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Elevator project: council questions large jump in contractor estimate, asks for independent review
Summary
Council examined new quotes for the municipal elevator and lobby project; Kornick Construction submitted a recent proposal substantially higher than earlier estimates, prompting calls for independent engineering cost verification and for staff to return with finalized drawings and hard bids.
Council members raised concerns after staff recommended Kornick Construction to build an elevator and lobby addition. Kornick’s updated proposal was substantially higher than earlier figures the council had seen.
City Manager Simpson and Kornick representative Brunson Cooper explained the procurement history: Kornick previously provided budgetary pricing and later submitted a revised proposal after discussions with the architect and further cost review. Kornick’s representative said original internal estimates had multiple iterations and that some early figures were reduced to meet perceived budget guidance; the newer figure includes contingency and reflects current assumptions about construction scope and pending civil work.
Councilman Lehi pressed staff and Kornick for an explanation of why one Kornick figure in meeting materials showed roughly $996,000 while a later Kornick proposal was about $1.4 million — a difference of approximately $400,000 in the documents circulated. Kornick acknowledged the drawings were not finalized (civil plans were outstanding) and the numbers were budgetary rather than hard subcontractor bids. Kornick said the firm had obtained elevator vendor pricing (Fissen and Kone/Krupp) and that final market bids would follow once the architect issues finalized permit-ready drawings. Council members generally supported getting an independent estimate and recommended issuing an RFP/hard-bid package rather than proceeding on the basis of a single vendor’s budget numbers.
No contract award was approved at the work session. Council asked staff to secure independent engineering cost verification, to produce final drawings and to solicit hard bids before recommending contract award.
