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Council approves revised engineer estimate and $179,015 contract for salt-storage site work
Summary
After receiving a single qualified bid above the original engineer's estimate, the council approved a revised engineer's estimate and awarded PSC Contractors LLC a $179,015 contract to perform site preparation, drainage, grading and concrete pad work for a new salt-storage building at the Public Works campus.
The Augusta City Council approved two related actions to move forward with phase 1 of the Public Works campus: acceptance of a revised city engineer's bid estimate and award of a construction contract for site work for a new salt-storage building.
City staff and the public works representative told council that bids opened September 30 produced one qualified bidder, PSC Contractors LLC, whose bid was $19,847 above the original engineer's estimate. State statute cited by staff prevents a city of the second class from awarding a contract that exceeds an engineer's estimate, so the council first accepted a revised engineer's estimate and then voted to award the contract.
"Tonight, we are requesting approval of 2 items related to the construction of the new salt storage building at the Public Works Campus," the public works presenter said when introducing the agenda items. The city engineer recommended increasing the estimate from $159,167.83 to $184,466.50 to reflect current concrete and site costs. The council then awarded a $179,015 construction contract to PSC Contractors LLC for site preparation, drainage, grading and concrete pad construction.
Staff said the total project budget for the building, site work, and engineering is $430,000. With the building contract, site work and estimated engineering and tariff costs, projected expense stands at about $386,205, leaving a contingency of approximately $43,795. Funding for the site work was transferred from the electric utility to the public works project; staff said a later budget amendment will reconcile the transfer.
Council discussion touched on why only one qualified bid was received; staff pointed to a compressed timeline and the end of construction season as likely factors. The city engineer attributed most of the increased cost to concrete for pads and foundations. After separate motions to accept the revised estimate and to award the contract, both measures passed by voice vote.
