By the way the specs were written I can see why.

Disappointment filled the air as the deadline passed at 2 p.m. Tuesday for acceptance of bids for the exclusive right to tear down an estimated 100 dilapidated houses in Paris.

“We only had two bids,” city manager Tony Williams said.

Of the 14 companies that picked up information packets on the contract, the only bids were from Tri State Contractors, headed by Chad Unruh, who has done much of the past demolition, and from Barney Bray.

“We are doing our homework to figure out, in a very few days, whether we want to recommend rejecting the bids, or whether we are going to move forward with one of the bids that we have,” Williams said. “It’s going to take us a few days to come up with a recommendation.”

Once the contract is awarded, the winning bidder will have six months to complete the job.

But first, the city manager wants to know why 12 of the companies who picked up information packets chose not to bid on the job. He will be talking with them, asking if there was something about the proposal that was a surprise or that they found unappealing.

“We want to know if we could get more bids if we styled it a little differently. That’s part of the analysis,” Williams said.

If the city decides to accept one of the two bids that are now in hand, Williams indicated he would take that recommendation to the City Council on Nov. 21.

The city has $80,000 in the budget for demolition of houses over the next 12 months. That is to pay for tearing down the houses and disposing of the debris.

The city was suggesting 9,000 cubic yards of debris to be torn down.

“The typical house out there that’s dilapidated is probably going to take somewhere in the area of 90 cubic yards, so that could possibly be 100 houses. You can’t say that for sure, because it depends upon the size of the house, but that’s a good ballpark figure,” the city manager has said.

Bidders were asked to submit a charge by the cubic yard and also by the ton. In either case, it would be up to them to tear down the houses and pay the landfill disposal cost. The city would need to see the receipt for the landfill charges to make sure the debris was disposed of properly.

The city also asked for a bid on another option, in which the city would pay the landfill tipping fee.