Lincoln Avenue school fire, demolition bidding contract challenged

is not being transparent about the bidding process for the demolition of one of its schools. Fire destroyed the Lincoln Avenue school in June. Fox 6's Ashley Sears here in studio. And Ash, one contractor is appealing after learning another company bidding nearly four... A million dollars more could actually win the contract. Yeah, the MRD group says they know they can't win every contract, but say this process hasn't been straightforward. They have concerns with how things have been handled and what this means for the project. We're very frustrated with the whole process. We want some transparency. For decades, the MRD group has been working in demolition and says it's never dealt with anything like this. We may not win every bid, and we understand that, but at least we want to make sure that the process is followed. In June, fire destroyed the Lincoln Avenue School. MPS announced it would be demolished. The MRD group put in a bid for $928,000. Includes asbestos workers, supervision of the site, make sure that it's all documented correctly. They knew other companies were vying for the same contract, but didn't think they would lose out to one, bidding nearly $4 million more. We don't understand the big gap between our number. And how the school district is going to pay someone $4.8 million to do that work. Monday, the Milwaukee Public School Board considered moving forward with that $4.8 million contract with TW Chicago out of Illinois, holding a virtual meeting, but ultimately... did not make a decision. The recommendation is that the board consider this item in closed session. The MRD group has hired an attorney and is now appealing. Nobody's been able to see what the bids were or what the scores were as promised. They want more clarity on the process for everyone involved. It was just so cloaked in secrecy that none of these contractors can figure out what's going on. I asked MPS about the higher bid being considered for the contract and the appeal being made by the MRD group, a spokesperson for the district only answering that MPS received MRD group's appeal and is reviewing it through the district's established procurement appeal process. All right, more to come, but that school is definitely coming down. Thanks, Ashley.