The Greene County Commissioners are expected to formally award annual bids next week for a variety of contracted products, including asphalt emulsion materials, a component used on chip and seal and "cold patch" asphalt road repair jobs by the highway department.

The bids for 2008 were submitted at the Dec. 18 meeting and taken under advisement. They will be formally awarded at the next commissioner's meeting Jan. 2.

However, one Indianapolis firm that was the successful low bidder for the asphalt emulsion product in 2007 didn't submit a bid to the county for next year because none of their product was purchased under last year's bid contract.

Marathon Oil did respond to the request for bids for 2008 and submitted a bid at the Dec. 18 meeting, but left all of the bid price amounts blank as a symbolic gesture of their disappointment with the way their low bid was handled for the calendar year 2007.

For the current year the commissioners in January accepted bids from Marathon Oil and Asphalt Materials, Inc. of Lawrenceville, Ill.

Both bids were accepted because there is an escalator clause in the contract that allows for movement in the price during the year depending on the base asphalt price.

Walter S. Quate. Senior Territory Manager, Marathon Petroleum Company, LLC, of Indianapolis, told the Greene County Daily World on Wednesday that he is disappointed that the county failed to live up to its end of the deal with his company.

"It's extremely frustrating and it's disappointing. I can't for the life of me figure out why a county advertises for competitive bids and then doesn't honor the low bid," he said.

Further he says his firm will not bid for business with Greene County in the future unless written assurance is received that Marathon's asphalt emulsions will be purchased if they are the successful low bidder, as they were in 2007.

Quate said he had several conversations with highway supervisor Basil Shepherd questioning his firm had received no product orders. There was no satisfactory response about when he planned on purchasing any materials from Marathon.

"He told me on a couple of occasions that he was currently buying material from one of our direct competitors," Quate said. "When it became obvious that we were not going to supply material through any verbal communications I had with the highway supervisor, I sent the letter to the commissioners."

Quate pointed out that he waited six months before formally mailing any letters that asked county officials why they were not buying any of his firm's products.

He first mailed a letter to county auditor David Bailey and highway superintendent Basil Shepherd on July 10 and inquired about the situation.

In the letter, he wrote, "Our bid was accepted and it was our understanding that the county would be purchasing their requirements from us. Unfortunately it has come to my attention that purchases have been and are continuing to be made from another vendor."

Quote continued, "The Indiana Code section IC 5-22-17-10 requires that the purchasing agent purchase materials from the lowest responsive bidder. If the county receives written notice of any price changes the purchasing agent is required to notify all other vendors within five business days and ask for a current quote. To date, we have not received any notification of price change."

The oil company representative also wrote: "Our bid was submitted in good faith and complied with all of the requirements set forth in the bid proposal. We are requesting an explanation of why the county is not purchasing from the low bidder. If this situation remains unresolved, we will be forced to take additional action which could result in the retraction of our bid."

Quate noted, "The first letter received no response."

Before he sent a second letter, Quate called auditor Bailey to just make sure that they had received his earlier letter. Bailey told him they had received the letter and would check out the matter and get back with Quate.

Quate alleged that three or four weeks passed with no response, so he sent a second letter Aug. 23 and retracted the earlier bid.

In the Aug. 23 letter to Bailey, Shepherd and each of the county commissioners -- Bart Beard, Kathy Crouch and Larry Hasler -- Quate reiterated that in his view the county was violating Indiana Code by following the practice of purchasing its asphalt emulsion material from only one vendor.

Quate informed the county officials that his firm was withdrawing their 2007 bid.

"We regret having to take this action because, in our opinion, it is not in the best interest of the highway department or the resident taxpayers of Greene County to have only one bidder for liquid asphalt supply. But it appears that there is no intent on your part to abide by The Indiana Code section IC 5-22-17-10 which requires that the purchasing agent purchase materials from the lowest responsive bidder. Therefore, until the Board of Commissioners can assure Marathon Petroleum Company, in writing, of their intent to purchase the county's requirements for asphalt emulsions from the low bidder, we will not submit future bids," he wrote.

Quate says his company traditionally does business with a large number of counties in the state, including Owen, Martin, Orange, Morgan and Putnam in the area, and has never had a similar problem in the nine years he's been associated in this state.

According to Quate, his company could seek legal action against the county, but doesn't plan that route at this point.

"We just don't plan on submitting future bids until and unless we can receive some kind of written guarantee that our bid will be honored," he said. "We'd like some time in the future to have the opportunity to bid in Greene County again, but under the current circumstances, we are not in a position to do that."

Beard said he was aware of the dispute with Marathon Oil, but referred questions to commissioner's attorney Hartman, whom he said was more abreast about what transpired.

Shepherd, when contacted by the Greene County Daily World, called the situation with Marathon's bid a "misunderstanding" and said he thought everything was worked out.

Shepherd acknowledged he had received the two letters from Quate. He said two of the commissioners -- Beard and Hasler -- were aware of the letters along with Hartman.

"I never received any instructions so I just assumed it was taken care of," he stated.

Shepherd said he was unsure exactly how much product had been purchased during 2007 from Asphalt Materials, but he said it is a product that is used frequently.

The highway department superintendent said Asphalt Materials has been a long-time vendor for the county and has given the county very good service.

That's the primary reason he chose to use their services over Marathon.

"Asphalt Materials has been an awful good vendor for years and years -- they are very easy to work with," Shepherd concluded.