Pulaski — At the Dec. 9 council meeting, members learned both rebids for the Sears Gazebo project exceeded earlier estimates, prompting immediate concern about scope and budget.

City staff read two rebids. Brad Slater Construction submitted a base bid of $151,000 with two deductive alternates (reduce the structure to 28 feet for a $3,855 deduct and preserve an existing tree for a $2,041 deduct). MP Tennessee Construction’s base bid was roughly $176,007 with larger deducts listed. Council members noted the project’s original low bid had been $121,000 in an earlier round and that the new low bid would leave the project tens of thousands over the earlier estimate.

Councilors debated options: value-engineering the design, switching materials (for example to a wood structure), negotiating with bidders, or rejecting all bids and rebidding. The council emphasized the project must be completed and closed by May per grant terms, and several members urged consulting South Central grant administrator Nicole Pogue and project engineer Jenny Hill before proceeding. One councilor expressed concern that reopening bidding might produce different results but supported staff analysis.

Rather than award the contract, the council directed staff to consult the grant administrator and engineer, explore value-engineering and negotiation possibilities, and report back with options. No award or contract was executed at the meeting.

Quotes from the meeting capture the concern: "So now we're at 151,000. So we're gonna be 60,000 over even with the guys," and staff noted the need to ask the grant administrator and engineer for possible options.

Next steps: City administration will meet with the grant administrator and engineer and return recommendations to the council; staff indicated they will explore alternate materials, reduced sizes and potential negotiations with bidders.