Council weighs Ballinger Park viewing platform after bids exceed budget; staff recommend moving forward with reallocated funds

Parks Project Manager Danelle Dio presented the bid results and financing options for the Ballinger Park West Side Viewing Platform and Trails project, explaining that all three bids received in April exceeded the approved project budget and that staff recommended awarding the construction contract and amending the project budget to cover the shortfall.

Dio described the project as the next phase of the Ballinger Park master plan, which the city adopted in 2015 and which envisions new trails, a park portal, and a wildlife viewing platform that extends from the shoreline over shallow water toward where Hall Creek meets the lake. The design team built the plan after several public meetings and agency coordination; the project required extensive shoreline permitting from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the Washington State Department of Ecology and the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife.

Dio told council that the low, responsive construction bid came from Sunset Grill Construction at just over $2.2 million; with an 8 percent construction contingency, staff estimated total construction cost near $2.4 million. The project’s approved capital budget including design, permitting, administration and construction was about $1.5 million; staff had already spent roughly $400,000 on…