118 Misc. 619 | N.Y. Sup. Ct. | 1922
The contract involved on this application should be awarded to Arensmeyer, Warnock, Zarndt, Inc., under the second bidding. In advertising for bids the board was laboring under two misapprehensions. In its first advertisement it assumed that it had the right by a provision in the notice to award the contract to any bidder according to its judgment. This provision was omitted from the notice for bids upon readvertisement but the second notice contains a provision that the board reserves the right in its discretion to reject all bids as the interest of the city may appear. The board is not at liberty under the statutes relating to the subject to award contracts to any but the lowest bidder and it has no authority in its absolute discretion to reject all of the bids submitted and readvertise for new bids. The provision contained in the first notice for bids reserving the right to the board to let the contract to any bidder as the interests of the city might appear is omitted from the second notice' for bidding and it is unnecessary to discuss it. The board cannot by a provision in its notice for bids reserve to itself arbitrarily the right to reject bids submitted. It is vested with a certain discretion with respect to the letting of contracts but is required by the statute to let the contract to the “ lowest responsible bidder furnishing the security as required by such board.” Education Law, § 875, subd. 8. Under this language in the present case no calculations are necessary to determine who is the lowest bidder and there is no question raised as to the responsibility of the lowest bidder, nor at the time of the rejection of the bids was any question raised as to the reasonableness of the amount of the bids. The board was not at liberty to reject the bids unless there was some informality connected with them or other substantial reason existed which required such rejection. The reason advanced for the rejection of the bids in the resolution adopted by the board is that they were “ informal,” but an examination of the bids reveals no informality sufficient to justify the course taken by the board. The bid of the Barr & Creelman Company was informal in that it failed to state the individual name of each member of the firm or corporation but it was not such an informality as required the board to reject the bid. The Barr & Creelman Company is well known in the city and it would be a technicality to reject the bid because it failed to state the corporate name or the members of the
Ordered accordingly.