Marshall Council awards construction contracts and approves budget for new aquatic center

The Marshall City Council approved bids and a budget to build a redesigned Marshall Aquatic Center, awarding multiple construction contracts and authorizing the city to enter necessary contracts within the project budget.

The council approved low bids across 16 packaged contracts, including the largest award of $8,511,404 to Global Specialty Contractors for the aquatics work, and approved a project subtotal for construction of $19,174,006.27. "We currently have $420,000 of donations on hand with the city," said EJ, staff member, explaining the combined revenue plan. "We currently have total revenues planned over 20,100,000.0." The council then voted to approve the full set of awards and the project budget.

Council members and project consultants said the redesign and competitive bidding produced favorable results. David Locke, representative for Stockwell (project architect), described the principal features of the redesigned facility, including a leisure lifestyle pool with zero-depth entry and above-ground play features, a 10-foot-wide leisure river sized for tubes, a plunge area with a tube slide, and a deep-water pool with one- and three-meter diving boards. "That pool has a lot of the amenities... that people have come to expect within aquatic centers," Locke said.

Larry Phillipi, representing Integrity (construction manager), told the council that bid openings on March 11 produced broad competition: "We got 51 total bids in the 16 packages. Very pleased with the results." Phillipi noted some vendor responsiveness issues that shifted awards in a few packages and outlined that several alternates could be accepted because bids came in below earlier estimates.

Finance staff presented the sources and uses the council relied on to approve alternates. EJ, staff member, said the package presented in the council packet showed a project subtotal (contract pieces) of $19,174,006.27 and that total project costs including prior land purchase, decommissioning and administrative items bring the plan to just over $20,100,000. "So again, $18,370,000 is what was authorized by the voters at the referendum," EJ said, explaining that the sales tax authorization is the largest funding source but that donations, ARPA funds used for land purchase and other revenues fill the remainder.

Council members and staff acknowledged fundraising and committee work. Mayor Burns and Sharon (staff member) thanked members of the Aquatic Center Committee and fundraising co-chairs. John Brown, president of Stockwell, told the council: "We're gonna make this a success." The council voted unanimously to award the listed contracts and to approve the total aquatic center budget and authorization to execute contracts within the adopted finance policies.

Votes at a glance (selected contract awards and final budget action): - Earthwork & utilities (including alternates 1A–6B): RNG Construction — $2,165,755 — motion passed. - Concrete: Mosh Construction Inc. — $746,305.64 — motion passed. - Precast concrete: Terracon Precast — $647,863 — motion passed. - Masonry: Deming Construction Inc. — $214,500 — motion passed. - Carpentry: Dumont Kuipers — $244,729 — motion passed. - Roofing: GAG Sheet Bridal Inc. — $172,000 — motion passed. - Aluminum entrance & glazing: Southwest Glass Center Inc. — $74,700 — motion passed. - Tile: Arnquist Flooring — $19,000 — motion passed. - Acoustical treatments: Central Suspensions Inc. — $9,900 — motion passed. - Painting: To Me, LLC — $30,275 — motion passed. - Aquatics package (pool shell, finishes, slides): Global Specialty Contractors Inc. — $8,511,404 — motion passed. - Plumbing/HVAC: Bisbee Plumbing & Heating — $821,025 — motion passed. - Electrical: Meyer Electric (Marshall) — $591,198 — motion passed. - Steel supply (material only): Marshall Machine Shop — $67,700 — motion passed. - Doors/frames/hardware (material only): Mid Central Door — $65,020 — motion passed. - Specialties (materials only): Building Material Supply Inc. — $71,110 — motion passed. - Final: Approve total aquatic center budget and authorize contracts within budget (project subtotal shown $19,174,006.27; total project plan including land and other costs estimated just over $20,100,000) — motion passed unanimously.

Nut Graf: Councilmembers said the pool redesign, competitive bidding and additional revenues (donations and federal ARPA funds used for land) allowed most alternates to be accepted while keeping the contract subtotal within the project estimate. The approvals authorize the city to proceed with construction under the city’s finance policies and established change-order procedures.

The council discussed how fundraising and sales tax referendum proceeds work together to pay for construction and noncontract costs such as land purchase and decommissioning of the existing pool. EJ noted estimates for decommissioning (roughly $300,000) and that some administrative costs were previously incurred.

What happens next: With contracts awarded and the budget authorized, the construction manager and architect will coordinate preconstruction activities, and the Aquatic Center Committee will remain active during construction. Staff said change-order procedures and contingency management will follow the city’s adopted finance policy and future resolution clarifications.

Ending: Council members and consultants thanked staff, the design and construction teams, and volunteers. John Brown (Stockwell) closed by thanking the council: "We really appreciate that and we're gonna make this a success."