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B-298859 1 (2006-12-01)

handle is hein.gao/gaobaczrf0001 and id is 1 raw text is: 


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         G    A     0Comptroller General
WAf    Accountability * Integrity * Reliability                     of the United States
United States Government Accountability Office
Washington, DC 20548


             D   ..
         Decision


         Matter  of:  Squires Timber Company

         File:        B-298859

         Date:        December 1, 2006

         Tommy   L. Norris for the protester.
         Lori Polin Jones, Esq., Department of Agriculture, for the agency.
         Edward  Goldstein, Esq., and Christine S. Melody, Esq., Office of the General
         Counsel, GAO, participated in the preparation of the decision.
         DIGEST

         Protester's high timber sale bid was improperly rejected based on discrepancy
         between minimum  advertised rate for particular species of timber and rate actually
         bid; since discrepancy is clearly negligible, protester's bid is responsive and pricing
         defect may be corrected as minor informality.
         DECISION

         Squires Timber Company protests the rejection of its bid as nonresponsive under the
         solicitation for the Devil's Club Timber Sale, conducted by the Forest Service,
         Department  of Agriculture.

         We  sustain the protest.

         The solicitation called for sealed bids offering to purchase various species of
         government-owned  timber. Minimum acceptable rates were set forth for each
         species. For white oak sawtimber, the minimum acceptable rate was set at $33.22
         per unit with an estimated quantity of 71 ccf (hundred cubic feet). Bids were opened
         on September 12, 2006, and Squires was the high bidder with an overall bid of
         $184,051.68. Winslow-Bateman Forestry was the second high bidder at $123,968.31.
         The agency noted, however, that Squires had bid only $26.09 per unit for the white
         oak sawtimber portion of the sale. Since this bid was below the minimum
         acceptable rate, the contracting officer rejected Squires' bid as nonresponsive and
         made  award to Winslow-Bateman.

         Squires claims that it intended to bid the required minimum for all species, and that

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