Vernal awards $1.6 million 500 South paving job; one councilmember recuses
Vernal's council on Sept. 16 awarded the 500 South mill-and-overlay project to Burdick Materials for $1,599,895, the low of three bids and below an engineer's estimate of about $2 million. Councilmember Randel Mills recused himself, citing a conflict of interest.
Continuing story: Auditing Vernal
Vernal's council on Sept. 16 awarded the 500 South mill-and-overlay project to Burdick Materials for $1,599,895, according to the meeting's minutes. [1]
The minutes say the city received three bids, which were relatively close, and that Burdick's was the lowest. Staff said the engineer's estimate was approximately $2 million. The minutes do not name the other bidders or their amounts. [1]
The three bids
The Sept. 16 council packet includes the engineer's bid tabulation, dated Sept. 9, 2026, which names all three bidders. Burdick Materials bid $1,599,895, Geneva Rock $1,688,490 and B H, Inc $1,863,055. The tabulation shows no corrections, so each bidder's submitted and accepted totals match. [2]
The engineer's probable cost for the project was $1,931,600. Burdick's bid is $331,705 below it by the Ledger's subtraction. That is a bid-versus-estimate comparison, not money saved, and the table's accepted column is not an award to each bidder. The staff memo in the packet describes a two-inch mill and overlay from just south of Walgreens to 500 East and proposes awarding to Burdick. [2]
The council's action is recorded in the minutes above. The packet does not say what the recused member's conflict was, and the Ledger draws no conclusion from the bidders' names. [2][1]
The recusal
"Councilmember Randel Mills recused himself from the discussion and vote due to a conflict of interest," the minutes say. They do not describe the conflict. [1]
Councilmember Ted Munford moved to approve the award and Councilmember Ed Long seconded. Munford, Long, Robin O'Driscoll and Nick Porter voted yes. [1]
Funding and schedule
The minutes say the project is funded through $3.4 million in Community Impact Board funding for two related projects, and that about $1.6 million remains for chip seal work next year. [1]
Paving was anticipated to be complete by Oct. 22, 2026. [1]
The award is a council authorization, not a final cost or payment. A recusal is a disclosed step to keep a member out of a decision; no record reviewed suggests any wrongdoing. The Sept. 16 minutes are as posted on the city's website; the records reviewed do not show the vote approving them. Update, Oct. 24: the other two bids come from the engineer's tabulation in the Sept. 16 packet.
Sources
- Vernal City Council · Sept. 16, 2026 minutes
- Vernal City Council · Sept. 16, 2026 packet: bid tabulation (PDF page 24) and staff memo (PDF page 4)
Reporting by The Utah Ledger from the public records above. AI-assisted, checked against those records.