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Newcastle council tables advance award for emergency generators amid cost and timing concerns
Summary
After public concerns and council questions about a $634,000 engineer estimate and a reported $500,000 overrun, the Newcastle City Council voted to table an advance award for city hall and annex emergency generators until actual bids are available in January.
The Newcastle City Council on Dec. 2 debated whether to approve an advance construction award for emergency generators at City Hall and the public works annex and decided to table the item until the next council meeting when actual bids will be available.
City Manager Pingel told the council the 100% design engineer's estimate is now $634,000 and that the advance-award request included a contingency buffer to avoid returning to council if bids came in higher. He said the city has funding available from the real-estate-excise-tax (REIT) and facilities funds rather than the general fund and explained the lead time for ordered generators: "The lead time for generators is 20 to 24 weeks." The city manager said the funds to cover the overage would be drawn from REIT and the facilities fund balance and, if needed, addressed in a budget amendment.
Multiple residents had raised concerns before the council. Resident Carol Simpson told the council the project "has gone up $500,000 over what you budgeted" and urged the council not to proceed without clear financing. Deputy Mayor LaCotea said she was "uncomfortable" making an advance approval without seeing actual bids and preferred waiting until the contract numbers were firm.
After extended discussion about timing, cost drivers (site constraints at the annex) and the council’s ability to decline bids that exceed budget, Mayor Clark said: "City manager, we're gonna table this item. It'll come back in, for the next council." The council agreed to table the matter so bids can be opened and the council may review a concrete contract before approving an award.
Next steps: staff will put the project back on the agenda for the January council meeting with actual bid results and a proposed funding amendment if needed.
