Johnston City awards Royal Park Estates channel repair contract after low bid

Johnston City council voted during its May 17 meeting to adopt plans and award a construction contract for the Royal Park Estates channel repair project, phase 2, after staff said the low bid came in substantially below the engineer's estimate.

City staff member Matt told the council the city received four bids and the engineer's opinion of probable cost was $371,595. “The low bidder was JC Midwest Services that came in at a bid of $208,203,” Matt said on the record, adding that the figure is roughly 40% below the engineer’s estimate. Staff recommended awarding the project to JC Midwest Services LLC; the project would be the city’s first with that contractor.

Council members asked whether the construction drawings had been posted online. Matt confirmed the documents were on the city website and agreed to provide a link or upload the large file so members could review the plans. Council discussion also noted that other contractors had indicated they might have delayed construction until winter or spring, while JC Midwest signaled a desire to start work at the end of the month.

After closing the public hearing the council moved, seconded and approved resolutions to adopt plans and specifications and to award and approve the construction contract (Res. 25-220, Res. 25-221, Res. 25-222). The council record shows motions, a roll-call style vote, and the mayor declaring the motions passed. The transcript does not record a detailed named vote tally for every member for each resolution.

The city staff will proceed with contract finalization and coordinate scheduling with the contractor; staff also committed to making the construction documents accessible for council review.

The public hearing and related votes concluded the formal consideration of the Royal Park Estates channel repair project during the meeting.