Collusion suspected regarding convention center bids

By Casey Northcutt

Paducah, KY – Contractors have begun Renovating Paducah's Julian Carroll Convention Center, even though collusion is suspected in the bidding process. The Paducah Sun reports that city manager Jim Zumwalt says he has written Attorney General Jack Conway regarding bids that greatly exceeded estimates. The original bidding ranged from 4.8 million to 5.5 million dollars, 64 percent higher than the engineers' 3.5 million estimate. Zumwalt says he felt obligated to write Conway about any suspected plotting among bidders, but he has not accused anyone specifically. In the meantime, construction firms resubmitted bids, and Ray Black and Son, the lowest bidder, began work on Monday.