The city could face legal action depending on how council decides to award a contract next week.

At Tuesday evening's city council meeting, Castle Rock Enterprises' Rick Savage provided council with the legal opinion the company has sought over the proposed award for the asphalt overlay program this summer after his company's bid was rejected.

The only other bid on the project is the one recommended for award from Skookum Asphalt for $867,084, about $32,000 over what Castle Rock had bid.

Savage took issue with the city rejecting his company's tender as incomplete.

While Savage acknowledged the documents did not include the required résumés of the top supervisors who would be in charge of the project, he argued the bid should not be rejected based on that alone.

"It's a very frivolous issue,” he said in an interview following his presentation.

The tender documents, he said, include a clause that allows the city to seek further information prior to making a recommendation.

All city officials needed to do was to pick up the phone and call Castle Rock for that additional information, he added.

He pointed out Castle Rock has worked on a number of city contracts in the past.

"(City) staff are fully aware of our capabilities,” he said.

The most important factor in a tender, once all the criteria are met, is the price, Savage added.

The company added paving to its business in the last couple of years, he said, which has helped reduce the cost of paving throughout the city.

Losing this contract could seriously impact the company's ability to stay in the paving business, he warned.

Castle Rock submitted what it thought were all the required documents based on what was in the tender package.

When no one called for more information, officials were left with the impression the city had what was needed.

That was until Castle Rock was informed the bid had been rejected.

After his presentation, Savage reiterated he's never seen a bid rejected based on something so frivolous.

Normally, if a bid is rejected, it's because of major errors in the documents submitted, he pointed out.

With a tender process, once the tenders are reviewed to ensure they all meet the criteria set out, it comes down to pricing, with the lowest bid winning.

Savage said he hopes that over the next week prior to council's vote on the contract, council will review all the documents available on the matter and reconsider the bid award.

Questioned whether Castle Rock will move beyond obtaining a legal opinion should the work be awarded to Skookum, Savage replied, "We may have to (take further action).”

The city, however, has its own legal opinion on the matter.

It contends that the tender submitted was in non-compliance, so could not be considered for awarding.

Acting city manager Brian Crist said there were three specific references in the tender package to the résumés of supervisory staff required.

The city, he said, wants to ensure the contractor has all the required expertise needed for the job.

While tenders are price-driven, the documents must first meet all the requirements of the tender package before the price comparison between bids can be made.

Skookum's bid of $867,084, which is still well below the engineer's estimate of $986,261, would be for asphalt work planned this year:

• in Arkell on Heron Drive;

• in Riverdale on Selkirk Street, Liard Road, Firth Road, Pelly Road, McQuesten Road and at he roundabout at Nisutlin Drive and Lewes Boulevard;

• in Porter Creek on Wann Road and Cedar Crescent; and

• downtown on Second and Fourth avenues.