As of October 12,2023, this project has not yet been awarded. The project is expected to be awarded on October 18. Each bid shall be accompanied by a deposit with the Metropolitan Sewerage District of Buncombe County of cash, or a cashier's check, or a certified check on some bank or trust company insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation in an amount equal to not less than five percent (5%) of the bid amount. In lieu of making the cash deposit as above described, a satisfactory Bid Bond in the amount of 5% of the total bid, executed by a corporate surety licensed under the laws of North Carolina to execute such bonds, shall be submitted with each bid, conditioned that the surety will upon demand forthwith make payment to the obligee upon said bond if the bidder fails to execute the contract in accordance with the bid bond. This deposit shall be retained if the successful bidder fails to execute the contract within ten (10) days after the award of bid or fails to give satisfactory surety as required in North Carolina General Statute Section 143-129. The Metropolitan Sewerage District of Buncombe County encourages qualified minority businesses to bid on or participate as a subcontractor in District Contracts. To learn more about the Minority Businesses in the Asheville area, access the Office of Historically Underutilized Businesses for the State of North Carolina at www.doa.state.nc.us/hub. Local minority vendors are listed on this site. The successful bidder will be required to furnish a Performance Bond and a Payment Bond in the amount of one hundred percent (100%) of the contract amount. Those bonds shall meet the requirements of North Carolina General Statute Section 143-129 and of Article 3 of Chapter 44A of the North Carolina General Statute. The contract shall be awarded to the lowest responsive, responsible bidder, taking into consideration quality, performance and time of delivery. The DISTRCT reserves the right to reject any and all bids, including, without limitation, the right to reject any or all nonconforming, non-responsive, unbalanced or conditional bids, and to reject the bid of any bidder if the DISTRICT believes that it would not be in the best interest of the DISTRICT to make an award to that bidder. The DISTRICT also reserves the right to waive informalities.