Council hears single, higher-than-expected bid for downtown traffic-signal modernization; options include award or rejection

The Le Mars City Council considered bids for a downtown traffic-signal modernization project on May 14 and heard that only one bid was submitted, at roughly $1.3 million, which exceeded the city’s estimate of $885,800. The project scope in the bid included optic cabling between intersections, new signal heads, pedestrian equipment, controllers, poles and mast arms at key intersections.

Administration outlined two options: accept the single higher bid or reject the bid and re-bid. Staff and engineers said several factors likely drove the price and limited the number of bids: an aggressive project timeline (one engineer noted a performance window of June 20 through Nov. 30 that some contractors judged too short), contractor geographic limits that kept some firms from bidding, volatility in pole prices between bid submission and ordering, and a maintenance-bond requirement that bumped up related costs (concrete pricing was called out as an area affected by the bond requirement).

Why it matters: the price gap between the estimate and the single bid materially affects whether the city can proceed without additional funding or scope changes; accepting the bid would obligate more funds than estimated, while rejecting it and rebidding risks further schedule delay.

Council next steps and open questions: staff presented context but did not record a final award decision in the provided transcript excerpts. The council needs to decide whether to accept the lone high bid or reject and re-bid, and staff said they would present options. The administration also noted supply-chain and procurement timing risks related to pole ordering and bond requirements.

No final vote was recorded on the matter in the transcript excerpts provided; the official minutes and procurement documents should be checked for any subsequent action or authorization.