The Des Moines City Council was briefed on Jan. 9 on options for the Des Moines Marina Steps after the city opened bids in November and received two responsive proposals that exceeded the engineer's construction estimate by roughly $3.6 million to $4.3 million.

What happened: Public Works Director Mike Slevin told the council the engineer’s construction estimate was $8,167,000 but the two responsive bids arrived at $11.741 million and $12.512 million. Based on that gap, staff recommended rejecting all bids and exploring alternatives.

Why it matters: The Marina Steps were planned as a prominent public‑realm link from 23rd Street down to the marina with overlooks, a park and stormwater daylighting features intended to connect waterfront activation, the beach park and future ferry access. The council previously assigned bond proceeds and grant funds to the project.

Options presented to council
- Value‑engineering and rebid: Staff and consultants can reduce scope (for example, remove or simplify overlooks, playground or spray‑park elements or alter wall structures) and rebid. Staff estimated reductions of $2–4 million might be feasible, but warned that too much scope reduction risks turning the signature project into a basic stairway.
- Delay and pursue funding: Staff proposed pausing to seek additional state funding (the Department of Commerce grant tied to water quality work remains available through 2027) and augmenting bond proceeds by shifting $1.3 million of ARPA funds that were removed back into the project (one option would reallocate funds from another waterfront project, Redondo Pier, to cover shortfalls).
- Reevaluate as long‑term strategy: The city could pause and fold the Marina Steps into a broader downtown/marina long‑range plan, potentially reallocating bond proceeds to other shelf‑ready projects (for example, Redondo Pier reconstruction) and revisiting the steps later.

Council reaction and next steps
Council members asked whether the bid environment (contractor availability, perceived risk near adjacent condos and specialty wall design) affected prices and what procurement or incentive changes could attract bidders. Staff said bidders raised concerns about soil compaction risks near neighboring condominium foundations and specialty structural details; staff recommended targeted value engineering and additional consultant work to repackage the project with base scope and additive alternatives.

Public Works said it will prepare a refined scope and cost options, add approximately $100,000 in consultant effort to rework bid packages with additive alternates, and return to council for direction. Staff emphasized there is no immediate requirement to choose a path this meeting and invited council and community feedback.