Des Moines approves Marina Steps project, awards $8.54M construction contract amid split council

The Des Moines City Council voted to move forward with the Marina Steps improvement project, approving a construction contract, consultant agreements and state grant acceptances that together staff say fund a project estimated at about $12.9 million.

Public Works Director Rex Levin told the council the low responsive construction bid, from Bayshore Construction, was $8,537,713.64. Staff recommended awarding the contract and authorizing a $1,375,000 construction contingency. Council approved the contract and contingency in a 4-3 vote.

Council also approved a suite of supporting agreements: a construction administration and inspection contract with Somas Inc. for $924,000 and an engineer-of-record assignment with KPFF not to exceed $426,787. The council simultaneously approved two Washington State Department of Commerce direct appropriations (one for $970,000 and one for $999,100) and a stormwater ecology grant of $560,407. Each of those votes passed 4-3.

Levin told the council the bid opening returned eight responsive bids; the low bid from Bayshore came in around $8.54 million while the engineer's earlier construction estimate had been about $10 million. With permitting, contingency, internal services and construction management included, staff estimated the total project cost at approximately $12.9 million.

On the revenue side, staff described a package of funding sources: bond proceeds identified at roughly $8.11 million; Department of Commerce grant funding; a stormwater grant (staff noted only about $278,000 of the stormwater award is construction funding with the remainder for monitoring); real estate excise tax (REET) funds of approximately $1.75 million; a one-time sales tax allocation of $500,000; and earlier city expenditures on the project from prior budgets. Staff reported the funding package balances with the bid numbers.

Council members pressed staff on several details during more than an hour of debate. Questions included the scope and cost of a proposed spray park and vertical play area (both bid items were included as deductive alternates: staff listed roughly $396,000 for the spray park and about $976,425 for the vertical play area), long-term maintenance estimates (staff estimated roughly $30,000–$35,000 per year to maintain playground and spray-park elements), and the project's potential to spur future marina-area development. Public Works staff and the project's construction manager responded that the contractor has experience with work adjacent to buildings and in critical-area environments.

Several council members urged a pause, arguing the city lacks a current strategic plan and that the project should wait for the incoming council. Councilmember Ochsiger moved to postpone to Jan. 15; that motion failed 4-3. Councilmember Harris and others said they supported delay or a smaller scope; proponents said the project has been decades in the making and is funded with capital resources that cannot easily be repurposed.

Deputy Mayor Steinmetz moved the initial budget amendment to incorporate the amended Marina Steps project into the capital plan; the motion and all subsequent contract and grant acceptances were approved 4-3, with yes votes from Mayor, Deputy Mayor Steinmetz, Councilmember Nutting and Councilmember Mahoney and no votes from Councilmembers Ochsiger, Harris and Grace Matsui.

Council directed staff to finalize contracts and to proceed with project implementation under the approved scope and funding plan. Staff said construction is expected to proceed after required preconstruction steps and permitting.

Because the votes tied to multiple implementation contracts and grant acceptances were the substantive decisions enabling construction, the council's split votes and the project cost and funding package were the primary takeaways from the meeting.

Ending: Staff will return contract documents and final project details to the city manager for signature and to the council as needed; construction timing and staging will be presented in subsequent project updates.