Council approves Conant Park and Downtown street rehab contracts; downtown safety features and crosswalk design remain under discussion

The Grass Valley City Council authorized staff to award two public-works contracts on April 8: a Conant Park Road Maintenance contract and a larger Downtown Street Rehabilitation project that includes Main Street and South Auburn Street improvements.

City Engineer Bjorn Jones told the council seven bids were received for the Conant Park job with the low responsive bid from Consolidated Engineering for approximately $228,000 against a $300,000 CIP budget. "We received 7 proposals... the low bid was Consolidated Engineering, 228,000 and change," Jones said. Council authorized the city engineer to execute the contract subject to the three-day bid protest period and allowed change orders up to 10% of the contract amount.

For the Downtown Street Rehab project, Jones said four bids were received and the low bid came from Hansen Bros. at $2,415,093, slightly below the engineer’s estimate. The project includes pavement, sidewalk replacement, some utility and drainage work, new corner lighting at Main and South Auburn, continental (zebra-style) crosswalk coatings using a red-and-white resin-applied surface, and stop-sign upgrades (LED-ringed stop signs) at the Main/South Auburn intersection where the traffic signal will be removed. Council members debated additional safety elements at the Mill Street/Madison (clock-tower) crosswalks and whether to pursue a single mid-block crossing; staff said the single-crossing option would be costlier and that grant seeking for further upgrades will continue. Council approved the Downtown project award, authorized construction contracts and budget amendments, and permitted the city engineer to approve change orders up to 10% of the contract amount.