By Stephenie Steitzer
Enquirer contributor

COVINGTON - A West Chester masonry company that lost a $5 million bid to help construct the new Boone County jail has filed a federal lawsuit against the winning company and against Boone County Fiscal Court.

The lawsuit by Expert Masonry Inc. (EMI), filed late Friday in U.S. District Court, alleges Boone County Fiscal Court unfairly awarded the contract to Don Salyers Masonry Inc. of Florence.

The $27.75 million jail/police/emergency services complex just north of Burlington on Bulletsville and Idlewild roads is expected to be completed in December 2003.

In the lawsuit, EMI claims Don Salyers Masonry did not post the required bonds for the project, so the work should have been awarded to EMI.

It also claims the county circumvented the bid process so it could give the contract to Don Salyers Masonry.

Legal representatives for EMI could not be reached for comment Sunday.

Don Salyers of Boone County, president of Don Salyers Masonry, said Sunday that he was unaware of the lawsuit but disputes its claims that his company and the county conspired to make the deal, violating county competitive bidding ordinances and the Sherman Antitrust Act. "Boone County is a good county," he said. "They wouldn't do anything like that, and neither would we."

Mr. Salyers said his company had the lowest bid for the job and did post the full amount of the bond, contrary to EMI's claims.

Judge-executive Gary Moore said Sunday that he was not aware of the lawsuit, but said no preferential treatment was given to any of the bidders.

"We did award the contract to the low bidder, and I have full confidence in our administrators that oversaw the contract and the decision that was made," he said.

EMI's suit says that it was the only company that had the lowest bid for the job and met the stated bid requirement of securing a 100 percent performance bond for the work.

The EMI bid of $5.35 million was the lowest submitted other than the Don Salyers bid of $5.07 million.

The suit, which asks for $800,000 in damages for lost profit and nearly $10,000 in bid preparation costs lost, alleges the county changed the bid specifications to allow Mr. Salyers' company to use a certified check as security. Then, the suit says, the county gave Mr. Salyers' company almost two months to obtain the security.

As Mr. Salyers' company worked on obtaining the security, the suit alleges, an agent of Boone County told EMI vice president Sean Babbs that EMI would get the work and that he should "get started on the paperwork."

A few weeks later - and after a key deadline - the suit says, Don Salyers Masonry obtained a bond covering only 72.5 percent of the contract price and was awarded the contract by Boone County Fiscal Court. "They just can't take getting defeated, I guess," Mr. Salyers said of EMI, which has won contracts for the masonry on the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center, Reds Hall of Fame Museum, University of Cincinnati's Jefferson Hall and Fort Thomas Middle School.

Mr. Babbs said this is the first suit of this type his firm has ever filed.

Mr. Salyers, whose company did work on the Delta and Comair terminals at Greater Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport and the U.S. Federal Courthouse in Covington, said the lawsuit is a union vs. non-union dispute.

Mr. Salyers said his company, which is non-union, recently lost a $10 million contract for Great American Ball Park even though it had the lowest bid.

"The union came in and took that away," he said.

Representatives of the Cincinnati-based unions representing masonry workers and bricklayers could not be reached for comment Sunday.