EL PASO, TEXAS (KFOX14\/CBS4) \u2014 El Paso County Commissioners voted to close out all current proposals to take over the El Paso County Coliseum on Monday, a move county leaders said was necessary as the bidding process did not provide enough operational detail. <\/p>\n
The sports tourism bidding process closed July 16 with only two bids, according to county documents: one from the El Paso Sports Commission and a second from an international management consultant represented by Brian Kennedy. A separate process for management and operations was previously set to close Sept. 3.<\/p>\n
However, on Monday, the El Paso County Commissioners Court voted to close out the current bids for management of the county-owned Coliseum and the sports tourism promotion program services without awarding anyone, but intends to reopen the bidding process at a later date. <\/p>\n
The county said it will reopen the RFP process for the Coliseum once it has received additional operational, financial, and maintenance information about the facility.<\/p>\n
The vote comes after County Judge Ricardo Samaniego said last week the county was considering closing out and restarting requests for proposals for the sports tourism and Coliseum management and operations because officials were unable to answer many questions from potential bidders during the initial RFPs.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe’d like it to be fair. During the RFP, both of them, we were not able to answer a lot of questions, they were asking about the roof or asking about some of the conditions,\u201d Samaniego said.<\/p>\n
County officials said the decision to close the bidding process follows significant interest from the vendor community and more than 200 questions submitted during the procurement process. <\/p>\n
The county said the volume and nature of those questions showed that additional operational detail is needed so potential proposers have complete, consistent, and comparable information before submitting proposals.<\/p>\n
In a press release, the county said, \u201cThe county recognizes and appreciates the time potential proposers have invested. Closing now, before award, is intended to protect the integrity of the process and avoid asking proposers to compete on incomplete or uneven information.\u201d<\/p>\n
Samaniego said last week that restarting the process would not eliminate current management from consideration. <\/p>\n
The El Paso Sports Commission has managed the coliseum since 2003, and its current contract is set to expire Sept. 2027.<\/p>\n
County officials emphasized that closing the current solicitation is not a change in the county\u2019s commitment to a competitive process, but is intended to ensure any future proposal process is based on a clear scope of work, appropriate operational information, and expectations that allow the county to fairly evaluate proposals.<\/p>\n
The current bids will be formally closed through the county\u2019s purchasing process. <\/p>\n
RECOMMENDED: El Paso County may restart Coliseum bidding to ensure fair, transparent RFP process<\/a><\/p>\n