly earlier this week.
    Statesboro city councilmen, Mayor Joe Brannen and City Manager Frank Parker will convene in City Hall’s council chambers at 9 a.m. to reevaluate a decision awarding a local construction company a contract to provide select roadway improvements.
    Tuesday, during Council’s final scheduled June meeting, councilmen voted unanimously to award a contract for resurfacing and other roadway improvements of Robin Hood Trail to Jerry D. Rushing Construction for the amount of $114,611.
    Council did so despite receiving a lower bid for project costs from Ellis Wood Contracting — who quoted the project at $114,356.96.
    Council, at its members’ discretion, determined the difference in project estimates negligible and awarded the contract to Jerry Rushing Construction because, according to Councilman Will Britt, the company has an excellent track record of working on city projects.
    After review by Staff Attorney Michael Graves following the meeting, it was determined that Council can only award the contract to the lowest bidder.
    A provision in the Official Code of Georgia requires cities accept the lowest offer when bidding public works projects involving roadways that cost more than $20,000, he said.
    Because the error was detected soon after Tuesday’s meeting, Mayor Brannen never signed the resolution approving Council’s motion.
    Councilmen are expected to award the contract to Ellis Wood Contracting today.
    The Robin Hood Trail project is slated to entail curb and gutter improvements, road resurfacing and the addition of a sidewalk to the corridor.