The Abilene City Commission voted 3-2 to accept the second bid from Holm Automotive for a truck for the City Inspection Department. The decision goes against the city’s purchasing policy, which the commission is not legally bound to follow. City commissioners Brandon Rein, Trevor Witt and John Kollhoff voted yes. City commissioners Dee Marshall and Wendy Miller voted no. The commission decided when first viewing the agenda item last week during their study session they wanted to give Holm a chance to lower their bid to be within 3% of the other bid from Valor Automotive. Witt admitted during the discussion that he and others misunderstood the city’s purchasing policy, as the commission should not have given Holm the opportunity to submit a second bid.
