Commission awards $4.28 million bid for Runway 826; staff authorized to apply for federal grant

The Newton City Commission voted to award the Runway 826 project to the low qualified bidder, Dondlinger, for $4,275,216 and authorized staff to sign the agreements necessary to apply for a federal grant to cover the largest portion of the work.

City staff told commissioners that after bids received in March exceeded the engineer's estimate the city rejected them, adjusted the estimate and re-bid the project. “When we opened the initial bids in March, those bids came in above our engineer's assessment, so we had to reject those bids,” city staff member Brian said. He told the commission the bids opened April 10 came in under the revised assessment and the low qualified bid was Dondlinger’s $4,275,216 offer.

Commissioners moved and seconded a motion to accept the low bid and allow staff to sign the grant application documents. The motion carried by voice vote.

City staff did not provide a line-item breakdown in the meeting record; staff asked for authorization to proceed with grant application steps so the city can pursue federal funding that the presentation described as expected to cover “the largest portion” of the project. No timeline for construction or grant award was given during the public discussion.

The action was listed on the meeting agenda as a regular agenda item; staff said the re-bid followed prior direction to reject and rebid after engineering adjustments. There were no public comments recorded on the item at this meeting.

Copies of the bid amount and the authorization to sign grant documents were entered into the official record by staff during the meeting.