An Inekon-made streetcar in 2009. (Sommer Mathis)

When the District announced last week its purchase of a pair of Oregon-made streetcars for the H Street/Benning Road NE line, it looked like the D.C. Department of Transportation might be headed in some kind of “buy American” direction.

But not so fast. Michael Neibauer at the Washington Business Journal is reporting that DDOT’s agreement to spend $8.7 million on two streetcars from a subsidiary of Oregon Iron Works Inc. was placed on hold for review by Ward 3 Councilmember Mary Cheh, who chairs the D.C. Council’s Environment, Public Works and Transportation Committee. Cheh was scheduled to hold a hearing on the deal on Dec. 16, but the session was postponed and no new date has yet been announced.

Now, Inekon, the Czech firm from which DDOT bought its first streetcars, is jumping back into the mix, Neibauer reports. Inekon sold the District three cars for $10 million, which were delivered in December 2009. The company bid for the new batch of trolleys, offering a set of two for $9.5 million, but the city went with the less-expensive bid from United Streetcar LLC, the Oregon Iron Works subsidiary.

Neibauer reports that Inekon has filed a suit with the city’s Contract Appeals Board, citing that the technical review of its streetcar model was superior to United Streetcar’s:

Without getting into the nitty-gritty, Inekon claims United Streetcar’s technical score on the contract evaluation should have ruled it ineligible for the deal. According to the complaint, Inekon’s technical score was seven points higher than United Streetcar’s, though its price proposal score was five points lower.

“The District’s selection of USC for this award despite Inekon’s higher ranking and USC’s ineligibility and lack of qualifications violated the terms of the solicitation and the District’s procurement laws and regulations, and was otherwise arbitrary and capricious,” Inekon wrote in its appeal.

But the appeals board can take its time to rule—up to two and a half years, Neibauer notes. With the H Street/Benning Road NE route slated to become operational in mid-2013, “[s]treetcar fans … have every reason to be concerned.”