At its Aug. 17 meeting, Northampton County Council discussed an amendment to the contract bidding process.

In 2018, council approved what is now known as the responsible contractor ordinance. The RCO is meant to “improve performance and quality control of Northampton County Public Works projects by establishing certain qualification requirements for contractors, subcontractors and construction personnel.”

Councilman John Goffredo presented the ordinance due to the lack of competitive bids for their projects and to expand who the county can bid to.

Sixty percent of the county’s projects have had multiple bidders in the five years since the RCO, county Executive Lamont McClure said. In the five years before the RCO, 55% of county projects had more than one bidder.

“If we are taking any jobs with one bidder, we’re not doing our due diligence. It is an industry standard,” said Goffredo in response.

A public hearing and presentation regarding the amendment will be held at council’s next meeting.

In other business, the county will apply for two Local Share Account grants to fund the purchase of five base stations, at a cost of $233,400, to support the law enforcement radio network. The base stations will help cover the gaps in the county’s current radio communication.

Council will next meet 6:30 p.m. Sept. 7 in the county building, 669 Washington St., Easton.