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I
G A 0 Comptroller General
Accountability * Integrity * Reliability of the United States
United States General Accounting Office
Washington, DC 20548
Decision
Matter of: Dennis Cantrell
File: B-289169
Date: December 19, 2001
Dennis Cantrell for the protester.
Alan D. Groesbeck, Esq., Department of Agriculture, for the agency.
Louis A. Chiarella, Esq., and James A. Spangenberg, Esq., Office of the General
Counsel, GAO, participated in the preparation of the decision.
DIGEST
Agency's decision to make award based on a higher technically-rated, higher-priced
proposal is unobjectionable where the agency reasonably determined that the
awardee's significantly greater experience in the solicited work was worth the
relatively modest price premium.
DECISION
Dennis Cantrell protests the award of a contract to Family Enterprises, Inc. under
request for proposals (RFP) No. R8-03-01-05, issued by the Forest Service,
Department of Agriculture, for reconstruction of a portion of the Bartram Trail in
northern Georgia. Cantrell contends that the agency's selection decision was
unreasonable.
We deny the protest.
The RFP, issued July 15, 2001, contemplated the award of a fixed-price contract for
the reconstruction of a 13.5-mile portion of the Bartram Trail. The solicitation
established three technical factors: experience (worth 30 percent), quality of service
(worth 40 percent), and timeliness of performance (worth 30 percent). The RFP
notified offerors that price was of approximately equal importance to the technical
evaluation factors. The solicitation stated that the award will be made to that
offeror (1) whose proposal is technically acceptable and (2) [whose] technical/cost
relationship is the most advantageous to the government. RFP § M.
Five proposals, including those of Mr. Cantrell and Family Enterprises, were
submitted by the August 15 due date. Mr. Cantrell submitted the lowest-priced offer
of $96,725.49 and Family Enterprises the second-lowest price of $102,767.50. The](ViewImageLocal?handle=hein.gao/gaocrptamtg0001&div=1&collection=&method=preview&ext=.png&size=3)