Clovis awards Main Street "Great Blocks" contract after $48,000 funding gap

The City of Clovis on Thursday voted unanimously to award the Clovis Main Street "Great Blocks" construction contract to Nick Griego & Sons, approving a revised $2,796,000 bid and committing city capital funds to cover a remaining shortfall of about $48,000.

City Manager Justin Hovalt told commissioners the project covers Main Street from Seventh Street to First Street and will "improve the sidewalk some more, add some landscaping, replace the lighting out there with historic poles." He said the city received a single bid and worked with the contractor and project designers to reduce scope and cost to fit available grant funding.

The project originally bid at roughly $3.4 million, Hovalt said, and the available grant funding totaled about $2,274,000. After value engineering and scope adjustments — chiefly removing new street furniture (benches and trash receptacles) from the construction package — the contractor reduced the bid to $2,796,000, leaving a $48,009.64 deficit the city plans to cover from Fund 65, the capital outlay fund.

Paul Tankersley, president of Clovis Main Street, said the organization supports proceeding without the new furniture: "While we'd like to do the new furniture, we understand that, you know, we can add that later on." Lisa Pellegrino, executive director of Clovis Main Street, described the work as the first phase of a longer downtown plan and said the group intends to pursue further blocks and funding later.

Commissioners asked about the cost of benches and trash cans. Hovalt said the full furniture package in the original bid was about $230,000; when bike racks were removed from that line item the estimate fell to about $118,000. Hovalt and Main Street officials said they will continue to seek grant funding or private support to procure the furniture at a later date.

Commissioner Porter and others pressed the city to avoid delaying the hard infrastructure, saying costs likely would rise if construction were deferred. Hovalt said the city’s construction schedule and phased approach were designed so lighting, irrigation, landscaping, sidewalks and traffic bump-outs would be installed now while crews are mobilized.

The motion to award the contract was made by Commissioner Casaus, seconded by Commissioner Garza, and carried by voice vote with all commissioners present voting in favor.

The award includes a standard construction contingency: Hovalt warned that unforeseen conditions during construction could require additional funding and said the city may need to cover changes beyond the grant and the $48,009.64 contribution. He also said the contractor had been asked whether it might sponsor or reduce some costs but that no final agreement had been reached.

Work on the awarded block is expected to proceed under the terms presented to the commission; the timeline for construction start and completion was not specified at the meeting.