Bid on Sain Building is Actually No Bid, Say Rockland Legislators

NEW CITY, NY – The Rockland County Legislature is evaluating its options following the submission of a response to a Request for Bids for the purchase of the county-owned Sain Building at 18 New Hempstead Road in New City.

One company, National Development of Newton, Mass., submitted a response today, legislative officials said.

In it, they said, the company failed to include the required check for 10 percent of the purchase price offer, $4.51 million, and altered the conditions set forth in the Request for Bids. As a result, the submission appears to constitute a nonresponsive bid, meaning that no bid was actually submitted. Furthermore, a would-be bidder is not allowed to alter conditions to a bid request because doing so could potentially give one bidder an advantage over another in the process.

SEE: Firm Re-ups Offer to Buy Sain Building for Senior Housing

In this case, they said, National Development substituted the terms of a previously negotiated contract for the terms spelled out in the Request for Bids, including the condition that if it does not receive site plan approval for its project, it can simply walk away from the sale.

Lawmakers said the substituted contract was negotiated by the county Administration after the Administration issued a Request for Proposals, both without the approval of the Legislature.

They said the contract did not guarantee the sale and gave the bidder an advantage over others, in part because it was contingent on site plan approval being granted by the town of Clarkstown, which has sole control over the zoning of the property.

PHOTO: Sain Building/ google maps