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Council declines to award Decorah Athletic Complex contract; staff to pursue rebid and code options on parking lot
Summary
Council chose not to award the single $3,107,176.28 bid for the Decorah Athletic Complex and instead directed staff to explore rebidding the project with adjusted scope, alternate bid formats and potential municipal code changes on parking‑lot surfacing.
Decorah City Council debated a $3.1 million bid for the proposed Decorah Athletic Complex and ultimately did not award the contract, sending the project back to staff to consider rebidding with package changes and possible municipal code adjustments for parking‑lot surfacing.
Staff told the council the single bid received from Skyline Construction Inc. totaled $3,107,176.28 (including a $50,000 in‑kind donation reflected in the tabulation), which was about 9% over the engineer’s estimate. Staff recommended rejecting the single bid and rebidding after adjusting scope or packaging to reduce cost; options discussed included removing a requirement to pave the full parking lot, converting some specifications to line items or add‑alternates, substituting less expensive fencing and downgrading certain vendor‑specified items.
City staff also proposed a possible city‑code amendment to allow larger parking areas to be installed as compacted crushed aggregate for an initial period and paved later. Several council members said they supported that approach as a way to lower upfront costs; some emphasized that handicap stalls or certain accessible areas should be paved even if the bulk of the lot remained aggregate.
Parks and Rec and others also raised the project’s heavy reliance on private fundraising; staff and council noted fundraising was underway but short of the target. Council members praised Skyline’s willingness to offer credits for reducing elements but said fundraising and the parking‑lot requirement had been major hurdles.
At the meeting a motion to award the contract to Skyline Construction Inc. was made and seconded, but the motion failed on roll call. Following the failed award motion council directed staff to prepare revised bid documents, including options for unit pricing, add‑alternates (for ball fields, pickleball surfacing, batting cages and other items) and to prepare potential municipal code amendments and a schedule for a rebid. The council asked staff to coordinate with the Park Board and to return with timing and a public‑hearing schedule if code changes are necessary.
No contract was awarded at the meeting.
