Paul Bickford
Northern News Services
Monday, July 9, 2007

ENTERPRISE - Enterprise businessman Karl Mueller has lost a lawsuit over a failed bid to settlement council for a garbage collection and disposal contract.

However, Mueller said he plans to appeal the June 29 decision by NWT Supreme Court Justice Virginia Schuler, claiming she did not completely understand the issues in the case. Mueller said he was surprised and disappointed by the decision.

The case of Karl Mueller Construction Ltd. (KMC) versus Enterprise Settlement Council was heard April 11-13 in Hay River.

Mueller sued in 2004 when his company was not awarded a three-year contract for garbage collection and disposal despite having submitted the lowest bid.

Such a contract involves taxpayers' money, and it's a serious matter when a low bidder does not win, he said. In essence, he argued he was unfairly treated in the tendering process.

In her judgment, Schuler wrote that Mueller's bid did not comply with the tender specifications, and because of that she did not have to deal with the fairness of the tendering process.

She noted the tender called for a standard packer type garbage truck or a dump type vehicle modified and enclosed in a manner acceptable to council. Schuler wrote that the problem was KMC proposed using a Ford F150, which is not a dump type vehicle.

Mueller had testified he intended to convert the Ford F150 to a dump truck with a hoist, and he believed he would have 15 days after the awarding of the contract to say what equipment would be used and obtain the settlement's approval.

There was no reference in KMC's bid of its intention to convert the Ford F150 and it was only after the tender closing that Mueller told Enterprise of his intention to convert it, Schuler noted.

"For KMC's bid to comply with the tender specifications, its bid had, at a minimum, to indicate on its face that KMC would use a dump type vehicle," the judge wrote.

The contract was awarded to Hay River Disposals, which bid $19,474 per year.

Mueller's bid was $12,157 per year.