Council awards multiple fire‑station renovation contracts; grants cover part of cost, remainder from general fund

Garden City — Council members approved a series of contract awards Monday to advance a renovation of the city’s fire station. The council authorized multiple contracts across two bid packs covering concrete, glazing, plumbing, siding and trim, roofing and gutters, structural steel, masonry (time-and-materials), and garage-door relocation.

Fire Chief Randy Keen presented the bid packages and explained why several scopes attracted only a single bid (smaller scopes and short-duration work), and why the roofing award warranted additional discussion. Keen said some bid items would be time-and-materials because full scope will only be known once work begins; for example, masonry work includes hourly and equipment rates to be used as the contractor documents actual quantities.

Council-approved awards (motions and vote results recorded in the meeting): - Concrete: Barrientos Contracting — not to exceed $75,946.20 (approved 6-0). - Glazing (windows/doors): Commercial Glass — $21,481 (approved 6-0). - Plumbing (rough plumbing): Haligan Plumbing — not to exceed $21,500 (approved 6-0). - Siding & trim: Grennan Construction — not to exceed $67,852 (approved 6-0). - Roofing & gutters: Royal Roofing — not to exceed $224,640 (approved 6-0). The council discussed alternative roofing bids; the lowest bid did not meet bid parameters and one recommended contractor from the project management company was about $100,000 higher than Royal Roofing. - Structural steel: Nomad Industrial — award accepted per submitted bid (approved 6-0; amount per submitted bid packet). - Masonry (time-and-materials): Schar Masonry — awarded on time-and-materials basis per submitted rates (approved 6-0). - Garage door relocation: Crawford Door — not to exceed $11,876 (approved 6-0).

Chief Keen noted the renovation was divided into multiple bid packs to allow the building to be weather‑tight quickly so interior work can continue through winter. The project management company and city staff have estimated the total of these bid-pack contracts at roughly $425,000; available grant funding totals about $246,749, leaving the city to cover the balance from general-fund reserves or other local funding sources if needed.

Council asked about potential additional costs, particularly for the roofing: removal could reveal OSB sheathing or other material requiring plywood replacement; the roofing bid includes material and labor, but sheet-replacement costs may increase final price. Staff said they would monitor scope changes and return with Bid Pack 2, expected in the following weeks. Council approved all contract awards unanimously.

The renovation schedule calls for work to begin as soon as materials are available; chief and project staff expect work to start in early November and to proceed with the goal of returning fire personnel to completed station spaces as they are finished.