Council awards Plumas Street Water Tower Plaza contract to local bidder after bids exceed grant; council accepts reduced scope and contingency

The Yuba City Council voted to award a construction contract for the Plumas Street Water Tower Plaza to NorthStar Construction after bids for the project exceeded available Clean California grant funds.

City staff told the council the project, funded in part by a Clean California grant, originally had an engineering estimate near the grant award of about $2.2 million. The single bid returned from NorthStar came in at roughly $2.3 million. Faced with the funding gap, staff proposed a reduced‑scope “light” version of the plaza and amphitheater and asked the council to authorize a contract award for $1,768,449 with a 5% contingency plus authority for staff to value‑engineer and issue change orders to reduce scope where feasible. Staff also proposed budget transfers from eligible non‑general‑fund sources such as pavement‑management,…