Low Bidder Disqualified, Orange Beach Set to Award $1.32M Fire Burn Tower to Roy Lewis

The Orange Beach City Council is set to award a contract of up to $1,320,450 for a new burn tower at the city's Fire Training Facility on Tuesday, July 7, 2026 — but not to the company that submitted the lowest bid. The low bidder was disqualified during the city's evaluation, and the job is instead recommended to go to the second-lowest bidder, Roy Lewis Construction Corporation.

Bid evaluation tabulation showing all four bids received for the burn tower — Jul 7 meeting packet.

Four companies bid on the project, identified as ITB-C No. 2026-0703. Robbins Construction Group submitted the lowest total, $1,058,880.46 — roughly $262,000 less than Roy Lewis. But in a July 2 evaluation letter included in the packet, Orange Beach Fire/Rescue Deputy Chief of Operations Bruce Nelson wrote that Robbins "does not meet the bid requirements" for two reasons: the company did not attend the mandatory pre-bid meeting held June 18, and its bid "did not provide any documentation on the design or on how their product meets the bid specifications as written."

Orange Beach Fire/Rescue's July 2 evaluation letter, recommending the award to Roy Lewis and explaining why the low bidder was disqualified — Jul 7 meeting packet.

For those reasons, the department recommended awarding the bid to Roy Lewis, which it called the lowest responsive and responsible bidder. "Through careful evaluation, we believe Roy Lewis Construction meets all the required bid specifications and has provided the necessary documentation to prove that its product meets our requirements," Nelson wrote. The other two bidders came in higher still: The Green-Simmons Company, Inc., at $1,564,200.99 and Steward Construction Company at $1,898,000.

Item 7 on the council's Resolutions agenda would make the award official. The $1,320,450 figure combines a base bid of $1,040,450 for the tower and its installation with a $180,000 option to remove and replace a stairway structure in the city's existing burn tower. The resolution caps the city's cost at that amount and, if adopted, would authorize the mayor and city clerk to execute the contract, subject to review by the city attorney.

The resolution awarding the burn tower bid to Roy Lewis Construction Corporation for up to $1,320,450 — Jul 7 meeting packet.

A burn tower is a multistory training structure fire departments use to simulate live-fire conditions, letting firefighters practice search-and-rescue, hose deployment and ventilation in a controlled setting. The new tower is part of the city's larger Fire Training Facility — a roughly 10,000-square-foot complex being built behind Fire Station 1, for which the council awarded Roy Lewis Construction the base building contract of about $1.9 million in September 2025, according to Gulf Coast Media.

The burn tower is one of eight resolutions on Tuesday's agenda. Others include a task order with GeoCon Engineering & Materials Testing, Inc., not to exceed $5,570, for geotechnical work tied to a new Pool Support Building at the Aquatics Center; a FEMA Safe Room design proposal from Adams Stewart Architect, LLC; a $14,000 leadership-training agreement for the Police Department with Offset Consulting LLC; and a laboratory-services agreement with Foley Hospital Company, LLC, doing business as South Baldwin Regional Medical Center. Two ordinances — a zoning amendment and a speed-limit reduction in the Lauder Place subdivision — are up for first reading.

Because the award is a resolution rather than an ordinance, it would take effect immediately on passage and would not require a second reading or public hearing. The meeting begins at 5 p.m. Tuesday, July 7, 2026, in the Council Chambers at City Hall, and includes a public comment period before adjournment.