City of El Paso is sued over street resurfacing contracts connected with 2022 bond

EL PASO, Texas (KVIA) -- Two City of El Paso contracts totaling more than $30 million for street resurfacing as part of the 2022 Community Progress Bond are now tied up in litigation.

ZTEX Construction, Inc. is suing the City of El Paso after not being awarded the two contracts, alleging the city made several errors in its review of the company's bid.

The city was served the lawsuit the same morning, on June 20th, City Council was set to discuss and award those bids to two other companies, International Eagle Enterprises, Inc. and Allied Paving Co. of El Paso, Inc.

City Attorney Karla Nieman recommended to council to delete the items from the agenda after temporary restraining orders were issued, preventing the city from discussing and awarding the contracts. Council then unanimously deleted the items and the lawsuits are now set to be discussed in executive session on July 5th.

The contract that was set to be awarded to International Eagle Enterprises, Inc. was worth an estimated $18,285,400 to "provide a new asphaltic riding surface to the project locations, including Street Rights of Way as needed, as well as repair of damaged concrete parkway structures and ancillary items such as roadway striping and markings as needed." The initial term for the contract was for 730 consecutive calendar days.

The other contract set to be awarded to Allied Paving Co. of El Paso, Inc. was worth an estimated $15,766.286 to "provide a new asphaltic riding surface to the project Residential Streets, as well as repair of damaged concrete structures and other ancillary items such as roadway striping and markings as needed."

Funding for both was set to come from the 2022 Community Progress Bond.

In its lawsuits, ZTEX Construction, Inc. states the company could go out of business if it is not awarded the contracts, citing it believed it had a "reasonable expectation" to win the bids and thus turned down other projects that it can no longer get back.

ABC-7 reached out to ZTEX Construction, Inc. for further comment but has not heard back.

The City of El Paso declined to comment due to it being "ongoing litigation."

There are hearings listed on the dockets for each of these civil suits later this week.

ABC-7 obtained copies of the lawsuits, which you can read below: