Legal Challenge to Pier Project Rejected
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The city withstood a challenge this week to construction of its $12-million Pier Plaza project.
“We all were quite jubilant,” City Atty. Gail Hutton said after Orange County Superior Court Judge John C. Woolley ruled that the city did not violate the blind-bid process when it awarded the construction job to Valley Crest Landscape Inc. of Santa Ana.
A reversal in court could have delayed work on the centerpiece of the city’s downtown renovation.
All 10 bids on the project exceeded the city’s budget, so the city deducted two items from the project to save money.
With those deductions, Valley Crest had the lowest bid to build the plaza, designed as a three-quarter-mile long gateway to Huntington Beach Pier, with grassy areas, an amphitheater and improved beach access.
But a losing bidder, Roman ECD of Los Angeles, said the deductions allowed the city to manipulate the contract award.
Woolley ruled that the city was innocently trying to control costs, Deputy City Atty. Scott Field said. Attorneys for Roman could not be reached for comment Friday.
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